It’s funny how things turn out.

Posted by jill on April 30, 2011

There are a number of bands I thought I would never see live. Ultrasound were one of them, and Ooberman were another. Both with their tales of falling out, it seemed very unlikely that they would ever perform together again.

However, on Saturday, Dan and Sophia from Ooberman performed a set of Ooberman and (their new band) The Magic Theatre songs. So now I can tick off Ooberman on that list of dream list of bands that I would like to see live sometime.

Dan and Sophia performed this set at a gig in memory of Edd, who I first ‘met’ on an online messageboard around 6/7 years ago. It turned out that as well as that messageboard, he and I, along with a number of mutual friends, had also been huge Ooberman fans. I have always found it amusing how so many fans of such a group would meet and become friends so many years on after the band split up.

It was great to be able to meet the band and tell them about their influence and it’s nice to think that even for bands that never quite reached their potential they would eventually find out that their music really had an impact.

You can see the full set here:

Changing Listening Habits

Posted by jill on April 10, 2011

Is it age, is it time, is it location, is it cost or any of these?

Gone are the days when I would average around two gigs a week, sometimes it’s an achievement even if I make it to two a month. But talking to some friends over the last few weeks, it seems that we are all going through the same thing.

I’ve never lived closer to a number of venues than I have now, but even then there doesn’t seem to be much worth watching these days.

It could be that all of us are getting to that age when it is just easier to stay at home or go and hang out at the pub, rather than listen to some live music (which round here would probably mean being surrounded by a bunch of people who really want to chat to each other rather than listen to the performers).

It could be that there simply isn’t the time anymore to trawl through the lists of bands to find the ones that are worth checking out. The livespan of most bands seem shorter and shorter these days. They are hyped and their gigs sell out even before they have built up an identity for themselves. Then after six months most would just disappear again. Shockingly, I don’t even think I have bought any albums this year (Maybe now that most albums are streamed online prior to release, I’ve realised that most aren’t worth buying?).

It could be living in London. Oxford had its advantages: a small group of likeminded people, who you would end up to know just from familiarity. You could go out alone and know that you would bump into someone you knew. London has its own sub-scenes and I don’t feel like I fit into any of them. Whilst in Oxford, everyone would exchange tips about any new band around, that hasn’t happened in London.

It could be the cost. Perhaps this is a problem with living in London, that tickets would always be more expensive here than in Oxford. On the other hand, ticket prices have gone up in the last few years. It’s easy to justify spending £5 even if the bands end up being awful, but when it’s £10 to do the same, that £10 could be spent on something else.

Maybe it’s none of the above? It could be that there really has been no decent new bands in the last year or so. Everything is just hyped up, overpriced and there really is nothing worth checking out. I really hope not.