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Post by digisound on Jun 10, 2007 17:19:57 GMT
Let's hear what you want from the new Venue.
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Post by Matt on Jun 10, 2007 18:18:46 GMT
Midgets with silver trays full of free beers balanced upon their heads, mingling through the crowd during the night
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Post by digisound on Jun 10, 2007 19:11:43 GMT
WHAT ABOUT STEVE SYNC DRESSED AS MANUEL FROM FAWLTY TOWERS
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Post by davecox on Jun 10, 2007 19:26:07 GMT
if you want my thourghts, i suppose paying bands that've travelled a fair distance would be good, it would mean you can get better bands aswell an build up your reputation, put rhyl on the map etc etc, i think getting a really good pa sorted out should be a priority though....
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Post by digisound on Jun 10, 2007 20:20:47 GMT
This is from my opinion as a sound engineer and general tech
1) number one : why should you get paid when most bands dont bother with promotion and most of the north wales scene stinks o shit i.e Green Minge - would you pay that band ?
Bands need to earn respect just like we sound and promotion people do, then the money comes in.
2) No excuses - gigs need security
3) This kind of ties in with your point of door money and such like , have you any idea's of the costs to running an event when your average ampifier of any great quality starts at £500 ?
Thats a lot of money when you consider what bands expect and then decide to jump all over.
If the pa is shit then its mostly down to a number of factors
money , sound engineer , equipment , room
But again if these places are cutting costs to give you good gigs at a low price then they probably wont pay a union registered engineer like myself.
4) Yes there is a shockinly bad lack of good promoters
5) Well not being funny would you like 130db of the frequency range blastin in your residency, these rules are placed by them for a reason and as much as I hate it , engineering on a limit is just a pain in the ass , rules are rules.
In all honesty there are some good points in there that people and venues should take on board but I think people need to look beyond the pointing the finger and think oh hang on anyway we could help these situations or be a little more accomodating.
If you know a venue is shit and they havent spent the time investing or catering for their needs then why not go to the ones that do invest.
Spend the little extra money getting there and ensure the better venues stay open Thanks for your reply I know mines a little opposing and nothing to do with the topic but your words kind of annoyed me with the narrowness of them.
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Post by Duncan on Jun 10, 2007 21:35:22 GMT
To digisound -
My criticisms weren't directed at you at all.
They were all points which have eaten away at me for well over 10 years of playing in the North Wales scene. I realise all too well that there are good promoters, bands, sound engineers, venues and audiences amongst other aspects in the local scene.
Problem is that the majority are notoriously bad.
I see nothing wrong with paying a band £50 - If the gig is well organized and everyone does their job right, it goes without saying, whether management handle it, or the money comes from the door. As for 'Green Minge' - if they're not worth paying, I don't think I'd be keen on booking them.
As for PA systems - I'm well aware how much they cost. PA hire can be very expensive. However, if you're going to set up a venue, then an in-house PA would be a small cost compared to the cost of the premisis itself.
Your point about going to one of the venues that invests is an interesting one. All too often there were no venues of this nature and consequently bands had to play somewhere that was quite suspect. I remember the days of the Normandie in Bangor - You had to pay the venue £40 to play there and they'd lock you in if they didn't get the cash at the end of the evening. In London, they have a 'pay-to-play' policy that runs through most of Islington, which is highly dubious.
As a musician I find all of these things very annoying.
On Volume meters - I wasn't completely serious on that one - it's just not easy playing whilst looking at a green bar throughout your entire set (they seem to set them too low). I just came across as bitter about it but it was intended as sarcasm. I suppose it was a bit too convincing. I did mention that the council install them, and I'm fully aware there's nothing you can do about it, but it doesn't stop it being irritating when you're playing live.
I shall delete the post forthwith. Apologies.
