Brothers and sisters, do you see a revolution out there? We are in danger of losing intimate music making, with friends picking a line each to perform and putting in as much effort as desired. In recent decades concerts have developed into huge stadium-set monsters, selling out six months in advance, and even buying a CD feels like selling your soul. Especially in the past few years, however, technology and the tenacity of those refusing to be homogenised are showing the big guns that things can be different. We’re regaining the spontaneity, the intimacy and the innovation that can make music so inspirational, and, whether it’s through guerrilla gigging or flash-clubbing, the man in the street is using his own environment as the stage.

Guerrilla and flash-gigging in recent years have created quite a buzz, with the Others performing on the tube, Jane’s Addiction busking in Covent Garden and dubious impromptu gigs chez Pete Doherty. Special Needs’ desire to play every launedrette in Acton was, criminally, never fulfilled. The U.S. too, has seen similar action, although with greater political motivation, including Reverend Billy’s anti-capitalist choir serenading unwary tourists in Disneyland.

But how to get in on the action? Ironically, it takes a lot of effort and, sometimes a reliance on the dreaded Murdoch-owned Myspace. Get out of the town and head to the city: membership to www.buttoneddowndisco.com sends day-in-advance warnings and invites to secret club nights full of friendly crowds and catholic playlists in the big smoke. You’ll find that even the bigger acts enjoy doing the odd secret gig, as the Arctic Monkeys have recently shown. But the moment this happens, it is in danger of being hi-jacked as a trend by the very companies and record execs which are supposedly being defied. Lest we forget, the image of anarchy in the UK, The Sex Pistols, were essentially a manufactured boyband.

These days, anyone with an MP3 player can become an average indie DJ, but what makes an atmostphere is big crowds, no sense and loud music. Cambridge may have seen flash-mobs, but flash-gigs are still MIA. London remains the hub. Last autumn, Liverpool Street station was brought to a standstill by thousands of people dancing to their iPods. The recent increase in student activism is surely a perfect time for spontaneous music making. There’s nothing a like a verse of “When the Saints go Marching In” to make your rally go with a swing. We’ve got the technology and the talent: we need the testimonial.

Rhiannon Easterbrook

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