Get off your backsides and dance
Nathan Carter
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Voices
Rock 'n' roll has definitely changed since its roots.
If you ever have the time, try watching videos of old performances of Jimi Hendrix, The Doors or The Beatles (or whoever else you might fancy). Watch the crowds. You will notice a phenomenon that you don't see at live shows anymore. People dancing.
Yes, people, rock 'n' roll used to be dance music. It's not that farfetched in all actuality, but the concept is absent in today's music community.
I went to Austin, Texas, for the Halloween weekend and saw a band play that sounded a bit like The Doors. Though lacking an organ, they had a similar groove and their vocalist reminded me of Jim Morrison. I saw this as an opportunity to dance like the hippies and tried to encourage others to join me. Most of them just looked at me like I was crazy and went back to watching the band play with their hands in their pockets.
This saddened me. The venue was a chance to be free from judgment and the confines of society and these people were acting like they were in a cage with "The Man's" watchful eye still on them.
Rock 'n' roll used to be a vehicle to freedom and has now become a plastic, guitar-shaped shackle with five colorful buttons. Real music lovers, I say cry (pacifistic) war!
We must reclaim the music of our ancestors and the spirit of rock 'n' roll. Move to the music; let the spirit move through you. The music is supposed to be freedom.
It is supposed to be part of the counter culture, not the mainstream.
So what do we do? How will we reclaim our beloved music?
We act like the founders. We study their ways and tap into the vein of what the music was and what it was meant to be. Then we mimic what they did and reject the corporate enslavement of the rock 'n' roll culture.
As for the mainstream, forget about them. Their ways are not the true spirit of rock 'n' roll. Break away and declare your independence. The rest of the music world can just deal with it.
They have been warned.
If you ever have the time, try watching videos of old performances of Jimi Hendrix, The Doors or The Beatles (or whoever else you might fancy). Watch the crowds. You will notice a phenomenon that you don't see at live shows anymore. People dancing.
Yes, people, rock 'n' roll used to be dance music. It's not that farfetched in all actuality, but the concept is absent in today's music community.
I went to Austin, Texas, for the Halloween weekend and saw a band play that sounded a bit like The Doors. Though lacking an organ, they had a similar groove and their vocalist reminded me of Jim Morrison. I saw this as an opportunity to dance like the hippies and tried to encourage others to join me. Most of them just looked at me like I was crazy and went back to watching the band play with their hands in their pockets.
This saddened me. The venue was a chance to be free from judgment and the confines of society and these people were acting like they were in a cage with "The Man's" watchful eye still on them.
Rock 'n' roll used to be a vehicle to freedom and has now become a plastic, guitar-shaped shackle with five colorful buttons. Real music lovers, I say cry (pacifistic) war!
We must reclaim the music of our ancestors and the spirit of rock 'n' roll. Move to the music; let the spirit move through you. The music is supposed to be freedom.
It is supposed to be part of the counter culture, not the mainstream.
So what do we do? How will we reclaim our beloved music?
We act like the founders. We study their ways and tap into the vein of what the music was and what it was meant to be. Then we mimic what they did and reject the corporate enslavement of the rock 'n' roll culture.
As for the mainstream, forget about them. Their ways are not the true spirit of rock 'n' roll. Break away and declare your independence. The rest of the music world can just deal with it.
They have been warned.
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