Student Night

We are about to launch a student night by request of my student staff members, Holly and Calum, who want to invite their friends who are members of unsigned bands to come along and play a booked set to gain experience and free beer!

It will work like a glorified open mic night where each band gets good 30-45 minuets on stage.

We already have lots of interest, so it looks like it might be a good idea, if any of you have any interest in joining in or know someone who might drop in or give us a call.

Suggestions/opinions on this idea are very welcome

[Cloud]

Few points...

Firstly, you want to consider what you want out of it. Do you want people turning up, buying a drink, watching the band in question and then sodding off, or do you want to try and keep them in the venue for longer? There's benefits and drawbacks to each - mainly that the first approach doesn't require any effort in booking the bands, whereas the second approach might require a bit of time and effort making sure it's "right". All things considered, you could probably make more money from the second approach, but I'm guessing you have to balance that with what it costs for the time and effort in the first place.

Secondly, what kind of times are you looking at on the night? I'd be inclined to say that you'd want to start sooner rather than later - ie, about 7pm or so. Reason is, if you're doing stuff after 11pm or so, you're then competing with Exodus/Moshulu/Liquid/etc. I'm sure everyone knows people who will immediately leave wherever they are to head to those places - so simply put, better not to fight in the beginning.

Thirdly, don't use any drink offers as gimmicks - if you're relying on bands taking their friends, then they'll pay the going rate for drinks. I'm sure there's a few tricks you can use to get people to drink more, but

Finally, what are you planning on giving the bands for payment? Random student bands without much of a following here (but with plenty of mates) will probably be happy for beer, but I'm not sure that a lot of the more popular bands will be so happy to play for just that. I'm open to correction, but I think people do place a significance on what they get paid for "local" gigs.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Cloud

I'm open to correction, but I think people do place a significance on what they get paid for "local" gigs.

I don't think so. As long as they're not getting ripped off (in other words the venue pays them rather than the other way round) and they're told in advance if it's going to be a liquid payment then the vast majority probably wouldn't mind. Most venues only pay 30-50 quid to local unsigned bands anyway, which usually just goes straight back into the bar on the night.

Basically as long as a venue sorts out the payment arrangements before the gig with the band then I don't think using booze (or booze equivilent) is a bad option. Although obviously it depends on the amount of booze.

However if they find that the bands are filling the place up every week I would ask them to consider giving the bands a fair slice of the cash taken as well, just out of fairness.

[soundian]

Unless you have your own backline (drums, amps etc) you'll need one of the bands to supply it. You might want to consider giving them a financial incentive as well as beer since it's their equipment getting used and abused for an evening and they will have to transport it there and back. You might want to think about a "house" band, they supply the equipment and kick off the evening, you give them some cash and beer.

Think about giving them beer tokens instead of beer on the night, some people will have to drive, some people will have to get up early next day, and some people just don't drink (before a performance). If you give them beer tokens, valid for a week maybe, they can enjoy their free beer at a time that suits them better.

And take everything Cloud says with a large bag of salt.

I agree with all of points you've made, especially with discussing payment before hand. From what I have seen in the past it is 6 and half a dozen, pay them cash and they will spend it over the bar anyway. And is definitely the easiest way to control the cost from the bars perspective. This is probably the option i will take.

As far as the demand for this type of event goes, we were going to play it by ear, try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. It's just for fun really, it makes no difference to me if we are open or closed as long as the takings cover the staff and the cost of the bands (which I am sure they will) we will keep doing it. This is also a good opportunity for the bands to get heard and possibly get future work from us.

I personally never considered opening for a student night before because of the competition, why flog my guts out trying to make the place popular with students when that’s not the usual market we target and because of the reasons mentioned above by cloud. Yes an earlier start is worth considering.

My bar staff work very hard for us and if they want to use the space in the club when it would be closed normally I have no problems letting them try their idea. I will support them and help them market it.

Whilst on the subject of Moshulu and Exodus and Liquid what have scream done to Exodus, I have my student bar staff complaining about how its all changed, like no graffiti in the loos anymore and they painted it!!!!!! Oh but it still smells the same!

I know how they feel, it’s just like when liquid killed the palace by making it all trendy, shinny and new and everyone who used to go there followed Allan around the corner? (Big Mud fan never missed it when I was a student; I also don’t adjust well to major changes like that, and Liquid makes me feel so old!)

[Dave]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Whilst on the subject of Moshulu and Exodus and Liquid what have scream done to Exodus, I have my student bar staff complaining about how its all changed, like no graffiti in the loos anymore and they painted it!!!!!! Oh but it still smells the same!

With this refurb the idea was to get Exodus back to the way it used to be before Scream took over. It's a lot darker, and all the garish yellowness has disappeared. Yes, there are mirrors on the wall and the dancefloor and drinking area are partly partitioned, but the general consensus is that the new layout works much better for customers and staff. The feedback we've been getting about the new look is certainly a lot more positive than that which we got last time the club was done up.

Originally Posted by TheOffice

I know how they feel, it’s just like when liquid killed the palace by making it all trendy, shinny and new and everyone who used to go there followed Allan around the corner? (Big Mud fan never missed it when I was a student; I also don’t adjust well to major changes like that, and Liquid makes me feel so old!)

The changes in Exodus are not nearly as drastic as what happened in the Palace. The music policy, staff and DJs are all still the same, the only difference is it's been smartened up a bit. People who saw the club during daylight hours will attest to the fact it was getting pretty grotty. We've been busier than ever since we re-opened as well, so it looks like most people can handle change on this scale.

In that case i will send them all down after work, and tell them all to stop moaning!!!

[VeryBerry20]

Shelly did tell us to shut up and stop moaning... so we went last night!! I was very drunk ... but experience has told me that things always look worse when you're sober... the morning after...
I don't think the refurb is going to affect how busy the club is, Exodus has a good rep amongst students, good music and cheap booze! What more could a student want! I just don't like the new look its been given, it changes the atmosphere of the club. A refurb needed to happen, I just think the money could have been spent better, especially if the desired result was to make it sleek and chic and not like a tacky gay club!
This is the general consensus of everyone I've spoken to, but it doesn't mean we are going to stop going because we don't like the way it looks... when have looks ever been of primary concern to a student?!

[trippinoneastereggs]

I'm in the opinion that Exodus only does so well because of the lack of decent competition, it is pretty much the only "indie/alternative" club in Aberdeen and the drinks are cheap enough to get you fairly blottoed without breaking the bank. Exodus has lost its appeal for me, and has done for a while, when I first came here it was good and had a kind of niche appeal, but recently the "indie/alternative" thing has become popular and I find it too busy and in my opinion has lost the atmosphere it had three or four years ago. Just my opinion though, probably to do with getting older and a lot of people do like it. I had a really good night on New Years night cause it wasnt very busy and the crowd was more like what it used to be, havent been in since the refurb so cant really comment on that.