Swindon Music

1. Book a s**t hot quality, underground act. Who have toured extensivly across the UK, sharing stages with the best bands the UK has to offer.

2. book them for a reasonable fee (£250, on a £5 ticket, a break even of 50) A fee I whittled DOWN from £400.

3. Book exciting "big" local band, to help build the support band some history, and show off our town as a musical force, and expect them to bring in a decent crowd.

4. Due to expecting local band to bring a reasonable amount of crowd, and charging £5 on door - agree reasonable fee for said band. £75 - breakeven now 65 - which is still nothing considering the venue holds like 200 and it's such a damed strong line up...

5. promote the event properly, a thank you now to the following, The Ocelot magazine for sticking it on their front page, Bozely Wakefield for highlighting it in the gigs section of his magazine, Dave F for putting it in print in the Advertiser, along with a photo no less, to Will Walder and Marie Lennon for featuring it for two consecutive weeks on BBC Radio Wiltshire Introducing. Not to mention, 4 weeks advance notice in flyers, posters / tv screens in two venues, facebook and myspace mailouts, ents 24, drowned in sound, art rocker and a miriad of other decent musical outlets on the internet, and local forums & posters in shops round town.

6. Bring in quality opener, who have shared stages with Secondsmile, Shit Disco, Calories, Tubelord, Cats And Cats And Cats and many others, recently were invited to mix their songs at Abby Road and recorded with the guys behind Foals debut album - this band were playing for free too!!


So what did I do wrong? Some one fairly pointed out that The Alfonz were confirmed to support Twisted Wheel before our show was announced, and had a pre sale with a lower figure, but what is cost really now-a-days? I will pay £3,4,5 to watch local bands, if its a good line up, im not going to haggle over a £1.

I read on here about people going to such great events like the Camden Crawl and The Great Escape - featuring bands like Tubelord, Calories, Cats And Cats And Cats and This Town Needs Guns - 4 bands I HAVE BOUGHT TO SWINDON, and people stay away in their droves!!

I spoke to Dave Y after the event, I always soeak to the venue after the show, to give feedback, and talk about the PA - he said he dosn't risk much original stuff anymore, as people claim to want it, even tell him its great that he's doing it - but then ultimatly when it counts, DON't COME.

He got some feedback after his Limehouse Lizzy show "I've seen them twice before tonight, and I don't even think they are that great" SO WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PAYING £12 ON THE DOOR TO WATCH IT?!

He fills that venue with tribute acts, brillaint acts im not denieing - I've been doing the sound for the likes of Guns2Roses, Hounds Of Love and Shepperds Pie among others - yet unless its a "name" stuggles with original music. Sure The Automatic sell out, and Twisted Wheel, but Dave again said "I won't know anyone there - people travel miles to watch these bands, you would of thought you would know a few in the crowd - but I won't"

I had people travel from Salisbury to watch This Town, and if I had had 32 more local people I would of broke even - as it goes I had 33 sales, and on top of the two bands, staff and camera crew that filmed the event, 55 ish people all told.

Along with Marie Lennon and Alex Archer - I was gutted that a band loved so much on the underground nationwide, couldn't find a decent responce from Swindon!

I completely understand your frustration mate, but you're preaching to the converted on here. Sounds like you did nothing wrong; as you say it's purely down to Swindon's apathy and ignorance.

^^ what those folks said. I was spinning tunes at the event as well and was really surprised that it didn't fill up more as the bands were amazing...

It's a huge shame mate. I even turned up early as i thought it was going to be rammed. Although, I haven't been to a packed out gig at The Vic on the Thursday in a long time, if ever. Perhaps ask Dave if you can do it on a Friday instead?

Or promote at the 12 Bar. I know a few people from college that would have loved to see TTNG, but they're 17 so they missed out.

You did one thing wrong... you picked Swindon to host it.

Really sorry it wasn't busier. Really did deserve to be.

Bust ultimately independent music fans are the minority, and it means relying on nearly 99% of them to be at shows just to get a crowd. Not realistic. Better education and more unity would change it, but I fear it's going to always be that way. I've put on bands that have sold out the 2,000 capacity Bristol Academy and then two weeks later play to a couple of hundred people in Swindon. It clearly can't cope with things.

You have to keep plugging away and believe it will change. And it will. Just not sure when!!!

Kieran I completely sense your frustration and offer up my own apologies for not attending (Being a late 30-something bloke with a young child, sod all childcare and a 70 mile round commute each day does tend to hamper my ability to attend gigs, on top of all that I had to work late in TTNG's home town Oxford).

There is apathy in Swindon, it seems that whilst people are happy to pay £25 plus to watch a "name" band at the Oasis they are less likely to take a punt on up and coming bands for a fraction of the price.

I think the problem is the hardcore of regular live music go-oers isn't that big, whether we like it or not the vast majority of the town are either unable or unwilling to support new music, this could've changed if a University had been built although maybe not as most of the gigs I attend in Oxford are full, not with Uni students but locals.

Year One of the Shuffle for example we packed the venues and I really believed we'd tapped into the wider Swindon Music community, this wasn't the case and the subsequent years was more a case of the same faces, a lot of which people I consider friends so it isn't a dig at them.

I don't blame Dave for putting on covers bands because at the end of the day he's a businessman trying to make a living, a half empty pub watching a new band or a packed pub watching a tribute act?

I'm sorry you lost money on the gig, I had a few gigs like that in Oxford back in the earlier part of the last decade, losing money when you've put so much effort in is frustrating.

