Inappropiate Venues

[Huge Hands]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='184528' date='Apr 24 2008, 02:31 PM']LOL, nice try. If you're in the vicinity of West London, you're certainly welcome to pop around and have a go on them. But yes, its the Gherkin. The load in is going to be very interesting - mostly via express lifts I suspect.

How about a free jar of advocado hummous instead? [/quote]

Erm uurrggh! No thanks! I can but dream!

I would have thought the load in will be through the building's loading bay and up a goods lift, upon threat of death by the "police state" security dept should you happen to be seen by a white collar member of staff in your get-in jeans. You will be hassled to get rid of your van asap and no one will give you a hand with anything....

Don't want to put you off, but I work for an AV contractor that deals with all the big finance houses in these flashy buildings all across London. I haven't dealt with the Gherkin, but they're usually all the same. I guess they need heightened security what with 9/11, 7/7 etc, but a smile now and then would be nice....

The class system is still evident in these buildings. Most contractors wear polo shirts with the company's logo, but we get all of our guys to wear a shirt and trousers so that they blend in a bit with the traders. They certainly get treated a lot better throughout the building!

When I get back to work in a couple of weeks (currently on the sick recovering from an op), I'll have to pop round and hold you to that offer!

Edited April 24, 2008 by Huge Hands

[stevebasshead]

My band got booked to play a christening of all things (we're Indie covers and originals.) We went down a treat though and the wee baby didn't bat an eyelid at the noise, much to our surprise. Not too sure it's wise to expose a baby to loud music (albeit 30+ft away and we're not stupidly loud by any means - quality matters more) but there were no tears or crying.

Thought that would be a one off but we've just been asked back to do another christening at the same venue - are they breeding just so's they can book us?

We also accidentally played [i]a funeral [/i]once. We were in a pub near Sunderland, quite a smartish venue, and noticed a well dressed crowd, lots of dresses and suits. Never gave it a moments thought and played the first set which we ended with one of our own called "Burn Them and Spit Upon the Ashes..." where we get the audience to join in on the chorus Then in the break we heard they were a funeral party, but luckily no one took any offence and they were [b]all[/b] up dancing their hearts out in the 2nd set. Turns out the lady who'd died was a regular and they asked us to dedicate a song to her. Davy, our singer, sang Green Day's "Time of Your Life" and substituted "I hope she had the time of her life" at an appropriate point...cue grateful tears from her friends and relatives.

Steve.

Edited April 24, 2008 by stevebasshead

[chris_b]

[quote name='stevebasshead' post='184662' date='Apr 24 2008, 05:02 PM']We also accidentally played a funeral once.[/quote]
I don't know if anyone here knew guitarist Graham White? He was quite well known in the SW corner of London, for over 35 years. After his funeral, two weeks ago, there was a jam at the reception with Jackie Lynton, Jamie Marshall, Charlie Chandler and musicians from the Nashville Teens, Swinging Blue Jeans, Mighty 45's and more. A good time was had by all and, on this occasion, it all seemed very appropriate.

[Golchen]

[quote name='coasterbass' post='184392' date='Apr 24 2008, 11:18 AM']Despite the fact that we'd cut our fee as it was a charity gig they announced at the end that they'd actually made no money for charity because everyone had drunk too much free booze. Delightful.[/quote]


That is just sooooooo wrong on many levels.

[dave_bass5]

We travelled almost 2 hours in the rain from London to play in a Marquee up north somewhere
It was a sat afternoon and its was a wedding reception at a pub.
when we got there we found it was in a pub garden and the "marquee" was more of a Gazebo. Only three sides and not big enough to house more than half the guests. We had to walk the gear across the garden in the rain (it was of course on a slight incline), through the crowd that had gathered to keep out of the rain and so wouldnt move and put our gear down at the wet end of the "tent".

That to me is a "I really want to be at home watching paint dry" moment.

Also, about 13 years ago another band i was in turned up at a pub in south London (clapham i think). We had put the gig on but this pub was one of those battle of the sound system type of places, not really a rock/pop gig venue. Our guitarist took one look at the stage, said bugger that, walked out and ive not seen or heard from him since. the gig was, well, a non event. no one turned up so we just jammed with the other band for about 30 mins and all went home.

