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Anyway, I digress.
Kevin’s words prompted me to
think about another aspect that can, in my opinion, affect a venue’s
numbers, particularly pub venues, and that is the attitude of the
venue towards other local venues. I think there is a case for
greater co-operation?
If a venue books a band
within a week or two of another local venue booking the same band,
then numbers always suffer.
At the Old Tavern, broadly
speaking we have two types of regulars. There are the “pub”
regulars, who always come to drink in the pub no matter what, and
the “music” regulars. The latter are more transient and will often
move from local pub to pub to watch their favourite bands. They
usually have no interest in seeing the same band twice within as
many weeks, so inevitably attendance is reduced.
On a more sinister note, it
has become clear to me that a local pub music venue is keeping an
eye on our listings and every time I book a well known band that is
likely to pull a crowd, he will make a concerted effort to book that
band a week or so before. That benefits nobody, not the venue, the
band or the people who support local live music.
My response to bands who
participate in this practice is simply not to rebook.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s
nothing wrong with keeping an eye on other venue’s listings. I do
that, it’s all part of ensuring that you now what’s going on
locally.
On a more positive note. I
sometimes get bands saying to me “Fred at The Nags Head (names
changed to protect the innocent) told us to approach you for a gig
as he says he’s heard it’s a great place to play”. This restores my
faith in human nature (or pub landlords at least?).
Formal agreements between
venues don’t work – they are too restrictive. But friendly liaison
would help everybody and helps ensure that everyone continues to get
the opportunity to see quality live music at their local pub and
that the venue gets sufficient return to make it financially viable
to continue.
That’s got to be a good
thing, hasn’t it?
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