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Steve....... gigs in Scotland?

Discussion in 'Ask Steve Lawson & Michael Manring' started by parrott, Jul 5, 2003.

  1. Jul 5, 2003 #1
    parrott

    parrott

    Dec 2, 2001
    Edinburgh, Scotland
    Say I were to book you a gig here in Edinburgh, what would have to do for you, and what would you charge?


    I know I have very little experience in that kind of thing - the best I've done is help organise a Dillinger 4 gig in my local town of Haddington, they demanded (IIRC) £400 and the use of a whole hotel in the town for a night..... I can't remember exactly - FWIW, that's one of the best gigs I've been to.


    But say I was to organise a gig here in Edinburgh for you, at a jazz club in Edinburgh (all one of them..... :mad: @ the Cowgate fire), what would I have to do for you?

    I know about promoting it (that's a big part of the college course I do), about setting up sound and so on...... Would you want a whole hotel to yourself and a load of money, or what?



    (This is all because I really want to see you live, but cannot afford to travel down to London - where all your gigs seem to be - :( )

    PS - I'm on the mailing list, and I know on your site, it says "about gigs, email here..."
     
  2. Jul 6, 2003 #2
    Steve Lawson

    Steve Lawson Solo Bass Exploration! Supporting Member

    Apr 21, 2000
    Birmingham, UK
    Hi james,

    it's very easy organising gigs for me - there's just me, I take up very little space, and my rider is pretty small too... :D

    Email me and we'll see what we can sort out...

    cheers!

    Steve
    www.stevelawson.net
     
  3. Jul 7, 2003 #3
    MKS

    MKS

    Apr 19, 2002
    South East Kent, England.
    "Steve Lawson, appearing at a venue near you!

    Yes... You too could have Steve Lawson appear in your local venue. Why bother with the fuss and mess of travelling to London or the South East when you can have Steve appear in your front room (if you like). For the cost of a bowl of assorted nuts and a couple of bottles of water Steve will perform his own unique brand of solo-bass in your chosen venue. Why not gather some friends or bass playing chums together and sign him up? You know it makes sense..."

    :D

    Street Team-ing can be very easy sometimes...

    ;)
    M
     
  4. Jul 7, 2003 #4
    moley

    moley

    Sep 5, 2002
    Hampshire, UK
    Steve, can you perform in my living room?

    You won't get paid, it's not a large venue, and the audience will be small, but enthusiastic. You'll have to arrange your own transport, meal, and accommodation if necessary.

    Whaddya say?

    :D :D :D
     
  5. Jul 7, 2003 #5
    Steve Lawson

    Steve Lawson Solo Bass Exploration! Supporting Member

    Apr 21, 2000
    Birmingham, UK
    Hey Moley, that's a very tempting offer, can I think about it for a while?

    ;)

    Steve
    www.stevelawson.net
     
  6. Jul 7, 2003 #6
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe

    Now, which band/artist is going to say no to that!!?? ;)
     
  7. Jul 7, 2003 #7
    parrott

    parrott

    Dec 2, 2001
    Edinburgh, Scotland
    Aaaaaaaaactually, Bruce, the promotion stuff I do is for whatever band I'm in, it's just really useful for thinking about things like this.

    The difference here would be; hotels in Haddington have about 5 rooms tops, hotels in Edinburgh many, many more. So while the average rock / punk band might want to take over a hotel, and in Haddington it might be easy, Edinburgh is a different situation.

    So I know about flyering, magazine adverts, radio adverts, etc, all to a budget.

    :p


    Anyway, on topic;

    I'm gonna have to think long and hard about this, and do some major reseach, talking to venue owners, etc, to see what I can do. I haven't approached any venue owners yet, or done any research to find out how popular the show would be, etc....... or even if Edinburgh could support something so un-traditional. Still, there's always Glasgow, that's the other end of the motorway. I want to see Steve live though.......

    :meh:

    That's just as well..... the stage in Henry's (Edinburgh's only jazz club at the moment) is the smallest I have ever seen..... :D



    I was thinking about the cost though (in the most cynical business sense) - travel, accomodation, etc. Like I said, the Dillinger 4 asked for (and got) £400, but they were already travelling the country in a van, doing the festivals - including T in the Park, not far away from here. So they'd have done it the middle of a kinda-tour, while Steve would be doing it one off, and I can't imagine train or plane tickets (don't drive in Edinburgh....!! ) and accomodation being that cheap....... And what about normal "appearance fee" kinda costs - I can't imagine Steve travelling up here not for profit. To be honest, if I was based in London, I know I wouldn't.

    :meh:
     
  8. Jul 8, 2003 #8
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    It's funny you should mention that as there is a place in Brighton that teaches people about this stuff and they were in the local papers as they got fined and prosecuted, for telling their students to fly-post - which is of course illegal!!

    So - I know some people in the local council and they thought it was hilarious!

    So - on the one hand, this college wanted to give their students awards for successfully promoting a "real gig" - but the fact that they publicised what they were doing in the local press - allowed the council to make a prosecution. Whereas, normally nothing can be done as it is impossible to trace the flyposters - like they're not going to put their address on the poster!!

    But in this case there was no problem as the college had detailed everything - thanks guys!! :D

    Now all those students can start their careers as "known potential flyposters" and be suspect for any other flyposting in the town!! ;)

    A life of fines and criminal records!
     
  9. Jul 9, 2003 #9
    parrott

    parrott

    Dec 2, 2001
    Edinburgh, Scotland
    I know fly-posting is illegal, I said flyering, by which I meant handing out flyers to people.....

    But of course, I would probably end up flyposting - it is one of the most effective methods of promotion I've seen.

    Still, the lecturers made a big point of saying it's illegal to us, and haven't given us any advice on how to do it, even though they know we'd do it anyway. It's kinda accepted that you're going to do it, even though you shouldn't, and they're kinda distancing themselves from it. I suppose that's about as much as they can do.

    I do remember them saying, however, that if we were to do it in Edinburgh, we'd have to watch our backs, especially if we posted over the big posters for big acts, because in Edinburgh, these are apparently done by groups not far off organised crime. That does sound a little rediculous, and they were probably saying that just to scare us away from doing it.....

    *shrugs*