[tauzero]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='184531' date='Apr 24 2008, 02:35 PM']We have one coming up next week for special needs kids, Downs Syndrome I think. Its a charity thing so we're doing it for nothing but unfortunately I can't make it. Shame really, they're very entertaining when they dance and they're having a good time as well which is what its all about for us.[/quote]
The barn dance band did one for a Downs Syndrome lad's 18th birthday. Of course most of his friends were also Downs - they made a really good job of the dancing, and Kaz didn't dumb it down for them. One thing was particularly touching - Kaz uses a headset mic and goes among the dancers to call but doesn't join in. On one dance, I saw her leading one of the children, a lad of about 12, who looked a little lost. What I didn't realise was that the reason he was looking a little lost was that he was blind, and Kaz managed to get him into the dance all the same.

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='185247' date='Apr 25 2008, 01:00 PM']We travelled almost 2 hours in the rain from London to play in a Marquee up north somewhere
It was a sat afternoon and its was a wedding reception at a pub.
when we got there we found it was in a pub garden and the "marquee" was more of a Gazebo. Only three sides and not big enough to house more than half the guests. We had to walk the gear across the garden in the rain (it was of course on a slight incline), through the crowd that had gathered to keep out of the rain and so wouldnt move and put our gear down at the wet end of the "tent".

That to me is a "I really want to be at home watching paint dry" moment.[/quote]

wasn't going to post this cos i didn't think it fitted but after that it does.

we were asked to play at a birthday at a posh area in north london (more like hertfordshire)
the drive up looked promising as most of the houses were huge so we figured we'd have plenty of room. Though the house we had to play at was of a reasonable size it wasnt anywhere near some of its neighbors. anyhoo we duely unloaded to be shown the "marquee" we were to set up under which was about an 8ftx8ft gazeebo, add to that the fact that it started raining as we unloaded. we crammed our stuff under the gazeebo and started setting up with makeshift side to the cover put in place. we just about got all our stuff under it let alone getting us under it. it preceeded to lash it down for about an hour or so and we were near to sacking it off when it did clear for about an hour an fortunately only started coming down again when we finished. Needless to say we didn't do the second half of our set and played a shorted version of the 2 sets. they seemed quite happy even if it was difficult to do without electrocuting yourself.
the annoying thing was they had 4 large gazeebos dotted around the garden which nobody seemed interested in using when could have done with that space. oh well live and learn.

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='185352' date='Apr 25 2008, 03:19 PM']wasn't going to post this cos i didn't think it fitted but after that it does.

we were asked to play at a birthday at a posh area in north london (more like hertfordshire)
the drive up looked promising as most of the houses were huge so we figured we'd have plenty of room. Though the house we had to play at was of a reasonable size it wasnt anywhere near some of its neighbors. anyhoo we duely unloaded to be shown the "marquee" we were to set up under which was about an 8ftx8ft gazeebo, add to that the fact that it started raining as we unloaded. we crammed our stuff under the gazeebo and started setting up with makeshift side to the cover put in place. we just about got all our stuff under it let alone getting us under it. it preceeded to lash it down for about an hour or so and we were near to sacking it off when it did clear for about an hour an fortunately only started coming down again when we finished. Needless to say we didn't do the second half of our set and played a shorted version of the 2 sets. they seemed quite happy even if it was difficult to do without electrocuting yourself.
the annoying thing was they had 4 large gazeebos dotted around the garden which nobody seemed interested in using when could have done with that space. oh well live and learn.[/quote]

Yeah, my point(s) were that these places aren't meant to have bands in and i really think we are treated like muck by the people who organise this sort of thing.
Not so much on the day but the fact that they are supposed to be event organisers but wont provide a safe and clean environment for the band to play in.
I feel sorry for some of the wedding couples as well. We have never refused to play but have been told by the couple's on a few occasions no tto play if we dont think its safe. But of course you have to do your best.

One of the reasons im glad i have a wireless system and dont use a mic at these outdoor/under cover gigs. Some of these so called Marquees seem to let more rain in than keep out.

Got a wedding in a few weeks time in Hertfordshire, hope its not the same place.

[Linus27]

Part of a Scottish tour we played Dundee shopping centre once. That was fun if not a little weird. We then went on to play a gig for homeless children. However, we had just released a single and so, to make it easy, we mimed the music and did live vocals. We only played 3 songs but again, interesting.

We also played at Dagenham bowling alley a few times.

I'm sure I have more odd places I have played at.

[Jono]

Circus gig. Pretty surreal experience chatting to the clowns before the gig as they put their 'face' on...

[HeavyJay]

Did a college east / west fashion show many years back, we were the accompaniment music to the "west" bit of it (which we only found out about when we arrived). Pretty dreadful as it was organised by a load of disorganised students, we left after being threatened by some of the locals who'd shown up uninvited.

I played a shopping centre in Castleford (Freeport if anyone knows it) under a bizarre tent-like bit of art that gave some crazy acoustics when combined with all the glass fronted shops.

