The death of live music.

[edcat7]

When I was working in Hong Kong all those years ago there was an amateur opera group busking in a local park. Pity I didn't appreciate it then.
Until a couple of years ago there would be occasional Chinese opera concerts held at SOAS, University of London. It was fairly well attended but relied on government funding to survive.

Last week my wife and I went to see a Gypsy Jazz band playing in a French restaurant. It's in a affluent area of town but there were only seven in the audience. Nightclubs are closing at an alarming rate. What do people do now...play computer games?

[juliek]

There is quite a lot of live music in bars local to me (not all of it is my thing). Can't say why people go less - are there less funded venues so it is off people's radar as something to go to as well? A lot of music venues have closed here due to lack of funding. People here seem to be happier getting so drunk that they end up in the gutter in a state rather than drinking moderately and enjoying music.

I like video games. I go to large live video games music concerts in London held at venues like the Royal Albert Hall. Live video game music concerts have a large following now and there are more concerts every year. Some of the music is really beautiful and other pieces very emotive - much on a level with music for films. It is probably the most casual looking audience to ever turn up at the R.A.H. ! I really owe my getting back into music to video games - it was at a video games concert that I discovered what an erhu was and have been fascinated ever since, it was Tina Guo's fault - she used it live for her own version of Oogway Ascends (from a film I know and also in the piece she played from uncharted.

J