By Si Hawkins
Remember the excitement of your first ever concert? Getting there early, watching every act on the bill with the same wide-eyed wonder, without a hint of that jaded, arms-folded cynicism to come. Can’t remember ever being so innocently enthusiastic? Well, that’s why the new generation of kids don’t want you at their gigs.
The all-ages phenomenon is taking the UK music scene by storm. 14-18 year olds are now a crucial demographic as a growing wave of new bands try to get themselves noticed, and gigs for kids are becoming an established part of Britain’s indie-dance calendar. It’s a scene not without its detractors—but in a world where the youngest generation of fans view free music downloads as their God-given right, the live experience might be the best way to assure a financial future for musicians.
Nu-Rave sensation Klaxons, for instance, built much of their UK success on their mid-teen following, squeezing in all-ages matinees whenever possible, and many of their nu-wave brethren now do likewise. Even big-selling bands like Maximo Park—signed to the once profoundly uncompromising Warp label—promoted their most recent record with an all-ages tour before embarking on a “proper” one. These gigs aren’t to be taken lightly, either, although they do come with some unique rules to be followed. The hotly-tipped quintet New Cassettes headlined a regular all-ages bash at London’s Roundhouse Theatre recently, and have some useful advice for those taking the 14-18 challenge:
“If there are three bands on, you really want to be the middle one,” suggests guitarist Owen Reed, “because by the third band everyone’s had so much cola that they’re running around, snogging in the toilets. In Northampton, where we’re from, Hadouken! played an under-18 gig and the bouncers had never had so much trouble. They’re just mental gigs. But it’s good, they’re up for it, they want to dance, they want to be seen enjoying themselves and they want to have a great time.”
While some of these events are family-friendly affairs—trendy parents and clued-up kids watching hot new bands together—others are more militantly anti-adult. The best-known teen promotion is the Underage Club, which began the craze with regular events at an old South London cinema in 2006, and last summer staged the inaugural Underage Festival.
Only 14-18 year-olds were allowed into the East London site, with parents and press consigned to a separate, very sterile “adult crèche,” in which those present could unnervingly hear the frenzied shrieks of the young crowd, but see nothing. Even the artists—a diverse selection of indie bands, oddball solo acts and UK hip-hoppers—weren’t permitted to wander around and watch each other. Off the leash in an adult-free zone, 5,000 kids went quite admirably apeshit:
“I have never been so exhausted as I was after that,” recalls Eve Woodcock, who, at just-turned 15, is something of a veteran of all-ages moshpits, and reviewed the festival for a UK magazine. “It was kids literally running from tent to tent to see as many bands as they could. Crazy. It was brilliant to have something like that though, just for kids. No sleazy old men wandering around. I think the parents were pleased about that too, but they were obviously quite jealous, that we were having so much fun and they weren’t allowed in.”
Tickets are already selling well for next year’s event, but there is one small cloud on the teen-crowd horizon. The Underage Club—which is actually run by a 15 year-old, Sam Kilcoyne—had several dates of a national tour canceled recently after a mysterious “set of events” at an unconnected all-ages show.
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