I posted a while back speculating that there might be a minor disaster on the horizon. Namely, a gig clash, between our Highsoc Halloween special featuring Tetsuo and the Ice Arena extravaganza starring the Arcade Fire. I'm not panicking, we'll get a turn-out and I've sold my ticket, I won't miss much at that arena show, it's not my scene. Tetsuo might be really special.

But what does rankle is the reaction I get from people I talk to about Tetsuo. Firstly, I sent out a facebook invitation, and one person said they didn't know what it was that I'd invited them to so they just clicked "maybe" and ignored it. Well thanks! I prefaced the thing with an explanation that if they could make it to the gig I think it might be kinda special. I included a brief description and a link to more info. It wasn't an old, fleeting, acquaintance, but a friend I see every few days. I hoped this person might have at least read my blurb!

And then later, talking to people I know are going to Arcade Fire, I get hit with an absurd sneer of the mainstream "But I've never heard of this band! And why is 'unpredictable' such a good thing?" (Followed by the oh-so-obnoxious) "You're not really selling it here". Indie music is notorious for being snobbish and I'm not guarded about that. But...

Surely an INDIE band like the Arcade Fire only exist because people like me went to see them in the first place, when we hadn't heard of them already? Surely they only exist because people like (Nottingham promoters) Dave, Andy, George and Johnny Scarr were there to give them chances and take risks, often losing money in the process? And finally, surely when my friends leave the ice arena on Wednesday night, the bits they'll talk about and tell people later will be the unscripted, UNEXPECTED parts!

So excuse me, if I rant and rave when people say they wish they'd seen the Arcade Fire before they got huge, back when they were doing the unexpected, playing amazing shows to 30 people, going outside into the street and making beautiful sounds. Because they wouldn't have gone to see them then! Because they hadn't heard of them then! In the last year I must have seen 10 gigs by obscure bands that blew my mind, and I didn't have to act fast to get tickets, I didn't have to strain to see from half a mile away.

So to end my senseless rant on a positive note, this is why I want to help with the promoting side of Highsoc. Not only to give Andy a hand, but also to get a feel for it, because I have nothing but respect for the DIY promoters in Nottingham, we wouldn't have a music scene without them, and someday, maybe not in Nottingham, but certainly sometime in the future I'd like to have a go at it myself, because what a music scene requires is for people to take risks.

Wednesday will be good, possibly special, and I wouldn't swap for 10 arena gigs!