Working alongside some of the biggest names in the music business is certainly exciting at times… but it can also be a real drag. Tantrums over faulty flanger pedals, sherbet dip confiscated by suspicious police officers and arguments over which band member wrote the second verse of a song; believe me, I’ve seen it all! Take my word for it, being a roadie isn’t always ‘Rock’n’Roll’.
Now you may think that the pros will still outweigh the cons in my line of work, but I’m not so sure they do anymore… A typical working day for me will involve lugging gargantuan amps around the stage, keeping smokers away from the fuel storage area (!) and dealing with minor electrical faults. And let’s be honest here; none of those things are particularly interesting!
One of the questions I’ve asked myself a lot lately is where does a love of music come from? I’ve been taking a bit of a break from the scene and hadn’t been to see any bands or solo artists for ages - then on Saturday night I headed to the Barfly in Camden Town to see an old friend’s band do a headline set. It was absolutely heaving in there. One of the hottest days of the year so far (in October! - I know every media outlet and blogger in the world has already mentioned this but still, it was pretty insane) and yet it was crammed with people, many of whom seemed to know all the words to all the songs by this random unsigned band. Music - particularly loud rock and roll music - just seems to grab people. How does it do this?
As Chuck Berry once said, “It’s gotta be rock and roll musicAny old time you choose itIt’s got a fast beat you can’t lose itAny old time you choose it” Not Shakespeare, maybe, but it gives us a pretty big clue. These days most of us spend our time working on human resource software or managing spreadsheets. We work with our brains (sometimes and if we’re lucky) not with our hands. So the opportunity to get out there and just feel that bit more alive seems to be a key part of the equation.
Look at these guys above - the Libertines. Are they even that great a band? Maybe not - they’re certainly no Beatles in terms of their musical range. But at the end of the day it’s the energy spilling off the stage, their sense of being alive, that makes them matter. Long live rock and roll, I say. And it’s great to be going to gigs again!
The Big Chill, the music festival in Herefordshire, kicked off on August 5 and went on until August 7. There was an impressive roster of performers, a lovely setting, and pleasant weather, for this beyond exciting event that should have sold out quickly.
However, it has suffered from dismal ticket sales this year, its seventeenth. The lower attendance translated to a blander atmosphere. Performances from usually electrifying acts consequently have an awkward vibe.
Seeing as there is only one topic dominating the news at the moment and I guess there’s only one person I could even possibly think about talking about in my blog today; Amy Winehouse.
A lot has been said in the media, and out of the media on social networking sites, about Amy, and not much of it has been about her music. Yes, she very successfully ruined her own life, and probably the lives of those who loved her, More
Lately I’ve come to thinking that the 1970‘s founded rock band Whitesnake are kind of unappreciated in modern times, overshadowed by other bands of their era and genre like Led Zeppelin and Rainbow. Now don’t get me wrong, we can’t suggest that a band like Led Zeppelin unduly eclipsed many other rock bands - they are heavily recognised as the greatest rock band of all time. However Whitesnake themselves featured in VH1’s greatest 100 hard rock bands of all time, More
The other day I was fortunate enough to be able to see Roger Waters playing The Wall at the O2. Pink Floyd is certainly the band of the musicians. It is easy to see why, the quality of the music is so unprecedented and complicated it’s everything the musician wishes they could not only play but also have the inspiration to come up with. But the interesting thing about Roger Waters and Pink Floyd is that they also touch the More
There has been lots of media coverage of the Royal wedding here in the UK – and lots of talk about the correct etiquette for those “lucky” enough to be attending the happy event. Things like don’t use your global sim card to call your relatives abroad from inside the church, don’t burp in front of the Queen and definitely don’t ask Kate if she fancies any of the rugby players in attendance… It started me thinking about gig etiquette. More
Yes, after you read an excellent review of a band in a music magazine, or perhaps after you hear about it on a blog it is certainly true that going out and buying the album or simply sitting at your computer and downloading the album straight away is a good way to experience music. There is little better than to be able to hear the sound of musicians exactly as they intended it, delivered from the studio, directly to your More
Music blogs are the modern way for the very discerning music fan to discover music and find new artists and bands that they might enjoy. It’s an excellent way for someone who is relying on their friends'music tastes or on the radio and magazines a little too much too provide everything that they need to know about music. Music blogs allow you to really diversify your tastes, all without spending any money for the service. Of course, you will more More
