Give It Away
Could we be facing the Covid endgame? The last week or so has seen a sudden pivot. One minute we were draped across the sofa, bemoaning our first gig-free anniversaries, a full year into the lockdown life, and the next we are figuring out if we are free for the Reading/Leeds Festival in August. Yes, the UK is getting ready to rock, with the Reading/Leeds Festival opening its arms to the pandemic-stricken…
The Future is Unwritten
Joe Strummer’s famous quotation, ‘The future is unwritten’, could now be followed by the clarification ‘and, during a pandemic, frequently postponed’. Last week, two musical things happened, which triggered this thought. When I say ‘happened’ I mean, of course, the opposite: two things were announced to be ‘not happening’, but these retractions are the closest thing to gig news I’ve had all year. Firstly, Glastonbury, the UK’s largest music and performing arts…
Rock of Ages
I’ve found a new reason why it might rock to be older. Gig-goers, of course, already experience revered appreciation for their age when their concert-attending prowess is suddenly revealed. These revelatory moments of show-specific recognition by younger gig-lovers begin like this: you find yourself in a conversation about a band that no longer exists. Perhaps one with a sadly departed singer or an act that broke up after one album, but are…
Talking About A Resolution
As a fellow gig-goer in waiting, what’s on your New Year’s resolution list for 2021? Resolutions are curious things. They are intentions we already hold but haven’t done anything about, usually because they are difficult or we haven’t been ready to start. They are the subjects we procrastinate over. When was the last time you came up with a completely new idea on 1 January, something you’d never had any desire to…
Mind Games…With A Little Help From Your Friends
In honour of every tinnitus-inducing moment of my years of attending shows (I’ve been a devotee of live music since my first teenage gigs and also have more than a decade of experience as a music photographer) I’m gathering some thoughts and posing some questions to see how we get through this together. Today’s question is whether we can make use of something akin to Jedi mind tricks to keep ourselves intact…
