Wednesday 23 December 2015

A Brief Missive On The Subject Of Logistics And Economics

I've been meaning to write this blog for a while now but as we all know, life tends to get in the way and things we feel to be most pertinent don't seem to get the preferential treatment they deserve.
I am writing this post in a contrary state of mind, on the one hand I am full of elation after a lovely Lonely Robot live event in London on Sunday, but at the same time I feel the need to bring a slight negative to the party in order to address a common theme that runs through my social media channels, namely the very flattering yet slightly grating request to "come and play my town".
I'll start with a quick moan. When I was but a wee snip of a lad, I hitch hiked all the way from Reading to Cambridge to go and see Green Day at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on their Dookie tour, such was my devotion to live music and indeed a band that my younger self adored. Prior to that event, I had ventured the length and breadth of this green and pleasant land of ours in order to pay homage to my beloved It Bites, such was the reverence and esteem I held them in. Years later, I witnessed my younger self in effect when an extremely devoted fan of the band Arena hitch hiked across Europe to come and see us live in various backwaters of the continent. My It Bites devotion also paid karmic dividends when six Japanese fans flew all the way over from Tokyo to come and see us play live in Birkenhead (?!??) Sad to say it wasn't the greatest venue or best attended show ever, but we gave it our best and the devotees in question went away happy to the best of my knowledge.
What is the point of all of this I hear you ask? Well whilst I don't in anyway expect Johnny Punter to go to the same lengths that my younger self did or indeed our Japanese heros, I do find the attitude of the modern gig-goer ever so slightly demoralising. In a recent poll, it was estimated that apart from air, food and water and other necessary evils, the things that human beings hold in the next highest importance are sex and music. I'm not here to make value judgements on statistics but in my appraisal of those facts, I would suggest that the latter is perhaps less correct than estimated, certainly when it come to the live arena. It seems to me that the English gig goer is in a way slightly jaded or perhaps spoilt for choice. If I announce a gig in London, I KNOW I can expect a plethora of people (which again whilst flattering is sort of missing the point) asking me to come and do a gig elsewhere. Now if you live in America, Poland or anywhere else off the beaten track that's fair enough, I can't rightfully expect you to go to such lengths to support my event. HOWEVER, if the gig is in London and you live in the locale of London or NOT a disgracefully long way away, then frankly get off your arse and make the effort IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT LIVE. Just to set my stall out a bit more, to put on the kind of Lonely Robot live show that I think is deserving of the recorded product, costs in the region of £4000 per show. The backline crew need paying, the stage production team need paying, the venue and venue crew needs paying, the promoter needs paying, the band need paying and there needs to be an AUDIENCE to make it all financially feasible. Much as I LOVED the London show on Sunday and it WAS very well attended, the guest list could have been printed on a roll of toilet paper and I have to face the fact that I walk away from it with a loss in hand. Still, you never get a second chance to make a first impression right? Yes, I could tour the leafy backwaters of England in a splitter van with precious little production or promotion and play to thirty people at the Dog And Duck in Croydon, but the simple fact remains, I'm 42 and I did all that when I was in my early twenties and I don't want to do it any more. Yes that's perhaps jaded and yes I sound like a grumpy old man, but that's how it is. I have invested a great deal of time putting the first and second Lonely Robot albums together and I really only want to do live shows that I feel do justice to the recorded version of events. I want to do concerts that people hold high in their memories and talk about fondly for many years and I don't think that playing a string of shoebox toilets to very few people is really addressing that remit. I honestly believe that if you think small, you get small, and that's not what I want to do any more. I have been in the band Arena since I was a young man, and much as we've had some great, great times over the years, we've perhaps on occasion done overly long tours that carry the baggage of a bunch of small, demoralising, poorly attended gigs that both lose the tour money and are literally there for the sake of making up the numbers and only serve to depress everyone. The brand is EVERYTHING, the event is EVERYTHING and from this moment forth, anything I do under my own steam is going to have that mantra attached to it. Obviously there may come a time when demand is greater than supply and I might actually find myself doing a string of dates of well attended prog pop recitals, but for now, I'll be happy in the knowledge than anything I DO do has to fall within certain parameters.
So if you're reading this and you've thought about sending me a tweet to ask me to come and play Skegness social hall because it's three doors down from where you live, save yourself the energy of that precious mouse click....I'm flattered but I'd rather not lose the money :-)

Happy Christmas everyone,

Love,

John xxxx

15 comments:

  1. How about charging a small fee for people to watch a live stream of the event? This way people like myself, from up north and, of course from other countries, can have a fairly decent taste of the experience without having to rely on poor fan films on YouTube. I'm 41 and besides the trawling about involved getting to London, there's also the expense of travel and getting digs. As much as I love your music, I just don't have that sort of cash spare. You could also charge a little more if people wish to download the film for keeps later. I just think such an idea might generate extra funds for such gigs and appease those who live in places where it's not viable for you to play.

