Norfolk pariahs!

[Who killed the Croutons 0]

I know a little bit ''off piste'' but doesnt it jack you off when Norfolk (place and people) are stereotyped by supposed big city types i.e. ''journos''. Example I support my local football but also love local music. Went to the Waterfront Monday night and saw some excellent local talent at Oxjam...bought Cord album (excellent by the way despite NME slating and I recommend!!). But people complaining to NME just get put down with anti Norwich/Country rhetorical stereotype, one wonders therefore how anything from this county/city can achieve recognition and that includes our beloved NCFC...

Norwich is a wonderful diverse modern city with loads to offer but FFS doesnt it jar me when we are so marginalised in cultural, football and on social criteria in extremes it borders on racism. Or as an alterntive view does this make us more determined and together as a whole the ''no one like us'' Millwall culture of the 80s.

Do our friends outside of Norfolk i.e. the various Uni posters encounter this I''d be interested in views/perceptions..    

[Evil Monkey 52]

To be honest, I don''t think many people from Norfolk do themselves any favours.  Take a look at the club, and the "little old Norwich" attitude of the board.  We complained about this for the last year or so, yet when we get the chance for a new manager, many people start calling for ex-players to come and manage us - Bowen, Crook, Iwan and even Malky were touted as the saviours.  This is a typical "introverted" Norfolk attitude, without intending that as an insult.  Alex Notman is free these days, why don''t we give him a call?In terms of outside perception though, I have to say that since moving to Manchester last month, I''ve found that most people don''t even know where Norwich is, let alone what the people are like.  The only stereotyping I''ve seen was on the Hiking Society website, which read "we do hikes all over the country (except Norfolk, which is full of windmills)."The simple fact is that Norwich is in the arse-end of nowhere.  No one "passes through" Norwich on the way to anywhere else, as they would in many of the other big cities, and this is a problem.  People have to have a specific reason to come to Norwich, and this is the predicament of the local tourist board.  Most people I''ve spoken to who have ever been to Norwich know it to be a lovely place, and it''s no coincidence that many students from outside the area stay after finishing uni.  We just have to get people here to convince them of this...Musically, though, you can see why Norwich is ignored.  Yes, there are numerous decent bands on the Norwich circuit, and a few decent artists have come out of there, ie Kathy Dennis or, more recently, Beth Orton.  But who else, other than Cord, who are yet to achieve critical and financial success?  I saw the name written on a toilet wall up here, but that''s about it in terms of national recognition.  Part of the problem is the old "catchment area" situation, with most of ours being the sea.  Another part however, I believe, is another tendency to "look back".  I know that the recent music scene is hardly what you''d call "revisionist", but there are so many bands in Norwich so desperate to hark back to the good old days, that they just end up looking silly.  How many bands in Norwich look and sound like The Doors? Too many, and most have big followings, whilst the exciting and interesting bands such as Overreal get more success from gigs outside of Norwich than they do in, despite years of work on the scene.

[gazzathegreat 0]

Crutons

I agree with you, but don''t let the journos get you down.  Their mission in life is to get stuff published and read.  It doesn''t have to be true, and most of it is slamming someone.  A typical British disease.

I was also at the Oxjam gig and thought all the bands were good.  Not great, but professional and it was after all, a local gig to raise money for charity.  Cord having a major record deal will no doubt get bigger gigs and go further than an average local band, I bet the Darkness suffered similar stereotypes when they first burst onto the scene.

I have lived all over the country and can tell you most outsiders I have met and spoken to envy us in Norfolk.  Quiet pace of life, lovely open spaces, the coast etc, etc.  All areas have their pros and cons.  Tell you what, I bet those slatting journos have holiday hideaways, if not in Norfolk, then somewhere similarly rural.  As for the people on messageboards, well I bet their places of residence have lots they would not want to talk about too.  Going onto football, having travelled all over the country there are lots of places I would really not want to live in.  We don''t know just how lucky we are.

Norwich is getting more and more diverse and as you say has a lot to offer.  Not too many smallish cities with a friendly feel left.  Maybe Lincoln and York?  We should be proud of what we have and celebrate it.  If a few outsiders think we all go around saying bootiful and with straws hanging out of our mouths, let them. 

Ask yourself, do you want Norwich to become another London?  Exactly.  

 

[Marty 0]

I blame Alan Partridge! some people actually believe he is real. It is true to a certain extent but i''m sure many of us Norfolk ex pats are doing what we can to put the records straight. I can understand these sort of attitudes towards many of the plethera of non-event little hick towns and cultural voids that actually liter our country, but I certainly put Norwich on a different plane. The media like to “pigeon hole” everything and everybody, in a way it is the biased and blinkered view of the media that put places like Norwich on the map, it makes it sound different to everywhere else (not necessarily in a good way mind)! But they still think people in Norfolk have outside toilets, don’t know what TV is and have only just discovered use of the wheel!

