Albuquerque’s music scene is about to explode.
But I really hope it doesn’t.
After reading Pat Graham’s recent article “Is music photography dead?” on Huck there was one sentence that stuck with me. “If you look back at what people call great music photography a lot of it is based on pictures of bands before they were famous, or at very small venues when no one else knew what was happening.” This is exactly what I find here in Albuquerque; talented musicians letting me into their world for the sake of preserving the moment.
I launched gig magazine in 2014. And almost every month for the entire year I would reach out to a local bands and work with them to make an issue of the magazine that represented them. Each issue featured photographs and an interview of just one band at one show. Looking back I essentially photographed, danced, and interviewed my way through some of Albuquerque’s amazing talent. The thing almost every local musician told me, or at least agreed with when I asked them, was that Albuquerque’s music scene was primed and ready to explode. Every show I went to in 2014 (and the one show in January 2015) I could feel that electricity in the air.
Musicians alone do not create that electricity. It also takes great venues, loyal fans, and dedicated promoters to get them all together. Albuquerque has the whole spectrum of venues, from house shows to amphitheaters and there are new ones opening every month This gives bands and promoters the ability to craft well thought out shows with lineups to match the space. The best thing is that the smaller venues are occasionally landing bigger bands often with local bands on the bill. This is healthy for the venues because it helps them pay the bills and it also helps the local bands by exposing them to more people as well as reinforcing their place with their loyal fans. There is a sense of local pride among the bands I met as well. Some of these bands have left to bigger cities “to make it big” but they came back. Not because they didn’t make it big, some did, but because there is something about the fans in Albuquerque.
One thing that made me excited every issue was the openness of the music community. After finding out that I was there for them they would welcome me in. Once I was inside their community I learned how much they worked and collaborated together with the goal of making great music. Maybe I was a bit novice to the scene, but it seemed like there was more of a focus on the music itself rather than a focus on the money. It reminded me of the hippie mindset of the late 60s and early 70s with the DIY attitude from the punk scene thrown in.
“I would rather that the tension and excitement stay high and Albuquerque rides it forever.”
Albuquerque’s music scene is about to explode, but I really hope it doesn’t. I would rather that the tension and excitement stay high and Albuquerque rides it forever. I do not want the big names artists stopping here every week. Although that alone isn’t a bad thing, the venues will book less local talent and the fans will skip a local show to go to the bigger shows. But alas, the wave will crest at some point and the high water will recede. When will all that happen who knows, but for now lets all enjoy the music and go see some great shows.
This article was originally published on May 1, 2015 on the site Pyragraph.
