Indie Anonymous
Liverpool has a lot of things to shout about, but our alternative club scene isn’t one of them…
For our money, right now, Liverpool is culturally and creatively a very exciting place to be. Returning to the city in 2008 after a spell of exile in that other great city of the NW, Manchester, we were met with the Biennial and Capital of Culture celebrations in full swing. Looking around, it was hard to imagine how any other UK city could be more vibrant.
Four years on and if anything, things are even better: Liverpool is as exciting a place to be as at any other time we can recall. The city has moved beyond any reliance on old spectres of the Beatles and the success of our football clubs as the only means of attracting those beyond our borders.
Our cultural offer is as dynamic as it is impressive: we have galleries old and new to shout about in Tate Liverpool, Open Eye, the Walker and FACT as well as a thriving artist-led scene spearheaded by the likes of The Royal Standard, Wolstenholme Creative Space and Metal. Student retention is on the rise and LIPA (whatever your thoughts about performing arts schools) is beginning to have an impact, producing the likes of Jethro Fox and Natalie McCool, artists who have both attracted record deals and national exposure of late.
Speaking of bands, it could be argued those plying their trade in the city have never been so eclectic. From Clinic (who release a new album next month), Stealing Sheep and the recently departed Outfit, to Ex Easter Island Head, Mugstar and Forest Swords, the evidence is there that Liverpool is producing its fair share of recording artists who, while occasionally still showing a reverence for the past, are by no means tied to it.
We could go on about why we think Liverpool is one of the finest cities to be at this moment in time, but we won’t. Humility prevents us. There is however, one glaring thing amiss. The city is lacking one key element. Our club and bar scene is something which, in our opinion, leaves a lot to be desired. After all, what are all those creatives to do for entertainment when they leave a gig or a private view?
Indeed, Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt (previously involved with the much missed Korova) was so keenly aware of this problem that, along with venue owner Paul Sullivan, he devised Static Social for the duration of the Biennial. But beyond band-aids, what is the lay of the land?
When Le Bateau closed earlier this year after a decade of offering a guaranteed good night out for those with an ear for some of the best indie around, Liverpool had to face up to the fact that in terms of after hours options – and on top of a number of other venue closures – things weren’t exactly on the up. The city’s indie landscape hadn’t looked so grim since the Mardi Gras closed in the 90s, but at least then there was the scant consolation of the old L2.
One good piece of news is the return of Chibuku to the Masque, but after that, with a heavy heart, we’re struggling. Someone hoping to turn the tide though is (new club night, pictured) Double Denim’s Robert Larkin. Looking to diversify as well as add to the typical ‘indie-disco’ offer, Larkin knows as well as us the problems currently apparent.
“Liverpool has definitely suffered from losing a handful of great venues and the increasingly homogeneous string of clubs that is now expanding beyond Concert Square, but there are still people fighting that battle and those people are at their best when working against the tide. After a real low ebb it feels like a turning point rather than the end of the road, and now is the best time to get out into town and be there while it’s happening.”
Whether a returning Chibuku and a new, fresh and reliable indie led night constitute a turning of the tide, we’re not sure. However, these are at least signs of life. Further signs, and certainly cause for optimism, have come in the form of places bucking the closures trend. Camp and Furnace has backed up early anticipation by enlisting the likes of Andrew Ellis to DJ, and bright young things Deep Hedonia to book acts thus broadening the usual options.
Meanwhile, the Magnet has reopened on Hardman Street, and for the first time in a while, Liverpool has an independent cafe bar with genuine aspirations to offer something different. Bold Street’s Leaf and Newington’s Bier notwithstanding, Sound Food and Drink (on Duke Street) – without wanting to look back too much – is probably Liverpool’s best stab yet at ‘a new Korova’.
On any given day you can set foot in the place and you know Jules (Bennett) will have a record on that you may not know like the back of your hand. This is a good thing. Add to the equation Samizdat’s Gold Soundz relocation there, and early evenings (as well as lunch times) are sorted. But that still leaves a perennially reliable dancing-destination-post-bar-sized-hole.
This is ordinarily the part where we wrap things up nicely by presenting a solution, but on this occasion, we don’t have or know of one. There may be a happy ending down the road, but as things stand, we’re sorry to say our club scene is lacking and our clubbers, by-and-large, under-served.
Double Denim illustration courtesy Will Daw
