Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Let's make more Muses

Harvey Goldsmith has got a plea - apparently we need more Muses. As in the band, he doesn't want Pierus to be getting all busy again:

"The only kind of stadium star or arena-plus star act that has come through recently is Muse. That’s it. Both here in Britain and in America. We need more of them.

"We need to have, as I have said time and time again, new promoters with new ideas, building new acts up so they become the new superstars. Without that, within five years’ time, there will not be a business."

Harvey Goldsmith, manager of Jeff Beck, promoter since England last won the world cup, suggesting the problem is old promoters with stale ideas. Whoever would have thought?

And his big idea is to clone an already successful band. "Let's make more of these, as they're already popular" isn't the most obvious way of encouraging "new ideas" in the music industry, is it?

Still, Goldsmith's warning should make all our blood run cold. If there aren't a dozen or so Matt Bellamies wandering about by 2015, there won't be any oversized gigs in inappropriate venues where you can only 'watch' by staring over people's heads at a giant TV screen that is out of sync with when the music reaches you. No more £45-plus gig tickets, plus parking, plus two quid bottles of water because you can't bring your own in. No more tailbacks on motorways as thousands try to cram up a road to a temporary stage in a country house back garden. Do you want to live in such a world, people? Because that's what will happen. Harvey Goldsmith says so.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He's kinda got a point.

Small gigs are brilliant. I love them. But when a band is big, there's not much choice.

Besides, stadium gigs can be good. There's something special about 80,000 people being in the moment with you, hanging off every note of an incredible bit of music. A feeling that's best found at festivals rather than Wembley Stadium, but still.

The problem is, few bands (Muse are one) can reach the people at the back. And if you can't do that, don't bother.

The alternative is, of course, to play Brixton Academy for three weeks solid. But that's not always possible even if it's preferable.

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