From the Pocket: Music works for a showman like Charlie Cameron but fans need space between the notes
The quote “music is the space between the notes” is usually attributed to the French composer Claude Debussy.Or maybe it was Richard Strauss.Hell, maybe it was Richard Champion.Whoever it was, they were talking about savouring silence, about embracing emptiness, about avoiding anything that insists itself upon you.You don’t get a lot of Debussy at football games.
They probably sampled his most famous piece in an ad for banks or bookies.But you get a lot of music.You get a lot of noise.You get a lot of flashing lights.And you get a lot of fun facilitation.
The cacophony at Marvel Stadium is the tipping point for many and so it proved for veteran broadcaster Stephen Quartermain on Friday,“This crap music is doing my head in,” he said,“This is a blight on the game,” And he was right,The final quarter of the North Melbourne and Carlton clash should have encapsulated the full fan experience.
At least half were experiencing the best 30 minutes they had enjoyed at the footy in years.The other half were on the footballing ledge – some sullen, some resigned, some furious, some halfway home.They all had two things in common.They were all being urged to “MAKE SOME NOISE”.And they were all treated to lashings of KC and the Sunshine Band, Kenny Loggins and assorted bubblegum pop.
It wasn’t much better at Adelaide Oval a few hours later.This was one of the games of the season.It had a heaving home crowd.It had wild momentum swings.It had a rollicking Crows comeback against the Dockers.
If anything, it warranted a deep breath.But for the witless sensory assassins, that simply wouldn’t do.And with the home side a few goals up, the public announcer, maybe flown in from the Docklands, was screaming “Make some noise, Crows fans!”.This isn’t a column saying that music doesn’t have a place at footy games.There are certain venues, and certain supporter bases, where it is embraced and where it works.
It works for a showman like Charlie Cameron,It works at quarter-time of a full SCG game,It works in states where the AFL is trying to capture new fans,It works at stadiums where going to the football is less of a ritual, and more of an event,But it should be used judiciously.
Not every moment, and not every game, is worthy of Sweet Caroline.Not every Cameron goal warrants three minutes of John Denver.Every game has its own distinct rhythm, its own patterns, its own heartbeat.Some games take an hour to wake up.Some start like a shot from a cannon and quickly fizzle out.
Some catch fire in the final 10 minutes.Some moments make fans want to dance to Tay Tay.Some moments make them want to stick their face in a fan.Some games are putrid.Some stick in the marrow for years.
But the ground announcers and the in-house DJs don’t discriminate.To them, every goal is worthy of a song, and every break is worthy of shouting.Which brings me to another gripe – the over-caffeinated, over-amplified nonsense merchants who perforate our eardrums during the breaks.It’s not just the AFL of course.“A giant, conjoined, strobe lit homogenised assault of incoherent corporate sales fart,” Barney Ronay called some of the offerings at English Premier League stadiums.
And it’s something Matthew Crawford wrote about in his book The World Beyond Your Head.“Our self-appointed disrupters,” he wrote, “have opened up a new frontier of capitalism, complete with its own frontier ethic: to boldly dig up and monetise every bit of private head space by appropriating our collective attention.”As a result, it’s hard to take pause at a footy game any more.It’s hard to have a conversation with the person sitting next to you.It’s hard, at Marvel Stadium in particular, not to have an epileptic fit.
It’s something the AFL Fans Association should be advocating for.They made a lot of noise about the grand final being pushed back a couple of hours.But they were fighting the wrong battle.The continual assault on our senses and intelligence should be their primary focus.The Easter Monday classic showcased the best of the sport.
It’s worth looking at some of the still photographs of that game – the post daylight savings shadows, the tension and panic on the players’ faces, the euphoria of the crowd.Home side Hawthorn, to their eternal credit, did not pipe in music after every goal.The 84,000 people present therefore got to experience football as it should be – the nervous contemplation after a goal, the 10 seconds to collect their thoughts, the communal energies, anxieties and ecstasies of a gripping finish.Our self-appointed disrupters have no business inserting themselves in those moments, footy’s equivalent of the space between the notes.This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket.
