topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Hello all, I have some opinions to gather up from you all. As you'll see, I'm from Belfast which is an awkward area of the world considering that we're attached to one country but are part of another country and naturally, we want to tour the UK, even though we're separated from it, a ferry can cost the upwards of £400 for 4 people and a van which for young bands with no money, that is a lot. So we gathered the cash and went on tour back in July, it went well apart from a few scrapes (bands pulling out last minute, van getting towed in London) but we had the last date in Manchester, I'm not gonna name and shame. The venue was great, lovely basement type venue, nice and big with a good bar (Guinness on tap too, extra points) and the gig was good, people seemed to really enjoy it. Prior to the gig we had agreed to a £20 petrol fee in order to get us from Manchester to Liverpool for the ferry to Dublin and right back up to Belfast and they had humbly agreed to this. After the show I approached the promoter to get our pay after she had praised us for being one of the best bands of the night, we even had a nice chat about the venue, who had played and why she loves putting on bands, it was really quite touching to hear passion from someone. That passion was short lived, when I asked her for our pay she pulled out a sheet of paper and consulted this paper for a good 5 minutes and turned and said "Only 3 people said that they came to see you, you'll be getting £3 tonight, we hope to see you again". At first I thought she was joking and I asked "What about the £20 we had agreed on in e-mail" She said that it was the venues policy to only pay the bands who had people to come and see them. In a fit of rage and I kind of caused a ruckus in the venue, saying some things I'm not exactly proud of and ended up being ejected by the bouncers, they wouldn't even let our drummer to go in and collect his drum stool, so that was about £50 lost. We were furious and I was shocked that this policy even existed, thankfully due to the generosity of the local support bands, we got £10 from their pay. This has happened again today trying to book a venue for Sheffield and we were told that we couldn't even get our petrol paid and that they had the same policy. I'm writing this because I know that a majority of Basschat is based in England and I'm just asking, is this normal? We played Scotland and we got paid £50-£100 a night and a place to crash. Why in England does this policy exist, or am I naive in my little Belfast bubble that is this of the norm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 [b][size=6]NAME AND SHAME[/size][/b] please, would be rude not to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I'm gonna guess Retro Bar, but won't say who I reckon for the promoter as its not my place to. Message me a list of those Scottish venues, they sound good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 thats ridiculous! some venues really do take the mick, they have made alot more than 20 quid while you were playing! its the same as when they cancel live music evening because of turn out but will only give you a tuesday night! i dnt think id have excepted the money, thing is venues (some not all) will happily pay a covers bands 250 if not more for an evening but a original band even if they cram the venue will struggle to as you did cover petrol. also how is a band touring the uk for the first time trying to get noticed meant to bring people atleast you seemed to have sound support bands andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Lovely support bands And Wooks79 Bar Bloc - Glasgow, free pizza and a pint too 20 Rocks - Dundee, don't go in summer, no students to fill the place Bannermans - Edinburgh, they give you an entire apartment with about 9 beds and a stacked fridge The Bungalow - Paisley, got £150 here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 And also due to peer pressure It's The Roadhouse in Manchester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 What a bunch of robbing W@@@@@S £3 is an insult its not even a pint what a disgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Got to be illegal? Reneging on a pre-agreed payment for services rendered is surely breach of contract? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The girl who puts bands on at the roadhouse is lovely. Makes a lovely cup of tea too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1398194122' post='2431552'] Lovely support bands And Wooks79 Bar Bloc - Glasgow, free pizza and a pint too 20 Rocks - Dundee, don't go in summer, no students to fill the place Bannermans - Edinburgh, they give you an entire apartment with about 9 beds and a stacked fridge The Bungalow - Paisley, got £150 here [/quote] Cheers man, if you end up popping over again, lemme know and I will get something sorted out for you in Middlesbrough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plunkrock Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 £3 is a complete joke! Glad to see positive vibes for the Scottish venues, more folk up here please (even in Summer, I'll come! ) 20 Rocks is now Buskers and still great, for those considering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1398195739' post='2431579'] Cheers man, if you end up popping over again, lemme know and I will get something sorted out for you in Middlesbrough. [/quote] Cheers dude If our gigs in Workington doesn't work out, I'll send you a message! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) [quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1398192414' post='2431514'] Hello all, I have some opinions to gather up from you all. As you'll see, I'm from Belfast which is an awkward area of the world considering that we're attached to one country but are part of another country and naturally, we want to tour the UK, even though we're separated from it, a ferry can cost the upwards of £400 for 4 people and a van which for young bands with no money, that is a lot. So we gathered the cash and went on tour back in July, it went well apart from a few scrapes (bands pulling out last minute, van getting towed in London) but we had the last date in Manchester, I'm not gonna name and shame. The venue was great, lovely basement type venue, nice and big with a good bar (Guinness on tap too, extra points) and the gig was good, people seemed to really enjoy it. Prior to the gig we had agreed to a £20 petrol fee in order to get us from Manchester to Liverpool for the ferry to Dublin and right back up to Belfast and they had humbly agreed to this. After the show I approached the promoter to get our pay after she had praised us for being one of the best bands of the night, we even had a nice chat about the venue, who had played and why she loves putting on bands, it was really quite touching to hear passion from someone. That passion was short lived, when I asked her for our