|
|
Post by britishlove on Apr 16, 2013 6:51:35 GMT -5
So disappointed in the so-called music lovers on the West coast... Coachella festival 2013: Has anyone heard of headliners the Stone Roses?The Stone Roses might be one of the most talked-about bands in the UK, but what do Coachella's crowd know about the opening night's headline act? "Spike Island? Is that, like, a drink or something?"When the Stone Roses were announced as Coachella headliners they probably expected a range of responses, but it's doubtful they thought any of these would be "who?". Yet no sooner had they accepted their place at the top of the bill than Twitter was awash with confused Americans asking if "someone had spelt Rolling Stones wrong?" Were they serious? One of the most iconic British guitar bands of all time? Clearly Guardian Music needed to fly out to Coachella to see if this was really the case – and so we conducted a rigid scientific survey (aka vox popping a few random punters who looked friendly). Things didn't get off to the best of starts. Joanne from the Valley, LA, said she "was really into indie stuff" but "hadn't really heard of them". Was she surprised to see them at the top of the bill? "Yeah, kind of! Are they any good?" Lenka from Los Angeles at Coachella 2013 … make that two Spike Islands on the rocks. Photograph: Tim Jonze It was to get worse. Lenka, also from Los Angeles, was looking forward to raving in the Sahara tent but as for the Stone Roses? "I've not heard of them ... but the whole point of Coachella is to expose people to new stuff!" Did she think they were a new band? "Oh, have they been around a while?" If she had to guess, what would she say Spike Island was? "I don't know … is it, like, a drink or something?" Perhaps the fact we next asked a man holding an inflatable monkey suggested that our survey lacked a degree of respectability, but Roger (from California) and his blow up ape Merl (stolen from a party) were more than game to answer some Stone Roses-based questions and that's what mattered. Sadly, he wasn't able to offer us much in the way of answers. Had he actually heard of the band? "Absolutely not, you're stumping me … I'm just here for Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Moby." What about Marl the monkey, he looks like a Roses fan! "Nah, he's just here to see me … and he hasn't heard of that band either." Roger and Marl at Coachella 2013 … this inflatable money is delightful but could it hum you Sally Cinnamon? Photograph: Tim Jonze Hmmm … maybe the fact that your two Guardian journalists were lurking around the dance tent was to blame for this lack of Roses fandom. We moved towards the more indie-centric Gobi tent and bumped into Andrew who was from New York and even knew the Guardian. Surely he had heard of the Stone Roses? "Who?" The headline act on the main stage tonight! "Oh, I'm not here for the music, I'm working at the photo booth." What music do you normally like? "90s rave. And Beach House." Have you any idea what Spike Island is? "No." Have a guess. "I would say it was an island. With spikes on it." There's only one thing for it. We headed right over to the main Coachella Stage where the band themselves would be playing in just a few hours time. That was surely the best (only?) way to bump into the kind of American who likes the Stone Roses. And sure enough it was here that we bumped into Todd from New York who had – drum roll please – HEARD OF THE STONE ROSES! WOOHOO! So Todd, what's your favourite Stone Roses song? "Oh, there's a song I like but I can't remember the name. I heard a bunch of their music, it was good." Do you know anything about them at all? "They're British, and I love British music. Mumford and Sons! They're British and they're great." Will you be watching them tonight? "Of course. I want to find out more. I mean, the Coachella people booked them so they must know who they are, right?" Maybe, Todd, maybe. Then again, maybe not … Original article www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/apr/13/stone-roses-coachella-who |
|
|
|
Post by John Henry Holliday on Apr 16, 2013 7:06:28 GMT -5
the hipster doofus' that attend Coachella need to do their homework.....
God bless.
|
|
|
|
Post by matt on Apr 16, 2013 10:51:07 GMT -5
The amount of Americans who know sweet FA about music is unreal. They think they know but they don't. That said, Britain is sadly turning into that these days. Just the other day had a conversation with a guitar playing hipster here. This is how it went.
Me: 'So yeah, do you play any Smiths'
Other bloke: 'sorry?'
'You know The Smiths?'
'Er, no I haven't heard of them'.
