Festival Woe

Sitting here bored out of my brains in the office on a Friday afternoon, after a pint at lunch which has made me extremely lethargic – so thinking about what to write for the blog post is proving very difficult.

We have a gig tomorrow in Adrian’s pub, The Bull, in Bracknell High Street. Not the most glamorous of locations but it will be a good laugh, and we also have the rather brilliant Matt Hegarty on the bill – who is one of our favourite artists on the acoustic scene.

We’re doing this gig due to having a free weekend because a festival we were due to perform at was cancelled a few weeks ago. Matt Hegarty is doing this gig for exactly the same reason – yet it was a completely different festival he was playing at that was cancelled.

So – right there I’ve stumbled across a theme for today’s post. Are you sitting comfortably?

It isn’t rocket science why so many festivals have gone tits up this year. The term ‘current economic situation’ has become the favoured buzz phrase among business analysts the world over in the last 18 months or so, and with that ‘situation’ comes victims – none more so than in the world of the arts, a sector of business hugely under-resourced at the best of times with many a performer and organiser involved just for the love of it.

The festival season is one that is looked forward to by many acts across all genres and styles – both musically and non musically, as a way of showcasing their craft to a bigger, wider audience – and being involved in something that brings people together, hopefully bathed in summer sun. Aside from the big corporate behemoths of Reading, V, The Isle of Wight – or indeed the master of them all on a Somerset farm in mid June (however this is a whole different talking point – mostly a positive one)….the festivals with real atmosphere are those that are a bit smaller, a bit more local, organised by a group of friends or local promoters with a love of live art and a willingness to share it with the community.

Unfortunately, it is these events that have suffered this year. The type of events that, we as a band performing in more of a semi professional environment look to play. Whether it’s due to the promoter not being able to afford the land due to rising prices, not being able to promote it due to rising costs – or more often than not, getting as far as advertising a fully booked event, only for the punters to keep their money on their pockets this year – because everything is that little bit tighter than last year.

The big corporate events obviously don’t have this problem – as they have the money to throw at the world’s top acts, and the money to advertise this in every single possible way – which then gets the people in. People are happy to pay if they have a guarantee of a good time, which these events can offer. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a major issue with these events – as a punter I have a ticket to one of them this year. It’s just a shame though, that for the smaller events – the events where the term ‘festival’ means so much more, are falling down left, right and centre this year, sometimes just a week or two before the thing is supposed to take place.
I’m sure no-one in the government is going to take a blind bit of notice to these goings on and offer some kind of grant. The Arts Council is over-stretched anyway but at least some events get their backing so not all doom and gloom. I suppose it boils down to the fact that these events are great if they can be justified – but in the ‘current economic situation’, they obviously can’t

If you are English, look away from the television now. Hide under a rock and don't come out again until its safe. The Australians are doing rather well, and I can already hear the bashing.

Anyway, you don't come here to listen about sport. As we have nothing to really plug this fine Friday, although we would like to say a massive thank you to Keith and Delta FM for a cracking time on Wednesday, I'm going to ramble.

There has long been discussions of etiquette at gigs for the bands who are playing the bill. Are bands honour-bound to stay till the very end of the evening, are they allowed to sneak off, how many people do they have to bring and such and such. The most annoying thing is that there are often many people who have different opinions of correct etiquette. So, I hereby look to lay down these 3 golden rules of etiquette for bands at gigs.

• Although while you are at the venue you have to stay front of stage listening to acts, don't feel obliged to stay there all night. It is perfectly understood that while it is incredibly rude to sit in a bar away from where the music is happening until you play and then leave, sometimes acts have had umpteen gigs a week or just plain and simple need to be somewhere else. There is nothing wrong with playing your set, making your apologies and saying goodbye at times. There is something wrong with sitting in a bar away from all the other acts, playing your set then leaving.

• Fans. Gotta love them. We aren't under any illusions and know that a solid 70% of our fanbase is family and friends who have to legally like us. However, we would like to think we have a few who turn up to gigs and buy records who don't know us personally. Anyway, the moral of the story is you are generally friends with your fans at the level I am talking about. You do want to chat to them, if its a gig outside of your normal stomping ground you may want to catch up with them, and they want to talk to you. This is dangerous territory, though. No matter what you do, don't sit in the venue yammering on. Although you can get away with it at loud gigs, we generally play in acoustic venues so at times we can actually sit and listen to your conversation. There are intervals for a reason. However, rule 2 has another downfall. It is the single rudest thing I personally think a band can do while at a gig. Under no circumstances, sit in a different bar or part of the venue with your fans (especially if you are the main local draw and therefore have more than half the audience there), bring them in while you play then take them away again when you are finished. It ruins the atmosphere for the rest of the paying fans, it puts bands off the venue (and you, personally) and is just a selfish thing to do.

• Last, but not least, is inter band communication. We have all been in and around music scenes for a long old while and I think I can speak for everyone when I say this – the most important thing in getting ahead is the respect of your peers. Probably its more important than knowing the right people, as I know plenty of people who know the 'right people', but the 'right people' think they are douche bags and won't work with them. Let me give you an example – I used to know one band who were, musically, pretty rubbish. However, one of them had a rather well off daddy and so they had their recording paid for in New York, a marketing budget and were able to play pay-to-play gigs and slots at festivals (a vile practice). I think they did all of this without so much as playing a gig they booked themselves. Just wrote a few songs and had money poured at them. And of my did they act the part, like every little thing they did was just a motion to go through on their way further and further up. Needless to say, they didn't actually last that long. On the flip side, I knew one band who were incredibly well supported, promoted their own nights, had a manager but were still actively involved in the business side and had spawned instant success. They had every right to be a bit cocky, or to act big and mighty and make peers jealous of them (a common problem), but were in fact the nicest people ever to work with. We even kept going to Bicester to play for them. Moral of the story is this – if you are nice, friendly and level headed to other bands (even if inside you think you are better than them in every way) you will get an awful long way. If you are douchebag, prepare for a lifetime of ridicule and anonymity.

Addendum: I just thought of this story, which was over heard by Phil. Two members of a real 'scene' band in Reading were in the toilet, and one said to the other “Mate, don't wash your hands. That isn't rock and roll!” I fear for the human race at times.

Delta FM + The Acoustic South

Well, we’ve been quiet for a couple of weeks – although did get in some much needed songwriting last week with a couple of very interesting ideas coming from it. Hopefully we can continue with those and get something new in to the set before the end of this current gigging run.

Wednesday of this week we’re on the radio again – this time on Delta FM which broadcasts across Farnham, Alton, Haslemere etc, or indeed online at www.deltaradio.co.uk. We’re going to be promoting the new album of course, but also talking about our appearance and the indeed the acoustic stage in general at Weyfest this year, which takes place on the 5th and 6th September.

We then play near Watford on the 10th August, and finally do a slot at Adrian’s pub The Bull in Bracknell on Saturday 15th. You would have thought it would be easy for him to book his own band to play, but that hasn’t been the case – however we’ve finally got a date sorted so come along if you’re in the area, it’ll be a good laugh.

The other big thing going on at the minute is the overhaul of Artree Music’s website (www.artree.org.uk) – which is the promotions company a number of us host regular gigs under, and also the company that acts as our record label (which we intend to build up over the coming months).

Within this redesign and update, we’ve started a new acoustic music forum, dedicated to the acoustic musicians and fans of the genre for the South of England. We’re hoping it will become a hub of activity and promotion and be a place where musicians and fans alike can discuss various topics and see what is going on in the area. Please visit www.theacousticsouth.co.uk and sign up – it’ll be well worth your while!