ROCK AT NIGHT PREMIERE – WEIMAR’s “Polished Decay” – Worldwide release on August 18, 2023

Weimar tackle the subject of gentrification of urban areas in the ninth of twelve videos from their album “Dancing On A Volcano”. “Polished Decay”, the seventh track on the album, is a Progressive Blues Rock tune lamenting the erosion of urban culture by gentrification, and featuring a guest appearance on sax by Finola, also a solo star in her own right.

The video takes the form of a full-scale attack on an exposé of the gentrification phenomenon affecting cities worldwide. As cities are regenerated by local and governmental authorities, with the building of expensive high-rise apartment blocks, offices, and premises for big business outlets, the traditional culture and individual character of the cities are eroded in the process, as independent businesses, including bars, nightclubs, and cultural hotspots, are closed down and demolished, and poorer residents are forced away as the cities are reconfigured in the interests of the wealthy, big business and mass-scale commerce. The result is a loss of the individual character of each city, the demolition of architectural wonders, a global homogeneity as cities worldwide take on an identical character symbolized by soulless modern architecture, the suppression of art and culture, and mass inequality between the rich and poor.

The video consists of footage shot mostly in Manchester, but also in London, Berlin, New York, Pittsburgh, and other cities worldwide, showcasing the soulless and characterless high-rise buildings and glass monstrosities being built across the globe, juxtaposed against the remnants of the now derelict cultural hotspots of the towns and the remaining independent bars, cafés, and shops that continue operating as the plans of big business corporations threaten their survival. The footage is interspersed with shots of graffiti from around the world decrying this plague of homogeneity and corporate blandness.

The video, like the song itself, serves as a protest against this large-scale erosion of culture and art, and a call to arms for resistance against the gentification phenomenon so we may, in the song’s words, ‘Reclaim the streets’. This is the ninth of twelve videos in the “Dancing On A Volcano” series and will be followed by three more over the next few months. Following the final video release, the videos will enable Weimar’s followers to enjoy the whole album in visual form as ‘Dancing On A Volcano: The Movie’.”

A special thanks to Kyle and the team at https://platerecognizer.com/ and https://parkpow.com/ for blurring the license plates in this video. These guys did the license plate blurring for free. Ace!

ROCK AT NIGHT EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE

WEIMAR’s “Polished Decay”

Polished Decay

There used to be a row of bars along this street
Where the punks and the bikers would hang out and meet
Music and communion were the order of the day
They’d dance at night and sing the late hours away

Then the council hiked the rents up and forced them all out
Now there’s offices and business firms scattered about
Expensive apartments pushed the culture away
This street was a victim of the polished decay

Polished Decay
It’s on the streets today
It’s the overriding factor of the urban age
It’s vacant and it’s hollow
But it’s here to stay
So we might as well give in to the polished decay

The sordid streets of Soho were the land of the free
From the clip joints to the cabaret to the Colony
The strangest creatures of the night in dark unity
Were all brought together in the den of iniquity

Now the neon signs have flashed their last
The red lights are out
The chainstores and the hipster bars are what it’s about
Now they’re even trying to throw Tin Pan Alley away
The district is succumbing to the polished decay

Polished Decay
It’s on the streets today
It’s the overriding factor of the urban age
It’s vacant and it’s hollow
But it’s here to stay
So we might as well give in to the polished decay

Every place with character is being knocked down
Every street looks like every other street in town
Every town looks like every other town in the world
Every place with any heart and soul is lost to the herd

The wealthy elite dictates the one way of life
If you don’t want to conform prepare yourself for strife
Just like they stole the Indians’ land to create the USA
They wipe us out, contaminate us with the polished decay

Polished Decay
It’s on the streets today
It’s the overriding factor of the urban age
It’s vacant and it’s hollow
But it’s here to stay
So we might as well give in to the polished decay

Polished Decay
It’s on the streets today
It’s the overriding factor of the urban age
It’s vacant and it’s hollow
But it won’t go away
So we’ll be damned if we surrender to the polished decay

SPOTIFY

Dancing On A Volcano’ LP is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. It can also be ordered on CD directly from the band.