Of course they don’t. End of blog…
Ok, I’ll elaborate.
Yesterday I noticed that a few people on Twitter had linked to an article that attempted to be nothing but full of praise for the Sunderland music scene on one of the Guardian’s regional blogs by Allen Glen. It wasn’t a particularly good piece but I noticed one line that was particularly interesting:
Undoubtedly the jewel in Sunderland’s crown, the 55,000-capacity Stadium of Light has played host to a vast array of top-selling acts since breaking into the market in 2009: Take That and Oasis were the first to play with Pink opening her European tour in 2010. Last year saw Kings of Leon take to the stage while Take That played five nights at the stadium.
In total, the stadium has sold more than half a million tickets in just three years. That figure is likely to be boosted quite considerably this year with forthcoming summer shows from Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers – supported by The Futureheads – and Bruce Springsteen.
Now, I have never had the pleasure of going to Sunderland (hopefully I will do one day) but I highly doubt that the music scene’s beating heart is a 55,000 capacity football stadium. The keyword to emphasise is football. Unsurprisingly, this piece got a lot of flack. Some comments from that piece:
PearlHarper: As much as I would love to agree with at least a percentage of the points raised here, the simple fact is that this article is inaccurate, mostly irrelevant and ignores the actual ad-hoc framework of which a certain circle of people have developed.
safcDubai: I’m pretty sure there are a few guys who’ll feel a wee bit put out by this, and rightly so. It’s cool that that the SoL (capacity 49,000 – but one quibble at a time…) is hosting these big gigs, but you need to dig a little deeper to find their roots. A good place to start would be a crappy little bar at the end of Chester Road, whose upstairs room played host to all manner of bands that were key to any scene on Wearside. The place stunk, as did a few of the people in there, but the music was good; it was raw, exciting. It was a scene. And, more importantly, it laid the roots for progress more than the borough council ever did.
videovitch: ...the idea that ‘Every band from Sunderland wants to play the Stadium of Light’ is almost Alan Partridge-esque in its awfulness. I’d pretty much bet my house on Field Music rather wanting to curl up and die than play their wonderfully complex, thoughtful music in a football stadium.
That last comment mentions a band called Field Music. David Brewis, from that band, wrote a counter-argument piece that went online today. It’s worth reading in full but this one paragraph to me seems key:
A successful music scene does not come from a monolithic infrastructure or a clever long-term business strategy. It doesn’t come from lots of industry-savvy bands making the most of their commercial potential. Whatever commercial success came from Sunderland’s early 00′s music scene grew from a defiantly-anti-commercial spirit of creative risk-taking and community spirit. We all had our own strongly-held, and often loudly-voiced, take on what was good and what was terrible. Living in a town with so little infrastructure and so little support allowed us to develop a myriad of cultural ethics, which then rubbed against each other, sometimes complementing, sometimes not. Playing in venues which weren’t really venues at all meant that it didn’t matter if nobody came. At least a few of us had to learn how to record. A few of us had to be able to work a PA. Someone had to print the flyers. Someone always has to work the door. Nobody needs a dressing room.
My two cents: music scenes start in places like small venues and record stores. I know this because Guildford has, over the course of the last six years, established itself as a place for touring bands to head to and a place where local bands can get recognised. Some recent examples includes the riotous Sissy & The Blisters, who have been gaining attention from the NME and Carousels, who got featured on Stereogum last year. Local DIY collective Genrebomb has also put on some very popular gigs on the heavier end of the musical spectrum and the shop People Independent Music has become integral to the area, as I mentioned in a short piece for For Folk’s Sake:
People Independent Music is a fairly recent addition to Guildford’s cobbled streets but its presence has been warmly embraced by the local community. With the exception of collector’s store Ben’s, the town has lacked a good indie store and its established itself by being a friendly and inviting place to go away from the hustle and bustle of the high street. In the last year they’ve even branched out to gig-promoting: Sam Amidon, Summer Camp and Richmond Fontaine have all performed to packed audiences. Put simply, it’s a gem of a shop that has added to the local scene in spades.
This is already way longer than I anticipated so I’ll end as I started. Of course football stadiums don’t influence a music scene.
