Why regional cities need alternative music clubs

Regional cities need alternative music venues to sustain local music scenes and bring together audiences beyond narrow subcultures, Mart Niineste argues in an article for Sirp published by ERR. He makes the case in light of the eviction of Narva culture club Ro-Ro.

Niineste says people who lead Tallinn’s alternative music scene have often viewed the rest of Estonia as culturally backward and dominated by mainstream pop. He compares this attitude to that of some Berlin alternative music fans, who see areas outside the city as a realm of cheap popular culture. When Tallinn scene figures travel elsewhere, he writes, they may create temporary spaces for their own circles, with music selected by their own authorities.

Outside Tallinn, however, the picture is more varied and holds potential. Since the beat music wave of the 1960s, rock scenes have been active more or less continuously in every county, sustained by young people, local cultural organisers, music fans, instrument teachers and, at times, pub owners who like rock. Even as musical fashions have changed, there have been people whose tastes differ from those of the wider community.

In smaller cities, audiences have fewer cultural events to choose from than in the capital. When something takes place, people generally come, though turnout depends on their plans, the performers’ popularity and how close payday is.

Niineste describes these audiences as less divided by musical taste or political views than by their shared connection to their home town. In communities where people know one another, he writes, a middle-aged man wearing a Burzum or Loits shirt may cheer a visiting punk band from the front of the stage without other concertgoers judging him by his shirt.

People also attend to meet friends, but the bands are often strangers to them. That, Niineste argues, means performers face higher expectations than at a typical Tallinn scene event, where familiar acts play to familiar audiences.

Regional audiences are also used to seeing some of Estonia’s best-known rock and pop acts at summer events and nightclubs. Niineste names Smilers, Terminaator, Karl-Erik Taukar, Metsatöll, Kosmikud and 2 Quick Start as top-level entertainers.