Confession Time - First Live Gig & First Record Bought

[Tim]

I went to see Blackfield in Manchester last night, and it was like this you see, just a bit

DULL

Hmm, going to see them tonight and that's kind of what I am expecting too Very disappointed in the new album.

I was going to try and off-load my ticket, until I saw Pineapple Thief were support, now I'm just going because they are playing!

[chris@panteg]

Hugh Cornwell at Leamington Assembly , tonight , tickets still available

[Mothman]

Went to see Sandi Thom at the O2 academy in Oxford last Monday. Sandi and her band played a storming set with material mainly culled from her 'Merchants & Theives' album plus a few earlier tracks and a few covers. Half way through the set Sandi was joined by a young 13 yr old guitarist called Aaron Keylock whose Les Paul was almost as big as he was, but this lad could certainly play, a name to watch for the future me thinks.

The big dissapointment of the night was the size of the audience, barely 60 people. I found this somewhat depressing given that Sandi can produce the goods live and is supported by a band of 5 excelent musicians. I guess the fact that it was a Monday night and that times are tough right now may have kept some away, but it is hard to see how talented artists such as this can continue to afford to tour with such low turnouts.

[Alex_UK]

The big dissapointment of the night was the size of the audience, barely 60 people. I found this somewhat depressing given that Sandi can produce the goods live and is supported by a band of 5 excelent musicians. I guess the fact that it was a Monday night and that times are tough right now may have kept some away, but it is hard to see how talented artists such as this can continue to afford to tour with such low turnouts.

That is a pitiful turnout, isn't it? I too was surprised at the Tina Dico gig last month at how few people there were for a relatively "big" artist - when you think of all the other labour costs (engineers, roadies etc.) as well as the band, how much it costs for the venue, then I'd say on that sort of turnout they would actually be losing money - which is serious news for musicians such as these, as live gigs is probably as much if not more of an income than record sales.

Perhaps we should start a campaign to encourage more of us to get out to gigs, and those that do, to go to more. (Don't worry Tim (GreatGig), you're excluded on this one! )

[The Grand Wazoo]

My understanding was that gigs don't pay for themselves per se & that generally the only profit to be made is from the sales of merchandise.
Maybe that's got something to do with the average venue size nowadays. I still prefer small gigs to big ones & I hate stadiums.

[Mothman]

My understanding was that gigs don't pay for themselves per se & that generally the only profit to be made is from the sales of merchandise.
Maybe that's got something to do with the average venue size nowadays. I still prefer small gigs to big ones & I hate stadiums.

Chris, I think it's a pretty varied picture dependant on where you are at in the market place. As I understand it in the 70's & 80's playing live was a loss leader for most acts and was more about promoting the latest album, but I think today the top acts make a significant amount of there revenue from touring and the associated sales that go with it.

At the other end of the market I would imagine smaller acts are more intent on building up a following, though one would assume venues will be increasingly reluctant to book artists however good they may be if they don't feel they are going to draw the punters in. I don't know what the bar takings were last Monday but they wouldn't have amounted to much.

[Tim]

(Don't worry Tim (GreatGig), you're excluded on this one! )

Phew, that's a relief - you already have me buying too many CD's! 11 gigs so far this year and a weekend in the Netherlands for Marillion too (so that's 14 nights). I would struggle to do anymore

[Alex_UK]

Phew, that's a relief - you already have me buying too many CD's!

You're off the hook on that score tonight - off for a nice meal with the missus this evening so no bad influence... got a few up my sleeve for another time though...

[WAD62]

My understanding was that gigs don't pay for themselves per se & that generally the only profit to be made is from the sales of merchandise.
Maybe that's got something to do with the average venue size nowadays. I still prefer small gigs to big ones & I hate stadiums.

Small independent bands continue to struggle along and play 'loss leader' gigs, my mates band 'Souvaris' did a bit of a tour of France last year, and were really chuffed that they were only out of pocket by £15 each...probably the cost of the petrol

However within the last 5 or so years the commercial side of the music industry has realised that live gigs are one of the few guaranteed ways of ensuring revenue, in this download age. Ticket prices for established artists are now around £30 to £35, whereas about 5/6 years ago they'd be £17 to £20.

Most festivals are also run on this model, the 'mean fiddler' have been involved in running Glastonbury for about 7 years now, likewise the Big Chill has gone the same way...add to this the 'popularisation' of summer festivals by the likes of the BBC. In the late 90's I could pick up a Glasto ticket the day before for about £80 (to share with 80k people), now you need to form an orderly queue 6 months in advance and fork out about £200 (to share with 250k people), and it's mostly commercial rubbish so I no longer bother, we'll see who's on a this year's big chill before I fork out on that one.

There are a few bright sparks on the horizon, people like ATP (all tomorrows parties) promote events from a more artistic perspective, I recently saw Mogwai for £20 in Brum on an ATP tour, and regularly attend their less commercial festivals. But they're no charity either...£190 for the nightmare before christmas, but at least you get an appartment

Lots of older bands are coming out of retirement to play 'classic album' tours, probably due to the decrease in CD sales, and there's a market.

I remember my first gig, Rush in '76 "All the worlds a stage tour", the ticket for the gig was less than half the price of the album, now a live gig costs about 5 to 10 times that of an album...how times change

[WAD62]

Just got back from the Cheltenham jazz festival, which conveniently doubled up as my mate's stag do, so I'm a little fatigued...

Saturday Night; Lamb @ Cheltenham town hall; Played a mixture of their new 'to be released' album and what could be termed 'favourites'. A slightly more acoustic set than normal, probably in sympathy with the surroundings. The new stuff seems a little more low key than one would normally expect, with more emphasis on Lou's vocals.

Sunday Night; Bonobo @ Cheltenham town hall; Magnificent as always, pretty much the same set as last year's big chill, a full band with both female vocalist present, Andreas Triana & Bajka

Sunday Night; Roots Manuva @ Cheltenham town hall; A real treat, Mr Smith took to the stage in a full dinner suite & bow tie, the boy has some style, all the favourites & 3 encores, an excellent way to finish off proceedings.

One other little treat was some local youth Jazz orchestra playing a big band rendition of 'Freebird', a nice way to spend Sunday morning in the sunshine