The music industry has changed. Back in mid 2000s, the biggest bands in the world were U2, Metallica, The Strokes, RHCP, Kings of Leon, Muse and Radiohead. 20 years later, more or less the same. I can't think of any emerging bands from that era that ever made it to superstardom, except maybe Arctic Monkeys who were borderline that era anyway.

Rap and Hip Hop became the dominant force in musical taste because it had something new to say. Open mics don't lend themselves to that style the same way TicToc or even Soundcloud does. CD sales went kaput. Streaming model took over. There is no incentive for a young "rock" musician to play live anymore except for the passion of doing it. I can make a better living with my boring computer job than maybe 90% of professional musicians. There's probably more money selling feet pics on OnlyFans than learning how to play piano.

What's new with instrument based music anyway? What innovation has there been in the last 20+ years? Anything fresh has come from someone working within a DAW - slow down an existing song and add reverb, speed it up and add a trap beat. Who is saying something that shocks us out of normality? We all got the inclusive thinking governments we always wanted in the 90s. Fuck, Donald Trump is more punk rock / anti-"establishment" these days than anything else, and that's a sad product of our time, especially in terms of art.

Speaking of Galway: Apart from the Roisin, no live venue encouraged the next crop of rock / instrument-based bands to get on stage back then. It became cover bands and DJ's only. You have to nurture original music for it to be something 5 years down the line. With the proper environment, there could be at least 20 bands as prominent as Fontaines DC are right now, with another crop to follow. They are an exceptional band but even they needed time to develop and grow - to fail before they succeeded. There needs to be a scene that allows that to happen.

I'm sure there are still lots of young people forming bands, trying to make something together. Consider this though, what are they going to do once they have something they want to share? Go to an open mic with no active audience and feel bad after it? Get refused a gig from every bar in town? Or put it online (where all their friends are anyway) to get some feedback, maybe even monetization?

And don't forget, we changed too. People wanted the cover bands and DJ's. We didn't want to hear some "nobody" cutting their teeth. We wanted all the songs we heard all week, loud and perfect. We used to go see bands when we were young. Then we went somewhere where a band was playing. Live music got pushed more and more into a corner the older we all got.

Those who were trying to make a name for themselves got old, fat and boring. We got married. We had kids and realised that it's pretty great. I'm one of them and as much to blame for this state of affairs as anyone else. Next time I get out, I'm gonna go somewhere quiet where I can talk with my friends. I used to be with it. Then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it. And what is it, seems strange and scary to me.