The Scene Symbols

Written by Magic

In these modern days of 1997, the Amiga Demo Scene seems to have fallen in a much advanced state of decay, especially when compared to earlier times. It has become common to look back at scene history, and whoever decides to do so always chooses the highlights to determine what the official picture looked like back then, hence putting the thoughts of sceners on hold.

How many times will we be looking at the old demos from the past? CD ROM technology has made it possible to store entire scene libraries right in a drawer, if one has the right CDs. The Amiga scene has been existing for 10 years - nothing more than 4, or maybe 5, generations of sceners.

Small happenings by certain groups and sceners caused entirely new trends in the Amiga scene. Slayer of Scoopex introduced the trackloader and in no time at all, every coder had to use this new idea. Melon, with its design fixation and Crusaders with all their music disks, publicised their own fashions.

But what actually makes these happenings or groups so historical? How big must a coder be, how good must a magazine get, or how bad must a party be organized to be called legendary?

Usually one has to achieve something that goes above or beneath the values in the scene, to be well remembered across time. Most of the time the sceners who are interviewed in magazines, mention their achievements in the scene, because it's a symbol for fame and glory, but also for their own acknowledgement. What we call highlights are usually symbols, which eventually can lead an entire own life, sometimes boasted by writers.

THE PARTY series will remain the symbol amongst scene events. WILD is a symbol for all slide shows, even though years ago some very good slides were already released. Amongst the demo groups, Andromeda's position was always far ahead of Silents, Anarchy, Sanity or Virtual Dreams. Even though Nexus 7 still appears in most charts, the Norwegians have nowadays been taken over by The Black Lotus.

Facet is smoking some weed in a coffee shop. The owner asks him, "What's the matter Facet?" "My Scanner broke down", replies the Dutch. Facet is the ultimate graphician, the last legendary one that still releases something from time to time. Lazur, Rodney and Danny are surely far better than Facet, but as a symbol they can't even come close to him.

The first The Party will always be symbolised for the ODYSSEY demo by Alcatraz, which crashed the chart topper, HARDWIRED by The Silents. Chaos of Sanity will always be THE symbol amongst coders, because of his endless spandimerda attacks and speeches in various magazines. Old releases or known sceners are still in various charts. They belong to the most remembered. They are amongst the symbols in our Amiga scene.

Writers are nothing more than opinion makers. They are needed until a new symbol or scene myth is created. Twisting words and constructing phrases can make or break symbols. World Of Wodka and Broken Promises are two such demos. Sceners want re-runs from time to time. The Official Eurochart and Showtime were reborn to contest this thirst.

We are in the middle of 1997, and some are already looking back at the very first months of this same year. TBL dominated the first half of this scene year. The big question is to wait and attend the sceners or groups that will have their breakthrough later on. A number of scene publications are still present, but for how long? In everyday life we don't even have to visit any library, as Internet has made it possible to research huge archives through simple search engines. If and when scene magazines will turn totally on-line, and be updated as soon as news happens, the only hardware the scener would need is some memory. Software would become a case of individual imagination.

Time flies fast and 1998 will be with us in no time at all. Groups are already working on their TP7 presentations. And in two years, the scene will jump into the new century. Even then, the Scene Symbols will be still with us.

- Magic / Nah-kolor