pay she pulled out a sheet of paper and consulted this paper for a good 5 minutes and turned and said "Only 3 people said that they came to see you, you'll be getting £3 tonight, we hope to see you again". At first I thought she was joking and I asked "What about the £20 we had agreed on in e-mail" She said that it was the venues policy to only pay the bands who had people to come and see them. In a fit of rage and I kind of caused a ruckus in the venue, saying some things I'm not exactly proud of and ended up being ejected by the bouncers, they wouldn't even let our drummer to go in and collect his drum stool, so that was about £50 lost. We were furious and I was shocked that this policy even existed, thankfully due to the generosity of the local support bands, we got £10 from their pay. This has happened again today trying to book a venue for Sheffield and we were told that we couldn't even get our petrol paid and that they had the same policy. I'm writing this because I know that a majority of Basschat is based in England and I'm just asking, is this normal? We played Scotland and we got paid £50-£100 a night and a place to crash. Why in England does this policy exist, or am I naive in my little Belfast bubble that is this of the norm? [/quote] Please tell me at least one of you or your band mates have looked in to the Musician's Union? They are the people to contact to help sort any and all problems presented by gigging live. If you have it in writing then you can, if you're a member refer the matter to them to try and sort out. As for the venues on the naming and shaming, I'd love to know the Sheffield venue? Sheffield is traditionally meant to be a great music city?! Also, if you're planning on coming as far south as Portsmouth, PM me and I'll try and sort you out with some advice on who and where to avoid! Edited April 22, 2014 by JamesBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1398196611' post='2431595'] Please tell me at least one of you or your band mates have looked in to the Musician's Union? They are the people to contact to help sort any and all problems presented by gigging live. If you have it in writing then you can, if you're a member refer the matter to them to try and sort out. As for the venues on the naming and shaming, I'd love to know the Sheffield venue? Sheffield is traditionally meant to be a great music city?! Also, if you're planning on coming as far south as Portsmouth, PM me and I'll try and sort you out with some advice on who and where to avoid! [/quote] Unfortunately I've since deleted the e-mail to clear space and I don't wanna go into so much fuss for it. Once again, I'm looking for a gig in Southampton and it's proving difficult at the moment, but if the e-mails I've sent don't work then I'll get onto you for Portsmouth! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 When you say . . . . [i]"Prior to the gig we had agreed to a £20 petrol fee in order to get us from Manchester to Liverpool for the ferry to Dublin and right back up to Belfast and they had humbly agreed to this."[/i] . . . . did you get their agreement in writing? If so, why would you not want to 'name and shame' someone who has clearly broken a contractual agreement in order to help prevent other bands falling victim to this sort of desicable behaviour. If not, er . . . . . at least you now know how much verbal agreements are worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Like I said, we cleared our inbox and the e-mail got deleted so the agreement was gone but yes, I can remember asking for petrol money and they had said yes. I've named and shamed before and it's come back to me in a bad way, but that just comes from living in a tiny city with a lot of bands and music, it comes back to you, I forgot to realise that it's Manchester in question. Just a force of habit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 That kind of BS does exist in Scotland as well, thankfully I've only ever encountered it a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1398198611' post='2431636'] That kind of BS does exist in Scotland as well, thankfully I've only ever encountered it a couple of times. [/quote] From where I've been and played in Scotland, everyone has been hospitable to the point of making us want to hug every Scottish person we came in contact with. Lovely country. lovely people and from the experience I've gathered from other NI bands touring, Scotland is the gigging promised land of the UK compared to England, sorry England. Although, I've got loads of things to say about Huddersfield for example, we were booked for a venue that I can't remember the name of and last minute we managed to ring up The Zephyr Bar and they put us on, gave us 2 free pints each, paid us directly out of the bar till and 2 of the bar staff bought a CD and shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1398198471' post='2431634'] Like I said, we cleared our inbox and the e-mail got deleted so the agreement was gone but yes, I can remember asking for petrol money and they had said yes. [/quote] Well, it's never a good idea to destroy legal documents when they are your only protection against sharp practice - but I guess you know that now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1398199294' post='2431647'] Well, it's never a good idea to destroy legal documents when they are your only protection against sharp practice - but I guess you know that now. [/quote] Learn and live on! Edited April 22, 2014 by topheteatwo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1398197119' post='2431602'] Unfortunately I've since deleted the e-mail to clear space and I don't wanna go into so much fuss for it. Once again, I'm looking for a gig in Southampton and it's proving difficult at the moment, but if the e-mails I've sent don't work then I'll get onto you for Portsmouth! Cheers! [/quote] No worries, where are you trying for in Southampton? I'll drop you a PM with my email address in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1398199294' post='2431647'] Well, it's never a good idea to destroy legal documents when they are your only protection against sharp practice - but I guess you know that now. [/quote]won't the email still be in "trash" ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1398200527' post='2431674'] No worries, where are you trying for in Southampton? I'll drop you a PM with my email address in it [/quote] Legend, e-mail sent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topheteatwo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 [quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1398201442' post='2431693'] won't the email still be in "trash" ? [/quote] I checked, it's gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brookes Music Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 My guess would have been Retro Bar! ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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