You might not think it, but everything has an upside – even a recession. Consider all the fantastic music Ireland used to produce when the economy was down the crapper – bands like Thin Lizzy and U2 were very much children of the bad old era of mass emigration and double-digit unemployment.
Back in those days, students really mattered too. For any band hoping to make a living from playing live, a big campus following was essential. Indeed, the best way to come to the attention of a record label was by demonstrating your commercial mettle on the college circuit – as both Thin Lizzy and U2 proved.
Also, live music was so much more affordable in those days. In Hungary – which is a bit like Ireland in the ’80s right now – you can enjoy the Sziget festival at just €150 for a week-long ticket that enables you to see dozens of gigs. It’s no local folk-fest either: headliners this year included REM, MGMT, Alanis Morissette, The Kooks, The Killers and Iron Maiden. Beat that for a bargain! The bottom line is that if the recession bites hard enough, ticket prices are likely to come down. And that’ll suit students no end!
There’s also overwhelming evidence that recessions are the perfect breeding ground for era-defining music. Wasn’t it in the depths of the 1980s that Dublin became known as the city of a thousand bands? When there were no jobs, even for graduates – indeed especially for graduates – music represented a possible way out, and bands were formed (and on occasion performed) like there was no tomorrow. A lot of bad music ensued – but a lot of good music did too! In drab ’80s Ireland, there was an explosion of innovative acts: A-House, Microdisney, Something Happens, The Golden Horde, The Blades, Cactus World News, Stump, (early) Whipping Boy, The Fat Lady Sings etc. Some of them had even been to college.
Further afield, is it any coincidence than many of Britain’s finest acts hailed from the grim north of England: The Smiths, Joy Division, The Fall etc? We think not.
Good music thrives in a recession. And students? Well, they have nearly as much as any fella on the dole. This recession could be fun, after all!