James, I'm more than happy to talk face to face - give me a yell on 07824 826390.
I've got no issue with you saying something inflammatory to initiate debate (quite the opposite, I admire it as it's probably the one way of cutting through apathy) but there is one thing in particular I'd like to take public exception to.
The "spineless" comment seems to be based around the idea that I have , I quote, "left the venue on most occasions when things go pear" which is somewhat misinformed on your part.
Bar Blu went bankrupt when it lost its weekend audience so I couldn't have carried on there unless I quite literally broke into the building.
The Honey Club, which could have been a great venue, was operating with artificially high costs because they were spending close to £300 a week hiring in a PA rig rather than purchase one and so came to the conclusion that they'd be losing money during the winter months and bottled it.
Rain pulled on me after two quiet weeks in early June - one of which coincided with Download and the other with a 21st birthday party.
Basically the venue closures have been the sole decision of the owners and is nothing to do with any lack of balls on my part.
In more general terms, I think most people will broadly agree with what you perceive to be the problems and what needs to be in place but I think you're sometimes wide of the mark in terms of why the problems exist in the first place.
Firstly, most (if not all) venues in North Wales are basically pubs or clubs that put live music on as a supplement to their more regular activities and as such have little or no interest in the music itself - ie live music is seen as nothing more than a cash cow and as such goes straight to the abbatoir when the cash flow dries up.
The problems that this situation throws up for promoter and bands are myriad - everything from a general lack of facilities to the landlord complaining that his regular customers are being driven away (I could retire now if I had a quid for every time a landlord has taken me aside and asked if I can get the band to "chuck in a few Oasis covers for the regulars").
Secondly, effectively promoting a gig in this area is a task that will have you screaming with frustration, such are the barriers put in your way.
The local press are a joke (having worked on one of the local papers for 20 years, that's something I hate to say) because the reporters are basically under instruction to give most of their coverage to the major advertisers such as the Pavilion Theatre, effectively closing off what used to be a major avenue of publicity to grass roots bands, venues and promoters.
Flyposting is liable to land a promoter with a £400 fine but he is not allowed access to officially sanctioned sites, which are again reserved for the likes of the Pavilion Theatre and the Town Hall - even leaving fliers in public libraries is "against official policy".
Effectively this leaves the only alternatives as word-of-mouth (inefficient), fliering in the venue itself (almost pointless because you're preaching either to the converted or to those who aren't interested) or online (the most likely to work but dependent upon people catching your bulletins etc).
Thirdly, there is no large (in national terms) centre of population on the North Wales coast, making it extremely difficult for a promoter to generate an audience, particularly on a traditionally dead night of the week which is what most venues are looking to fill.
Fourthly, (and it pains me to say this) a lot of the bands exacerbate the problem by cancelling gigs with little more than a few hours notice, often leaving the final billing on a gig bearing little resemblance to what was originally advertised.
These factors, along with a thousand others, all contribute to the current paralysis on the North Wales coast and I agree with you completely when you infer that it's going to take more than a few, long-established old farts to make things better.
However, that isn't to say that the old farts no longer have a role to play.
If things are to improve in these parts, I think it's fair to say that youthful enthusiasm and fresh ideas as well as experience are needed.
I think you're absolutely on the mark when you say that bands should be more self-motivating and I would add that they should also be more co-operative as the North Walian scene over the years has frequently been addled by petty bitching and jealousy between bands.
I'd suggest that every town on the North Wales coast has at least one pub/club with a room that can be used to stage gigs so there's no excuse for bands not pooling their resources and doing their own thing.
The downside to operating on an ad hoc basis is that continuity can be a problem but it is up to those involved to graft away and keep the momentum going.
A dedicated live music venue, as opposed to a part-time pub/club set-up, is of course something that the North Wales coast needs and I'm hoping that that is finally coming to fruition in the old Frames building.
It's taken 18 months and a change of ownership to get things moving there but we've now got through the planning stage with the local authorities and are currently awaiting the statutory 28 days for the variation of hours on the license to come through (due on October 30).
Provided that there are no external objections we will then be able to operate as a fully fledged live entertainments venue under the new name of Venue4Events and hopefully this will give a shot in the arm to Rhyl in particular and the North Wales coast more generally.
Gigs will initially be held on Saturdays and there are plans to bring name acts into the area, something that will raise the bar in the region.
I'm under no illusions about the size of the task - the fact that someone like Sonic Boom 6 only drew 60 or so punters to Liverpool (see Tom Leucine's review elsewhere on this site) suggests that the stasis on the live circuit isn't confined to our little backwater.
To that end, I'm more than happy to work with people with enthusiasm and drive because I think a combined effort can improve things round here.
Sorry about the long, rambling post but I think James has lit the fires of a debate that should have been going on a long time ago - for now, I need a caffeine top-up!!!
www.myspace.com/framesofficialwww.freewebs.com/bloodandlipstick