As I stood gently 'head-banging' in the Aviva last week I couldn't help think this was a golden time to be a music fan.
Yes I was at AC/DC with the other 'Dad-Rockers' and lots of others too; everyone from reluctant young hipsters and middle -aged business men to lots of serious heavy metal men and women.
Rock ure ass's off. We are at ACDC 🎸💣🎼🎧🎤 pic.twitter.com/OMBC1ozukF
— Bobby Kerr (@bobbykerr) July 1, 2015
As you may have heard it was a great gig. And it was just another in a line of great gigs that I've been to in the last 18 months; from Billy Joel in the then O2 to the Foo Fighters in Slane.
We've been hearing for years now how the music business is 'going down the toilet' because of illegal downloading and music 'streaming'. Up and coming musicians make damn all from their albums, and even the dinosaurs like the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen make a fraction of what they us to. But the upshot of these diminishing returns is that music has moved back to the 'live' arena. The whole way to really make the big bucks now is to take the show on the road. And it's music fans like me who are the winners.
Would AC/DC still be loading up the touring van if their albums were still selling millions every year? Maybe they would but nonetheless a quick scan of gig listings in any newspaper shows just how many bands are on the run and on the road. The digital age has driven them back on stage and Hallelujah I say.
And it's not just the 'legacy' acts that are gigging again; you can't really be a pop or rock star nowadays for any length of time without be able to cut it live.
My own daughters are going to see Ed Sheeran in Croke Park at the end of the month. Although the flame haired troubadour isn't really my bag he nonetheless has what musicians call 'chops'. My second youngest recently showed me a gig he recorded for VH1 at Whelans in Dublin and as Mark Knopfler once sang 'yeah the boy can play'.
Anyone hoping to make it in the music business nowadays has to be able to do it live; just look at Ireland's youngest music phenomena 'The Styrpes' who I’m going to see in September. Even at this young age they're already well on the way to mastering the live performance.
It has long been predicted that 'pop will eat itself'. It seems that now that’s happened. The music scene is now the antithesis of Milli Vanilli.
At the recent Glastonbury festival Lionel Richie was praised for the magic he brought to that mucky field, but if 'Hello' was still making him millions every year he'd probably he holed up in some California mansion counting his gold records.
Ironically enough Richie has now stormed to the top of the UK Album chart following his set at Glastonbury. ‘Lionel Richie & the Commodores, the Definitive Collection’ took the top spot this week; his first number 1 album in the UK for 23 years.
At the same time the music business is starting to settle a little bit. Spotify alone had 15 million paying customers last year. On average most users pay around €10 a month. You do the maths - there's still plenty of cash out there.
It may not be the same amount of cash as the like likes of Michael Jackson made for Thriller but it's enough to sustain an industry - but musicians will have to subsidise whatever they make through sales with playing live.
So if it's been a while since you've been to gig, I strongly advise to go out into the open air of a stadium this summer or stroll into some darker smaller but equally thrilling venue like Vicar Street or Cyprus Avenue.
Even if you're fifty something rocker you're not going to be out of place at Taylor Swift, Hudson Taylor or Ed Sheeran.
Everybody's welcome in the new era of live music where musicians are happy to play for you now more than ever.