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,023]

Gazza - Well said, the NNP are looking for a "spokesperson", would you care to join?

[Mook 0]

Careful what you wish for, Cruton. It''s nice to get on with life in Norfolk, forget what the journo''s say - they''re pretty much always city types and have never visited Norwich in their lives.

As for the music thing, well I was a Norwich based musician at one time, and there ain''t no love for the "unsigned" in Norwich. You can''t gig around town and build up recognition like you can in other cities, and I''m afraid that''s just the truth. There is no gig "scene" and there are very few original bands. People don''t go out to check out new music, they just wait for the "big" acts and go watch them at the UEA. Cord are ok, but the fact that they fit into the Keane/Coldplay/Snow patrol mould doesn''t do their (or Norwich''s) image any favours. In a lot of cases, the journo''s are right to write us off.

Go live in London if you like live music. I can fully recommend it. There''s nowhere else like it in this country, with the possible exception (although on a smaller scale) of Manchester.

[salp 0]

Norwich may be the ''arse end of nowhere'' but it still is our little secret from all the other ''city'' nowheres -

why do so many tourists come here and be a pain in the @rse every year?

south stand is still the place to be, got our season ticks

we didn''t move here from Essex for nothing

mr & mrs salp 

[Cluck 0]

Bo**ocks to them...

Norfolk is a well kept secret........populated by an astute, independent thinking breed of people.

I don''t give a bugger about what people think of my  home City, County or accent.......I know it is special....and the more outsiders who are deterred from moving here the better............

I''ve reluctantly  lived all over the World.......and there is no place better.....no people more genuine.

Just be proud!.......

[Dizzy Rascal 0]

    Did anyone watch Mock The Week yesterday and the other week? [:''(]

[Who killed the Croutons 0]

Some excellent replies thanks and make no mistake I’m proud to be Norfolk and of my City/County/Culture/Heritage/Yes Accent/Yes Footy Team/Countryside but not at the expense of being patronised by ignorant bigots.

I guess I should be used to it by now…

Norfolk n’Proud

[gazzathegreat 0]

[quote user="Sons of Boadicea"]Gazza - Well said, the NNP are looking for a "spokesperson", would you care to join?[/quote]

 

If you like, what''s do I have to do?

[Yellow fever 0]

[quote user="Who killed the Croutons"]

I know a little bit ''off piste'' but doesnt it jack you off when Norfolk (place and people) are stereotyped by supposed big city types i.e. ''journos''. Example I support my local football but also love local music. Went to the Waterfront Monday night and saw some excellent local talent at Oxjam...bought Cord album (excellent by the way despite NME slating and I recommend!!). But people complaining to NME just get put down with anti Norwich/Country rhetorical stereotype, one wonders therefore how anything from this county/city can achieve recognition and that includes our beloved NCFC...

Norwich is a wonderful diverse modern city with loads to offer but FFS doesnt it jar me when we are so marginalised in cultural, football and on social criteria in extremes it borders on racism. Or as an alterntive view does this make us more determined and together as a whole the ''no one like us'' Millwall culture of the 80s.

Do our friends outside of Norfolk i.e. the various Uni posters encounter this I''d be interested in views/perceptions..    

[/quote]

i agree - peple make out were stupid buts them not us

[Yellow fever 0]

[quote user="Marty"]I blame Alan Partridge! some people actually believe he is real. [/quote]

what do you mean

[Maverick 0]

Did you read the NME reviews of the Club NME tour gig at the Waterfront last week or this week''s review of The Long Blondes at the Arts Centre on Sunday.

Didn''t notice them slating the crowds.

I agree with NME - Cord''s album is nothing special at all.

[jetstream 0]

Yep, I saw "Mock The Week" and sighed - webbed fingers/feet comments. Mind you, Norfolk people are the first to say the very same things about them Suffolk types!

Having been involved in local music for many years I can tell you that i tried to do my bit to fight the stereotypes and there have been some fantastic (original) bands over the last couple of decades from this region - many of whom just get out there and get on with it. You have to gig outside the city/county to get recognition (Magoo/Navigator/Bearsuit to name some of the lo-fi acts of the last ten years).

NME etc have a very simplistic view of the regions - mind you, bands like The Farmer''s Boys (bless ''em) never helped the cause in that respect! There are some good new bands around - Lost Levels, Kneehigh to name a couple.