invernessGiGs has been loathed to write this article, and therefore whilst we have been thinking about this for some time and hinted at some of the issues (have a look at the article here) it’s under three weeks to Rockness and the lack of local ,and especially emerging, acts has been quite shocking.
We were promised that this festival would be the “Year of the Ness” and whilst there maybe various interpretations of this tag line, we had anticipated that this meant that there may be a local twist to the years proceedings.
The announcement that goNorth would not have a presence this year did ring alarm bells, however given that this was known sometime ago, we had thought an alternative would be found that would allow some form of showcase for local talent. Whilst this did not happen an open competition has been hastily arranged (whilst long in the offing it was just announced in the last few days), of course local bands can enter, but we cannot think of a single festival that has as little to do with the local scene as Rockness.
The one announcement that was made was that local act, James Mackenzie and the Aquascene would open the main stage on Sunday , this was done with a whisper more than the fanfare it deserved (and they have not appeared on posters or even the Rockness guide that is on-line as of 22nd of May).
A recent Facebook page has been set up to get local DJ’s to have a tent at Rockness, please please go and show your support. The sense that our scene is represented at the biggest local festival, should be valued and should be acknowledged.
There is a possibility that the local scene has been marginalised, possible examples of this could be seen in the promotional videos for the event being shot in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the limited nature of local media coverage and the recent “Road to Rockness” tour, which stopped in er Glasgow.
So come on Rockness, get your act together and getting booking the best the Highlands have to offer.
