Some interesting findings in here about shifts in the chart.
It’s something I’ve noticed in recent years, with acts like Courteeners being huge in Manchester but not really elsewhere. Also something that we’ll see more and more as Brexit prevents acts from being able to afford to tour Europe.
Curious if you’ve seen examples of it, especially travelling to European festivals - definitely noticed more names I don’t know on line ups and when I look them up it’s not that I’m out of touch, they’re local.
The Courteeners are probably a few years past what could realistically be considered the peak of their popularity, but there’s no way they were only huge in their home town. They were, for a period, massive nationally.
Probably fair to say less so in the very south - their songs were probably too mature for the London listener - but they were definitely huge across most of the North West, Midlands, North East, and pretty much everywhere inhabited by good eggs.
Junk Drawer and New Pagans to name just two would be enough to make me jealous! Plus basically even new band Ic-Smic posts and I fall a little in love with
it’s happening a bit in hip-hop again now, it all got a bit homogenised for a while there and everything just sounded like atlanta but now there’s a few regions with their own distinct sound / style, guys becoming huge stars in their hometown, that kind of thing. i like it.
Spent a week in Belfast for 6 Music festival and put on a DiS associated night with New Pagans on the roof of the Oh Yeah Centre with the brilliant Kitt Philippa. Such an amazing music scene.
Reminded me of Brighton in early 2000s hanging out with loads of great acts on the cusp, like Electrelane, Electric Soft Parade / Brakes, Cat on Form / Blood Red Shoes, etc. Or Oxford in late 2000s at house parties with Foals, Youthmovies, George Pringle, etc.
Planning to write some features on different cities over coming months so curious where has the best scene. I love going to a city and within a few days getting to meet the future, past and people who have decades of being the backbone of the scene. Feel like these stories don’t get told often enough.
Yeah I think that sort of thing has always been the case with ‘hometown’ shows etc being bigger for an act.
Also just regionalism in general: being a student in Manchester 94-98 the music in Indie clubs there vs when you were back in London in the holidays was quite different. Just far more Manchester and Liverpool bands played in Manchester over an evening, but also you’d almost never hear a really London band like Suede* and it felt like Blur and Supergrass only really got a look in thanks to their immense popularity (and thus no deep cuts got played). This all seemed entirely normal and reasonable.
*Coming Up changed that due to popularity but I seem to recall a lot of the songs off it were actually quite ‘slow’ and so not that great to try to dance to.
Think Belfast has peaks and troughs and it’s not at it’s best right now as some of my favourites have broken up in the last couple of years but still a few decent acts. I think the Dublin scene is very good at the minute as well as some great stuff around other parts of Ireland and we’re lucky enough to get some of them playing up here reasonably often
