Hello readers, sorry it has been a while, been a bit busy settling in to a new job and having a few little adventures, one of which being my first attendance of a music festival. Yes folks, this weekend just gone I travelled down to the infamous Reading Festival to run around fields full of tents great and small (the smallest of which having my girlfriend and I lying on hard ground, missing our beds). Of course the uncomfortable nights were a minor downer on what was actually quite a brilliant weekend of music, burgers and overpriced cider! We made sure to see as many bands as we could cram in (with tickets costing £200 this year, I don't see a weekend of getting up late to watch the headliner before spending the early hours getting wasted in a bush to be getting my money's worth) and thus enjoyed a great deal of artists of all genres and varieties.
It was when hopping from heavier rock artists to indie bands to dance acts that I realised whilst the good job organisers had done this year in fitting in a good range of different acts was commendable, audiences were far greater for the dance/hip hop/electronic groups. Of course, these artists do come from a more mainstream standing in music culture at the moment but at a festival that used to be known as a 'heavy rock weekend', I was a little surprised. Still, I wasn't complaining, I enjoyed the difference in acts and the shift in crowd dynamics the genre hopping entailed, very much so!
The NME however see things differently. A new article featured on the publications occasionally interesting blog section entitled "Note To Half-Arsed Indie Bands: Take A Leaf Out Of Skrillex's Book" in which the writer seems to firstly blame guitar bands for not making audiences endure fits of euphoria before then stating "people are sick of standing around watching half-arsed indie boys boshing through lumpen songs with no concern for whether the audience are enjoying themselves".
Now I know, I know, its one writer, its one opinion, but honestly I don't understand how such a fallacious bit of nonsense could be promoted quite so much by the NME, especially when the bands attacked in the article are so often promoted by the magazine. I cant vouch for Leeds Fest but I can guarantee the majority of Reading festival-goers were neither there for much more than a handful of artists or a fair representation of the music loving public. Whilst me and my girlfriend would leave our tent by 11am to catch as many bands as possible, neighbouring groups seemed happy to sit around a campfire drinking to leave late afternoon/evening time to see the more popular 'top 40' artists.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that these kind of festival goers aren't 'real fans'. Nor am I saying that theres anything wrong with getting drunk, or going to a festival to see mainstream artists. I was personally quite excited to sample a bit of every genre from System Of A Down to AlunaGeorge. Still, I do feel targeting a genre or attacking bands for the poor turnout is unnecessary and rather unfounded.
Savages and Parquet Courts, two of the groups the blog claims were met with indifference, were two of the groups I actually found most entertaining in the weekend and the lack of manic crowds were probably more to do with several understandable factors:
- The bands were playing the Festival Republic Tent, roughly the size of a small-venue.
- The bands both have small followings with very little exposure coming from mainstream outlets.
- Many fans go to watch bands play, not to climb stage rigging/rip clothes off.
- Even the most passionate of indie fans tend to just jump around, which is what they did.
- I doubt either band intend to write a club stomper to take Ibiza by storm.
You get where I'm coming from, to compare either group to Skrillex or Chase & Status, two of the most popular electronic acts of the past few years playing on humungous capacity stages is both unfair and irrelevant. Club acts will draw club audiences, the kind that are not bothered about watching an act play but want to dance A fair portion of people who watched guitar bands were entertained and impressed, they clapped, cheered and had a good wiggle. Peace, Drenge, Tame Impala, Haim all received warm audiences as well as crossover artists like Chvrches and Phoenix.
One of the most alarming moments of the festival for me was the rowdiness and atmosphere in the Dance tent during a DJ slot... nobody on stage. Then as Charli XCX came on, over half the crowd left. Now Charli XCX has a few stompers in her repertoire as you may know, however she has nowhere near the exposure or airplay given to acts such as the fantastic Major Lazer and Disclosure, hence nobody stuck around.
I dont want to say this writer is wrong as his point on crowds being less rowdy for indie/guitar bands is valid, but the argument that these bands are boring or need to 'up their game' is just silly. The fact is we live in a generation that currently favours a very limited number electronic pop artists and practically no big guitar bands in its charts, which is why your typical festival goer is drawn to an act like Skrillex whilst avoiding Drenge. If anyone is to blame for this its the media for its ignorance of many indie groups who never get the exposure needed to draw in a great crowd. Give the bands a break, if you want to get wasted and dance around to top 40 groups, by all means do! Who can blame you? But don't assume any band that hasn't got fleets of adoring followers aren't worthwhile. Like what you want!
RANT OVER
Have anything to say about this matter? Do you find modern guitar bands boring? Join the debate and give me a comment if you do :) See you soon readers.
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