A new section, where I offer my opinions on music issues. Call it editorialising if you want, I call it raising important issues that we need to talk about.
The title of this section comes from a track on Fugazi’s debut album of the same name.
We’re in the final days of July 2021, and here in the UK, most restrictions concerning lockdown have been lifted, the Government leaving it to “personal choice”…and to the view of many people, a slightly fucking scary leap into the unknown.
The events of the past couple of weeks have been well-documented everywhere, and I don’t wish to add my own cutting analysis of that – and nor am I in a position to – but it has created an environment of soul-searching, particularly in the music and entertainment industry, and those issues raised go way […]
You are not entitled to anything, from any artist, and if you think you are, go and think about this again. “We owe you nothing You have no control” Fugazi – Merchandise Watch on Youtube This issue – one of entitlement – has reared it’s head again recently in a number of ways, most notably […]
I go to see a whole lot of live music. Somewhere between 40 and 70 nights of my year, every year, are spent going to gigs and festivals, in the UK and beyond. Which probably means that I go to more gigs than most – and I started at my first show twenty-two years ago […]
The final part of this is to deal with the issues women have as performers – be that in bands, as DJs, or as other performers in a musical space.
Sadly, clubbing is no more a safe space for women than gigs are. Some of the stories I’ve had for this section are jaw-dropping, with quite extraordinary examples that should never, ever be happening.
I really shouldn’t have to be writing about this. “Our scene”, judging on many of the comments I’ve seen that came about from this, is anything but a safe space. We keep banging on about how friendly and inclusive our scene is, but then I see comments about sexual assaults at major festivals, violence towards […]
