Turn up - rock out!

author BV date 29/03/15

Rock is dead. A rather bold and cliché-fuelled statement often used vigorously by those who remain convinced that the golden age of rock music has long since collapsed upon itself, leaving everything to be desired while accessible ‘mainstream’ pop continues to devour our minds, souls and ears. That, however, is not an entirely accurate depiction of the current circumstances, if you ask me. Via the constant bombardment of new material by lesser-known bands, world-famous bands and ambitious newcomers altogether, it becomes increasingly more difficult to tell what is actually worth a listen – thus feeding the long-standing viewpoint that nothing exciting seems to be happening in rock music. If you are a regular reader of this site, I assume you are relatively well-versed in seeking out new music and appreciating that new bands are still experimenting, creating and performing new music. You will also be familiar with the fact that we often find ourselves engaged in directing attention towards exciting initiatives in the Danish musical underground – like you’ll find me doing for the remainder of this article.

disclaimer: blatant ranting and promotion ahead

TURNOUTS AND MARKETING

It’s no secret that it can be extremely difficult to get a decent turnout for a show. As noted by our Editor-in-Chief and many others with a musical interest, the turnout for the farewell show of The Psyke Project was remarkable – and remarkably morbid, in a sense, as it seemed strange that so many people would turn up to show their support at the end of the line, whilst the band (like many other great and not-so-great bands) would often have trouble getting a decent turnout. There are, from my viewpoint, a few reasons for this ‘lacking’ display of support. Reason number one takes us back to my initial argument that there is simply so much on offer as of now, that the audience is essentially divided between a rather grand selection of shows – one glance over my own calendar certainly hints at a series of compromises to be made in the near future. Another reason is, of course, the financial one where shows quite naturally cost money. It’s often not a ridiculous amount of money for the smaller shows but if you aren’t in financially favorable situation, more than a few gigs a month can also be a true pain in the ass to a tight budget. Lastly, there is the reason I sincerely hope is not all that common; pure laziness and a lack of interest in the musical scenes altogether.

When facing reasons like these, it is with great pleasure that I see more and more bands making use of alternative marketing strategies, freebie-events and generally unorthodox ways of going about the attention-grabbing game that live shows are. For a recent example one doesn’t need to look further than Siamese’s recent release party. So what exactly is my point with this? Well, my point can be narrowed down to the idea that attention doesn’t come easy these days – you’ve got to work hard and consistently for it and even if you do, it sure as hell doesn’t seem like a guarantee anyway.

BITE THE BULLET AT BREMEN

Earlier in my rant, I mentioned how we at Rockfreaks.net often find ourselves engaged in promoting shows, bands and events we feel should not be overlooked. In this context, I’d like to present to you; Bite the Bullet. Whilst Bite the Bullet, and the musicians behind the project, certainly aren’t newcomers on the music scene they too have struggled with the turnouts when doing shows around various parts of Denmark.

Having seen the band live a few times myself, I can vouch for their intensity, presence and musical allure in the live setting - both when faced with quite large crowds, as well as barely present crowds. Currently touring in support of Go Go Berlin, the band saw a chance to create a an event that would garner them a crowd fitting for a proper rock ‘n’ roll blowout of a party – promptly booking Bremen Teater to secure the settings for what the band calls their first headlining Copenhagen gig in nearly two years - which is where we at Rockfreaks.net come into play. When approached with the idea, it did not take long for me or my colleague Aleksi ‘AP’ Pertola to decide that we wanted to be involved in one way or another – leading to a joint-venture. When asked about the band’s motivation for the event, Paw Eriksen offered up the following response:

"We know that there is an audience for genuine rock ‘n’ roll in Copenhagen and we simply want to provide with a proper blowout of a concert experience. It’s been nearly two years since we played a Copenhagen gig as a full band, and in the meantime we’ve expanded our repertoire greatly and our interplay and musicianship has never been tighter due to our extensive touring of the various German venues. In other words we simply want to invite everyone to have a party, let their hair out and have a blast!"

With that, there is little left to say than for me to urge all of you to come by, have a blast and listen to some great rock music performed live. See you there?

EVENT DETAILS

* Location: Bremen Teater

* Entrance fee: FREE!

* Time and date: April 11th 2015 with doors opening at 20:00.

* Live performance by Bite the Bullet

* DJ sets by DJ Røgsky and DJ Minderbinder (BV & AP from Rockfreaks.net)

* Plus more cool stuff to be announced

* More event details here.

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