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  2. Couldn't agree more John, I travelled from S Wales to witness the show and what a good one too!

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  3. Great sentiments, John. I travelled from Halifax down to the Frost*/It Bites show at La Scala a few Decembers ago - best part of £250 (but worth it monster show!!), unfortunately funds just didn't stretch that for this time. I remain a fan of your music (whether that's Lonely Robot, It Bites - sniff, contributions to Frost*, etc) and will be seeing Frost* next year when it lands in Yorkshire. Couldn't agree more on the Brand is Everything front. Make it and they will come...

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  4. I was ill on Sunday and was gutted to have missed the hindmost. I travelled for 20 plus hours, bus, trains and tube and Shanks' Pony. 800 plus miles traversed and nae hassle. Call it the Highland/Irish/Gypsy blood...And I had nad hotel, as Radisson hoored my booking...lucky white heather anyone?

    Seriously though. English gig goers are lazy in the extreme esp. Home Counties sorts, but that is a socio-economic, nay anthropological essay for another day. Londoners get everything handed on a golden platter and yet are never done complaining and condescending about conditions et al. Us Sc-Irish travelling sorts don't give a tuppenny toss and I've seen myself covering continents to pursue art, as it stands.

    Slainte,

    Erin and Alba go bragh John,

    Seanie U X

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  5. I agree with a lot of what you say John but it was always going to be a tough ask selling out the Scala for Lonely Robot especially with the support band being relatively unknown. The sound there is also a bit iffy.and then playing a gig a month earlier also in London might not have been the wisest move. Finally the cost of tickets wasn't cheap and the vip ones were ridiculous.
    Despite all this there was a good turnout and we all had a great time. The band were great and seeing Jem with hair was interesting. Look forward to the second album and the Frost tour next year. ..being from Essex we're going to do both London and Cambridge. Ps nice to see Prs guitar though surely you deserve a Custom 25th anniversary not an SE? Merry Christmas

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  6. Playing a gig in London a month earlier?!?? Er is there another Lonely Robot I don't know about?? I'm sorry you think £20 is a lot of money to pay for a gig, but that's pretty much the going rate, £20 BARELY gets you a round of drinks these days so I'm sorry you feel aggrieved. Perhaps you should re read the bit where I said I made a loss? As for the VIP comment, that was merely a way to generate more revenue to try to make the whole thing work financially and frankly no one had a gun to anyone's head forcing them to buy on. As for the support band, with all due respect to my good friends in Hekz, I've NEVER bought a gig ticket on the basis of who the support band is and the WHOLE point of putting them on was so that more people DO get to hear them and they become less unknown?!?!! And as for the PRS, I really don't care what guitar I play as it's just a piece of wood and it's all in the fingers. I bought it because it was cheap, nothing more nothing less �� Merry Christmas.

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    1. Erm ok so you didn't support Touchstone in November? Ok might only have been an acoustic set but it did happen? ! The tickets were £22 plus booking fee which was fine a fair price but right on top of Christmas with travel and beer money does add up.
      Hekz I enjoyed and it's good to see a new band but my point was (as per the Touchstone gigs actually) that you get a well known support act it helps to sell tickets. I don't want to see you lose money or have to pay £40 to see you after the next album so surely something to help sell out the gig is better?
      Have a great New Year!

