Industry Panel (video) – Live Music Exchange, Leeds, May 5th 2012 – feat. Simon Frith and Whiskas

This is a video from the Live Music Exchange, Leeds event that featured a panel of academics and representatives from Leeds and beyond. The theme of the conference was ‘Interesting Times for Live Music’ and the panel discussed the threats and opportunities to local live music in the current economic downturn. Chaired by Martin Cloonan (University of Glasgow), the panel featured, Simon Frith (University of Edinburgh / Mercury Prize), Whiskas (Live at Leeds Unconference / Honour Before Glory / ¡Forward Russia!), Nick Simcock (Dead Young Records/Oporto), Ben Kirby (Manager of The Subways).

Curfews askew: Some thoughts on gigs and the games – Adam Behr

Now that The Games are almost afoot, naysaying is an increasingly unfashionable position. They’re here now – enjoy. Not the most consistent of arguments – it’s like saying, “I’ve been threatening to crash your house and hold a party for weeks, but now that it’s in full drunken flow, you’re as well grabbing a beer and getting into the swing of things”. I ponder here on a couple of the issues arising from later curfews for Olympic gigs in public parks than others that have taken place this year.

Anatomy of a Gig #2: Roger Waters (The Wall) – Steven Brown

In the second of our occasional series – Anatomy of a Gig – doctoral student Steven Brown explores the 2011 Roger Waters gig at the 02, examining the experience from pre-show to post-show to unpack what made the event so special.

Seeing the Stones in 2003: Why? – Martin Cloonan

To mark the recent fiftieth anniversary of The Rolling Stones’ first gig we revisit Martin Cloonan’s candid examination of his experiences of them live through the years, his motivations set against a wide ranging account of how their career has been intertwined with his own life alongside the popular culture and society of the UK.

Hamish Birchall & Martin Cloonan (video) – Live Music Exchange, Leeds (May 4th 2012)

Hamish Birchall is interviewed by Martin Cloonan about the Live Music Act 2012 and the campaign that led to it. This is a session from the Live Music Exchange Leeds event that deals with the background to the Act and some of its possible effects.

Live Music 101 #1 – The Materialist Approach to Live Music – Simon Frith

The first in a series of posts that detail the themes and ideas developed over the course of research into the history of live music in the UK. Here, Simon Frith takes a materialist approach to live music, examining the factors necessary for a live music event. Simon also offers an initial typology of performance spaces and examines how the venues in which live music events take place have affected the evolution of live music promotion.

Playing Wales: the relationship between higher education and the live music industry in Wales – Paul Carr (2012)

With a focus on Wales, this report investigates the potential opportunities for collaboration between the live music industries and Higher Education in addressing the skills gap identified by Creative and Cultural Skills and others.