Niall Horan At The O2

I must have been the oldest guy there.

But I was standing on the scaffolding by the sound desk for a better view and...

That's rock and roll.

There's just a vibe, a feeling at a show, that you can't get anywhere else.

After talking to the LIV golfer Tyrrell Hatton in the office, Justin threaded me through the crowd to the aforementioned sound desk and...

It was girls, girls, GIRLS! And they were all singing...

"The Chain."

You know...if you don't love me now, you will never love me again.

Every woman, from teen to twentysomething, maybe a few thirtysomethings, had their head in the air, singing along in euphoria. I've seen this before, but at a Taylor Swift concert.

We didn't do this. We were high on drugs. We sat in the seats the floor of the O2 did not provide. It was all cerebral. A show wasn't a celebration, but an intellectual experience. We took our music very seriously, argued about it, judged others' taste, it was the highest art form.

Not anymore. Music is like sports. And if you're a fan, you want to know EVERYTHING about the act!

So the Niall Horan tour is billed as "The Show," and the stage set had a curtain, it was akin to a movie theatre, and from the very first note the assembled multitude sang along and...

This was rock. I don't mean Lamb of God, I don't mean Metallica, but the big tent of rock we had in the sixties. There were guitars, no hard drives, no dancing. It was about the music, and solely the music.

And it was fun. Even though I didn't know all the material.

That's usually a criterion. If you don't know the songs, you don't have a good experience. But now sound reinforcement is so good, that if an act presents songs with melody and changes...

Look at the Spotify Top 50 and you'd think it's a lost art.

But the truth is the old paradigm is history.

Harry told me they weren't exactly sure how the audience knew the songs. Radio was not a component. Ditto the manager of the opening act, Del Water Gap. Today you go off into the wilderness and...

Opening for a superstar is one way to break through. It worked for Sabrina Carpenter, and then for Chappell Roan. But really, you're on your own.

A lot of the big acts breaking through have been at the game for nearly a decade. And there's nothing a manager can do to shorten the journey. There's a fantasy that there's some big button to push. But all a manager can do is maximize the action you develop. And it's hard. The acts are working so fervently at social media, 24/7, that they burn out, a manager has to convince them to stay at it.

And Niall's band had two women in it. And neither was a bass player! (I'm worried you'll think that's sexist, but if you open your eyes, you'll find that's where you'll find many women in a band.)

Not that there are any bands to begin with.

So after the show I had a long conversation with Emily Kohavi, who plays violin and guitar in the band, as well as sings.

She's looking for representation. Someone to help her. She's holding back her masters. She's put out a couple of albums as part of an indie rock band. She's been on tour with Phoebe Bridgers, but she wants help, she wants it to be a bit easier.

But that's not the way it is anymore.

I told her to put new music online immediately. And constantly. If you're not there, no one can find you.

And if you can sell tickets, agents will come calling. As for a record label... Is that really a thing anymore? You can put your stuff up on Spotify, et al, and make more bread assuming any comes in at all.

You're in charge.

So we went up to the suite, high in the rafters, about two-thirds of the way through and...

I got it.

You can be in the upper deck, and it's considered a shi*tty ticket, but you're in the building, you can see it, you can feel it. This is where I used to sit, I no longer have to, but I realized on some level, it's just as good.

And then we went down by the stage and I looked at the posters...

The girls who had traveled thousands of miles for the show, in excess of 4,000, to be accurate.

And then two women who'd seen the show up north and then had to come down and see it again.

This is not Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls." That band was selling a fantasy. Which you can still view online, today they're influencers on social media. But in truth those people are not real, they never live up to the image, the girls in attendance Tuesday night didn't have to dress up, they were normal, they were thrilled just to be there!

And it was girls. Girls drive the business. Get the girls and you've got something, they bring the boys along. If you've only got the guys, you're limited. And all the guys want to be with the girls...

I mean how many times have I been to an arena show?

It's not like it's a novelty. But I was there and felt the same inner excitement I always have.

And the backstage hang... This wasn't the L.A. insiders, this was friends of the band and there was a joie de vivre. People live to go backstage, thinking it will make them complete. But normally it's dead, the band members are worn out, but the other night...

I mean Niall was normal. We talked about the music, the show, where we live in L.A.

But it wasn't dark. It wasn't edgy.

You're with your tribe and you can have conversations with the people who understand you, who are on your wavelength.

And this better be enough, because there's just not that much money in music anymore.

Let me be clear, there's plenty of money, but unlike in the sixties and seventies, rock stars are not as rich as anybody in the world. That's techies and financiers.

Which means you've got to enjoy it for what it is. An alternative universe.

If you're wearing a suit you don't get it. You're in this world so you can relax, let your freak flag fly, you don't need permission, you just fit right in.

And this has nothing to do with brand extensions. And if you're selling out to the man, you're alienating yourself from your audience and...

Turns out fun is the one thing that money can buy.

Lay down your cash and go to a show, you'll have a blast!


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