Festivals and their attraction. Expression and part of a new religious movement

Index

Introduction

1. How did a festival become what it is nowadays?

2. The phenomenon of a festival – What makes it that special?

3. Music as a new form of religion

4. Services in the world of music and the influence of the audience

5. Conclusion – Despite criticism on the way to an established belief

6. Works cited

Introduction

This term paper deals with music festivals as a phenomenon in Great Britain and its attribute of being part of a new form of religious movement. Apart from the historical origins and the development throughout the time of festivals the focus is on the comparison between religions and the fan cult in the music business and its religious structures.

1. How did a festival become what it is nowadays?

To define the term festival as it is covered in regard of the proseminar a clear separation from the different types of music festivals has to be made. Almost every style of music has its own festivals. Beginning from techno to reggae or jazz there are numerous different festivals arranged throughout the whole year. This assignment addresses mainly the rock and pop genre played on the major festivals in the United Kingdom nowadays.

The roots of music festivals lie back several hundred years ago, though. Already in mediaeval times there were the first small festivals, which can, of course, not be compared to the idea of festivals these days, but had the first initial qualities of them, like different musicians and endurance of several days. Often there were religious motives for the first festivals in Great Britain, so that the cathedral and Anglican Church choirs had, for instance, their own festivals. They were the first known bigger music festivals and partially still exist today (Blake 1997: 186ff). Today religious festivals are tried to be held as close to the original as possible and services are elementally an inherent part (Blake 1997: 198). Aside from the religious aspect, different styles of music developed in the course of time and were attended by the occurring of a wide range of different music festivals nowadays.

In contrast to usual concerts, which frequently are held indoors, festivals are commonly held outdoors and often include other attractions such as merchandise vendors, artistic performances and social activities. Most of the festivals are annual or repeat at some other interval, for example every first weekend in August, and are often linked with holidays. The organizers of such events try to retain the venue, which are mostly traditionally linked with the festivals and connected with the special atmosphere created there. According to Blake (1997: 178) it can be seen as a kind of carnival when thousands of people from different regions and even different countries gather in one area to celebrate the music and their favourite bands. Common rules of social hierarchy and an acceptable behavior are reversed or suspended. This, of course, may be the case mainly at rock- or pop-festivals than at festivals concerning classical music, but, latter are also turning the world upside down even if in a more moderated way. Due to the general disruption of everyday life any festival carries the marks of carnival and even the most serious events have their moments of it.

These features are often called ‘festival fringe’, a concomitant, which becomes sometimes even more important than the festival itself. This means that there are regular performances by comedians and stand-up comedians along with the different bands to provide light relief. One such comedy act of the 1990s was the duo ‘Newman and Baddiel’ consisting of the British stand-up comics Robert Newman and David Baddiel. They started as supporting acts for various rock bands and even filled the Wembley Arena with their solo programme due to their big success. The most popular bands at that time were parodied by them and they even got a sketch comedy show on TV.

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Screenshot of the TV show ‘Newman and Baddiel in Pieces’: parody on ‘The Cure’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5h2HaYraEY ; 3 September 2009)

Some critics even claimed that their prosperity is a sign for the death of rock music, but the opposite was true: maybe the momentary success only served to strengthen the medium it parodied, as “(in a pastiche of the death of a rock band) the comedians announced that they no longer liked each other, split up, and one of them went to present laddish programmes about association football” (Blake 1997: 182).

As festivals are said to contain elements of carnival some even dare to compare such events with a circus. On the one hand the train of thoughts is more or less easy to follow, the festivals respectively the bands are wandering around the country and the world just like circuses do. But the basic idea is far more abstract, because festivals can be likened to the Roman concept of bread and games and be seen as a modified version. While the people in Rome went to the Colosseum to watch professional gladiators fighting against slaves and animals and being entertained, today people visit the festivals they like. Similarities of the music world to circuses are definately given: Firstly circuses consist of professionals and their performers are paid. Secondly they live as a kind of nomadic people as they travel around the world to greet their audience, rather than wait for the people to come to them (cf. Blake 1997: 183 f.).

If one attends a festival nowadays the image of carnival and a circus is moreover affirmed by the visitors and their often very crazy costumes, which may remind of aforementioned events.

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Visitor of the Glastonbury festival (http://onehundredhours.i6a.co.ukwp-content/gallery/gallery-festival- faces/glastonbury-smile.jpg ;3 Septmeber 2009)

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‘Green Police’ at the Glastonbury festival / http://mirror-us- ga1.gallery.hd.org//recreation/_more2007/ _more06/Glastonbury-2007-music- festival- Green-Police-painted-faces- fancy-costumes-5-SK.jpg ;3 September 2009)

2. The Phenomenon of a festival – What makes it that special?

A look at the attendance of music festivals in general proves that there is an increasing demand for tickets every year and therefore annual new record attendances, not only in the UK. But the question comes up why there is such a development, what makes festivals that popular and more attractive than a common open air concert or a gig in a hall, for example? Is it only a temporary trend or even part of a new defined kind of denomination?

One reason for the popularity may be that there are, depending on the festival, up to more than 100 bands playing and the visitor can choose his or her favourite ones to see. Of course the performances are not as long as if the bands would have a whole concert for their own, but the possibility to see several bands in a range of a few days is certainly a reason for the popularity. Another fact that militates in favour of a music festival instead of a common concert is the comparatively low costs. The price for the tickets depends on the festival and its duration, a ticket for Glastonbury festival for instance was at £175 for four whole days at the festival in 2009. At first glance not that cheap, but with this ticket one could visit bands like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young or Blur, whose tickets are very expensive if one visits a single concert. Furthermore they were only three examples out of several hundred artists performing in 2009 (cf. http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up-poster/ ; 4 September 2009).

Apart from the more monetary aspects there are naturally more subjective and emotional reasons that speak for festivals. Sometimes it seems to be not in the first instance about the music and the bands, it is a kind of attitude towards life that the artists feel, too.

“Glastonbury was not so much about the bands, it was about being there […] even if there is gallons of mud. It sells out before they even tell you who the bands are […]. I looked around and said: ‘This is where I’m supposed to be at last’. (Aubrey, Crispin & Shearlaw, John (2005), Glastonbury: An Oral History of the Music, Mud and Magic, London: Random House UK.).

Another fact is that people and their attitude towards life have changed over the years and music with its involving commercialization plays an important role therein. Some even claim that music has nowadays reached a status that can be compared with an own religion and more and more believers trust in the new preachers appearing in the world of media. Two generations before today the question was: What do you belief in? Now the question is: What do you listen to? Techno or Rock, Pop or Hip Hop, that is what it is all about. Lifestyle, fashion and sexuality presented by icons and if not named by their fans then self-named gods of music (cf. http://www.boersenblatt.net/327118/ ; 9 September 2009).

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