First we take London...
Just taking the time to fling a little news update this way, due to recent interesting developments.
I played an excellent gig last wednesday at Canal 125 in Kings Cross at the invitation of "Hooked on wednesdays". The venue itself is real nice and has a great atmosphere. The guys have a huge PA system for such a small room but there's nothing wrong with that! As soon as I got there I was given a free burger and some tokens for four free drinks at the bar. Now that's a way to keep the performers happy. I am continually and consistently disappointed in the off-hand way most promoters treat the artists at gigs, most of whom make great demands on the artist's patience and promotional nous, and then not bothering to pay anything at all, let alone actually make you feel at home or welcomed in any kind of way. That's a rant for another time, though.
There was another guy on the bill whose stuff I liked - name of Steve Finn. Worth checking out. Sort of a mancunian blues thing. Great harp player.
Anyway both my sets went very well and were well received by the audience (I'd like to thank the man known only as "The Jacket" once again for bringing people along), but the promoters themselves seemed the most impressed - in fact, they approached me afterwards to discuss a small indie label they're planning on setting up. It seems they've got the relevant facilities in place and they're interested in putting out my stuff. I don't want to jinx anything so I won't say any more now but they want to have a meeting in the next couple of weeks.
My Groups
-
Songwriters Updated: 25 minutes ago
-
Unsigned Bands Updated: 25 minutes ago
-
A & R Updated: 25 minutes ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
Comments
As an occassional promotor and a performer, I can see both sides of the coin.
I am also often disappointed by the attitude of promotors towards bands, but then again, there's nothing more annoying than booking a band who subsequently make no effort at all to help promote the night and bring no fans along.
Cheers for the Steve Finn tip - will check it out.
best wishes,
Ben
The best gigs I've played in London have been ones that the promoter has extensively, er... promoted. That way the artist is playing to an audience that's there to see the whole night, and has a sense of community surrounding the ethos of the evening. There are far too many different gigs on in london anyway in my opinion, and to have a smaller number of more dedicated nights would be more enjoyable *and* more profitable for everyone involved.
I'm not a performer, I'm not a promoter but have has got gigs for bands and some of the "conditions" they lay down are laughable. The "we don't get any passing trade so you have to bring your own crowd" makes me giggle every time. It's a shame it wasn't so serious. Obviously bands should do their bit, keep the myspace/website/facebook info up to date, send out flyers etc. but the onus should always to be on the promoter.
I will take slight issue with artists fans not staying around to see other artists. I see far too many times the artists themselves doing their set and leaving, or drinking in the pub over the road before they play. If you've got a Thursday night in the Purple Turtle you're hardly part of rock royalty so don't act as if you are.
As for too many different gigs in London? My problem is that too many of the people I want to see play on the same night. I've got to choose between two on Tuesday, three on Thursday and two on Friday (there's only one choice Sunday though). More thought should be given to who is on any given bill. I've been to too many gigs where an acoustic act is sandwiched between a couple of indie bands, so again we're back to promoters not doing their job properly.
However, as you know, soon there will be a Website made available to all Independent Artists and they will be able to sell their audio free of charge and they will retain all the profits from their recordings. They will have the option of releasing their recordings on any of the 5 independent labels or direct release. The artists will get all the support of a conventional label but without having to sign a contract or pay for the service. That is the future and in time the site will become very popular and influential.