To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions
Oil and gas crisis from Iran war worse than 1973, 1979 and 2022 together, says IEA
The oil and gas crisis triggered by the blockade of the strait of Hormuz is “more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2022 together”, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.Speaking as Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway approached, Fatih Birol told Le Figaro newspaper that the impact of the Middle East conflict on the oil market was larger than the combined force of the twin shocks of the 1970s and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The IEA executive director also warned that the countries most at risk were developing nations, which would suffer from higher oil and gas prices, higher food prices and a general acceleration of inflation, while European countries, Japan and Australia would also feel an impact.Oil prices seesawed around the $110 (£83) a barrel mark on Tuesday, rising above that level after Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran made a deal, before later easing to just below.Investors are growing increasingly anxious as Trump escalates his threats against Iran, demanding that it reopen the strait of Hormuz as part of any deal to stop the war
Universal Music, home to Taylor Swift and Drake, receives €55bn takeover offer
Billionaire Bill Ackman’s hedge fund has offered to buy Universal Music Group (UMG) in a deal that values the world’s biggest music company at about €55bn (£48bn).Pershing Square, the New-York based hedge fund, has made a bid for the business, which is home to artists including Taylor Swift and Elton John, with a cash and stock deal that would move its stock market listing from Amsterdam to New York.Ackman said in a statement that while the company, which is led by the British-born Sir Lucian Grainge, had done “an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance”, its share price had lagged owing to issues “unrelated to the performance of its music business”.Shares in UMG, which have been listed in Amsterdam since 2021, had lost more than a quarter of their value in the past year alone. Pershing’s offer triggered a sharp rise, with the price up by 13% on the previous trading day when the Amsterdam Euronext exchange closed on Tuesday
Oil back above $110 in volatile markets as Trump deadline looms for Iran to reopen strait – as it happened
Brent crude has risen above $110 a barrel again, after Donald Trump warned Iran “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not make an agreement.Brent, the global oil benchmark, has see-sawed in volatile markets today, and is now up 0.8% at $110.67 a barrel.Writing on Truth Social, the US president said:double quotation markA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again
BP shareholders advised to vote against chair over climate resolution exclusion
BP shareholders should vote against its new chair over his decision to exclude a climate resolution from the company’s next annual meeting, a major proxy adviser has recommended.Glass Lewis has advised investors to vote against Albert Manifold, who has been in his post for just six months.The institution, which advises some of the world’s biggest investors, said its recommendation was based on BP’s decision to exclude a proposal to share its longer-term strategy under scenarios of declining oil and gas demand.The resolution was tabled by the climate activist shareholder group Follow This and would have prompted the company and its shareholders to discuss the issue at BP’s annual general meeting on 23 April.BP, one of the biggest oil companies in the world, is in the process of pivoting its focus back to oil and gas after an ill-received foray into renewables
Hedge fund borrowing exposes emerging markets to greater Iran war risk, says IMF
Emerging economies are at greater risk of higher interest rates and currency shocks resulting from the Iran war because of increased reliance on market investors such as hedge funds, the International Monetary Fund has warned.The IMF’s analysis shows that a cumulative $4tn flowed into emerging markets last year from outside the formal banking sector – including from hedge funds and investment funds.In a blogpost, IMF economists argue that this can bring benefits, but also risks, as these funds are more likely than traditional bank financing to be withdrawn suddenly in times of financial stress.“Market-based finance can help firms integrate into global value chains, a key driver of exports, by easing access to funding for trade, working capital, and other needs that increase their productive capacity,” it says.But it warns that these investments “tend to be more volatile than bank flows and are increasingly sensitive to global risk conditions”
JP Morgan reaches agreement with City airport for Canary Wharf’s tallest tower
JP Morgan Chase has reached agreement with London City airport to build one of Europe’s tallest office towers in the east of the capital.The £3bn tower is poised to be the tallest in the Canary Wharf financial district after JP Morgan, one of Wall Street’s biggest banks, secured approval from the airport.JP Morgan revealed plans last November to build the Canary Wharf tower, which will serve as its new UK headquarters. The lender has since been in talks with airport officials over building height restrictions, given Canary Wharf’s location four miles west of City airport.Any new developments and planning applications within 10km (6 miles) of the airport are considered to be within its “area of interest”, meaning its safeguarding officials need to be consulted to ensure new buildings in Docklands do not interfere with aircraft movements
‘We’ll start a creche’: how the World Surf League is becoming family friendly for parents on tour | Kieran Pender
Sale believe Courtney Lawes can regain England place after veteran signs one-year deal
Drone racing to drone strikes: have war and sport become indistinguishable?
The Breakdown | Mitchell’s Six Nations conundrum: who will be Red Roses’ next Abby Dow?
Courtney Lawes ‘officially un-retiring’ for England after announcing Sale move
The Masters is a welcome oasis in golf’s fractious world, despite its stuffy foibles | Ewan Murray