I've written before about nostalgia in music. some might call it 'heritage'. In shorthand, for me, it signifies an inability or a desire not to move on. It sits with views such as 'things were so much better before' and in the case of music 'there is no music worth listening to now'. I don't subscribe to these views.
Sure I listen to music that was made decades ago and enjoy it. I also like to re-evaluate music from my past. While it can give you a warm glow and rekindle memories it is best in my view not to get caught up in a web that devalues what is going on now. There is plenty happening now that is fresh and new and worth listening to.
It is not all about the absolute new. There are bands who have been around for a while and have kept putting out new material, never relying on greatest hits to get people to come and see them.
On Friday I went to see the Nightingales play live, a band that has its roots in the post punk world that shaped my musical choices. Mysteriously I never really listened to them at the time and only discovered them a few years ago - live on the recommendation of a friend. With only lead singer Robert Lloyd remaining from the original line-up this is a band that has astutely avoided the mainstream but managed to keep evolving and making relevant new music. I've seen them three times and the sets are always fresh and full of new material played with with a considerable intensity and brio that would put many bands to shame both old and new. There is something vital about their shows. The current line-up has been stable for a number of years now and produce a powerful live show that is a must see. There is no hint of nostalgia, the songs on Friday night bleed into each other creating a wonderful cascade of sounds and words.
Supporting them were the Blue Orchids. Again a band that has a track record date back to the same post punk roots and led again the one surviving member of the original line-up in Martin Bramah an original member of the Fall (another band that had no time for nostalgia). I'd seen the Blue Orchids a few years back supporting the Nightingales and remembered them more clearly. Like the Nightingales they have kept going producing music and touring. This was a new line-up to me and a combination of the new energy in the band, which includes Tansy McNally on lead electric ukulele (yes really), and the power of Bramah's new songs (they are touring new album 'Speed the Day') delivered a set brimming with vitality that left the crowd cheering.
From these two bands that could rest on their heritage and nostalgia there is a clear lesson - vitality beats nostalgia. Keep it contemporary.
Shout out too to the strange and wonderful Kamura Obscura who opened the night with a series of electronic soundscapes that were at times psychedelically chilling, other times dancy. A kaleidoscope.
https://uknightingales.bandcamp.com/
