Monkiblood Gig.
Tuesday 22 May 2007
Monkiblood Gig.
On the Saturday just gone, I had the pleasure of being a part of an ‘Alternative’ gig; Monkey Blood, at the alley bar. I had heard about this particular band through a friend, who happened to work with three members of the band at a GE credit card debt recovery call centre, who consequently bought me a ticket (at the staggering price of $5) and forced me to come along.
I think this in itself is a key attribute of the indie/alternative subculture. The band exists mostly via its friends and peer base, and less via the means of mainstream marketing commonly associated with those striving to become popular musicians. It is worth noting that this band also has been offered deals with record labels in the past, but had turned them down in favour of maintaining the type of existence they have now. In fact money is not in any way the motive for performing, offering copies of their latest CD for the cost of a gold coin donation, with proceeds going to the steve Irwin foundation at the end of the night.
So what of the audience? Mostly middle class, under 30, with a mix of male and female. Nearly all had a fairly mundane, run of the mill employment, and knew at leats a handful of other audience members. Most of the audience was associated with one or more members of the band, and were frequenting the band’s gigs religiously – possibly more for the element of supporting the band members on a personal level and less because this style of music is what they actually actively seek out and listen to at home.
So what of the band? Style wise, Monkiblood play a mixture of what might be classed as rock-funk fusion (think Rage against the machine meets James Brown; and then they have kids?). All of the band members are male, around 30 and under, and work typical 9-5 jobs.
Community and an enhanced feeling of belonging to the gig is extended to the audience though out the performance, with a continuous reference to the audience as being a part of the ‘tribe’ – a theme which seems key to the differences between mainstream and alternative subcultures.
The biggest thing I have attained from this experience is that Monkiblood supports the idea of alternative music as being a form of escapism. Its interesting to note that the comment I kept hearing from other audience members was that “Paul (the lead singer) is nothing like this at work…”. On their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/monkiblood) in the about blurb is says “… an environment where people from all walks of life can break away from societies’ mould…”
Monkiblood Gig.
On the Saturday just gone, I had the pleasure of being a part of an ‘Alternative’ gig; Monkey Blood, at the alley bar. I had heard about this particular band through a friend, who happened to work with three members of the band at a GE credit card debt recovery call centre, who consequently bought me a ticket (at the staggering price of $5) and forced me to come along.
I think this in itself is a key attribute of the indie/alternative subculture. The band exists mostly via its friends and peer base, and less via the means of mainstream marketing commonly associated with those striving to become popular musicians. It is worth noting that this band also has been offered deals with record labels in the past, but had turned them down in favour of maintaining the type of existence they have now. In fact money is not in any way the motive for performing, offering copies of their latest CD for the cost of a gold coin donation, with proceeds going to the steve Irwin foundation at the end of the night.
So what of the audience? Mostly middle class, under 30, with a mix of male and female. Nearly all had a fairly mundane, run of the mill employment, and knew at leats a handful of other audience members. Most of the audience was associated with one or more members of the band, and were frequenting the band’s gigs religiously – possibly more for the element of supporting the band members on a personal level and less because this style of music is what they actually actively seek out and listen to at home.
So what of the band? Style wise, Monkiblood play a mixture of what might be classed as rock-funk fusion (think Rage against the machine meets James Brown; and then they have kids?). All of the band members are male, around 30 and under, and work typical 9-5 jobs.
Community and an enhanced feeling of belonging to the gig is extended to the audience though out the performance, with a continuous reference to the audience as being a part of the ‘tribe’ – a theme which seems key to the differences between mainstream and alternative subcultures.
The biggest thing I have attained from this experience is that Monkiblood supports the idea of alternative music as being a form of escapism. Its interesting to note that the comment I kept hearing from other audience members was that “Paul (the lead singer) is nothing like this at work…”. On their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/monkiblood) in the about blurb is says “… an environment where people from all walks of life can break away from societies’ mould…”
