Back to index of Nerve 8 - Spring 2006

It is seemingly impossible to talk about the Liverpool music scene without mentioning The Beatles in the first breath. They undoubtedly put Merseyside firmly on the musical map, with a little help from Gerry and The Pacemakers and The Merseybeats amongst others. But how long can a city live on legends alone?

Liverpool: Beyond the Beatles?

By Helen Grey

There has been a recent resurgence in good bands emerging from the area - such as the Coral and The Zutons - but this seems to have done little to revive a struggling music scene. This once passionate musical city feels tired and stagnant. John Biddle from Wirral band The Seal Cub Clubbing Club says the problem is a combination of apathy and generic local groups. "As with all cities, a great number of people in close proximity lead to a great cultural diversity.

“Liverpool's albatross is its desire to cling onto the musical legacy of The Beatles and the abundance of derivative post-Oasis post-Coral local bands doesn't help matters either. Living in Leeds for two years it's also very apparent how the younger populations of other cities are much more willing to attend gigs regularly, a fact backed up by our recent UK tour - Liverpool had by far the smallest, least responsive crowd, even though it's our home city."

So can the problems be laid at the feet of the gig-goers? It does appear that people are much less willing to attend gigs where they are unfamiliar with the bands playing. Then begins a vicious circle. The general public don't want to take any chances on a gig, which then forces the venues to book those who they see as musically safe bands. New bands are encouraged to produce formulaic music that has already been done. Dave Perry - member of the Wirral band The Laze and co-founder of the rock night 'Valhalla' - says, "General attendances in Liverpool have always been low since I can remember. There is a complacency and laziness that prevails with a city that has seen it all and will again. Liverpool oozes music; everyone is in a band or has a brother, boyfriend, girlfriend, dad or dog in a band. It isn't necessarily exciting anymore, it's a way of life."

The focus of the city seems to have shifted from the creation of outstanding music to the creation of a string of bars teeming with scantily dressed women drinking as much as possible. Andy Rostron - another member of The Seal Cub Clubbing Club - is equally distressed about the situation. "Walking around Liverpool city centre on a Friday or Saturday night will tell you all you need to know about the focus of the city's nightlife, and it's not music. Symptomatic of a national trend of declining culture, many people's idea of a good time out in Liverpool is drinking to excess and dancing in venues where the music is irrelevant, except for its presence."

It is not simply the fault of people not knowing what good music really is. Though this is a problem, the music media also has a massive part to play. Instead of reporting on the bands that are popular, new and different, the music media tells the populace what is popular and who they should be listening to. They have changed from being the vehicle on which news spreads to the makers and breakers of bands. This is partly because music has become a fashion. And like any fashion, people want to be involved with the hottest new thing, often without giving any real time to listening and making up their own minds.

But not all is lost. There is a small but committed group of people who are keeping the city's music scene alive; you just need to know where to look for it. Gigs run at the Barfly and the Union give a limited number of larger bands exposure to Liverpool, and smaller venues such as Korova on Fleet Street and The Zanzibar continually give a platform to struggling local bands. However, Dave Perry puts the success of his 'Valhalla' rock night down to those on the other side of the water. "Its establishment is all down to the legions of rock lovers from the Wirral not Liverpool. It was the amazing audiences - that have regularly reached capacity - which allowed us to keep doing Valhalla and booking quality acts. I've found that as much flyering as I do in Liverpool itself, the returns are limited to a few adventurous types. Perhaps 10% of the Valhalla crowd are actually from Liverpool."

It's not without hope; there are plenty of people ploughing their own particular furrows, quietly getting on with the business of listening to and making great music. Let's just hope they don't do it too quietly.