The return of Dingus Khan
Dingus Khan play their first hometown show in Mistley on Saturday 14 June. The group, whose debut album Support Mistley Swans drew national media attention to the plight of wildfowl in the Essex village, has struggled to find a local venue willing to let them perform, since exposing Mistley’s shameful record on avian welfare.
The band’s controversial stance has angered local residents, who argued they have the right to behead swans at high speed on their three minute commute to Manningtree station, as it would be impossible to get a cup of coffee before boarding the train if they had to wait for swans to cross the road. Parents of local children who attend the Mistley Norman C of E Primary School also complained that luring swans into the path of oncoming traffic is a local tradition dating back hundreds of years.
“It’s political correctness gone mad,” said one resident, who asked not to be named, “Once Nigel Farage is in power, we will be able to do anything we like to wildlife and the poor.”
However, support for the local band came from an unexpected source, when a spokesperson for the 11th Earl of Essex intervened, reminding the parish that, “Unmarked mute swans on open water are the property of the Crown and should be protected to maintain the swan population in its natural habitat… which is of course, the banqueting table at state functions.”
Rumours that the band’s second album will be called “Free the Quay”, after a grass-roots campaign by Mistley residents to remove an unsightly fence restricting the view of their boats, are at this stage unconfirmed.
Update: Photo courtesy of Bridget Tighe. There was blood, sweat and bunting, as Dingus Khan rocked the Mistley Family Fun Day like some monstrous hybrid of Blur and the Melvins. The kids loved it.
