Archive for November, 2010
We’re nearly at the end of 2010, and I am certainly looking forward to next years music offerings around the UK – the biggest and well known ones shall be popping up and around our TV screens and newspapers (etc!) soon enough, but I shan’t be purchasing a ticket for them next year.
Instead, I am making it my mission to stick to the smaller gigs, and trying to get to see things I wouldn’t normally go see – so, trusting my friends and family to suggest things around the country, and to keep their eyes peeled for some interesting adventures for me!
So, if you see summit, let me know!
I do remember, all those years ago, when Robbie started to get a bit wild (and therefore way more interesting!) and eventually announced that he was leaving Take That.
I personally thought it was a great thing for him, and a bad thing for the group – Robbie was getting way more lines in the papers than the others put together, but he was not in the same place as the rest of them and needed to be free. Robbie’s successful solo career soared, and Take That disappeared into obscurity.
But what a difference 10 years can make! Robbie floundered and Take That soared, because 10 years on all of there fans were grown ups with the money to spend on concert tickets to relive their youth – and oh how they bought those tickets!
I think that 10 years ago, Take That couldn’t have worked without Robbie (and didn’t), but these days they don’t really need him to work – but with him, they open up totally new avenues.
Once up on a time, we could go see a gig for a tenner, and even the big gigs weren’t much more expensive. But these days, it can cost you a small fortune to get just one ticket – let alone the travel, accommodation, food, drinks, etc, etc, costs!
I know that the price of things has gone up – but are the artists giving us more bang for our buck? Some do, some don’t – the likes of Lady GaGa rarely disappoint, and the Take That shows look awesome, but when you see other artists that pop on stage, sing, and leave again, what’s the point?
It is no great secret that there is a massive amount of unsigned and undiscovered talent out there that the general public doesn’t get to hear or see. Hence the creation of the various TV shows that try to discover them (X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, American Idol, Pop Idol, PopStars The Rivals, Fame Academy, etc,) as well as make money from the experience.
But do these shows really discover talent, or do they manufacture it? Do they really give a talented individual a career, or is it a couple of weeks of fame compared to a standard 15 minutes?
I do enjoy the selection process, as we do get to hear from some very entertaining, not necessarily talented, people, but once it gets “serious”, it stops being fun for me – and the recent run that the dreadful Wagner has had simply highlights the lack of talent searching and the abundance of commercial entertainment.
A night out watching live music is always great fun (well, as long as you like music!), but what makes for a better atmosphere; the big stadiums and arenas packed with 10′s of thousands of people, or the small intimate gigs at a local venue listening to lesser-known artists alongside only a handful of people?
Well, in all fairness I like them both, but thinking back, I much preferred the big events in my late teens and early-mid twenties, but now I’m late twenties (and yes, approaching 30) I much prefer the smaller stuff.
I think that this is because the big events are now so commercial, I can barely differentiate the music from that of others.