Why is everyone so old?

Bus pass rock, over the hill hits, fogie funk, senile songbirds, senior citizen compositions; are some of the names a drunken Steve Lamacq would christen the new wave of elder artists infiltrating the press.

A flick through Kerrang, Rock Sound or the musical supplements of spreadsheets and you’ll find the same familiar faces that have been featured for the last twenty years. A look through the festival line up’s you’ll find Pulp, The Prodigy, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters, Elbow; all of which are heading towards forty if not already there. Why when it’s harder for talented musicians to make it in the music industry without standing in front of Simon Cowell do we find less room in the media for them? The answer is the answer to most media-related questions: Media. Put Metallica on the front of Kerrang and you know there’s a fanbase to buy it, put Letlive on there and you’re less likely to get those numbers.

Looking at the charts if a different story; Youngesters Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Christina Perri and Professor Green all sit pretty with multiple entries in the UK chart without a talent show crown between them. Blogging is where we must turn to find the new artists, previously MySpace and now Youtube is where the likes of Rey and Perri are found, the web savvy are connoisseur’s of their sound before radio DJ’s have even loaded it to their systems. We’re heading towards a generation where the internet will be buzzing about someone while the media still write about PJ Harvey.

From an avid internet loiterer a fellow music fan search through the Mexican horn Lady Gaga covers and you find some hidden treasures that NME will love in six months time.

The Sugarmill 11/11/11

The Sugarmilll, Stoke 11/11/11

It’s 7.30 and the crowd have barely had any time to dry themselves of from the Stoke rain when The Hiding Place comes on stage with their amps turned up like they’re playing Wembley, instead they’re playing The Sugarmill.

Whether it’s because it’s early evening on a Friday, the weather or just general bad luck the thirty people there to witness the local boys lack any enthusiasm not matter how much front man Dominic tries to encourage it. It’s hard to warm to the Stoke five piece when the singer is so awkward when he has nothing to do but not as awkward as the bassist who barely looks up from his instrument. They go unnoticed which is a shame because their music is okay but just okay.

Never Means Maybe are a band playing the right music and the right time. Their catchy pop tinged rock fits in with the chart take over of You Me At Six and My Chemical Romance. Despite the Essex accent and Rihanna t-shirt front man Renz Byrne has a uniquely strong voice and enough charisma to make a cold room like The Sugar Mill feel warmer. When you think you’re bored with their Taking Back Sunday tribute in which Renz owes a lot of his stage persona they pull out the post hardcore they classify themselves with the excellently titled Ziva Killed Houdini. If they write the right song with the right hook these guys might make it.

Fei Comodo are a band on the rise with 7,500 Facebook friends and regular reviews in Kerrang but it’s hard to tell tonight. The lead singer’s ego has gone past cockiness and is just plain annoying tonight as he tries to get more than a few drunks to dance. Their hardcore sound starts of interesting and edgy with good musicianship but after a few minutes you find yourself drifting of and starting conversations and buying drinks. The Chelmsford five piece are undoubtedly great musicians but in this instance their Reuben influenced sound need more light and shade to break up the monotonous set.

Kerrang once hailed Exit Ten as Britain’s newest hope and one of our best bands and you can see why. Singer Ryan Redman looks like Jim Morrison, dances like Beyonce and sings like Matt Bellamy. The set is plagued by microphone issues which the singer uses as a punchline to his jokes. It’s nice to hear a technically amazing band who choose melody over faux-screaming and loud amps. Despite being here to promote their new album Give Me Infinity the Reading band’s, who have been touring since 2003 with this line up, older songs like Resume Ignore goes down best. With a little monologue about going for your dreams they end the set with the five minute ballad Lion, which would make the kings of an epic modern ballad Muse proud, which stuns the crowd to a trance. They may not be an overnight success but they will be a success because they don’t stop getting better.

Halloween