Amused or not, a muse on Yo-Yo By Michelle Dee

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Whilst all you scenesters were at Leeds watching the likes of The Killers, The Pixies and The Paddingtons... life continued back home. Welly on Saturday was a little emptier than previous weeks, but that just meant there was more room to move and it wasn't quite so hot. DJ Priya had a difficult job tonight due to the lack of so many regulars which gave the night a strange unfamiliar air. Not quite anywhere else than here but she managed to successfully raise the spirits in the not so crowded room. She had a couple of Franz Ferdinand tickets to give away for Ice Arena in Nov to help to this end and played their new single Do you want to. At this moment in time after hearing it half a dozen or so times I don't think it's as strong as previous releases.

Watching Priya deejay you can clearly see her passion for the music as she moves and grooves behind the decks, smiling to all the familiar faces. Yo-Yo, in the shape of Andrew Coe and Priya, has been promoting Indie club nights for over ten years and they have maintained their fervour for the freshest underground sounds throughout. Yo-Yo has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including best Indie night in England. Such accolades come through the years of hard work, dedication and the unwavering belief in both the concept and delivery. Oh and of course all the people who have been coming to Yo-Yo for the past decade.

Being such a prominent name on the scene does have drawbacks; soulless people come along and try to pull the wool, in a wolfish attempt to wrestle away your lives work. Also for the ordinary punter seeing a name on billboards for many years meant it took on a different aura. The logo that you must see maybe ten or more times in the space of a week, posters covering every spare inch of precious advertising space.

This thing called Yo-Yo that is so big and popular it can't be for the likes of me. But, I was wrong. I am reluctant to start saying things like; always feel welcome; inviting atmosphere; just relax, be yourself; anything goes in a place like this, for fear that I tempt fate and get monstered by some undesirable next week...lol.

Over the last few months Yo-Yo Saturdays have played host to some great new bands and I have had some faaantastic nights there. And more importantly have been able to enjoy all the new songs helping to create this thing we call scene. Not to mention enjoying all the daring non-fashion ideas you scenesters keep coming out in. When the skirts, scarves, belts, buckles and braces become main stream and everyone is wearing them do you run back to the closet and re-invent yourself? Or do you stand by loyal to the end to what were once synonymous with your identity?

The same may be true when it comes to the music; imagine there's this great new band with a totally different take on things and no one else you know has heard of them; you feel so passionately about them, almost protective until... sometime later you hear them playing in a club, then on the radio and television. Later they become pinups in magazines and then, god forbid, they're plastered on the front cover of the papers, all their secrets exposed, the magic and mystique long forgotten, stripped bare by the harsh glare of the media spotlight. You look at them and try to recall when they felt exclusively yours; remember them before they became public property. But do you stop loving them so much does the passion that once roared like a fire inside you diminish and die? Chances are, as soon as that lot, with their trendy clothes, the faces that fit, you know those that wouldn't be seen dead at a gig, start mouthing the opening lines to the one song they know by your band, you will have mourned the loss and cast out your aural net once more for something new. It's the red car syndrome that is reflected everywhere in life.

Continued ...Next Page,

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