Its an interesting article. I got into music in my mid teens in the late 1980s, when bands like Guns N Roses, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Metallica, Iron Maiden Poison (gulp) etc were reasonable popular and I went to see most of them live. I guess as a teenager I felt the need to rebel etc, but I also felt there was such much rubbish in popular music. In some ways metal may have been a form of music for those of us that felt a little alienated in life. If I thought popular music was poor in 1988, in the last 20 years I’d say it has definitely got worse!
The guitar as an instrument has always excited me but I do feel music tastes change and develop as we get older. From listening to bands such as Aerosmith, AC/DC etc, I started to listen to their influences such as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, from there I discovered their influences such as Muddy and Howlin’ Wolf. Gradually I came to the realisation that there are modern artists that play the blues, as varied as Joe and The Black Keys. These are the next two bands I will be seeing live, both of which I have seen before this year. So for me, there is little interest in seeing Metallica or Gun’s N Roses again as I’ve been there, done that when they were younger.
So what has changed for me, rather than listening to metal, I listen to blues rock. Yet as far as modern music is concerned, I’m just as much the Outsider amongst friends of my age as I ever was!
Incidently Shred makes a good point, during the recession, many established acts as varied as AC/DC, Oasis and Take That will still do ok. What we must try to do is support the lesser known acts that we do like, as they are the ones likely to struggle.
Edited, sorry Phil, I never really answered the question, but what I would say is that AC/DC singer Brian Johnson is about 10 years older than Angus, so I can't see him being around at the next recession! Music does come in cycles so for every Whitesnake or Aerosmith on the circuit, there will always be several lesser known acts playing a similar band of rock. Likewise for every Clapton, there are several young blues rockers worthy of our ears.
"The recently formed Edinburgh Blues Club has identified an appetite for the personal communication between musicians and audience that the blues long ago perfected." The Herald Newspaper (Scotland)
http://www.edinburgh-blues.uk
