RockScotland

Blazers rock venue early to late 90s ,Loads of bands played there,GUN,ALEX HARVEY BAND,THE Wildhearts ,Headswim ,Skin ,Nazareth,Dumpys rusty nutz,Engine ,THE WigWambamz,No dice ,RADIO Moscow ,The Scottish sex pistols ,THE gun gig was amazing sold out in 1 hour ,the gig was on the sat that, word up charted at no 8 ,deejay promoter moved to a 70s rvival bar in east kilbride and the venue closed and became a irish bar oneils soon after ,,,now its lyiny empty and falling a part,,i just remembered the Nimmo brothers used to play there most sat afternoon s,now there playing the 02 academy ,,Great band ,,

rockdeejay wrote:Loads of bands played there,GUN,ALEX HARVEY BAND,THE Wildhearts ,Headswim ,Skin ,Nazareth,Dumpys rusty nutz,Engine

All great bands and worked well in the good old days but the gig saturation that followed the Tennent's Live scheme wiped out any regular crowds anywhere in Lanarkshire.

Sadly a small venue like Blazers couldn't sustain a similar thing nowadays without some sort of substantial external funding - Catch 22, do we want another load of "sponsored" gigs that just close as soon as the funding stops?

rock_bottom

hi blazers lost its tennents live sponsership to harleys,,it was the promoter who was paying for the bands ,most touring bands dont cost a fortune ,blazers would agree a fee and pay the pa ,and put the band up in the town hotel which blazers was part off,good contacts and fair promoters trying there best to run a live music venue on a shoe string as usal its the cost of promotion that kills you off,,,it can still be done ,probably better now ,with a good website and good links to other rock websites,also you need good management who let you get on with the job,,,most venues will not work if the management dont like rock music ,all the do do is compare it to all the other types of music ,ie dance music and then the place is full of neds ,,,

rockdeejay wrote:it can still be done ,probably better now ,with a good website and good links to other rock websites,also you need good management who let you get on with the job

Unfortunately, there's currently no examples of any venues in the Glasgow or Lanarkshire area that can prove your point.

Part of Zico's downfall was that they allowed an external promoter (Alan Cottam Agency) to run things and they were totally ripped off. Loads of money was spent trying to set things up but the promoter didn't advertise (or actually promote) any of the bands meaning that most of the gigs were a complete failure.

Cloven Hoof were a good example - 12 people at the Zico's gig, yet almost sell out crowds all over the rest of the country.

I think you're being a bit naive if you think that things like "a good website" will make a difference. People will not pay to see a local band anymore unless they have actually seen them before and they fit their own personal criteria and taste.

As someone else said, it's a "Catch 22" situation. Either you shell out for a "big name" band where the promotion cost far outweighs any income in a small venue or you go for the cheap option of a local band where only their pals will turn up.

Tennent's effectively killed the regular rock music scene by saturating the market, creating too many gigs and offering unskilled promoters a "safety net" of almost unlimited funding.

Music fans have been badly let down over the last 20 years and it will take a lot of time and money to regain their trust and support before they turn up to any new venue on a regular basis.

Sad but true!

brazzer

SORRY CANT AGREE WITH YOU THERE ,,,,THERES A KNACK TO IT ,U NEED TO BUILT A VENUE UP FIRST ,EVEN IFS ITS JUST WITH A GOOD ROCK DEEJAY ,,GET REGULARS ,OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS ,AND BY THAT U HAVE TO LET THE YOUNGER BANDS PLAY ,EVEN IF THERE NOT THAT GREAT ,THEY HAVE TO LEARN SOMEWERE,USALY THEY WILL HELP SWELL THE CROWD A BIT WI THERE MATES,GIVE THEM SOME SUPPORT SLOTS ,THEY BECOME LOYAL TO THE VENUE ,[THATS MA PUB THATS WERE A DRINK ECT ECT']AND TREAT THEM DECENT A LOT OF VENUES AND PROMOTERS ARE TWATS AND FORGET THE KIDS IN THE BANDS ARE PUNTERS AS WELL ,SOME GOOD COVERS BANDS ,AND THEN TRIBUTE ACTS ,,,,,I PERSONALLY WOUNLD TOUCH CLOVEN HOV,GETTING NAME BANDS IS ONLY TO HELP THE VENUES REP,A LOT OF COVERS AND TRIBUTE ACTS PULL BETTER ,,,,ALSO VERY IMPORTANT ,NOT RIP PEOPLE OF BY PRICES ,AT THE BAR OR TICKTS ,,,ANYWAY IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE A NEW VENUE UP AND RUNNING SOMEWERE IN SOUTH LANARKSHIRE,BUTS ITS A FULLTIME JOB PROMOTING ,ITS THE ONLY WAY A VENUE WORKS

rockdeejay wrote:SORRY CANT AGREE WITH YOU THERE ,,,,THERES A KNACK TO IT

Looks like you're having a hard time accepting the truth of the matter and getting a bit frustrated with the shouting with the CAPITALS!

While it's commendable to have your vision of a "Rock Venue" you still seem to be very naive when it comes to the facts of the matter.

People aren't going to pay money and turn out on a regular basis to see wee local bands, especially if, "they're not that great".

Your vision of the wee local Rock Night would maybe have worked at the height of the Tennent's Live scam when all sorts of dodgy promoters were given almost unlimited amounts of cash to fund this type of thing. Even then most Tennent's venues were empty.

There's no loyalty any more - the halcyon days of the "Rock Night" were when regular crowds turned out as a matter of course. Nowadays this does not happen.

Sadly, I think that you know this as well or else you would already be running your version of a rock night.

Just like previous posters I'd like to see you succeed but the fact that you're only talking about it rather than doing it suggests that you know it wouldn't work.

gallus

Sorry bout the capital thing ,wisni shoutin honest ,,,am not doing it because am a lot older {like most of us}and a lot of time and money has to be invested, ,i woulnt mind doing a weekly rock night ,but not get a venue up and running ,,,have been asked to do a few times ,cant be arsed ,rather do a wee local rock night ,deejay at it and put on a band every now and then ,,,just a bit of fun for the local rock population ,then stagger home ,,,

gallus wrote:People aren't going to pay money and turn out on a regular basis to see wee local bands, especially if, "they're not that great".

You only have to look at all the failed Lanarkshire gigs to confirm this.

Sadly, the promotion of any successful business comes down to having enough funding to keep the venture running long enough to become established and cultivate a regular crowd.

The chances of this happening in this day and age is very slim!

The Guvnor