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Liam Fray slams classist snobs who criticise northern fans


Alan_C
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The Courteeners‘ Liam Fray has spoken out to slam ‘sneery classist snobs’ who criticise bands’ fanbases and fans from the North.

The ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ four-piece recently announced a huge homecoming gig at Manchester’s Emirates Old Trafford LCCC. The venue has a capacity of 50,000 – and frontman Liam Fray spoke out in defence of his fans against anyone who might take aim at them.

“If you’re in a band right, you’re there to be shot at, it doesn’t matter what sort of music you do,” Fray told NME. “I don’t think it’s necessarily right to do this, but reviewers and critics – that’s their job, I don’t mind. But when people start having a go at people’s fanbase, writing off people’s fanbases, and you can feel this kind of sneery classist undertone and that’s not okay, that’s really, really uncool. Snobs”

He continued: “Whether it’s Catfishes’ fans or our fans or whoever, and people kind of think because ‘Oh, you’re only really big up North and they’re fucking monkeys who don’t understand anything, you don’t understand what you’re talking about’. Like give me a break, people start to look foolish when they do that. It’s a dangerous game to play, because you start writing off whole swathes of the country.

 

“Telling the people up North that their opinions don’t matter as much or their taste is not as valid or not as important to them, and they’re like not as important because of where people live, I’ve never heard something so ridiculous. It really does anger me. It just seems absurd.”


Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/music/courteeners-liam-fray-slams-classist-snobs-criticise-northern-fans-1796474#fzVkfuGuUCp1SjqU.99

Is there anything in this then? :lol: He sounds rather upset. I think there is a stigma attached to some fanbases, but I wouldn't really say it's directed from southern people to northern bands specifically. I have had the debate on here before when Oasis were rumoured for Glastonbury and people on here were moaning that the festival will end up full of bald middle aged lager louts. 

The thing is, I know quite a lot of people who are very casual music fans, and they are into The Courteeners, Catfish and The Enemy. If they go to 5 gigs a year,  then them 3 would be in amongst the 5. I don't understand it.

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It's not a location thing though is it? I think they're shite and I'm from even further North than his band. I agree on the point of a classist undertone about some fanbases. Maybe he is getting confused because his band in particular seem to have a particularly northern fanbase. 

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13 minutes ago, Alan_C said:

It's not a location thing though is it? I think they're shite and I'm from even further North than his band. I agree on the point of a classist undertone about some fanbases. Maybe he is getting confused because his band in particular seem to have a particularly northern fanbase. 

Yeah and also I guess because Oasis and the Stone Roses get the same flak about their fans and are from Greater Manchester as well. I dunno, he's probably onto something but generalised it a bit too much.

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I spent hours in a local dive outside of the Etihad before Roses in June, and you have never seen so many 'northern monkeys'. They were fucking lovely as well, I've never spoke to so many random people in a pub in my life.

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Northern fans on the whole seem to enjoy ourselves more, but there are generally a fair few nasty dickheads at gigs up here, that Ive never had in London when Ive been out there.

Ive had that experience clubbing too in London. When I compare WHP, Gatecrasher or Leeds events to Ministry and the Egg in london, the same rules seem to apply. 

It is a generalisation as Ive had dickhead free events up here and Im sure you get them down south, it is just my experience.

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There is a "snobbishness" that is evident whenever music is discussed. And in my youth I was as guilty of it as the next Northern Monkey. Us "serious music fans" sneered at "Disco" and latterly "Dance" and, and...

You get the drift.

One of my finest epiphanies was Chic on West Holts,yup I was a snob for far too long.

It's been done already in this thread.

1 hour ago, Alan_C said:

I think they're shite and I'm from even further North than his band.

(Sorry Alan, just the fist quotable example I came across)

Any time you describe a band as "shite" rather than more truthfully stating "I don't like them" you are exhibiting snobbery (occasionally inverted snobbery, but still snobbery)

1 hour ago, Mash011 said:

plenty of people up North who like good music as well

What Mash meant is "like the same music as me"...

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I don't like the Courteeners, but they are also shite. However I'm so damn southern I can see the channel from my front room (if I get on my tiptoes a bit) and I'd dislike them every bit as much if they were from Plymouth or the Channel Islands or wherever is further south than me. 

 

I also really like gravy on my chips, and Thornbridge are absolute brewery heroes, you'll not get any anti-northern sentiment from me 

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Isn't it to be expected about wherever a band is from?

If a band (and normally not big bands) comes from Manchester or Chelmsford or Bristol or wherever, people from that local area are going to be more in to them, no matter how good or shit they are, so naturally along with that they're going to attract the normal stereotypes of said area.
 

Oasis fans have a stereotype attached to them 'cos their local fan base is so much stronger and more likely to exhibit traits from that area, just like fans of Blur are more 'southern' or whatever.

I don't know the bloke but he sounds a bit bitter to me

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He obviously gets upset by a few things, he was near us watching a band at Sound control before his set later in the day at Neighbourhood Festival and you should have seen the look of disgust he was giving these girls in front of him doing duck selfies  :D tbf it was before the banded started but he wasn't impressed LOL 

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As someone who grew up in Yorkshire and has lived in London for 13 years I think both the original comments and a lot of what's been said in this thread is just perpetuating stereotype that aren't really helpful. I think deferentiating working class and middle class is problematic in itself but the 'north' and London are both have very heterogeneous populations London still has huge amounts of what you could define as working class people (the ) and I'd say parts of the north are can be very exclusively middle class (and I'm not just talking about the obvious places). 

I'd say in terms of music some of the observation are in part down to cultural and ethnic differences between London and the north.  My experience is that indie/rock/guitar muisic is popular amongst those of what we are referring to as the working classes whereas  'working class' Londoners tend to be more interested in other forms of music such as grime, garage, dancehall hip hop. 

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