New bass guitar show 2020 (and 2022)

[zbd1960]

A lot of people, including me, have reported in the original 2020 thread. I went - I had a weekend ticket. When I arrived and had to queue to get in, I thought it would be busy. Turned out that the drum show WAS busy... Bass show was in a separate building, but the number of exhibitors was very disappointing. I've not been to one before, so I have nothing to compare it to other than our own bass bashes... But speaking to an exhibitor he said it was very small.

I was expecting makers to be there and more bits and pieces / accessories types, but very little. I suspect if they are unsure about turnout they're going to be reluctant to pay the hire costs for a stall, which are probably £££.

I'd booked for Jeff Berlin as well - I didn't even get the tee shirt offer... which I would have refused anyway.

Shame as a good venue. Don't know what went wrong, but something did. I suspect they overpriced it to vendors who've been through very difficult times. 

Edited April 3, 2022 by zbd1960

[zbd1960]

There's another thread appeared... But I'll comment here as well. 

 

My guess is that exhibitors, especially smaller ones like makers, are going to be very wary of splashing too much cash on high fees to rent a space on a speculative couple of days. The organisers have some questions to answer since it looks likely that they have over-priced it to exhibitors who are recovering from two years of very difficult trading circumstances.

 

The general level of communication, including social media updates, has been very poor.

 

They're going to have to give this a big re-think if they want to succeed.  

Edited April 3, 2022 by zbd1960

[andysg42]

Don't waste your time and money .Awful ,waste of fuel and ticket money . Last one for me .

[zbd1960]

1 hour ago, andysg42 said:

Don't waste your time and money .Awful ,waste of fuel and ticket money . Last one for me .

I agree. I bought a weekend ticket, obviously not going today. I ended up on a very crowded train from Crewe to Liverpool (it was a London train with a lot of people on it for football). I wore a mask and very few others did. I will be very cross if I've picked up you-know-what as a result as I'm going away tomorrow.  

[visog]

Agree with comments above. Here's my pic from this am. This is it - well Ibanez off to the left out of shot. 

 

Long stand on the right was Bass Direct who had a good stand with Mr Dingwall on it too.

 

I've been to the Manchester shows of old and one in London and they've been great.

 

This was very disappointing and disingenuous of the organisers really. I accept lockdown hasn't helped
but simply adding it to a drum show as if this added to attraction was a bad move.

 

[prowla]

I was never going to go to Manchester or Liverpool.

I went to the Northampton Guitar Fair last week and it was alright; bumped into a couple of folks I knew and met up with a couple more; I'd say it was maybe 75% of the previous show and all I bought was a bass case, but it was a good day out nonetheless.

Hopefully things will ramp up as the year progresses; fingers crossed for the Kempton Park one.

I'll be going to the April Brizzle one next and hopefully tie it in with a day out (maybe see the Great Britain again), and probably the Brum one in May.

 

[Kev]

25 minutes ago, visog said:

Agree with comments above. Here's my pic from this am. This is it - well Ibanez off to the left out of shot. 

 

Long stand on the right was Bass Direct who had a good stand with Mr Dingwall on it too.

 

I've been to the Manchester shows of old and one in London and they've been great.

 

This was very disappointing and disingenuous of the organisers really. I accept lockdown hasn't helped
but simply adding it to a drum show as if this added to attraction was a bad move.

 

That's crazy, seriously?!!

 

Sheldon must be wondering why on earth he's been dragged over the ocean for this.  At least Bass Direct are there, but I live 5 minutes from them so it's not really a pull for me!

 

Just wow.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Kev

[ezbass]

31 minutes ago, visog said:

Agree with comments above. Here's my pic from this am. This is it - well Ibanez off to the left out of shot. 

 

Long stand on the right was Bass Direct who had a good stand with Mr Dingwall on it too.

 

I've been to the Manchester shows of old and one in London and they've been great.

 

This was very disappointing and disingenuous of the organisers really. I accept lockdown hasn't helped
but simply adding it to a drum show as if this added to attraction was a bad move.

 

That amount of space between the stands is unprecedented! I normally have to do a quick tour of a show, followed by a careful trawl. I think I’d have been done in half an hour total here.

 

7 minutes ago, Kev said:

That's crazy, seriously?!!

 

Sheldon must be wondering why on earth he's been dragged over the ocean for this.  At least Bass Direct are there, but I live 5 minutes from them so it's not really a pull for me!

