Something interesting has been happening on the music scene recently. Remember the time when you had to be a certain age to be able to get into concerts and clubs and when it seemed you had to wait forever to be old enough to experience the really exciting open-air gigs? Teenagers used to spend time and money trying to make themselves look eighteen and many even invested in fake IDs to get past the security guards! Well, it appears that the tables have turned and a new phenomenon has arrived. This is keeping the older music fans out and forcing them to try to appear younger or have fake IDs that prove they are under eighteen.

What is it? It’s the brainchild of Sam Gascoyne, a fifteen-year-old who got fed up with being turned away from concerts and decided to do something about it. This will be the second year of the extremely popular ‘Underage’ festivals.

“Underage” started as a nightclub night for youngsters who wanted to listen to bands that are popular today. According to Sam, teens today are getting involved in music and the music industry at younger and younger ages and their needs are not being catered for. They are no longer content to listen to the type of music nightclubs usually provide for under-eighteen nights. They want more cutting edge music.

The London Underage club nights developed into Underage clubs and the idea spread like wildfire and was copied in towns and cities all over the UK. Last year saw the first Underage Music Festival on 10th August in London’s Victoria park. It was an amazing event. Open only to 14–18 year olds the morning started with a queue of over 2,000 teenagers without a parent in sight! The only adults were the security people and twenty-somethings trying to look younger!

The festival was well organised and offered the best in indie music. It was well equipped to deal with the needs of the adolescent fans: food bars, cash points and lots of security to reassure absent parents that the kids would be safe. The whole day was a great success, the teenagers thoroughly enjoying the fact that they had a festival of their very own.

The “Underage” phenomenon has proved so successful that Sam is now considered by many to be a teen role model. He remains unfazed by it all. He admits to being annoyed by the increased attention of the music industry. He feels very strongly that teenagers are being let down by an industry run by people who are more interested in money than music and who are too old to understand teenage needs. He insists that in this technological age young people are more aware of new trends in music than ever before and ingrained attitudes in the industry need to change.