For the last few years I was always talking to and hopefully entertaining the world with The Sunday Alternative and was unable to judge or attend the annual Future Sound of Nottingham competition that takes place at Rock City. This year I was available but wasn’t asked, so I went along as a punter. On NottinghamLIVE I made a few comments about the judges and their lack of qualifications when it comes to giving new artists this opportunity, it’s like me going and judging at a bricklayer course. Things were a bit better this year with more of a focus on people who actually know something about the local music scene, and a BBC Nottingham DJ who occupies the ‘Ken Bruce slot’. Simon Wilson, the entertainment editor of The Nottingham Evening Post (as I still call it) pulled out at the last minute and was replaced with someone far more suitable, and Dom Gourlay from Drowned In Sound was also on the panel which is presumably why I wasn’t asked as he was this year’s person who goes to gigs and they can’t have two people who know what they’re talking about. I’ve never met Mark Del who organises all this, and runs the NUSIC podcast/blog, but there’s no doubting his passion and commitment to Nottingham music. I’ve no idea of how this all started, but he gets financial kickbacks from DHP (the owners of Rock City who presumably part fund NUSIC with the money they should have spent on a secretary to answer emails) and is reasonably well connected with a certain section of the scene. The winner of this contest gets to open the main stage at Splendor, a festival organised by DHP, see the pattern forming yet?

As I said, I have never met nor spoken to Mark Del so I don’t feel qualified to say anything about him as a person, although I spoke to a lot of people tonight and nobody had a good word to say about him.

NUSIC has an ethos built to promote the local music scene, and is a very positive champion. However I noticed on the blog that acts who record a session for them aren’t supposed to have recorded a session for anyone else, a commandment that was broken a few times because we frequently beat them to it on NottinghamLIVE. We beat BBC Nottingham a few times too, so I imagine they’re both glad the show is now off the air.

There had deliberately not been a running order printed or published for the show which was a great idea as it meant that in theory you had to stay for the whole thing, (you had to do that anyway to find out the winner of course). Del pointed out on stage that this was because we’d all been to gigs that you’ve left as soon as your mate’s band have finished. This is exactly what I’ve been saying for ages, and all gigs should do it for exactly that reason. As a call to arms it would have carried a bit more credibility if Mark Del practiced what he preached instead of just going to the higher profile gigs and got his hands dirty at Notts In A Nutshell or some of the other little nights that go on, but I accept that his heart is in the right place.

The competition itself was quite a difficult call; Oscar Speed, Field Studies, The Rascels, Joy Mumford and Josh Wheatley were all in the final that was eventually won by Joy Mumford. The Rascels fans held up a sign during the song ‘You’re My Summertime’ that said ‘Your my Summertime’ which would have cost them points if I had been judging, talent or not this is inexcusable. It is good to see these acts on stage at Rock City especially because for some of them this is sadly going to be their only chance, unless they get picked by DHP to not get paid to support a big name act  (“think of the opportunity, think of the exposure”).

For my money (although it was a free entry gig) the highlight of the evening’s entertainment was Georgie Rose (now simply known as Georgie) and her band. They didn’t do a long set as they were there as filler while the scores were counted and verified, but they stole the evening. Another reason why it’s perhaps a good thing I wasn’t judging as I would have given her all the points.

===

My daily blog can be delivered straight to your Kindle for 99p a month (link)

If you’ve enjoyed reading this, please consider showing your appreciation by way of a donation using the PayPal button above this blog. Every penny will be used to create free online content. There are currently plans for a comedy sketch series, an online cookery and music show, a video version of The Sunday Alternative and plenty more including documentaries, short films and podcasts.

Listen to The Sunday Alternative here.