Music Industry – A Journey to the Centre of Me

‘How wonderful life is now you’re in the world’ – Elton John

On an overcast Friday 24th June, the living legend Sir Elton John took centre stage on the opening night of British Summer Time Hyde Park (BST) as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. The tour kicked off on 8 Sept 2018 and continues until 8 Jul 2023 due to several postponements from the pandemic and a hip replacement.

John is one of the most successful musicians of all time with selling over 250 million records worldwide of which 25 albums are certified platinum. With a crowd of 65,000 people, there was no denying that opening with his 1974 classic hit Benny and Jets would not have fans dancing – he was up to the task of entertaining the crowd for over two hours. Although he may be 75 years old, John still knows how to entertain the crowd with his anecdotes and a piano that moves from one side of the stage to the other. And let’s not forget the incredible musicians who formed the band, including one member who has toured and worked with John since 1969. And supporting them on screen were an amazing British Sign Language team, who did an amazing of signing all songs – they were very energetic all the way through.

One may wonder how can a man behind a piano draw in such a crowd. Well, John’s fashion sense is the obvious answer. Although his diamante harlequin jacket with matching sparkly pink glasses or his white beetle tailcoat is a far cry from the outlandish costumes he once wore, he notes the difficulty of entertaining from behind a piano in Vogue’s Elton John Breaks Down 14 Looks From 1968 to Now.

As mentioned earlier, his anecdotes are also very entertaining – especially if you were not born yet and wondered what the 70s and 80s were like. However, the most poignant stories he shared with the audience related to the late Aretha Franklin and George Michael. In particular, John retold how Franklin gave it her all for the Elton John AIDs Foundation gala shortly before her passing. She did not look well, but she refused to cancel on her friend once again. John dedicated the Border Song to Franklin whilst casting a montage on the screens either side and above him. During this performance, fans could feel the sadness ooze from his voice as he made people remember the greatness of the Motown singer.

Elton John performs Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. Dedicated to George Michael

Other songs such as Tiny Dancer and Rocket Man followed the touching tribute to Franklin and marked a shift in the tone of the night. To see these hits performed live is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but hearing the old and new fans singing alongside John marks why live music has the incredible ability to unite people from all aspects of life. From children to those of the same generation as John, his songs brought out the therapeutic elements that his fans needed after the last few years. Fans sung so loud that the mic attached to John’s piano picked up the crowd’s singing and played over the sound system.

There were many fans from across the globe who specifically flew into London to catch John at BST. He definitely has some of the most dedicated fans, that’s for certain. Within the crowd, many fans dressed up in John’s famous glitter baseball uniform and there was even a couple dressed up in inflatable suits as Crocodile Rock and Rocket Man!

Taking such a long career and condensing it into a short amount of time is hard. Finding the balance between the forgotten, the tunes that mean a lot to him and the hits means that it is inevitable there will be moments where audience members won’t sing along. However, that is not a bad thing. The crowd saw many families dancing together in these moments as well as introducing younger people to the works that are often overlooked. One such example was Sad Songs (Say So Much). This song is rarely mentioned when thinking about John’s repertoire, but is severely underrated as a song, let alone one to play at BST. In particular, it was great to see young siblings dancing with each other to this song and smiling as the energetic music proves that this is definitely not a sad song.

For an encore, John reminded us that he can in fact make number one hit songs as he plays his most recent Cold Heart with a vocal track of Dua Lipa for her part. This was then followed by his first number one in the UK, Your Song from 1970. This was quite magical as the many couples within the audience came together as Your Song solidified their love for one another. It will be a moment they will never forget.

And of course, leading up to the finale of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, he reminded us just how lucky he has been to share his life with us all. With many shows still to go (including a few nights at the O2 Arena, London), this may be his goodbye to us, but not to the rest of the world. He will finish in July 2023, so catch him if you can on his tour and say Farewell Yellow Brick Road.

Elton John performs Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

“Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” – Elton John

From The Beatles, to David Bowie and beyond, the last 60 years of British music would not have been so rich if it were not for independent grassroot venues in the UK. These venues play an essential role in many British bands’ rise to fame and success – bands which make our country so well respected in the music industry. The plight of the music industry in the wake of COVID-19 has meant many of those venues now face permanent closure. Could the government’s handling of the pandemic be the death kneel for one of our most important exports?

As of 2018, the live music industry alone was worth approximately £1.1 billion and music creators accounted for approximately £2.5 billion in gross value added in the same year. The industry provides over 190,000 jobs in various roles and help recognise the UK as a place to perform for all types of artists and musicians. Furthermore, between 2016-18, the industry saw a £1.1 billion increase in direct and indirect spending generated by music tourism, from £3.4 billion to £4.5 billion: thus, making this sector one of the UK’s biggest assets.

The UK is a big investor and seller of services in contrast to our exportation of products. Due to the various COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the UK economy is at its all-time worse since records began and massively affects the live performance industry.

Following the first lockdown in March 2020, the UK government launched its Cultural Recovery Fund that allowed any cultural organisation or heritage site to apply for a grant to help staff and places get through the pandemic. The government allocated a £1.57 billion fund for all to apply to.

Although the Music Venue Trust (MVT) announced securing just over £41.3 million in funding to distribute across 259 grassroot music venues, making it an 89% success rate for the charity in helping local venues receive government funding. However, this is not enough. Currently, there are still 30 venues that are facing imminent permanent closure. The MVT have launched the campaign #SaveThe30 to raise the funds to protect those that face closure. As of 8^th Jan 2021, the MVT has raised over £660,000 for those 30 venues who missed out on crucial funding from both rounds of funding from the government. They estimate they will need to raise £1,750,000 to ensure the 30 can remain as operational music venues.

It is clear nobody’s safe, with even the funded venues still facing uncertainty. With lockdown three upon us, those venues who had succeeded in securing funding in the government grant rounds are still facing challenges related to the pandemic. In response, the MVT has launched the Grassroots Music Venue Crisis Fund and as of 8^th January 2021, have raised just over £37,000 to help fund the support services – ranging from tenancy issues to licensing. The MVT are ambitious and are looking to raise over £1 million to ensure that those all-important venues remain for generations to come. As Mark Davyd, CEO of the MVT, said “It’s up to us – the government may very well fail to save our venues but we as individuals can still fight for their survival.” If British citizens do not act now to help protect them, we may never find another act like Oasis, The Smiths, The Rolling Stones – the list is endless. The music we are so proud of will fall silent forever.