Rant about the state of music in London

Bands I like include ....

Metallica, Soundgarden, EMF, Faith No More, Lightning Seeds, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sisters of Mercy, Bush, The Stone Roses, Sugar, The Stranglers, Prodigy, Teenage Fanclub, James, Eve6, Offspring, Manic Street Preachers, Dodgy, Rocket from the Crypt, Gun, Oasis, Shampoo, INXS, Carter Usm, Wonder Stuff, Foo Fighters, Shed Seven Bob Mould, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Wildhearts, Terrorvision, Greenday, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette etc. there's lots more, but you get the general idea.

My Rant

People who like these bands and this type of music are severely under-catered for in South London. All the pubs and clubs seem to play the same bland house/garage stuff and despite the popularity of rock/indie music it's rarely heard on the T.V / radio (the wondrous XFM excepted). Instead we are bombarded with a constant flow of dance-orientated dross everywhere. I would like to be able to go out and have a reasonable choice of pubs and clubs that play this kind of stuff but there's nothing out there. I can't understand it. It's not like there's not a demand for it. Instead all the pubs have Simply Fucking Red, All Saints and Eternal on the jukebox and all seem exactly the same. Like the epsilons who frequent these places, drink whatever bottled beer is trendy this month and wear exactly the same fucking clothes from the latest 'name brand' regardless of the fact that they look fucking ridiculous. It would seem that North London is a little bit better in this respect, but sorry, Camden is a bit out of the way for the 50% of Londoners from South of the river.

Radio

London is home to Capital Radio which as well as being responsible for a repetetive playlist of stinking shite, has provided a breeding ground for some of the slimiest pieces of human refuse ever to be called D.J.'s. Several of these repulsive and repugnant character's are now better known on a national scale thanks to television. These include Pat Sharp (he of the tragic haircut), Mick Brown and "Dr" Fox . What exactly are you a doctor in, Mr Fox. Being a prize tosser, presumably. And rather fat. Capital Radio claims to be "Hot-Rocking". I don't think so. They proudly play their "Hot-Rocking" jingle whenever another scorching rock track is played (i.e. once a day when they've played someone as radical as Bryan Adams,Bon Jovi or those hardcore death metal maniacs INXS !!) Then they go back to playing rotting piss for the rest of the day Things are getting a little bit better as XFM have finally been granted a licence and now broadcast on 104.9 FM in the London area. However, its been bought by Capital and I can't help but worry about what they might be planning to do with it. Its already gone very playlisty and is starting to mirror Crapital with it liking for playing recordings of listeners singing its praises on air and such like. But at least for now an outlet for this sort of music & stuff which is great. Lets hope the people who have the influence take note (as if...).

Clubs

Most clubs are the same, although to be fair, some clubs in central London do have an "alternative" or "indie/britpop" night when more bearable tunes may be heard. But it's usually on a Monday night or something like that. Its not only students that like this stuff you know - some of us have to work the next day. Cor, thanks alot. Other towns and cities around the country have major rock clubs at the weekends (The Mayfair in Newcastle,Rock City in Nottingham) and they're always packed. Think what the demand is in a place like London !! Best places I've been able to check out so far are "Gigantic" which has run out of places to be staged and The Venue in New Cross (God bless that place)

Pubs

There is a pub in Charing Cross Road called The Royal George . It used to be a pretty good place - decent music, decent people etc. They closed it for refurbishment and when it reopened it was exactly the same as all the other pubs around there - bland and characterless. Why did they do that? It was one of the few places you could have a decent drink in the West End and listen to some quality music and because of that people who liked it made a point of going there. Now it's like all the other Beefeater's and Berni Inns. The owners seem to have targetted the people who already have the choice of just about every other pub in London! Even the legendary Marquee has been closed to build another one of these bastard places - a bloody Wetherspoons pub will soon be there. Only The Intrepid Fox remains, and I pray that there are no dastardly plans afoot to turn it into another Fun Pub Disco Wine Bar Bistro Ponce Club Cocktail Carvery !!

A Final Plea

If you know of anywhere to go in London that you think I might like, for Christ's sake, let me know about it because I'm going mad. Am I the only one? If I hear 'Return Of The Mack' one more time I won't be held responsible for my actions.

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