I decided that, for once, I wasn’t going to write another piece that concentrates on the festival in London, Rome, Chicago or Boston… No, this time I want to take the opportunity to ‘take a few stabs’ at the musicians that live in the country so to speak… in the smaller cities and villages of Italy, France, Spain, England etc. You will understand that I woke up feeling somewhat polemic today, so if you’re a sensitive individual living in one of these minor centers, I suggest you turn to a different site. Now, everyone knows – and Emergenza’s history confirms it – that in the countrysides across the world there are some pretty talented and worthwhile bands. After all, it was Emergenza who took NO RADICAL CHANGE out of their gloomy and idle Italian village of Livorno to put them on tour in Germany, and bands from the counties of Rurghebiet all the way to Paris or some others from the depths of Ontario to play in Europe and so on. Despite these few but fortunate exceptions, let’s be honest – most of the action and the most notable bands come from and develop in the big cities. Why is that? Just because there are more opportunities? Not necessarily true. Actually, Emergenza is proof of how a band from Bellville (Ont.) has the same showcasing opportunities as a band from Philadelphia or Hamburg. Most of the ‘city bands’ are more likely to ‘make it’ for one simple reason: they believe. Often, living in villages and towns is considered a curse. It certainly is for many musicians who, just because they are not taken seriously by their buddies in the bars, can’t take themselves seriously either. There has got to be a reason why in a place such as Lille (France) or Bilbao (Spain), where the festival goes on in some really great venues and with some of the best backline in all of Europe, the bands are more sluggish then a snail race. It’s not that they can’t play their instruments. They just seem to have the typical skills of he who, out of fear of being the object of malicious ridicule at the bar, prefers to assume the attitude of ‘defensive superiority’ which guarantees 100% failure in anything one attempts to do. This is hardly a rare occurrence and situation. In the more isolated and smaller regions of France, or southern Italy, Northern Ontario or the Midwestern states, one is bound to find the same fear of enthusiasm, of putting oneself in the game and really ‘putting your heart on the line’. It is generally preferable to wait until someone comes and extends their hand out – someone who seems to believe. Here is a list of typical alibis: “Nothing ever happens here!” “there’s nowhere to play!” “sure… if only we were in London!”. Or the other classics such as “People don’t come out to the shows cuz it’s too expensive!” and if the concert is free “there’s never enough publicity!” and if there was “oh yea, but on a weekday?!” and if it was a Saturday “well, everyone’s got something to do Saturdays!” and so on…. Really… do you believe that a club manager in Eastern Quebec or Western New York, having the opportunity to pack his venue with one great band, would choose not to do it? Who is it up to to sweat and toil to liven up the atmosphere? And in whose interest is it to push for that to happen? You think it’s easier for a band from Berlin or Paris to attract fans to their show then it is for a band from Naples or Southampton? Here’s the other side of this: just the other day we received a call from a band in some small town in California, asking for help with booking gigs and for advice on how to ‘emerge’ and make it. As so many, they alluded to the disadvantages of living in a small town. When we – jokingly of course – told them to move to LA the reaction was adamant. “No way,” they said “we don’t wanna get lost in the shuffle!” And they are right… this band knows what they’ve got going for them – they just may not know exactly what to do with it yet. And so, Emergenza or no Emergenza, GET TO WORK!!