Into 'week 2', which I'm bound to lose count of before too long. On Tuesday 8th I had a rehearsal with the bass player who would be standing in for us on Friday. After which we did what all musicians do after a rehearsal, and went to the pub. The pub in question is a band pub of which my band is playing at next month. I met up with one or two other old acquaintances (I've not been doing many pubs like this since 2005), and we were quickly bemoaning the state of live music in pubs.
It's a strange beast, full of complications and contradictions. The smoking ban may shut pubs-but it may mean some have to put bands on, so we might be alright. Or perhaps they'll all run out of money and we won't have any gigs, it's probably better not to worry about it. Anyway, so far we seem to be doing ok. The trick is to keep a big enough network and database and continually look for new places to play. That way when one shuts un-expectedly (as with the Puzzle at Sowerby Bridge-taking my Jan 17th gig with it), there's still others to approach.
I love doing the bookings, it's a great feeling when you secure one, and it's fascinating how the landscape changes and new places appear, some dissappear and some change hands.
At the moment I'm looking for gigs for the band in March and April. We only want one a week so it's not too bad, but the pressure is always on to try and keep the work coming in.
Friday's gig with the PJ band was at the Cricketers at Horbury. And here we had a busier night than I've ever seen in there. It was basically the first gig the band has done where we've been in at the deep end with a 'covers' audience. We also had a dep bass player as mentioned above, as Keith had his op on Tuesday.
We went off well with the first 5 covers doing well. It died a bit with the originals and then rallied towards the end. It was well appreciated and we were re-booked for the rest of the year. I was well pleased with that! The originals (5 in all) did better later on and I certainly won't be leaving them out of the set altogether at any of these gigs. They were reasonably well-received later on.
Yorkshire audiences are tough to please though. It's a brave (or foolish) man (me) who tries to sell CDs afterwards. Some of the looks and reactions are priceless....if looks could kill! The basic disc I sell at band nights costs £2, less than most pints of beer these days. This, added to the fact that it's always free entry, makes me wonder if the phrase 'value for money' is being stretched a bit too far.
I noticed on Sunday night (more of which in a minute) a few people entered, saw the hefty door price of £3, and left again. What can you reasonably expect for £3 these days?? And musicians getting paid to entertain? They should do it for nowt and be grateful for t'not to be chucked out.
I'm getting into dangerous territory here, but please-a little less tightness would go a long way, it's hardly a rip-off on any level, and we are actually working on stage and not just prancing around for the fun of it. Sometimes I wonder if this is the only county where people expect value for money on something that's free in the first place.
Sunday was New Roscoe Acoustic Springboard night, and then after the diving we all play a few songs.
4 acts in all, me solo this time, 2nd act on. I have to confess to getting a little bit hot under the collar at one point. The set was being filmed (only on a small scale, not for MTV) and I'd made a few mistakes which I was kicking myself for. I got a bit annoyed that some of the people near the front weren't listening but really it was no big deal. I'd played 'Chains Around My Heart' this time and 'Gods And Angels', 'Life' and 'Old Wishing Well' were in there too.
All in all a better night than the September one, and busier too-it wasn't a bad do.
I had to laugh afterwards at the pearls of wisdom from my fellow performers. One said 'it never looks right to me with the keyboard', to which the reply was 'why's that then?'. I can't remember the precise reason but why say something so innane in the first place? Shall we ban them altogether so that the evil guitarists can take over the Earth? Shall we have keyboard burning sessions in the Town Hall square and our hands chopped off like they do in Saudi Arabia?
Over the years I've encountered much prejudice from guitarists towards keyboarders. Bass players occasionally join in when the left hand part gets too loud, but generally its the fretwankers who rear up. I've always liked to think they find it a bit threatening. I have more range on the instrument and a better chance of being able to read music. Sometimes there's the 'we don't want them this is heavy rock' mentality. Again, pathetic. I can well imagine Jon Lord auditioning for Deep Purple and Richie Blackmore saying 'we should really be looking for a 2nd guitarist', then again he probably did.
This leads me onto my pillock of the week award. No, not the forementioned anti-keyboard front, but another who seems, well, anti-many things.
I refer to a promoter of acoustic nights in Leeds, who won't even accept me as a myspace 'friend' let alone book me. Perhaps its the keyboard working against me again (it's not acoustic) perhaps it's some other reason. I don't really care. What bothers me slightly is the arrogance of the myspace blurb regarding booking acts:
Please Do Not apply. I..will ask for you!!!! THE FREAKY PESTS THAT KEEP APPLYING ONLY GET 'BLOCKED'!
Yes, it's terrible as a promoter when people want to help you out and play at one of your nights, promote your interests and probably make you some money.
Freaky pests indeed.
Thank God it's Friday.
Next week I'll be being a freaky pest at The Primrose on Wednesday (23rd January) and with my band at the Snooty Fox at Oakworth. These musicians who want to play gigs, disgusting vermin the lot of them.
Tune in to see who wins next week's award. I doubt there'll be a shortage of candidates.
No comments:
Post a Comment