 

Just wow.

At least Sheldon has had other ‘clinics’ he’s done whilst he’s here - Guitar Guitar for instance. However, I take your point.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Very depressing to read your reports of what the show turned out to be like. I was hoping that we'd again be able to have a proper bass show in England, now that we seem to have lost the London one, but clearly this is not the way forward. Watch out for the poor turnout being used as the excuse to axe bass-centric shows. 😒

[JellyKnees]

I was gonna go to this but sadly a recent back injury meant that a trip across the river from the oblong of dreams was beyond my ability at the moment. Sounds like I've not missed much though.. what a shame.

[ambient]

4 hours ago, zbd1960 said:

I agree. I bought a weekend ticket, obviously not going today. I ended up on a very crowded train from Crewe to Liverpool (it was a London train with a lot of people on it for football). I wore a mask and very few others did. I will be very cross if I've picked up you-know-what as a result as I'm going away tomorrow.  

Covid is - as I suggested on another thread that seems to have vanished - probably one of the reasons why the show was poorly attended. It’s certainly the main reason why I didn’t go.

[ambient]

3 hours ago, visog said:

Agree with comments above. Here's my pic from this am. This is it - well Ibanez off to the left out of shot. 

 

Long stand on the right was Bass Direct who had a good stand with Mr Dingwall on it too.

 

I've been to the Manchester shows of old and one in London and they've been great.

 

This was very disappointing and disingenuous of the organisers really. I accept lockdown hasn't helped
but simply adding it to a drum show as if this added to attraction was a bad move.

 

I am quite shocked by that photo. I’ve been to a few of these in the past, they’ve always been crowded - one of the reasons why I stopped going.

[funkypenguin]

The whole thing came off as being half baked tbh....the plus points were running into people I know, and finally meeting people such as @Dood in person  the downside was basically being done with the stands in about 30 minutes, although on the second lap I ended up having a great chat with Sheldon Dingwall!

[Bassfingers]

Just returned from Liverpool. I agree with several previous posters here that the whole thing was rather underwhelming. Half an hour and I had pretty much seen what was on offer. Distinct lack of atmosphere and a general overhanging question "where is everyone"? Turnout wasn't great. Not a great deal to see or do. A lot of empty space and nothing really exciting to stimulate my GAS.  Credit to Bass Direct however, who did have a good presence and knew how to exhibit. I did also enjoy "Dr Funk"  - nice chap and great to see enthusiasm and virtuosity in the younger generation. It was also  good to hear Steve Lawson's thoughts on tone and technique. All in all, the show seemed to be struggling with its identity. It really wasn't clear what the weekend was supposed to be about, and who might benefit. Given how much passion there is in the Low End community for what we do I was taken by surprise. I do regret not being able to stick around for Phil Mann. 

 

The saving Grace for me is the fact that Liverpool itself is such a great place visit. I had a weekend ticket, but pretty much covered the show on Saturday. That left plenty of time to sample some of the other delights of that fine city on Sunday. 

 

All in all, we had a lovely weekend break in Liverpool, but I will think twice before I sign up to another UK Bass show. 

 

 

[ambient]

The best one I’ve been to was in Manchester about 15 years ago. It was held in a music venue, and was more performance orientated with just a few stands from manufacturers and distributors.

 

I remember Jonas Hellborg being there, along with Janek Gwizdala and Yolanda Charles.

[visog]

2 minutes ago, ambient said:

The best one I’ve been to was in Manchester about 15 years ago. It was held in a music venue, and was more performance orientated with just a few stands from manufacturers and distributors.

 

I remember Jonas Hellborg being there, along with Janek Gwizdala and Yolanda Charles.

Yes, me too. Although a different year. Billy Sheehan and Victor Bailey were there. Victor was phenomenal and Billy was super nice - although I think worryingly he's got hearing problems Shuker and Goodfellow were there too. Both wonderful. Overwater had a great stand too.

[EBS_freak]

Just been checking out the insta feed today. Very little bass content. Slightly more drum content. From somebody just looking at the socials, it didn't look particularly well attended...?

[ambient]

Just now, EBS_freak said:

Just been checking out the insta feed today. Very little bass content. Slightly more drum content. From somebody just looking at the socials, it didn't look particularly well attended...?

The photo towards the top of this page suggests that too.

