10 years has gone so fast...

Do you remember where you were on this day in 2004? I myself was 8 years old and was probably at primary school. For punk rock trio Green Day, this day would be the day that changed the music scene forever, changed their reputation and made them the worldwide rockstars that they are today, as this was the day that political rock opera American Idiot was released.
After the under performance of the band's previous studio album in 2000, Warning, this new album would either be the making of the band or see them slowly fade into history. With a rocky start to the recording process in winter 2003- producer Rob Cavallo explained to Kerrang! magazine that a power outage in the studio had almost set the whole place on fire- things had not started well. The whole recording process took four months and cost over $600,000, and the band and its producers were very apprehensive as to whether this album was the best idea.

American Idiot- the album that changed history

But then the record was released, and this would see the tables completely turn for Green Day. In its first week, American Idiot debuted at the Number One spot in the US, and over time sales easily passed 10 million. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams single stayed on the UK Top 40 for a solid three months, and within a year the band played in front of a combined audience of 110,000 people at the Milton Keynes Bowl for the DVD release of Bullet in a Bible. Green Day were back and had taken the world by storm.
The influence for American Idiot was the political state of America during that time- with President George W. Bush in power and both the US and UK armies fighting a war in Iraq which was based on lies, it was no surprise that the hatred felt for politics was reflected through music. Strangely, however, Green Day would be the first band to actually make a stand and speak out about the political climate.
Each song shows a different stage of the rock opera story, and each one has a different meaning. These songs aren't the kind of songs you can listen to in the background and bob your head to, these are the songs that you scream from the top of your lungs. These are the songs that gave millions of kids a sense of belonging, it gave them the feeling that they're not alone in whatever they're going through, and it gave them hope that everything would get better. The emotional power that each song has and the immense feeling of the whole album is something truly unique and shows just how great a band Green Day are.
Despite this incredible album now being 10 years old, the songs still sound as though they're brand new and haven't aged at all. The album was the heart and soul for the musical of the same name which conquered stages worldwide, and the band have made it plain in many interviews that they would like to see the story told through the album made into a film. The music may be 10 years old, but it's still growing and still has a future far beyond being played on stage.

Where did the music go?

The music scene has evidently changed a lot in recent years, and one main change is that  many people can't now go into their local HMV store to buy their music after the company went into administration and many stores closed down. My local store was one of those chosen to close back in 2013, and since then the music scene here in Ashford has been heading downhill. HMV used to be the place where local bands could advertise their releases and gigs by giving posters to the staff to put up in the windows, but now that HMV has gone and no other shop will do this, many bands aren't coming here. What makes this whole situation worse is that Ashford now doesn't have a music shop- sure, we've got CEX, but that's not the same as going into a music store and browsing through the sealed CDs and vinyls and looking at the list of upcoming events in the town. Since HMV's demise here, it seems as though the live band events in the pubs have slowed down too- the only music events that are worth going to now are the Create Festival in July and the Beer Festival in August, but what about the rest of the year? This is definitely something that needs to change.
Thinking about the music scene as a whole, I've noticed that over the last couple of years that people aren't taking a lot of notice about the music but instead whether a singer has muscles, pretty eyes and tattoos. We're now living in a generation where eye candy means more to people than the music, and that any auto tuned whiny song can be popular if the person who sung it is a heartthrob. Not that long ago it was a completely different story, with pop artists spending months on a song to perfect it and then performing it in front of people without a care in the world for what they looked like. Now is seems that a performer has to stand dead still on stage in case a hair falls out of place if they move and they can't possibly be seen to not be picture perfect. 'Musicians', and I'll use the term very loosely in regards to pop culture, really need to sort their priorities out and start caring for their work and not their appearance, because at the end of the day it's the songs that live forever, not the pretty faces.
So, in an ideal world I'd love to see more being done for the local music scene here in Ashford and there definitely needs to be more support from the government for arts projects to fund the openings of the venues. As with all pop trends, hopefully the 'eye candy > music' situation will soon fizzle out and real musicians with talent and a love for their work will make a comeback into popular culture.

Fall Out Boy's New Single: Centuries

Since the release of their last album in 2013, Save Rock and Roll, and after their last tour finished, Fall Out Boy have been rather quiet. That was until the band posted a confusing Morse code message on their Facebook page and changed all profile pictures to black which sent fans worldwide crazy with anticipation of the band's next move. After leaving these messages for 24 hours, the band then announced that their new single, 'Centuries', would be released on 8/9/14 in the UK and they would also be appearing on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show that evening for the first play of the new track.

'Centuries' single artwork

The surprise announcement and quirky way of doing it definitely made the wait for Monday night worth it, and I know I wasn't the only fan to be eagerly glued to the radio from the start of Zane Lowe's show. Teasing listeners by mentioning that the band's bass player Pete Wentz was also in the studio and by playing previous hit 'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark', Zane Lowe set the internet alight with excited tweets and messages.
Pete Wentz gave the song a brief introduction explaining how the song had come about and what the meaning behind the lyrics were, and then it was played. With my radio on full volume, I hung on to every lyric, every chord and every beat with complete admiration. It's not often that a band can be quiet for so long and then release a song out of the blue that is beyond anything they've released before, but Fall Out Boy certainly achieved it. Angry lyrics and heavy beats make this song incredible, and it is a very interesting taster of what is to come.
With the first play over, hyper listeners persuaded Zane to play the song again, which is a rare thing for him to do and just shows how much this song is already loved.
In interviews with RockSound and Kerrang!, Pete Wentz has also revealed that the new album will be expected in 'early 2015'.
It's safe to say that Fall Out Boy are back with a bang and are better than ever. If you haven't already, you can listen to 'Centuries' here.

Ashford Beer Festival 2014

Described as the 'best event in Ashford', the annual Beer Festival took place at the weekend. After unfortunately missing last year's event, I was extremely excited to go to this one, and even more so after I found out that punk band Electric River were the headlining act. I've been a big fan of the band for the last three years but haven't managed to see them for a while.
As always, the drinks were flowing and the atmosphere was lively. With the occasional person dressed as 'Where's Wally', this was set to be a brilliant night. Being the huge fangirl that I am, as soon as Electric River took to the stage for their sound check I was at the front, and that is where I stayed all evening.

Electric River- taken in between badly singing and headbanging.

The band have recently released their second studio album 'The Faith and Patience', so new hits like 'Hold Your Nerve' and 'In Your Name' were played and loved by the crowd. Covers of 'Ho Hey' by The Lumineers  and 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons saw everyone jumping in time with the band- this is something Electric River have never failed to achieve.
With a quick break and a lot of teasing the audience, the band then went on to play their new single 'Keep The Engine Burning' (an aptly named song seeing as the band have managed to blow up their own tour van twice in the past year) which will be a huge hit for them.
I was also lucky enough to meet the band afterwards (as I seem to do after all of their gigs), and they are so genuine and friendly.
Electric River are embarking on their next tour this month which will see them visit London, Wales and Brighton, as well as many places yet to be announced.
It was an incredible night shared with my fantastic friends with brilliant music- here's to next year's!