[Promotion Discussions] Venue discussions.

[Garf13ld]

I'm in increasingly beginning to think that a non-city-centre venue would be more appropriate. Perhaps not even an established bar/venue - more like a hall for hire etc.

What about the Tramway theatre ?

[Zooropa]

If you look outside of the city centre you immediately lose punters due to laziness and apathy.

[Lubbock]

The tramway is way to big!

I worked there for a while and its masive! Even the small hall is huge! You would need a big band to fill it! Trust me!

[Garf13ld]

To be honest then I just can't think this is possible anymore. Either people have to get off their arses and support the scene - which means going to gigs which are not in the city centre - or forget it. I just can't see us getting a venue in the town on the kind of terms which we would need to make this possible.

[Kovert]

Rockers aye.

We have a gig there tonight as it happens and in my opinion it is possibly the worst place to get details sorted out and what not. Firstly we were told tickets would be printed up and sent out, so when i phoned back up last week to see when they would arrive i got " nah you have to make them yourself". Then i got told we need to get at least 10 people through the door @ 2 quid a head which seemed fine. then again when i phoned back recently i got "nah it's 15 people now, oh aye and we need you to pay 30 quid in advance to play, bout you'll make some money back with ticket sales".
Personally i think this is a right farce i dont mind the number of people we have to get in or anything it's just they could have had everything sorted as soon as we were booked. Also it has been so hard to try get a time for when the bands have to show up, what time the gig acctually starts at and what time in ends at, i'm assuming it'll end close to the licence of midnight but they could have at least mentioned something.


But aye i'm sure Paisley's Finest punk rock band http://www.thestevens.tk

[babyG]

Originally Posted by always_drunk

I went into Rockers on Friday night and finally got to talk to the gu who puts on the gigs.

Talking to him was like pulling teeth, mainly because he wouldn't listen to anything without jumping in half way through to comment on what he thought was coming (but never was).

He spent all his time telling me that "every band wants to play here" and how well he knew the scene.

He then said that he had never even heard of AlternativeNation.net.

Fuckin' hell, it was a Friday night and there was an uninspiring band playing to 30 people.

He kept repeating "You won't get a better PA for less than £100", "We spent £6000 on that PA" and "You won't find anywhere in Glasgow cheaper than here".

He also told me to go back in on the Saturday at 2 but when i said that it would be impossible because i had important stuff to do he just said "Oh well, its your loss".

I think its worth trying to talk to him again but if he doesn't listen then fuck him.

Rockers is the worst venue to put gigs on ever. I have used it on a few occassions (stupidly booking a number of gigs in advance) and was disgusted by how badly managed it was - originally I was not told about the "free entry" policy and it was only after I had gone in to put up posters was I told that I was not allowed to advertise an entry price on it, which was £30 of poster printing down the drain! To add insult to injury I was made to buy a "raffle" prize and sell tickets for a £1.00 each to make money to pay for the night - which I never did even though we got well over 100 people through the door.
On another occassion, I had three bands doing a souncheck at 7pm only to discover that another band was playing a set until then - the band never finished until 7.30pm and took another 30 mins putting their stuff away...which meant my bands were late in soundchecking (in front of a bunch of old dears who had come to see the lame cover band.) and everybody's set had to be cut short because of this.
I personally think this place does not give a fuck about music, and have found the guy that runs it unfriendly and unhelpful. I needless to say cancelled all my gigs with Rockers after these events.

[Achren]

heheh, yes, Rockers is a shadow of "Nocturnes"! I'd say there is a shortage of venues at the moment, which is why they've got away with it so far. Stereo seems like a good place, and the Solid West was pretty good til it shut. To get somewhere small in town, it might be worth finding a bar & persuading them to let you bring a PA in like the solid west did before it shut. Rufus's? The Buchanan Hotel bar? (can't remember what it's called now) Basically try and find/set up something along the lines of the vale, but with a better layout...?
just a thought..
oh aye, RG's... bit of a dive but might be ok for a pub venue?

[lirazel]

Originally Posted by metallideth

you're best popping into rockers rather than phoning them, i always seem to get the answer machine. there's usually a gig on every other night, so just pop round about 6.30 whilst the bands are setting up. the last time i was in, i was told that i had to commit £100 in advance for security etc, which i personally think is a rip-off when you consider that sleazys is £120. a decent level of negotiation might change that, mind.

my ideas for venues have already been posted in the sequel thread, i'll endeavour to find out some more specific details for you.

curious, why do you think that £100 is a rip off in comparison to Sleazy's?

is it to do with the size of the venue, your estimation of how many security staff would be required, etc etc?

[lirazel]

arf, ok, after reading the rest of the thread it's becoming obvious!!

[Kenny]

Aside from the fact Rockers is off the scale of awfulness, putting a gig on in Sleazys automatically gets you a good few punters simply because it's in there (and makes it far more attractive to just about everyone else), I reckon.

Alas it's booked for the night I wanted it for the gig I'm doing in July, boo.

[Achren]

aye,
sleazy's is one of those venues that folk are happy to go to. helps a lot. plus it's an easy venue to work with (ie professional & friendly staff), unlike somewhere like rockers...