Recently played the opening of a support centre for kids with learning disabilities which was surprisingly successful, with the exception of the fact that it didn't have a bar! *gasp*. We had to high-tail it to the local before the set to stock up on Guinness.

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='184528' date='Apr 24 2008, 01:31 PM']LOL, nice try. If you're in the vicinity of West London, you're certainly welcome to pop around and have a go on them. But yes, its the Gherkin. The load in is going to be very interesting - mostly via express lifts I suspect.

How about a free jar of advocado hummous instead? [/quote]

Hasn't someone from here already played the Gherkin? I know if we played there we'd probably get in a bit of a pickle...

[Dr.Dave]

As part of a Lotto promotion - we were asked by Wakefield Music Collective (who got some Lotto cash) to forego our slot at the Wakey Fest and represent them at a gig in Millenium Square in Leeds. Live interview on the Radio , thousands of williams etc etc. One 45 min live set. We were told there would be a headline act but it was hush hush at the time.

Fair one - so we turned up..............

.........

......

Darius !!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 thousand 9 year olds crying their eyes out at 3 blokes that looked like their wicked uncles until the great man came on and mimed 4 songs.

To be fair , he's a smashing bloke. Fed up of the press types he hid in our dressing room having a laugh. He's also 17ft tall. I wanted a souvy so while he was on stage I nicked his pumps !!!

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='ahpook' post='184417' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:45 AM']a band i was in years ago played metroland at the metrocentre once.

that was weird...massive PA, kids on fun rides...and a bunch of us crusties playing...[/quote]

..with the roller coaster dipping down to about 3ft above your heads? I remember that gig well... weird!

[dave_bass5]

We played one fo the walkways over Tower Bridge last year.
Bloody awful gig. Very, very narrow width so we had all our amps stacked up on top of each other.
As you cant park on the bridge we had to carry/wheel all our gear from the south side of the bridge back to the entrance and then phone someone in the building to bring the lift down. There isnt a bell or anything like that.

Hardest get in though was Aston Villa FC. only a small lift at the other end of the ground so we had a very long walk (almost pitch length) and then in to the club house.

[spinynorman]

We turned up at a pub gig to find a blazing log fire at the back of the small space we had to play in, right behind the drummer. The landlord couldn't understand why it was a problem.

Much as I like the idea of doing something for charity, those gigs always turn out to be a nightmare. We played one recently in the corner of a cafe in the Royal Showground at Stoneleigh, with an irritable barman yelling at us to turn down. Which we didn't, as he'd also harassed the previous act who wasn't at all loud. At the end, two quite elderly ladies came up and said how pleased they were that we'd ignored "that rude man".

[Jarhead]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='345733' date='Dec 4 2008, 05:20 PM']We turned up at a pub gig to find a blazing log fire at the back of the small space we had to play in, right behind the drummer. The landlord couldn't understand why it was a problem.
[b]
Much as I like the idea of doing something for charity, those gigs always turn out to be a nightmare[/b]. We played one recently in the corner of a cafe in the Royal Showground at Stoneleigh, with an irritable barman yelling at us to turn down. Which we didn't, as he'd also harassed the previous act who wasn't at all loud. At the end, two quite elderly ladies came up and said how pleased they were that we'd ignored "that rude man".[/quote]
Thats never been a problem for my band, because the first gig I did with them was for cancer research, and it was really good. Full PA system, band area, amps and everything supplied, drinks, food, all that, lots of people and everyone has a good time. That said, the organizers had already asked every band about what would be needed there, so i suppose that helped a bit.
Zach

[deaver]

Back in the '80s we had a booking at a deaf school. The bloke booking us knew the guitarist and said 'you'll be just the sort of thing they'll like' which has mystified me to this day. We had to turn the gig down, can't remember why.

[Mr Fudge]

Tipton

[leschirons]

Worst gig ever was when I was drumming in a proggie rock band in 1970. Got booked into a gig at Egham as support but we didn't know who the headline was. It turned out to be a Ska/Reggae band called the Golden Astronauts and we were playing to 300 Skinheads who wanted to kill us.

Now I'm not a religious man but it seems that night, someone was looking down, as two (yes, just two) Hells Angels turned up (that balls for you) and were raving around in front of us. They simply stood by the door while we packed up after our set and no-one came near us. (And we got a gig at their club house to boot)

[bassninja]

[quote name='johnnylager' post='184489' date='Apr 24 2008, 12:19 PM']Waterloovile social club.[/quote]

(([i]shudder[/i]))

[agoulding]

did high town in hereford when the christmas lights were turned on. We had a very interested little girl of about 8 staring at me as a hollered and pointed at every one i saw in a very demonic way and when i screamed i think she cried a little. Hereford werent keen on death metal. i had coffee thrown at me. yum.

then i got some random metallers to kick their asses. epic win. i could have done it. but i was playing.

