LIVE
Another local publication that strives to keep the community up-to-date on the local music scene is LIVE, a supplement that appears every Thursday in The Herald. I forget how many pages it is (will have to report back on that one; I’ll guess around six or eight) and contains information, reviews, articles and news of upcoming attractions on the Newcastle theatre and music scene as well as the latest offerings at the cinema.
Each week in the supplement is a short section called “Straight Up” which is a short series of questions answered by an artist. Although only short, there are advantages for both the musician and the reader: the musician can plug his/her upcoming gig in Newcastle, and readers of LIVE either become aware of a new artist that they might like to go along and see; and for musicians who already have a bit of a profile, readers usually find out a quirky fact or insight into their personality (last Thursday’s (22 May) edition featured James Ash from the Rogue Traders; who knew he would be happy to eat nothing but curry for the rest of his life and has been in the ‘biz for 20 years? I didn’t…). And, as we have discussed previously in this course, gaining an insight into an artist’s personality, values and views of the world assist music consumers in expressing their own identity and forming their own views. As Buckingham notes,
“the ideologies expressed by the musicians in which many…students indulge is felt to reflect their own ideologies. Many students…felt that their emotions and personal politics were expressed by musicians and treated as subject matters in their music. This creates identification through consumption of music that allows young people to express their own world views through mere fandom of a particular artist or genre of music…” (in Bark, 1999, p.5).
As I said, although it is only a short section, it can still be effective. A reader could pick it up and see that Ash has been in the business for 20 years and has been involved in many different styles and genres. Who’s to say that someone wouldn’t pick this tiny interview up and think to themselves, “Well, I’m interested to see and hear more about his music and where he is after 20 years”?
LIVE also contains short articles about little-known (or well-known, for that matter) artists about to release a CD or who are doing a gig in Newcastle; again, this is also useful to learn the story of the artist, how they got to where they are, influences on their music, views and opinions etc.
There is also a little box on one page called the “Music Box” which is another guide to new music, offering reviews, descriptions of music and gig details of an unknown artist or band.
Finally, there is a comprehensive (as in, 2-3 page) gig guide of all upcoming live music in Newcastle which is obviously an extremely handy ‘one stop shop’ of all the happenings in and around Newcastle.
LIVE is only a short publication but is definitely worth a look if you are interested in further immersing yourself in the Newcastle music scene and want to discover some new music. Something that I think would improve the quality and usefulness of the guide is to perhaps include more reviews, particularly of live performances.
Reference:
Bark, B. (1999) “Them” vs “Us” – Music, Youth and the Struggle for Identity [Online], Available http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/contributions/bethann1.html
27 March 2008