'Well okay, you know the singer Morrissey?...'
'No'
'.....'
|
|
|
|
Post by britishlove on Apr 16, 2013 21:11:22 GMT -5
The amount of Americans who know sweet FA about music is unreal. They think they know but they don't. That said, Britain is sadly turning into that these days. Just the other day had a conversation with a guitar playing hipster here. This is how it went. Me: 'So yeah, do you play any Smiths' Other bloke: 'sorry?' 'You know The Smiths?' 'Er, no I haven't heard of them'. 'Well okay, you know the singer Morrissey?...' 'No' '.....' it's all gone to hell in a handbag! i'm too young for this to already be happening! |
|
|
|
Post by mimmihopps on Apr 17, 2013 1:51:56 GMT -5
"I would say it was an island. With spikes on it." ;D
Such a waste of money if you pay so much money for the ticket, yet you don't know anything about music.
However, the same thing will happen to Weller, I guess.
|
|
|
|
Post by Generation Terrorist on Apr 17, 2013 12:07:26 GMT -5
To be fair, the Roses were never that big in America, so I'm not surprised that a few are scratching their heads.
It's no different to when Arcade Fire headlined Reading and Leeds over here a few years back, with a few people saying "who are they?", even though they were always massive in the States.
|
|
|
|
Post by gdforever on Apr 17, 2013 12:38:48 GMT -5
To be fair, the Roses were never that big in America, so I'm not surprised that a few are scratching their heads. It's no different to when Arcade Fire headlined Reading and Leeds over here a few years back, with a few people saying "who are they?", even though they were always massive in the States. But Arcade Fire were up and coming. Booking a nostalgia act about which basically no one in your country has any nostalgia about is a totally different move... We all could have written this article months ago on spec. |
|
|
|
Post by Generation Terrorist on Apr 17, 2013 12:51:31 GMT -5
To be fair, the Roses were never that big in America, so I'm not surprised that a few are scratching their heads. It's no different to when Arcade Fire headlined Reading and Leeds over here a few years back, with a few people saying "who are they?", even though they were always massive in the States. But Arcade Fire were up and coming. Booking a nostalgia act about which basically no one in your country has any nostalgia about is a totally different move... We all could have written this article months ago on spec. That's true. I suppose a better comparison would be if Black Flag reformed and played second down from the headline slot at Glastonbury or Reading, like the Roses did at Coachella. No doubt about it, their reunion would be massive news in America and they'd easily headline Coachella or Lollapalooza, but if that booking was made over here a few people would be confused as to why they'd be given such a high slot. |
|
|
|
Post by gdforever on Apr 17, 2013 13:52:33 GMT -5
But Arcade Fire were up and coming. Booking a nostalgia act about which basically no one in your country has any nostalgia about is a totally different move... We all could have written this article months ago on spec. That's true. I suppose a better comparison would be if Black Flag reformed and played second down from the headline slot at Glastonbury or Reading, like the Roses did at Coachella. No doubt about it, their reunion would be massive news in America and they'd easily headline Coachella or Lollapalooza, but if that booking was made over here a few people would be confused as to why they'd be given such a high slot. It'd be more like them getting THE headline slot at Glasto or Reading IMO The Stones Roses aren`t playing second down from the headline...that`d probably be OK. They are playing the headline slot |
|
|
|
Post by Generation Terrorist on Apr 17, 2013 14:26:04 GMT -5
That's true. I suppose a better comparison would be if Black Flag reformed and played second down from the headline slot at Glastonbury or Reading, like the Roses did at Coachella. No doubt about it, their reunion would be massive news in America and they'd easily headline Coachella or Lollapalooza, but if that booking was made over here a few people would be confused as to why they'd be given such a high slot. It'd be more like them getting THE headline slot at Glasto or Reading IMO The Stones Roses aren`t playing second down from the headline...that`d probably be OK. They are playing the headline slot They were on before Blur this past weekend. Or will it be The Stone Roses headlining this coming weekend, with Blur on before them this time? |
|
|
|
Post by gdforever on Apr 17, 2013 15:00:16 GMT -5
It'd be more like them getting THE headline slot at Glasto or Reading IMO The Stones Roses aren`t playing second down from the headline...that`d probably be OK. They are playing the headline slot They were on before Blur this past weekend. Or will it be The Stone Roses headlining this coming weekend, with Blur on before them this time? Thought it was the other way around. My bad |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2013 17:30:26 GMT -5
i have a bigger problem with a festival not knowing what it's customers want than people not knowing who the stone roses are. As for arcade fire headlining Reading, they had played the festival twice before if more than few people didn't know who they were then I'm surprised as i was at Reading at they had a massive crowed.
