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Breaking into Bristol...


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(NB after some deliberation I thought it might be appropriate to ask here - if the Mods think it would be better in the Gigs section then please feel free to move and accept my apologies for any inconvenience!)

Can anyone in or near Bristol point me in the right direction? I need a venue or promoter that might be willing to take a shot on a London-based band and offer us a support slot on, say, a gig with a couple of local bands. Ideally a weekend, but I wouldn't rule out a weekday evening, ideally some time in August or September.

As you'll see from my sig, we're playing at a festival in the area in the middle of this month, which would be a great chance for us to plug an upcoming gig...we just need to have an upcoming gig to plug!

https://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/

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The Louisiana used to be the best place for that sort of gig [url="http://www.thelouisiana.net/"]http://www.thelouisiana.net/[/url]
There is also the old duke but its more Jazz based stuff, bit of a hippy dippy hang out, I love it! [url="http://www.theoldduke.co.uk/"]http://www.theoldduke.co.uk/[/url]
The Thekla is really cool too, if you dont know it it is an old cargo ship in the dock that is an indie club/live venue [url="http://www.theklabristol.co.uk/"]http://www.theklabristol.co.uk/[/url]

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Thekla was towed away recently to be refurbed. Louisiana is a good venue if you can pull a crowd/get a support with someone who will (same with Exchange, don't expect punters to attend unless you coax them there). Old Duke is cool, more likely for passing punters to check you out there, although it's small and caters for jazz bands and the like most often.

Sadly The Croft, once a thriving music venue, has been replaced by a craft beer bar.

Edited by Wil
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[quote name='Wil' timestamp='1404324432' post='2491639']

Sadly The Croft, once a thriving music venue, has been replaced by a craft beer bar.
[/quote]

The people who ran The Croft opened the Exchange. They also put bands on at Mother's Ruin pub.

You could also check out Mr Wolf's but I reckon your best bet is The Exchange.

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Yep, the Louisiana is a good gig if you can bring a crowd or tag on with someone who can. It operates the same quid per punter as the fleece, in fact the "contract" is almost identical!
Never had any joy getting a gig at the thekla but it is a great venue & have seen some top gigs there, hope it comes back to the dockside soon.
Forgot the Thunderbolt too, they are worth a call.
Let us know how you get on?

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[quote][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Hey Bristolians, is the grain barge still going?[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]They used to have gigs, mostly of the rootsy/americana sort of vibe iirc? [/font][/color][/quote]
Dunno if it's still going to be honest, but don't really go into Hotwells much any more.

The best places to try would be:
- Mothers Ruin
- Louisiana
- The Exchange
- The full moon bar (Might now be called The Attic)
- The Cat n Wheel on Cheltenham Rd (These guys play cover bands for about 2-3 hour sets)
- The Stag n Hounds Old Market (next door to the exchange)
- The Fleece, they regularly put on all day events, and local band nights.
- The Golden Lion on Gloucester Rd do band nights
- The Thekla (but not sure how often they put on local band nights)
- The Tunnels
- The Fiddlers
- Reckless Engineer
- The Thunderbolt

Can't think of any more!

Edited by Old_Ben
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Grain Barge is definitely still there and open but it's been a while since was in the place to see if they're still doing bands. I've not heard that they stopped doing them.

Also, The Old Bookshop on North Street is a great little pub (don't expect to get drums in!) that have started doing live music. The quirky the better, it's a mad little place!

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Thank you very kindly for your input, folks! I've now emailed just about every venue on Old Ben's list, plus a couple more. Got a very quick reply from Mother's Ruin; unfortunately offering a date that we can't make, but I remain optimistic. Must get round to contacting a few of the other suggestions in the meantime.

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Just had an email from the fleece about upcoming slots available across July, Aug & sept, various nights, various genres wanted. So you should be able to get on a bill there. We (kohiba) only played there last month & will leave it for later in the year before we go back for another gig.
Cheers,
Norm

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[quote name='Norm' timestamp='1404770035' post='2495630']
Just had an email from the fleece about upcoming slots available across July, Aug & sept, various nights, various genres wanted. So you should be able to get on a bill there. We (kohiba) only played there last month & will leave it for later in the year before we go back for another gig.
Cheers,
Norm
[/quote]
Fantastic! Thank you, Norm, I've just dropped them an email so fingers crossed!

(Cheers also, Mornats - rest assured if we do play Bristol I'll be making plenty of noise about it on here! Always nice to have the company of a few BCers at a gig)

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[quote name='Norm' timestamp='1404770035' post='2495630']
Just had an email from the fleece about upcoming slots available across July, Aug & sept, various nights, various genres wanted. So you should be able to get on a bill there. We (kohiba) only played there last month & will leave it for later in the year before we go back for another gig.
Cheers,
Norm
[/quote]

Looks like a decent venue, just mailed the band to see if they're interested :D

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Having finally got around to listening to the tune on your website (which is rather good) I think you would be a good fit for Mother's Ruin, Mr Wolf's, The Stag and Hounds, the Cat And Wheel or the Blue Lagoon.

The Cat and Wheel and the Blue Lagoon have the advantage of being slap bang in the middle of student land, with good passing trade [i]and[/i] you'll get paid - the downside is that they do tend to book up well in advance, so you may only get in if they have a cancellation. This does happen (I get 4 or 5 calls per year form the Lagoon looking to cover cancellations) so it's probably worth dropping them an email anyway.

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[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1404819360' post='2495942']
Having finally got around to listening to the tune on your website (which is rather good) I think you would be a good fit for Mother's Ruin, Mr Wolf's, The Stag and Hounds, the Cat And Wheel or the Blue Lagoon.

The Cat and Wheel and the Blue Lagoon have the advantage of being slap bang in the middle of student land, with good passing trade [i]and[/i] you'll get paid - the downside is that they do tend to book up well in advance, so you may only get in if they have a cancellation. This does happen (I get 4 or 5 calls per year form the Lagoon looking to cover cancellations) so it's probably worth dropping them an email anyway.
[/quote]

Thank you! - both for the advice and for checking out the single. The Cat and the Lagoon definitely sound like they're worth trying. I've already been in touch with Mother's Ruin; he did get back to me but we couldn't make the date sadly...and I haven't heard from him since. I shall rattle off some more emails. Ta kindly!

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  • 2 weeks later...

By George, I think we've done it!

Thank you very much for all your input, folks - after a few lengthy email exchanges, it looks like I'll be taking [b]Cherry White to Mother's Ruin on Saturday 30th August! [/b]I'll put up more details when I have them - I gather the rest of the lineup has yet to be confirmed.

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