A lot of you will have already seen this on LiveJournal, but it was recommended I post it here as well. I lovingly call it a "memorandum" to be circulated amongst the fans. I have sent it to Matt and he has been gracious enough to offer to pass it on to the guys as well.
PASSION: A COMMON ROTATION MEMORANDUM
Sometimes music moves like electricity. It can course through the earth and the floorboards straight into your body, into your bloodstream, leaving your fingertips tingling as if you’d just received a shock. Sometimes music moves like the wind. You can close your eyes and relax and it will sway you back and forth in its breeze. You can breathe it in and out at your own pace and it will always leave you feeling refreshed. Sometimes music moves like water. It can cascade down or trickle along, always leaving everything in its path coated with a bit of moisture.
When it comes to Common Rotation, all of these examples are true. Fans of the band find connecting with a Common Rotation song – from a full recorded album track to an acoustic Union Maid demo – extremely easy. This is because Common Rotation find it just as easy to reach out and connect with their fans. There are no barriers between the band and their fans. This has been proved time and time again through their music (The Union Maid), their live shows (Living Room performances) and their attitude. Members of the band have made it abundantly clear that there is no ‘fame’ involved here. While the band plays the music, the audience watches and listens; we’re all breathing the same air and tapping our toes to the same beat. Even when listening to a Common Rotation song on the other side of the world, you can feel the connection. It’s almost as if you could plunge your hands into the earth, through to the other side, and touch them.
In the same vein, no barriers exist between the fans themselves. To be in the world of Common Rotation fandom is to be part of one giant, happy family. There is no “old school”; no “newbies”. There is no elitism when it comes to this band. You cannot be “too cool” or “too nerdy” to enjoy and appreciate thismusic. Everyone is invited and the party never ends. Outside musical tastes, nationalities and age matter nothing when two Common Rotation fans meet. Once fandom has been established then, on a level deeper than Top Five Lists, they have everything in common. The reason for this is because fans of Common Rotation tend to stand for the same things that the band do. Even then, it doesn't matter so much what side of the debate you’re on (pro/against, Bush/Kerry, toast/crumpets), just that you’re passionate about it and desire to be a part of it.
So this is where we come full circle. It is so incredibly easy to be passionate about this band. It’s not just that Common Rotation’s music is beautiful and fluid and fun. It’s also incredibly intelligent. To truly enjoy the music is to understand that witty and sometimes cynical political and social satire that runs through, underneath and behind the words. It is difficult not to admire a band that puts so much of themselves into their music. It’s not just entertainment; it’s education, it’s proclamation, it’s reiteration, it’s a fucking stand.
It was said on Common Rotation’s website: “This band works for you in such a quickly decisive manner that you would be a fool not to support them.” We already do, and we don’t need to be convinced again. However, it’s difficult not to shout from the rooftops how incredible this band is. As fans, we want to plant our feet and shake the closest standers-by until they get the idea. This is the greatest fucking band in the world! Once you’re in the fold, it feels like a grassroots crusade. As loyal friends and fans we’re ready to slay the dragons and convert the heathens. We’re ready to do anything this band asks us to do – which they will. And probably buy us a beer afterwards.
Well written Wish I could write, but Im next to illiterate now.
So true about Co/Ro fans most are so easy to talk to when you meet at gigs. Theyre only strangers for a second until you get talking about the band and the music.
Co/Ro are the best new band (For me) I have heard in years
I love it when someone can articulate exactly how I feel. I cannot write like that without sounding gushy and obsessed ! But you put it beautifully Nai x
Nai x