|
|
|
|
Post by britishlove on Apr 17, 2013 21:25:40 GMT -5
They were on before Blur this past weekend. Or will it be The Stone Roses headlining this coming weekend, with Blur on before them this time? Thought it was the other way around. My bad Stone Roses and Blur are co-headliners of the festival. Stone Roses were to headline the first weekend, and be swapped for Blur the second weekend...that's how it was always billed. Some of the music rags have tried to make a story out of the Roses being bumped, but that was always the plan. I'm glad I saw them in Scotland, I can't imagine the American crowd... |
|
|
|
Post by Bruno on Apr 17, 2013 22:28:40 GMT -5
i have a bigger problem with a festival not knowing what it's customers want than people not knowing who the stone roses are. As for arcade fire headlining Reading, they had played the festival twice before if more than few people didn't know who they were then I'm surprised as i was at Reading at they had a massive crowed. I agree its the organizers in the end who are at fault. |
|
Teal
Oasis Roadie
Insert status update here.
Posts: 435
|
Post by Teal on Apr 18, 2013 0:04:16 GMT -5
I like the Stone Roses as much as the next person here, but in all honesty, they were never popular in the US and have not released new music in over twenty years. I don't understand why people would pay money to see a band they know nothing about, but at the same time it wasn't shocking to me to hear that their concert didn't turn out as great as they wanted it to. I don't see why they bothered playing here - or why Cochella booked them, I guess you could say - when in the UK they mean alot more and people actually know who they are. But evidently the people attending this are musically ignorant, so I doubt they know any more Blur than Song 2, to be honest.
This kinda makes me wonder which American bands have never popular over in the UK if this situation was reversed today.
|
|
|
|
Post by mimmihopps on Apr 18, 2013 1:44:36 GMT -5
Also every festival has that kind of "risk".
I don't go to huge festivals cos I hate to sleep in a tent.
I always go to small (open air) festivals and show case styled festivals.
I'm a regular for London Calling, been to this indoor show cased festival twice a year past 6 years.
Atmosphere is great and you never know what you discover during 2 nights.
I've been to the Crossing Border festival last year and Eurosonic festival for the first time in January.
Eurosonic was good, but walking around in the city from one venue to an another venue in freezing cold wasn't fun at all.
|
|
|
|
Post by theyknowwhatimean on Mar 13, 2015 12:14:17 GMT -5
The amount of Americans who know sweet FA about music is unreal. They think they know but they don't. That said, Britain is sadly turning into that these days. Just the other day had a conversation with a guitar playing hipster here. This is how it went. Me: 'So yeah, do you play any Smiths' Other bloke: 'sorry?' 'You know The Smiths?' 'Er, no I haven't heard of them'. 'Well okay, you know the singer Morrissey?...' 'No' '.....' Britain is in a complete identity crisis these days. There is no longer any difference between your average Brit and your average American, when it comes to music and culture, and personality. I don't know whether it's solely down to the hold the internet has over all our lives nowadays, or whether there's something else, but it's an utter tragedy. As Morrissey himself said back in 2006: "I think we live in not terribly sophisticated times". Nine years on, and people are taking reel after reel of 'selfies', idolising mentally inept 'reality TV stars', and naming arrogant bell-ends like Kanye West "geniuses". Britain, yet again in times of political turmoil, with the looming prospect of NHS privatisation and further cuts to the poor and the needy, doesn't even have any good music for the working classes to seek refuge in like in previous decades... It's all image-orientated and exists solely to make fat-cat record bosses a few lousy bob. It's all so fucking boring. |
|
.jpg)
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5