Scene Report: Stoke On Trent, Summer 2007
By: Alex Lee Thomson
So, a few months have passed on since we last looked north of the Watford Gap (seriously, the trains do go past there y'know). Not quite as far as Manchester and Liverpool, but just a tad further than Birmingham, then look between all those old chimney pots and textile factories and you've got it. Stoke On Trent, or Stoke On Beats as the city's biggest export, not counting Slash of course, Robbie Williams has immortalised it. Pete Doherty calls it as close to Arcadia as one can get, which if you know Pete's search for the mythical Arcadia, you will know what an accolade that is. The city has also been in the news this summer for being the last place where you could legally smoke indoors thanks to a cock-up in the bureaucratic system and has more recently been headlined thanks to an out of control Gallows gig that sent their red-topped lead singer to A&E. Ouch.
What brought Stoke alive for its people though wasn't the prolonged smoking liberties, the immortalisation by one of the chief twats of music or even the legacy of being a city of hard bastards; but the music that's hastily bringing the towns of the region together. In the same summer that mourned the demise of Agent Blue and Morning Sparks we celebrated The Tommys being nominated for a Vodafone Live Music award and although losing out to the formidable Flaming Monkeys, show the power that their ceaseless touring has added. The city also celebrated its first proper music festival this year in the setting of AXIS Festival that featured the Guillemots, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and a barrage of local bands and acts that piled into some local venues such as The Sugarmill and New Vic Theatre over a few days. Okay, so it wasn't a massive success commercially, but the value of bands was undeniably worthy.
Local songwriter and Billy Bragg adherent Andy Gower has also been making headway and has all but put the finishing notes to what will be his debut album with a preceding EP coming out later this year through Maps' label, with some more live dates in tow. His MySpace lists beef burgers, newspapers and The Jam among his influences and while that may sound an unconventional mix, when you hear his music it all makes sense. Andy seems to have been there, got the t-shirt and written a song on the back of it. He's not interested in boy meets girl, girl doesn't like me, isn't high school pants kind of songs but genuine reflections on what he's learned and observed in his life, all sang through a dry wit that harks back to Neil Young circa 'Heart Of Gold' or Paul Weller before he started putting people to sleep. There are very few people as genuine in music, with as much to say and a way in which to say it, and let us tell you that Andy is a rarity in today's throwaway music society and his songs are the definition of unsophisticated, straightforward beauty.
Not content with a smorgasbord of homegrown talent, Stoke On Trent has also seen passing tours from the likes of Subways playing a rare intimate performance at The Sugarmill, We Smoke Fags playing The Underground and The Bravery, The Cribs, We Are Scientists, Kate Nash, The Dykeenies and our very own Foals all passing through with the Mercury nominated Maps also heading in soon. Considering Stoke is a small city that truth be told isn't really a city, it's become a major stopping point for any touring band worth their hype and thanks to a glowing scene and what could almost become an industry, it's certainly a place where many A&R men will be drawing breath in over the coming months, especially when they get a whiff of Agent Blue mark II.
Best band in Stoke right now? The Tommys. Best up and coming band? The Targets. The best band that's passing through? Maps, fittingly.