I'm just back from a gig in Salford. Since you're asking I went to see a tremendous band from New Jersey called Real Estate, supported by an equally tremendous band from Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire called Spectrals. The gig, like many others I've seen over the past couple of years was promoted by an outfit called Now Wave. They seem to have a knack of putting on bands I like, or cottoning on to bands that are generating a lot of attention and making sure they get them for a Manchester date while they're still hot.

They've built up a great reputation which means you can generally trust that if they've booked a band it's gonna be worth seeing. They have a very definite 'house style' with their poster design and the way they present themselves which reminds of the way record labels work. As I walked into the gig tonight, I was presented with a rather glossy brochure detailing up and coming shows, with posters for each one beautifully presented on each page. They're approaching the live circuit much like a Factory Records or a Rough Trade.

A few years ago I never gave too hoots who was putting the gig on. It was usually someone at the local Student Union, a big promoter like SJM or Mean Fiddler, or some grizzled old Bob Dylan fan who ran the local Indie fleapit. Nowadays, certainly in Manchester the Student Unions seem to be sticking with the established names, the tribute bands or the perennial old favourites (Gary Newman, It Bites, The Alarm come around every year without fail). If you want to see something new and exciting, then certainly in this town it's the likes of Now Wave and other promoters like Wot God Forgot, Akoustik Anarchy, Pineapple Folk and numerous others will be behind it. You probably have similar set-ups in your town. They're all run by young, enthusiastic enterprising folk..the same folk that maybe ten years earlier would have started the next big Indie record label.

Indie Record Labels are as important as they ever were to artists and the industry. The DIY approach is still a myth..you need a record label of some shape or size to get anywhere both in terms of selling either digital or physical product, getting your music on the radio and getting on the gig circuit. But for all they do, it's likely that consumers don't have the same relationship with the Labels they once did, indeed if you download something from iTunes or Amazon you'll quite likely not know what record label it's on. Click 'properties' on one of your iTunes tracks..there in nowhere to see what label it's on. The same is not true of gigs, not in this town at least.