Gig Scene In SG: Over-saturated and Overkill?
- Thread starter therippersx
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SherT
New member
Here we go again.
This is a topic that's been done to death. Know why nobody is bothering to do anything about it? The people who can, can't be bothered, because it involves having to deal with self-superior numbskulls who are afraid of a little criticism.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with having a variety of gigs to choose from. Like the soft drink analogy someone brought up earlier, having a magnitude of choices does not mean that a community is saturated. People are free to choose what gigs they attend. If one appeals more to them than the other, then bully for the fellows with the short end of the straw. It's simply indicative of the fact that everybody wants a slice of the pie without actually having to work for it.
The macro issue lies with the general quality to begin with. Personally, I have stopped going to small shows unless I am deadly sure that there will be at least one decent band there. 90% of the time, the bands on show are terrible. And by terrible, I mean staggeringly well...bad. I'm talking about out of tune covers, total disregard for performance etiquette, and glaringly apparent lack of practice.
I believe artists should take pride in their work. A shortage of "resources" or not enough "experience" is no excuse for a lackadaisical attitude towards improvement. Neither is it reason for ANYONE to prattle asinine lamentations about the state of the "scene" without actually contributing anything to it.
"But if you don't give them the opportunity to perform, then they won't learn!" I hear the triggerhappy caremongers exclaiming. Allow me to pose a simple question; They've been given the opportunity, but they're not learning from it. What now Sherlock?
A perfect illustration of this would be Live 'N Loaded. I was assigned to cover the series, and this led me to closely follow the development of the show during its run. The stage was set, a prime time slot was secured, the show kicked off with a bang, and triggered a flurry of promise for the future of the "local scene".
Admit it, some of you even treated it like the localised equivalent of the Rapture.
And then what happened? I'm sure many of you held witness to its abysmal decline. People who know me will tell you that I have a zealot-esque passion for local music, but with each passing episode, I found myself shaking my head in dismay. A good 80% of the acts that had been put on were ghastly, to say the least. Most people I know tried to tie the show's problems down to poor publicity, but quite frankly, that, in my opinion, was its softest bone of contention.
I want you guys to reach into your hearts and answer this question for yourself, truthfully now: Are you really enjoying your music, or are you simply ramming it up your ass because of its "cool" designation as "local music"?
I guess what I'm trying to say can be summarised into a simple stria, just because you own instruments, it doesn't make you a band; just because you have a band, it doesn't make you musicians; just because you're a musician, it doesn't make you better than anyone else.
That being said, I have seen enough potential in some of new acts to maintain a level of confidence. I firmly believe that we won't sink all the way to the bottom of the pond just yet, but we on the verge of spilling onto that plateau if everyone keeps their head in the clouds.
This is a topic that's been done to death. Know why nobody is bothering to do anything about it? The people who can, can't be bothered, because it involves having to deal with self-superior numbskulls who are afraid of a little criticism.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with having a variety of gigs to choose from. Like the soft drink analogy someone brought up earlier, having a magnitude of choices does not mean that a community is saturated. People are free to choose what gigs they attend. If one appeals more to them than the other, then bully for the fellows with the short end of the straw. It's simply indicative of the fact that everybody wants a slice of the pie without actually having to work for it.
The macro issue lies with the general quality to begin with. Personally, I have stopped going to small shows unless I am deadly sure that there will be at least one decent band there. 90% of the time, the bands on show are terrible. And by terrible, I mean staggeringly well...bad. I'm talking about out of tune covers, total disregard for performance etiquette, and glaringly apparent lack of practice.
I believe artists should take pride in their work. A shortage of "resources" or not enough "experience" is no excuse for a lackadaisical attitude towards improvement. Neither is it reason for ANYONE to prattle asinine lamentations about the state of the "scene" without actually contributing anything to it.
"But if you don't give them the opportunity to perform, then they won't learn!" I hear the triggerhappy caremongers exclaiming. Allow me to pose a simple question; They've been given the opportunity, but they're not learning from it. What now Sherlock?
A perfect illustration of this would be Live 'N Loaded. I was assigned to cover the series, and this led me to closely follow the development of the show during its run. The stage was set, a prime time slot was secured, the show kicked off with a bang, and triggered a flurry of promise for the future of the "local scene".
Admit it, some of you even treated it like the localised equivalent of the Rapture.
And then what happened? I'm sure many of you held witness to its abysmal decline. People who know me will tell you that I have a zealot-esque passion for local music, but with each passing episode, I found myself shaking my head in dismay. A good 80% of the acts that had been put on were ghastly, to say the least. Most people I know tried to tie the show's problems down to poor publicity, but quite frankly, that, in my opinion, was its softest bone of contention.
I want you guys to reach into your hearts and answer this question for yourself, truthfully now: Are you really enjoying your music, or are you simply ramming it up your ass because of its "cool" designation as "local music"?
I guess what I'm trying to say can be summarised into a simple stria, just because you own instruments, it doesn't make you a band; just because you have a band, it doesn't make you musicians; just because you're a musician, it doesn't make you better than anyone else.
That being said, I have seen enough potential in some of new acts to maintain a level of confidence. I firmly believe that we won't sink all the way to the bottom of the pond just yet, but we on the verge of spilling onto that plateau if everyone keeps their head in the clouds.
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theliverevolution
New member
Agreed. Most organisers organise INSIDE SOFT itself. They fail to expose it to the masses, those who are not in SOFT (which I dub the online local music scene. Offline will be what's happening on the ground itself)
I think I've explained it before in another thread that I was in a pleasant surprise when I went down to NUS Open house this year and found that Rockfest was playing (a lot of various bands playing at the open house, some which were good, some not so) and later, Elementism (with Allura, GSE head-lining it) in the afternoon.
The only problems were that I had plans in the afternoon, so I missed Elementism and only got a few glimspes of Rockfest.
Organisers aren't doing much to promote their festivals either. A bunch of cheap posters along Orchard Road can and WILL do wonders. It gets non-listeners to notice, maybe perhaps make them consider going down to the place to check it out.
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