Extended Play

David Ellis' performance Extended Play is an improvisation-based audiovisual show that highlights the evolution of pop music and its impact on contemporary culture. The event, created by Ellis, traces its subject matter back to 1956, recalling memories of peroxide blondes, hardcore bikers, and the liberating craze of Stratocaster guitars, leading up to the pivotal eras of punk and post-punk. Ellis narrates freely, and his unique performance—which he describes as a "live, emotionally charged replay of five generations' shared teenage memories"—is complemented by projections and music.

As an active participant in London's rock and art scene of the 1970s, David Ellis presents the UK’s subcultures within a broader cultural context, incorporating experimental films, graphic design, and fashion. The performance compellingly illustrates that the evolution of rock music has followed a relatively consistent trajectory, with raw, and at times even aggressive, elements appearing as early as the earliest forms of pop and rock music. At the same time, much of later alternative rock was heavily built upon the work of "old-school" musicians.

Extended Play may be particularly insightful for rock fans from the former Eastern Bloc, where Western Europe's cultural landscape was often idealized. The transition from a post-war society governed by patriarchal work ethics to a far more pleasure-oriented modern era was even sharper here than in countries where all generations were equally oppressed by strict communist regimes.