Lemon Tree No More???

[Metarie]

Originally Posted by Rachie

I thought it said in the news stories that the council offered help but the LT board rejected it? You can't really blame the council in that respect.

Gah, regardless it's still sad.

I think it meant the council board of entertainment, might be wrong though.

Anyways, I would like to say that I am by no means blaming the public for the closure of the Lemon Tree, I'm only saying that venues need a certain amount of support and that means bums on seats. Incidentally, the bar has been maing a profit recently and it's a shame that the council didn't take recent gigs and such like into equation. To be honest, I find it surprising that in the first day the Lemon Tree have had shit loads of support (money donated and signatures on petitions). All I can think is where were all these folk when it came to gigs and events?

Sorry if I've some across as self rightous or whatever but I'm seriously pissed about this, some of my best friends and people I used to work with are out of a job all of a sudden and quite frankly I think it could have been avoided.

It's with that that I bow out of this thread and encourage any of you who feel strongly about this to donate money or offer any services you think might be useful to a fundraiser to the offical Save The Lemon Tree Campaign, regardless of what your opinions are of my posts

[Adam Waltz]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo!

Dave get the hell outta there!
Nothing is sacred! Aberdeen is f**ked
Its only a couple of venues away from turning into Dundee.
Thank the great horned one (Hen) you still have the tunnels.
Man thats a frickin' disaster. I loved playing there more than anywhere else (except Drakes).
The sound system was so good even Solaris sound brilliant there.
Saw Fugazi, The Wedding Present, Julian Cope, John Martyn, Drugstore & so many more great acts there that weren't "big" enough for the music hall.
On the positive side I guess the Tunnels & Moshulu will probably benefit but stll that sucks the big one.

[daveofficer]

Originally Posted by Adam Waltz

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo!

Dave get the hell outta there!
Nothing is sacred! Aberdeen is f**ked
Its only a couple of venues away from turning into Dundee.
Thank the great horned one (Hen) you still have the tunnels.
Man thats a frickin' disaster. I loved playing there more than anywhere else (except Drakes).
The sound system was so good even Solaris sound brilliant there.
Saw Fugazi, The Wedding Present, Julian Cope, John Martyn, Drugstore & so many more great acts there that weren't "big" enough for the music hall.
On the positive side I guess the Tunnels & Moshulu will probably benefit but stll that sucks the big one.

that bit about dundee made me giggle.

[bluesxman]

Originally Posted by Metarie

To be honest, I find it surprising that in the first day the Lemon Tree have had shit loads of support (money donated and signatures on petitions). All I can think is where were all these folk when it came to gigs and events?

Same place they were for the other posts, thinking tickets were generally too expensive to provide passing interest trade? Bit of a difference between paying 20-odd quid for a gig and signing a piece of paper.

What is the petition supposed to achieve out of interest? Who is it directed at? Because if i've read correctly the council offered money that the board rejected....whose mind is it supposed to sway? Where is the money collected going towards?

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by Metarie

I think it meant the council board of entertainment, might be wrong though.

Taken from the Press & Journal story:-

Councillors agreed unanimously that the venue should be offered the chance to take out a loan from the city council administered Aberdeen Business Enterprise Scheme, or the Lemon Tree could have had its overdraft facility underwritten up to a new limit by the local authority.

Neither option was taken up by the board.

Full story can be found Here

[-becky-]

Originally Posted by idol_wild

I always felt there was an insular approach to the way the Lemon Tree marketed and promoted its products, and frankly, you have just highlighted this completely.

It's ridiculous to suggest that Metarie's (ex bar staff who is expressing her personal feelings/opinions) comments are reflective of the Lemon Tree's marketing strategy. Ok, this is all you have to go on and yes it's regrettable that a spokesperson is yet to issue a statement on behalf on the Lemon Tree. Bear in mind that what is in the press today is indicative of what was decided at half past 7 last night by a shocked (nevermind whether it was going to happen sooner or later) Board of Directors and that general staff (ie. marketing) were not given the opportunity to issue a statement at that point. And let's face it, it's not their jobs to do so anymore, nor is it likely to be their immediate commitment to aberdeenmusic.com to let them know.

Obviously it's not the punters' fault the Lemon Tree closed! and yes it was the Lemon Tree's job to book and promote an arts programme. However there is an argument to be made that for an arts organisation to flourish, there needs a vibrant music and arts scene in place which can only evolve from efforts to help support/promote one. IMP springs to mind.

Originally Posted by Rachie

I thought it said in the news stories that the council offered help but the LT board rejected it? You can't really blame the council in that respect.

The bottom line is that yesterday the council cut all funding. The council then offered the Board the chance of a loan from the city council's Aberdeen Business Enterprise Scheme or an extended overdraft facility. This time the debt incurred from this loan would lie directly with the individuals on the Board. As others have pointed out on this thread, there had to be a cut off point and that was it. The Lemon Tree was actually doing better financially over the last two years than it has in the past. Albeit, to receive council funding, a CHARITABLE organisation (that's what the lemon tree entirely was) has to justify its arts programme to the council - it cannot be seen to be largely indulging in commercial activity. A small allowance is made for bar profit as let's face it, events have to have catering... Another point to be made.. the absence of drinks promotions are (wah! i keep saying are instead of were) so because of the very fact that the lemon tree was a charitable organisation.


Ok, people can argue that it could have been managed better and there's scope for a better arts venue encompassing theatre, development, music, comedy. But a solely charitable one? People are right, being what it was, there were problems from the start.

As someone (happen to be a now ex-employee ) who is truly passionate about the Lemon Tree as an arts organisation, it's amazing to see the support of people who are also devastated at the loss of the Lemon Tree and what it means for arts culture in Aberdeen. Re: the posts about top 10 lemon tree gigs , too right we should celebrating the Lemon Tree's achievements, the building has seen some incredible acts and........

AS THERE ARE STILL 14 DAYS BEFORE THE LEMON TREE GOES INTO LIQUIDATION, who knows what could happen..


**This is far from a statement from The Lemon Tree, just the viewpoint of a now ex member of staff

[blackisler]

Originally Posted by Mordred

Taken from the Press & Journal story:-

Councillors agreed unanimously that the venue should be offered the chance to take out a loan from the city council administered Aberdeen Business Enterprise Scheme, or the Lemon Tree could have had its overdraft facility underwritten up to a new limit by the local authority.

Neither option was taken up by the board.

Full story can be found Here

That is just one example of the completely inaacurate reporting by the press and sly and underhand way in which the council have handled this.

Two very important points have been missed. The council's ONLY offer was a short term loan of £250k on the basis that each of the 10 board members personally put up a guarantee of £25k from their own pockets. The council simply did not make the reported second offer and the one that they did make was untennable

[french_disko]

The thing that bugs me most is that we've been here before with the LT - check this thread out from May 2004.

The Lemon Tree "Drinking in the Last Chance Saloon"

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Aberdeen never survived the closure of The Venue, not culturally anyhow.

[stuartmaxwell]

Originally Posted by Adam Waltz

Its only a couple of venues away from turning into Dundee.

you say that, but we have

two great small DIY venues in drouthies and the balcony
three mid size with good rigs holding 200-400 in westie, reading rooms and doghouse
larger venues like caird hall, marryat hall and *sigh* fat sams live

all of which have been trading for a good while

this is sufficient for the amount of gigs that happen here