I was saying the same thing in June - although my lineups weren't as strong as yours I thought at least one would pull in a crowd. But like I was saying back then, you can book a great set of bands, break your back and do everything right, put in hours of work but people still wouldn't come. People won't look at a flyer in the window of the Information Centre, they're too busy looking at the ground. Even if you post the flyer through their doors they won't look at it. You couldn't pay people to go. This is why I don't put on gigs in Swindon!

I think that's just Swindon though, look at Swindon Town - two games for £25 quid for a team 5th in the table. You couldn't pay people to go - everyone has such a low opinion of Swindon that they automatically assume that it will be shit. So it's not just music.

It's funny, the Big Weekend should have changed all of this - we all had such big plans. But it's not even a year on and it's like it never happened.

But also acknowledging I said I would and didn't go - sometimes life gets in the way. Didn't get back from a meeting until late and then needed to go food shopping.

I agree 100% with that, it seems as it we reached a high water mark and now.... nothing, plenty of talking but precious little else.

I think that's the wider issue in Swindon full stop, people talking a lot but not doing much in practice.

I've got pretty cynical about live music in Swindon to be honest which (along with other committments) is why I've taken more of a backseat over the past couple of years mostly just concentrating on running the Songs of Praise night's at The Vic, we still have some fantastic local bands and some great people involved with those bands/venues, it's just it remains at best a few hundred people whilst 95% of the town couldn't give a shit... no doubt many of which will gleefully splash out for tickets to see Bucks Fizz and Sandi Thom.

Very true. The people that went to the Leeds game who weren't at Stockport last Tuesday are the same people that are happy to shell out 25 quid to see Lily Allen at the Oasis, but won't come to your gig for a fiver. To each their own, but I do sometimes wish people had a little more depth to discover things for themselves...

The way I look at it is that if you go and watch a band for the price of a drink or two and they are not your thing you can always walk out and go somewhere else and the financial commitment hasn't been to much. The chances are though most bands will have something in the form of a pay off and some might even knock your socks off. People should take more risks when it comes to checking bands out, it can pay dividends.

we took a risk some time ago with The Young Republic, and we didnt make a penny, paid the lot over the the band. But I looked at it as a win win, I got to meet and see and hear play close up to a band I love and one that tours at festivals, and the blooming festival will never give me a pass to phototographt the event - yes thats you End of The Road! :P

I guess you need to actually look at how many people religiously search out new music - and I think the sad reality is that you speak to the majority of them on here.
The bottom line is that within Swindon - outside of the 'cool, up to the minute' circles - bands like TTNG dont mean a thing. Unless some form of media (and not local media) has told the populace that they are great, they wont risk it.
I think the cold reality is that a big venue would work because it would attract bands that people will have heard of / seen on TV etc - and if its in print or TV, then it must be good!!
Bands at the "nearly there" level will never work because Swindon doesnt do looking ahead, it only does "I need it in capital letters on the big screen before i will acknowledge its existence"

Sadly, 100% correct.

The problem (and I know it's boring, but it's as true as it is tedious) is the lack of a mid-sized venue.

The Big Weekend was always going to be an incredible event - how could it not be? - but it was always blindingly obvious that once it had finished there would be nothing to sustain the excitement, nothing to offer people who had been charged up for seeing bands and live music in general. As soon as the BBC and the record companies rolled out of Lydiard Park, the party was over.

I'm not suggesting that level of interest and turnout could be remotely sustained on a long term basis, but there *should* have been something to capitalise on whatever positive fallout was generated by the event. But there wasn't.

Without a mid-sized venue, this town is fighting with both hands tied behind its back. Of course the Oasis shows sell out. I firmly believe that people in Swindon DO want to go and see live music. Let's face it, if they're willing to pay over the odds to see bands in one of the worst venues of its size in the entire country, they must be fairly keen.

In reality, though, how many big shows actually are there at the Oasis? Maybe an average of one per month? What happens on those occasions where it's almost two months between Oasis shows? Answer: nothing. There isn't a venue that's putting on one or two 'known' bands and tours per week (like there is in Bristol, Oxford, Birmingham etc.) and so there's nothing for people to actively get excited about on a regular basis. Yes, I know The Vic, 12 Bar and Riffs put in serious hard work and effort to keep their end afloat, but it's not an Academy, is it?

That's what this town needs, that's what this town has always needed. They tell us it's happening (the old Mecca building) yet even that seems bound by some bizarre secrecy pact which says nobody within the - relatively small - hardcore Swindon music scene can know anything about it. The people behind it should already be harnessing opinion and engaging over this, but, no, this is Swindon, so they know best and we'll just have to wait and see.

Goodwill? Nah, what's the point? If it closes after 9 months because it's been badly positioned, who cares? It'll just mean they'll never have to bother doing something similar in future.

After all, we already do have a venue with immense potential in the Old Town Bowl... and just look what the Council have(n't) done with that.

It's such a crying shame.

Thanks guys, I didn't want anyone to think I was being a dick!

Im not worried about losing a bit of money, you win some you lose some, I admit unlike gambling I am "up" overall, but then if I worked out my money to hours ratio... I'd definatly be under the minimum wage!!

Im not looking to make any money from the shows - Dave would of paid me for the engineering anyway, and I had offered Sailors any thing that was "made"

But anyway, lots of good points on here - Maybe I got to scale down my ambitions?! Im certainly not having a dig at anyone on here - we are all passionate music fans, I just somewhat assumed thee would of been a wider community and that I had finally got a band genuinely noticed by it! Alas it was not to be!

I will definatly look to do some shows in the 12 ba in future, for the collage kid crowd, as some one else pointed out that age thing!

But thanks again for the kind words!