[bluesparky]

Although i can't really join this thread with stories from place i've played, i can offer many from places i've worked.

Of course, people do get protective over their local venues and i'd hate to upset people, but....

As far as place to load in, the worst are: Folkstone Lees Cliff Hall, horrible push down a slope and the trucks have to reverse down which means you're pushing up a ramp, up a hill, then up in the truck, and then have to tip the flightcases onto a slope. Grim. Even the dolphin has gone now!

Albert Hall used to be horrible, but much better now the floor is the lift.

Glasgow barrowlands has a load in of many, many stairs, but the rock hard local crew carry everything up the 4 flights of stairs, if you want to see some tough guys, go there!

I've done tours of Scandanavia, all of the gigs were in ice arenas, after a month of 18 hour days walking on covered ice floors, your knees ACHE!! also grim.

Southend cliffs pavillion amongst others, has a comedy extreme rake on the stage, so if you turn a back on a flightcase it'll end up in the front row of the stalls if you're not careful.

Whilst working on the "James" tour earlier in the year we did a gig in the (then brand new) Sheffield Academy, all very nice, but it was that new when we arrived, as i walked onto the stage in the morning i saw a chap drilling into the wall. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was installing the electricity for the venue, shouldn't be long!
They were literally finishing the building around us as we were loading in, they just about did it before the doors opened that evening!

I did Girls Aloud (insert joke here) at the restaurant next to the diving pool they used in the Barcelona Olympics.
It was dull lumping the gear down the (MANY!!!) stairs, but the view across the city was amazing.

I used to work at Essex Uni Student's Union (back when i was an unwashed student) and it's venue literally used to be a car park! Tours used to to come in and the crews and bands would always moan about the structural look of the place and the location. It was nothing we could do about it so we used to get a bit defensive and miffed about it all.
Now, as a result i'm always a bit cautious about slagging off venues as more often than not there is someone who does care about it - it's their life and income, but due to financial restrictions they can't do anything about it.

Whilst on the Bigger Bang tour last year, we used a large 10 tonne crane to lift a lot of the trusses and stage sections onto various parts of the 80ft high set.
As we turned up to Sporting Lisbon's footie ground where the gig was at the start of the day, we saw that the guy in the crane was sitting in the cab literally reading the manual and was on the phone trying to work out how to use it, now THAT was not a welcoming sight!.

Any venue where the lift breaks is dull, especially when it's a truck lift and it's stuck inside!!!!!

Good venues however include:
02 - best arena in Europe, i've got some great pics from standing on the roof of the arena below the canvas - the arena itself is a self contained venue, ready for when the canvas itself gets removed.
UEA (not an easy thing to say with me being an ipswich boy!),
Whilst on the Bigger Bang we did the main square in St Petersburg, amazing experience.
On the same leg, we did a beach in Montenegro, the beach was literally 100 metres from the stage. We knew where we were heading after we were set up!

Oops, Sorry, going off track!
Er, last time i played a gig, it was in a marquee, and it was muddy!!

[IncX]

[quote name='coasterbass' post='184339' date='Apr 24 2008, 09:14 AM']It measured approx 10m x 5m at best, and contained everything you'd expect in someone's front room.

The PA company had gone slightly overboard and had turned up with the rig used the night before at Nottingham Rock City. It was a 30kw Martin Rig with 4x 12foot towers. The Midas Desk they had brought with them was approx 12ft in itself!!

Needless to say, most of the kit got left in the truck, but some was unavoidable including the 20" diameter cable snakes : ) The Midas Desk they had brought with them was approx 12ft in itself!![/quote]

mine was the opposite... we were asked to play an outdoor gig and found ourself with 30 watt guitar amps with these $5 toy mics ... ?? wattage bass amps that apparently was a Boss Ds1 turned amp ... and a distorted PA system. drums has 2 mics ... one for the bass drum and one for everything else *lol*

for some reason ... ppl did enjoy it.

but still... maybe it was the alcohol ... i can barely hear myself so i just w***ed onstage and just made sure i got the first note right *lol*

[M4L666]

[quote name='ahpook' post='184417' date='Apr 24 2008, 10:45 AM']a band i was in years ago played metroland at the metrocentre once.

that was weird...massive PA, kids on fun rides...and a bunch of us crusties playing...[/quote]
Cool, I live near there. I think. In Newcastle yeah? That must have been fun...