I was told HS were pretty much there, a lot of the bands got a message along the lines of "you're our band on our roster so you play" but in Italian.

Tough if you play what "the kids" deem as soft rock. Kids don't want to see old men playing songs about love and riding an imaginary highway (especially if the band are from Wolverhampton), they want to see young bands, shouting about murdering their dad, jumping up and down a lot and shouting a bit more.