THE MANAGERS RANT Just spotted this posting on my friend Paul Grays FB page: Whichever band Ive been in, Ive always considered it an immense privilege to be lucky enough to play songs I love playing to a bunch of people who love hearing them, be it 30 in a pub or 30,000 in a stadium, makes no difference to me. So Im more than gutted to have to tell you that the SGC tour will no longer be, and that it was absolutely not my decision. On a purely selfish level Id been looking forward to piling into the back of a van again for a long time - after all, when youve booted cancer in the arse you realise how short life can be - gotta grab the opportunities whilst theyre there, blah blah. But it aint gonna happen, and for all of you who had bought tix / were intending to come along anyway, Im immensely sorry - it coulda been a blast. So heres the email that was sent to me a coupla days back - make of it what you will. Oh, and if anyone needs a half decent bassist...love, PG x Although a handful of discerning music lovers DID purchase tickets, there were simply not enough to make the tour work as planned. Wed like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Captain says if theres an audience there Ill play - if not thats tough, but I aint about to slash my wrists. One has had a bloody good run in showbiz - so at this point would like to thank my agent, make up lady, dominatrix, etc. And now... Im off down the pub! It chimes with thehealthy debate I was having with Jade Williams about the state of the music biz.Apart from being a versatile and talented musician (having played with Eddie & The Hot Rods, Johnny Thunders, The Damned and UFO,Paul does a lot for new up and coming talent and musicians.Also along with Captain Sensible he is a dedicated artist.Somebody who plays music because he loves and cares about it. The sad thing is that there still some great venues and plenty of people that would love to hear music but when they have to save up all year to go to one festival it seems hard to get them out to a pub to see three talented bands for a fiver. The Old Establishment C*nts who have their talons in this business will tell you that music is dying.That is bullshit!!!! People spend fortunes on Special Editions of Re-releases,rare vinyl and VIP pass at a Kylie Minogue gig.Its the story of the old guard desperately trying to wring every ounce of the bizness. There are plenty of great musicians out there but you dont read about them in the mainstream press,because they need to sell ads and most of the people who work for lets say MOJO, Classic Rock Magazine and Uncut Magazine are over thirty and at the end of the day rather than checking out a new band they have to go home to their families or they live out of etc.Being an old writer myself I can tell you its almost impossible to sell a new artist because they dont have enough space in the physical editions and their online magazines dont pay enough.Also the new young A&Rs,promoters etc act like the Mafia and you are more likely to see a dozen of them at one Hip show than at different gigs. Having said there plenty of Old C*nts like me who love music and didnt get into for the money (which is fortunate as I havent made any).Theres some young ones too. But it seems because a younger audience isnt being catered and educated and respected and given support,there is no enthusiasm for going out and discovering the music. We seem to be living in a world people feel powerless and dont seem to realise that they actually have the power to change. Thats me and you. Heres a challenge.From next week make a commitment to check out one new venue with live music.This is the kind every music lover was doing until a couple of decades ago.Its strange since communication has got slicker we seem to have got less adventurous.Im taking up this challenge (I will pay to get in and even buy some merch if its nice.A report will follow). In the meantime here is a great track from a great band featuring Paul Gray. And remember: MUSIC IS THEE MESSAGE
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:11:29 +0000