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Post by davecox on Jun 10, 2007 21:53:07 GMT
i didnt see the message that apparently annoyed digisound (off duncan?) an i didnt mean any offence if it was my message that did it, just you said 'have you say' so i said my thourghts. i never said all bands deserve paying or anything like that, i was just saying pay the bands that need to money to cover their petrol costs, bands like Once Over (from brighton) who played at blu twice an never got anything but some beer tokens, its just shadey. im not blaming the sound engineer or the promoter, i know its not your fault, you've just had a crap deal with bar blu, im just saying it could be improved by changing that aspect with the new venue, pay bands that need the money. and yer, if theres a decent in-house pa, that would also make the new venue alot better than blu, and give you the opportunity to show everyone your union registered engineering skills
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Post by digisound on Jun 10, 2007 23:06:50 GMT
Sorry I worded things a bit bad there , apologies there duncan.
Yes Mr cox your spot on once again you jew.
We are looking to pay bands in this new venue , but they have to be of an established figure before we pay out as we want to keep the level of these nights to a high standard.
but yes anyhow back to topic is there anything other than what should normally happen that people want to see ? Maybe themed nights ??
Day festivals ?
A stall for penny sweets ?
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Post by davecox on Jun 11, 2007 6:50:45 GMT
bar mitzfers...?
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Post by bloodandlipstick on Jun 11, 2007 7:46:04 GMT
I've got a feeling this might be a long post, so you may want to grab a coffee first!!!
Firstly, before I get into the whys and wherefores of the move I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Bar Blu for the last four and a bit years of gigs. Yes, there have been problems and there have been issues, and yes these problems and issues are part of the reason for the move to Billys, but let us not forget that Bar Blu let us put on gigs at a time when no-one else was interested and when there was no reason to suppose that they would become as popular as they have. They also allowed them to run for the 52 weeks of the year, an important consideration when you remember that most of Rhyl shuts up shop for 9 months of the year. There have been times when I've disagreed with Tony over specific points but we have always been able ultimately to shake hands and agree to disagree and so I've valued my relationship with him. The staff have been great and it's going to be a hell of a wrench saying goodbye to Stu, Rich, Chris, Hannah, Becks and the rest and I hope that I can part on good terms with all of them.
So why have we taken the decision to move after all this time?
There are two strands to this and they can be divided into the ongoing problems with Blu and the potential that Billys has to offer.
The main problem with Blu has always been - and continues to be - the state of the band PA and this came to a head last Wednesday evening when we had to borrow the top ends of the PA from the Dudley Arms, a situation that was clearly unacceptable and for us underlined the fact that the situation still hasn't been addressed even after all this time.
The issue over the payment of bands is one that has been debated on this board on a regular basis over the years and while I agree with Craig that the cost of staging gigs is rather more than people seem to realise, I nonetheless feel that bands travelling in from out of the area to play should get some petrol money and to this end, I should point out that most bands who travelled from outside the area to play at Blu were paid petrol expenses, including Once Over ( I don't know where the story that they got beer tokens only came from!!!).
There are other issues that exist with Blu that were contributory to our increasing unease with the venue but none of these in isolation would have been sufficient to vastly influence our decision and so aren't really worth going into here.
The second strand of the decision revolves around what Billys has to offer and this is what has tipped the balance and prompted the move.
The venue is larger, better set out for live music and acoustically more welcoming and as well as the Wednesday night gigs we can look forward to name bands coming to town as well as comedy nights, tribute bands and so forth.
The desire to invest is there and we are extremely excited about what is likely to happen in the coming weeks and months.
We'll be taking on board what people tell us and will move heaven and earth to make the venue a place where people want to come to at night - keep posting, keep the debate going, let's make this work!!!
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Post by davecox on Jun 11, 2007 8:26:59 GMT
oh right sorry, that'll be my mistake then. have you explained that (the 'petrol money to bands that have travelled' thing) before, was i drunk? sounds abit familiar anyway...
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Post by bloodandlipstick on Jun 11, 2007 9:15:09 GMT
Heh-heh, possibly!!!
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Post by stesync on Jun 11, 2007 15:34:52 GMT
Keh........................I'm growing the tash as we speak!
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Post by andyleucine on Jun 12, 2007 23:54:51 GMT
I would like to see a form of quality controll when it comes to the bands. To be honest there have been some propper shite bands on in the past, and it really ruins the night which I do enojoy hugely. Including previously mentioned 'Green Minge' and some others who I daren't mention to avoid some bitching myspace bulletins. But yeah, less crap bands please.
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