No Rock And Roll Fun

MOANING SCOUSE GITS: Now, we're as quick as anyone to point out the flaws in the NME, but for the love of God, can the poor sods do anything right? A couple of weeks ago, tha paper ran a feature about how, after ages, there's stuff going on in Liverpool beyond the Atomic Kitten facade. It enthused over about a dozen or so cool bands, mostly focused on the Bandwagon night. For once, a piece about Liverpool didn't fall back on banging on about empty shops and prowling youths (as the last time the NME focused on Liverpool As Scene did, back in the early 90's?) And are people happy? Are they buggery. The usually unimpeachanble local music site Gigwise responds withWho do you think you are kidding Mr. NME?. At first, we thought this might have been a spoof - it was just a little too bit like a version ofthat Harry Enfield sketch most people in this city refuse to accept is accurate:
Londoner: My, your refreshing 21st century take on the guitar band sound is wonderful
Scouser: Yer what? Are you saying that our riot grrl bands and lo-fi acts are rubbish?
But it's not intended as a joke. The response to the first bit of interest shown in the potential of Liverpool as The Next Great Music City in years, and what's the response? Moaning. Complaining. Sabre-rattling. Poking the chest of the nme.
A few years back, the bolshie attitude of just one artist managed to make the whole of Merseyside marked down as a bunch of difficult wankers who, frankly, weren't worth the effort for an entire decade. Let's not do that again, shall we? Getting the balance right between local pride and petty pointscoring is difficult, it's true. But the correct response to someone praising your guitar bands might be "Yes, but there's a lot more to us than that" rather than "Bollocks, bollocks and thrice bollocks! "
Of course, the Real People are supporting Meat Loaf in London.