The Future of Rock Music Part 2

Since December 2015, rock music has lost many of its most prestigious pioneers. Lemmy, David Bowie, George Martin and Prince are all names that will live forever in the music they created. With these tragic passings it's left for new musicians to shape the future of rock music.

So who are the current pioneers of rock music and how are they so successful? Well, the most common way is infusing rock with different genres. As the mainstream music sound at the moment is electronically based, many rock acts are achieving incredible success and acclaim by developing their sound to include electronic elements. Twenty One Pilots, Enter Shikari, Bring Me The Horizon, Biffy Clyro and Imagine Dragons are at the forefront of rock music in 2016 and they’ve put themselves in this position by carefully blending their music with a more mainstream sound. The way in which rock music is now developing to stay current shows that there’s still life within the genre. Even the old school rock fans, who might not like the new mainstream sound within rock music, must still appreciate that these artists are helping to revive the genre and propel it into the future.

Despite all these incredible new rock acts shaping the path for rock music’s continued growth, sometimes you can’t beat what’s already there. For example, one of the biggest rock news stories this year was the return of Guns N Roses. Rock elements are now found in so many different genres that it will always live on, yet still there’s something infinitely exciting about the classic rock bands still touring. Guns N Roses are back, The Rolling Stones still pack out stadiums in every country around the planet and, despite there being some extremely exciting new hard rock bands, it’s not quite a true heavy metal festival without Metallica headlining. Their fan base is incredible and they show that whilst rock might not be the mainstream genre it once was, it’s still phenomenally large. They’ve kept the genre alive through its tumultuous times and, whilst they’re always people saying their best days are behind them, they continue to show that talent never dies. They’ve truly paved the way for new rock acts and continue to do so after all these years.  

Another massive way in which rock is staying alive is through word of mouth and promotion of upcoming bands within the genre. It has always been common in all genres for acclaimed artists to have support acts playing at live gigs. However, as someone immersed in the genre, it’s become clear that over the past couple of years the buzz around the support acts is bigger. Successful rock bands are publicly endorsing smaller artists not just through touring with them but via mediums such as twitter, youtube and interviews. There is a feel that those within the genre sense a resurgence and are keen to promote upcoming acts which can aid the revival. I myself have discovered bands such as Asking Alexandria, Neck Deep, Milk Teeth, Moose Blood, PVRIS and Twin Atlantic all by them supporting other artists on tour or by public endorsements from other bands. As a side note, they are all worth checking out and will be dominating the rock genre in the next few years. This promotion from within the genre helps the community grow. More bands with more fans means more record sales and more gigs attended, which leads to more buzz, more media coverage and, as a result, more mainstream success. It's extremely clever and it seems to be working as a fantastic tool to revive the genre.

What’s the one thing that has never died within rock music? Even when the mainstream charting success faded it never wavered, an incredible live show! Live performances have always been a medium in which rock music has soared, with nearly all major music festivals dominated by the genre. Rock Am Ring, Download, Sonisphere, Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds have all attracted a wide audience due to their headlining rock acts. It is true, of course, that as the mainstream music has changed so have some of the music festivals. Drake at Coachella, Disclosure at Reading & Leeds and Kanye West at Glastonbury are all evidence of this. As a side note, I thought I’d point out that Kanye West isn’t the greatest living rockstar on the planet nor is he even close! Whilst the trend of festival headliners might be evolving, it's still a staple to have a rock band on the bill. Nothing beats a live guitar or drum solo, a mental moshpit or a mass crowd surf. Whilst electronic music can entrance a mass audience and produce a captivating show, rock music is something that seems to be embedded in the live scene. Festivals give us a chance to experience music we wouldn’t usually listen to. I, for example, discovered Enter Shikari Black Honey and Skindred at festivals and, whilst I usually wouldn’t have chosen to listen to them, can now say I love them!!! Bands such as Slaves, Foals and Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls have become massive through regular festival appearances. They’ve used the platform to display music such as punk, indie and folk rock, that may not have been as accessible otherwise.

It is this live scene that is massively helping the revival of rock music. They’re many bands who are almost making their entire living and success off live show sales. In a world where people are buying less and less music but still attending lots of live shows, festival rock is able to move back into the forefront. I could examine many bands at this point, who’s live shows are a staple of their success, but I’m going to talk mainly about Bring Me The Horizon, as I can talk from the experience of seeing them live. Firstly, if you’re a rock fan and haven’t seen them yet make sure you do. It’s mental. When Bring Me The Horizon bought out their latest, and more mainstream sounding, album That’s The Spirit they began touring almost instantly to promote it. Since then, they’ve played non stop, touring in nearly every city around Europe and making appearances at festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and Rock Am Ring. To understand the scale of how many live dates they’ve played; I saw them last November, when they were playing around 20 dates a month, and their tour is still going on to the end of 2016. In that time, they’ve still found the time to perform at The Royal Albert Hall, with a full orchestra and choir, to be released on DVD later this year. It’s this live show promotion that helped get the word out to the masses about the album in a way that would have been impossible through mainstream media. It completely worked, with That’s The Spirit getting to number 2 in the UK and US mainstream albums chart and number 1 in the UK and US rock charts. The dedication and ability of many of these rock artists to tour so regularly for so long is incredible. It shows what a great outlet performing live can be for rock musicians. It’s a way of connecting with fans and, if anything, is stronger and more prominent than ever. With a variety of rock acts at festivals and on their own tours, putting on incredible shows, the genre will never disappear. In fact, it’s resurgence and revival with the current way we absorb music could be massive. Like it or loath it, but auto tune and miming don’t translate to a live arena in the way a full band and captivating performance can.

For all rock fans reading this, seeing live shows must be a crucial part of being a music fan and for those who don’t even like the genre must admit they’ve been blown away once or twice seeing a rock show. It’s through mediums like this and through new innovative artists that the future of rock is extremely exciting. In the final blog post we’ll look at where rock music goes from here. Can it become mainstream again and what effect does technology have on the rock revival? 

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