[Machines]

2 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Just been checking out the insta feed today. Very little bass content. Slightly more drum content. From somebody just looking at the socials, it didn't look particularly well attended...?

 

As someone who spent 2 days on the the Bass Direct stand, I can confirm this. Other than an apx 2 hour period on Saturday afternoon (which was bordering on very busy), it was mostly quiet (average 1-2 public in the 20m stand, peaking at 6-8 plus staff).

Speaking to the other bass exhibitors, it appears the organisation and marketing for the event was rather lacklustre. There was a very well attended drum show next door, but in another building 5 mins walk away, when there were 2 empty aircraft hangar sized adjacent to the 'bass room'. Putting them together would have made sense and increased footfall for both events. The bass room was a mixed bag of small solo exhibitors, and large distributors, with some random guitar stalls/education types. 3 of the guitar stalls packed up Saturday PM and didn't come back for Sunday.

 

That said. On the BD stand we had some great players turn up and had the time to talk to them, and let them try stuff out without time limits. As someone not invested in the event, I thought it was good fun - caught up with some old faces, met some new - plus got to try out some amazing equipment at my own whim.

 

The Saturday night party was fun, saw Yolanda Charles play a very good set. We were all invited to jam if we wanted - but the setlist was too unfamiliar for me and I didn't want to look like the amateur that I am in front of a very skilled & educated crowd of peers.

 

We packed up an hour early (and were the last doing so) and got home a couple of hours ago. I think if I had paid, I would feel quite put out.

 

P.s the Dingwall in this photo is no longer available 👀

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Machines

[petecarlton]

10 hours ago, visog said:

Agree with comments above. Here's my pic from this am. This is it - well Ibanez off to the left out of shot. 

 

Long stand on the right was Bass Direct who had a good stand with Mr Dingwall on it too.

 

I've been to the Manchester shows of old and one in London and they've been great.

 

This was very disappointing and disingenuous of the organisers really. I accept lockdown hasn't helped
but simply adding it to a drum show as if this added to attraction was a bad move.

 

 

That's even worse than Saturday!  Looks to me as if several stands gave it up as a bad job and didn't bother to come back.  That one in the far corner, which looks empty, was Tanglewood, though wtf they were doing there in the first place, I don't know.  

[EBS_freak]

So what we thinking? People apprehensive due to Covid?

[Machines]

1 minute ago, EBS_freak said:

So what we thinking? People apprehensive due to Covid?

 

No, didn't see a single mask in 2 days. I think it's marketing for the event, lack of consultation with the bass community (e.g. Basschat), a lack of buy in for exhibitors, possibly due to apprehension at a new location and the attendees list not looking too hot.

[EBS_freak]

Well, you wouldn't expect to see a mask in 2 days if the people that wear masks due to being apprehensive about Covid didn't turn up. I know that for the stand I am usually on, we did discuss at length what we thought that the turn out would be like... and we both thought that people are still worried about covid, especially in an event that is traditionally, quite full of people passing closely to one another.

 

I personally still don't think the bass community is big enough to support its own show at scale. The reason why Stevie's shows worked in Manchester, was down to the top flight players that he got and the ability to see these folk perform up close. The retail element of that show was never as big a part. This show feels like it's turned on its head somewhat... retail was put above the bass personalities - for whom the pull would have been a little more limited I think, certainly compared to the original names mentioned.

 

From what I've seen, guitar shows are always the best attended, followed by drum shows. Bass always has the weaker turnout. Even when there was the London bass show, it was always smaller and less well attended than the drum show equivalent.

 

Who knows what the secret to cracking a large scale bass show is? Certainly, for me at least, Liverpool seems a bit of a weird place to have held it.

[Machines]

Just now, EBS_freak said:

Who knows what the secret to cracking a large scale bass show is? Certainly, for me at least, Liverpool seems a bit of a weird place to have held it.

 

I agree - it was too large a venue and whilst in a fairly accessible location, was expensive to access, and ended up looking slightly comical in terms of the space filled. I did the 2008 Manchester Bass Day and that was mental. 2011 Olympia much the same.

 

There were some well known players at Liverpool but not quite as big as we've seen elsewhere.

[Stub Mandrel]

They cut their own throat by bigging up a show just for bass then watering it down and fown again.

 

The reports are exactly what I expected it to be like. Would rather travel for a bass bash.