Original bands, original music from Lincoln & Beyond

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Feature #005 - A Ripple In The Pool?

A Ripple in the Pool?

A currently thriving "scene", a plethora of bands, more than a handful of promoters and venues; has Lincoln ever had it so good? Is this what we've been dreaming of all these years? Or is it just a temporary burst of fertility on a usually barren landscape? Are we, in this little (but steadily growing backwater) destined to be the musical equivalent of homo sapien, or is our lot to follow the neanderthal into extinction.

The main tenet of Darwin's Theory is, at its most basic (and most commonly quoted) "survival of the fittest", although, if I understand it correctly, its more accurate to say survival of the most adaptable. Those creatures that have proved to be the most adaptable to their environment seem to be the ones that have prospered (snakes are possibly the exception to this, not that I dislike snakes, but they don't seem to have changed much in the past few millennia and yet still they thrive).

So how does Darwin fit in with what's going on in Lincoln at the moment? The city is hardly the musical desert mentioned earlier, in fact to call it fecund would probably not be too far from the truth. But, and there's always a but isn't there, but, is our collective gene pool awash with the necessary ingredients to survive? Evolution works best when species adapt to meet the needs of a change in environment; if there is no change then obviously there is no necessity to adapt. We had a change a few years back with the establishment of the Uni as a recognised educational option and the subsequent influx of students. We adapted, the scene revitalised itself and we all patted ourselves on the back, happy in the knowledge that we have a vibrant scene.

And that's it!

Its as though we've arrived at sentiency and decided there is no further need to evolve. The bands (excellent though a lot of them are), the promoters putting on those bands and the fans turning up are all content to float in that gene pool. Laid back with their water wings, on their lilo's, sipping cocktails and basking in the warm glow of "another good gig". But evolving? No. We're playing it safe. There's nary a ripple in our gene pool (perhaps the last one was The Whelk Attachment). Although bands are exciting, they don't excite the waters, the promoters are content to play it safe with bands that are known to pull in a crowd. In essence, we should be discarding those water wings, diving back into the pool and swimming against the upstream (in a pool?)

Or should we?

Is there a need to evolve, if the scene is good and more bands are coming through, and the talent is there, do we need to change. Do we want to be the next Manchester, Leeds or Sheffield. Is having the musical talent and diversity enough to sustain a scene? Are the "scenes" that are recognised as at the forefront of contemporary music really that much different to the microcosm that is Lincoln. Probably not.

Something that irritates me immensely is that the latest band to "break through" is always, according to the press, original and have something different to give to the musical gene pool. How often this is true can probably be counted on one hand. Think back to Brit Pop, that was hardly innovative, think of Franz Ferdinand and can the older ones among us think of them without thinking of Talking Heads. So perhaps there is nothing new, just another version, for a different generation. If that is the case then perhaps we should forget the gene pool, forget Darwin and just get on and enjoy.

Dave Hardy 28 June 06

Email: davehardy3220@yahoo.co.uk

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