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  7. I totally agree with your thoughts, John. I don't think people realise just how much it actually costs to put on even a 'modest' gig these days. Would these self-same people be happy going off to do a day's work, only to return home later in the day with less money in their pockets than when they set out earlier that day? I doubt it. I fear that, as an act's audience gets older, it becomes harder to tempt them out of their warm homes, onto public transport and into a venue. I have travelled far and wide to see bands I love over the last, well, lots of years, and I've always been rewarded by the sheer joy of sharing the same space with other 'fans' to be entertained by some fantastic musicians. I think you're dead right to stick to your guns, retain your integrity and belief that, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing properly. More power to your plectrum, matey! Have a great Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

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  8. The last time Rush toured Germany they just did two gigs, Berlin and Cologne. They hired a massive arena in Cologne, probably figuring that having filled several 10k+ capacity venues on their last tour there was sufficient demand. The fly in the ointment was that many European fans are obviously not prepared to travel, unlike their Peers in North America for example. As a result the top tier of the arena had to be closed and they played to a half empty hall. And people wonder why they don't want to come back...
    Basically the music I love is no longer hip, the bands don't sell out Football stadia like they did in the 70/80's, don't get media attention, and obviously don't make enough money from their music to live off, unless they fancy the nomadic existence you mention in the blog. (Last time I saw Go West it was in a pub in Chester...) So travel I shall! Personally I found the tickets were extremely good vfm (Black Sabbath et al charge around 90 €) and that a night in a premier inn and a cheap flight / Train fare won't break the bank once every six months. I came over from SW Germany with my eldest, and will be returning for the Frost* gig in Islington in July, also for the next Lonely Robot Event should you decide to do one. We had a great night, thanks for putting on a wonderful show.

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  9. Just came across this link today it fits the topic, I think:

    http://www.rockfeed.net/2015/12/22/vocalist-of-metal-band-says-what-nobody-else-will-talk-about/

    Seems to be tough these days out there on the road.

    I am a regular visitor to he Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg (I have
    seen John Mitchell there many times in various outfits :-) )
    and I often wonder how it all pays up at the end of the day.
    The Tickets aren't too expensive and some times the venue isn't
    sold out, at least for prog concerts.

    BTW: for Rush I have travelled as far as New York (Madison Square Garden!) and Philly to see
    them on the Vapor Trails Tour.

    I think, a decent bit of travel is OK!

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  10. Well said. Especially for less well known artists who have a hardcore fanbase but can't perhaps translate that into a nationwide tour with all the bells and whistles they'd like.
    However, it is frustrating when one has to constantly travel to see favourite bands. For example, every time I've seen a Steven Wilson gig I've had to travel. I don't live in an area of the country that's out of the way but he never seems to play within a seventy mile radius of where I live. So, as I have incredibly early starts at work I have to take a day off work and find a hotel to stay in for the night whenever I see him. This leads to frustration when you see London have four gigs inside a calendar year with Brighton and Manchester getting two gigs inside that same year. So for his latest tour I've just decided that if he won't come and see me then why should I go and see him, especialy as at the moment he CAN sell tickets. I'm sitting this next SW tour out as I believe it cuts both ways and I don't have a never-ending pot of money not only for tickets but travel costs, hotel rooms and food. So with that money, I'll go and see smaller gigs that are more local to me instead.

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  11. May be the future lies in the small Festival format like Resonance and Celebr8 which are great value, give a great forum for upcoming bands and presumably reduces overheads. I watched It Bites play to a half-full local 'large pub' venue here in Southampton last year - great gig but so sad to see the low turnout.

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  12. I am ine of those willing to travel to see the gigs I want to. Afterall, what band worth its salt is ever going to play Bracknell these days? I was desperate to go to the Lonely Robot gig but this close to Christmas and on a Sunday was always going to be difficult for me, as I sing in our church choir and it's the annual carol service.

    However, I do despair when I travel 50 miles or more to a gig to see someone I don't necessarily know much about, only to find the venue very empty because people won't take a chance on seeing a new band. A recent examole was a great tour Nellie put on with Franck Carducci and Ghost Community. Fantastic bands, both of them, but Talking Heads in Southampton was almost empty - just the usual suspects. Lazulu is another example. I have found some fantastic bands because I am willing to take a risk. Sadly, the majority of the population seemsntoo apathetic to try something new. They would rather shell out over £100 to see some 70's has been from a distance churning out the hits of their youth than pay £15-20 to watch a fresh, new band in a smaller venue up close and personal. Even if it is on their doorstep. Were you tobslog your guts out touring, you would probably fall foul of this apathy, even from those asking you to play their town.

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  13. I was about your age when I gave up gigging for good. I was never a great guitarist anyway, but after 30+ years of Free Bird and Hurts So Good I just couldn't bring myself to do it anymore.
    Props to you for sticking to your guns and wanting to put on a quality event that you can be proud of rather than going for the quick but ultimately empty dollars.
    PS.. Cheap guitars rule, but the sound isnt in the hands - It's in the MIND
    Have a great Holiday and bring on LR II!

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