medway music rocks

Oooooh, I'm annoyed.

Sorry. Hello, by the way. Got a bit carried away with the annoyance there.

Anyway, back to being annoyed. Thursday 30 June's edition of Medway News carried a story about how "the live music scene in Medway is dead". John Terry, the founder of the Tap and Tin in Chatham has reached this conclusion because "there just aren't very many musicians around who really believe in their music."

With the exception of Lupen Crook (at least we both agree about Lupen Crook's excellence), Terry believes the music scene in Medway is faultering while would be punters have been lured away by the current "'X Factor and Primark' culture which seems to have a stranglehold on The Towns."

Sadly, noone's told Kevin Barraclough of Dogtown who set up the popular Electric Circus nights in Medway. A recent Electric Circus night at The Command House, Chatham, saw grunge punk act Dogtown perform alongside garage band The Muswells and pagan rockers Brides of Rain.

Similarly noone's bothered to inform Joe Wise and Suzanne Freeman of Frau Pouch who have started up their exciting Motherboy events for those with a passion for loud, intelligent music.

And noone will have told Medway Eyes, either. Having produced two fantastic double compilation albums of local Medway music from people who really do believe in their music (featuring Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society, Theatre Royal and Ben Jones), they're about to produce a third.

While Medway boasts a very, very strong folk tradition (see Didi Bergman, Wheels and Los Salvadores for starters), There's plenty of heavier sounding bands who could rock a venue like the Tap and Tin. Bloodsand and Sapphire Burning recently set Beacon Court in Gillingham on fire at the Metal2TheMasses talent competition.

There may well be an "'X Factor and Primark' culture" in the Medway Towns. The Casino Rooms may be doing a roaring trade as well. But they are for entirely different audiences. The people who would go to the Tap and Tin are not the same people who would go to The Casino Rooms.

There is a big, big love of original live music in Medway. I can't help but think John Terry is being a little narrow minded in writing the scene off. With a bit of adaptation - maybe even having an acoustic night, for example - the Tap and Tin could easily return to its former glories.

For more information about Medway's thriving music scene, read my article, published on the Medway Broadside website: "Medway: Musical Capital of Kent?". You can read the original Kent Messenger article here.

In the meantime, here are links to my reviews of just some of the great musicians John Terry is missing out on.