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We’re finally here at the tail end of 2010 to close out our 20th Anniversary year. Obviously, a lot has changed in the past two decades. In fact, a lot has changed in just the past few weeks. In the last issue, I lamented the loss of Harpers Ferry in Boston, one of the longest running rock clubs in town. After we went to press, it was announced that live music maven (and current Live Nation exec) Don Law would be taking over the space and re-opening it under the Brighton Music Hall name.

It’s still unclear if this will be a good thing for independent artists or not, but at least the building that sits watch over Allston Rock City will continue to feature live music. Law’s plans are to re-establish the club as a “feeder” venue for the larger, 850-capacity Paradise just a mile down the road.

Don’t get too cheery, though. The lamenting continues this month! It was announced recently that two products that revolutionized how we listen to music have been permanently discontinued. Sony’s Walkman (essentially an iPod that holds about 10 songs, for you kiddos) and the Technics 1200 series of turntables will both be put out to pasture starting in the New Year. Now I realize that both have been teetering on obsolescence for many years, but as someone who first discovered music using both of these devices, the nostalgic weepies have set in a little. Tissues, please…

The Walkman and the industry standard turntable might be a thing of the past, but the formats that fueled their engines are still surprisingly strong. In this issue we take a look at the comeback of the cassette tape in indie culture, and review two fantastic DIY books – one on the American hardcore scene (intrinsically linked to 7-inch vinyl and tape trading) and one that focuses exclusively on the art of the 7-inch itself.

As we close out 20 years of Performer, it’s amazing how some things change, and yet some remain forever unchanged. Here’s to another 20…

-Benjamin Ricci

Editor

P.S. – Apologies go out to our legal columnist Adam Barnosky. We regrettably left in a rogue “the” in the headline of his column last month. I’ll take full blame for the the the error.