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Liam Fray slams classist snobs who criticise northern fans


Alan_C
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18 hours ago, eastynh said:

I will be interested to experience the atmosphere with the Roses at Wembley in comparison to their gigs up here.

If it's anything like Finsbury, a large number of people (maybe even half) come down from Manchester anyway for the show. I would anticipate the same for Wembley. 

To me it's a London specific issue rather than the south in general. I've been to gigs in Oxford and Guilford and the crowds are no different to the gigs I've been to in Manchester. The clothing choices of the audience is the only differentiator. 

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10 hours ago, pehaw said:

You mean a bun - you freak.

Hooky? Really?

I for one really fucking hate London. I am not exactly sure why that is. Most Londoners that I have met have been sound.

 

Re Fray and his band - I don't like their stuff, lets get that out of the way. In general I think they get a bit of stick based on their songs (or lack of), their fan-base and Fray's often large gob (which is probably what gets most people's goat). 

There does seem to me a number of bands that suffer from a similar vitriol towards their fan-base as previously mentioned. Mondays, Roses, Oasis, The Verve etc. I'm not sure that all of them are exclusively Northern though. Madness probably fall into a similar pot - although maybe their lovable cock-er-ney shenanigans buys them a bit of slack from the media intelligentsia.

Interesting that the Charlatans seem to escape this a bit. Associated with the Manchester scene (but originating mainly elsewhere) have Tim's eccentricities and Warholian hair allowed them to slip under the radar? Or are they just nice? No attitude.

Maybe that is the key to it? A Northern Attitude. Liam Fray, Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft, Ian Brown. All have a mouth on them. 'Know thy place Northern boy'.

Coldplay and their fans are just as hated as those bands you mention I'd say, more so in some cases. Called bedwetters etc.

It's definitely a class thing rather than a regional thing. 

Edited by russycarps
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9 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

That's the first time it's ever occurred to me that there's such a thing as a "Madness Fan". Aren't they just that cheerful singles band from the 80's everyone quite likes that aren't as cool as The Specials? I've certainly never thought of "Madness fans" as being an identifiable group. I suppose there must be die hard fans of them, but I'm more aware of Bay City Rollers fans or   Dan Brown fans than Madness fans.

Not necessarily Madness fans pure and simple, but there's a reasonably large contingent aged skinheads (and, now, their offspring) who tend to show up at their gigs - and that are also present at anything vaguely 2 Tone, Oi! or ska related.

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I think ultimately if your appeal is very specifically towards a certain demographic and this is very obviously reflected in the people that attend your gigs, it's reasonable to use that as a comment on the music you make. The Pigeon Detectives were derided in most of the country (quite rightly) but they'd always play pretty big gigs in Leeds. To an extent most bands have a demographic they appeal to, but either that demographic is a very broad one or they can transcend that and still appeal to people outside of it. 

Of course people can twist this into a classist argument, but even as someone who grew up in Lancashire and currently lives in Manchester, I do partly judge bands like the Courteneers for having a fan base which is so concentrated on one part of the country. It does partly mean they're not capable of writing songs that can have a broader appeal. 

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22 hours ago, kingcrawler said:

I like the Courteeners more than most on here but even I'm not into the new album at all. I think The 17th is great and there's a couple of other songs that are decent enough but the rest is just so poor. Comfortably their worst album for me. My favourite bit is the spoken word bit in Modern Love which I think is meant to come across as a kind of Jarvis Cocker style moment but just comes across horribly.

That 'De La Salle' I think it's called has some of the worst lyrics ever penned in it.

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12 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Not necessarily Madness fans pure and simple, but there's a reasonably large contingent aged skinheads (and, now, their offspring) who tend to show up at their gigs - and that are also present at anything vaguely 2 Tone, Oi! or ska related.

These folks also do all they can to keep the wolf away from the Fred Perry estate's door.

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I was born and partly brought up in Carlisle, parents from Maryport and Liverpool, moved to Hampshire, partly brought up there, got myself a suvvern accent, spent two formative years living in the U S of A, uni in London, now live in Berkshire married to a half Dutch wife.

Am I still allowed to like Grandaddy? Help, etc. 

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6 minutes ago, fur_q said:

Must be a bastard trying to fit that into the town box when filling out  forms 

I just headbut the keyboard, leave my head there for a moment and claim it's written in Dutch. 

I mean, who the fuck would know (apart from the Dutch)?

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1 hour ago, LondonTom said:

Yeah but air cushioned sole's are rather comfy tbf

I once went around Glastonbury in a new pair of Dr. Marten's finest footwear. All started well, but it soon went in to decline. The boots started hurting my feet a little. And then a lot. And then, for reasons which elude me, they fucking announced war on me. When I walked in to the festival I had the gait of a man confident in his own skin ( or boots even). By the Sunday afternoon I was walking around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame - but slower, much slower - I just couldn't move that fast or very far because of the pain. So, come the revolution, Dr. Marten is mine to do with as I will. I will do only one thing, in that I'll ask him a question. I think that I really have earned the right to chastise him a little, so I'll just ask him if he's got any more bright ideas.

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On 10/29/2016 at 11:08 PM, pehaw said:

You mean a bun - you freak.

Hooky? Really?

I for one really fucking hate London. I am not exactly sure why that is. Most Londoners that I have met have been sound.

 

Interesting that the Charlatans seem to escape this a bit. Or are they just nice? No attitude.

Funnily enough, The Charlatans are literally the only band I can think of off the top of my head that have a member who has gone down for his part in an armed robbery (albeit, he was the getaway driver!).

Edited by Homer
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9 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I once went around Glastonbury in a new pair of Dr. Marten's finest footwear....

Big mistake. Dr Martens shouldn't be depended on until they are worn in properly. Lots of short 'wears' , double socks etc. Once they are worn in though ... perfect. They are like slippers after a day in wellington boots.

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7 minutes ago, ClementsMike said:

Big mistake. Dr Martens shouldn't be depended on until they are worn in properly. Lots of short 'wears' , double socks etc. Once they are worn in though ... perfect. They are like slippers after a day in wellington boots.

What can I say - I was young and naive. Now I'm just old and gormless. Where's the middle ground I hear you all cry.

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On 28/10/2016 at 5:35 PM, Alan_C said:

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.

I know very little about where a lot of bands I like started locality wise, neither do I care......itd be a silly attitude anyway what if youve got a band with members from all over the place?

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3 minutes ago, waterfalls212434 said:

I know very little about where a lot of bands I like started locality wise, neither do I care......itd be a silly attitude anyway what if youve got a band with members from all over the place?

Same here. I find it really odd that someone would like a band just because of where they come from. Makes no sense to me at all.

I understand it when it comes to football, because it's a tribal thing. But then again, half the idiots who like football dont even support the team where they are from. What is that all about?? 

Edited by russycarps
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I've worked gigs/ festivals all over the country, I've worked everything from Andre Rieu to Slipkot and everything in between and there is a difference in fans and atmospheres at events, and there is a big difference in the following of Courteeners (saying that as that's what the OP was about) I've worked them a few times and a Manchester gig for them is mayhem, the company I work for will be at the LCCC gig and have worked them at heaton park and  we know the band and what to expect, but a courteeners gig is different down south.

 

i think there is a difference in regions when acts tour and fans are looked on differently.... But Coldplay fans are strange no matter where they are in the country 

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I, like many Southerners like many Northern bands, however, i like most Southerners think that the Courteeners are bad.

I think  the reason that they are more popular in the North is that they are more relatable to Northerners, rather than anything classist, if it were to do with people being classist then how can you explain the rise in popularity of Grime across the entire country?

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