Let’s Rock Exeter RIP

Yet another festival bites the dust. This time it’s a local one to us, Let’s Rock Exeter, which has been held at Powderham Castle for the past decade or so. We’d been to the last seven and saw some great acts but the last couple of years it was clear that the organisers were struggling. Fewer bands, higher ticket prices, outrageous prices at the bar (which also went cashless…a bit of a problem for me as I only use cash) and far too much ‘filler’…a two-hour DJ ‘battle’ ain’t entertainment in my book…and ever more stupid rules about what you could bring in to the site, all took the shine off the day. With independent venues all struggling to survive too the future of the live music scene looks pretty dire right now, unless you’re Taylor Swift and her ilk who’ll no doubt carry on playing bigger and bigger stadiums until, eventually, the whole of Manchester will just be one bloody massive arena. What’s the cause of it all? Rising costs, endless spools of red tape, a lack of enough truly great new bands, far too many ‘channels’ diluting the audience (meaning that fewer people get to know about the acts that really matter, think back to when there were just a few TV and radio stations, even your gran will have known who Joy Division were…maybe) and, quite possibly, a growing number of people who simply can’t be bothered to get off their wobbly arses to go to anything anymore. What’s the answer? There isn’t one. Get out and watch stuff while you still can, otherwise before long most of what’s left of the live music scene will be as dead as variety theatre. What’s that I hear you say? Exactly.

PS: Just a final thought. How do The Levellers make Beautiful Days viable every year? No sponsorship, no corporate bullshit, proper cider at £5.50 a pint, decent bands, clean(ish) toilets…and you can take your own food and booze in too. Surprise, surprise, it sells out every year as well. Other festival organisers take note.