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[joseph]

Yet another reason to leave Aberdeen then?

[Sam L4]

Absolutely gutted to hear this. I remember going there a lot in my early teens, played a huge part in getting me into music. Seeing Bloc Party and Maximo Park in there for 4 pounds was also a highlight.

It was a pleasure to play their twice. Especially supporting APBat what was the best gig i've ever been involved with.

Gonna miss the place a lot.

[idol_wild]

Originally Posted by 666

Talking about other Aberdeen venues, would it be correct to say Cafe Drummonds is doing rather well as far as the local music scene and smaller bands are concerned? There's at least one day a week where youngsters mass to see loads of local bands.

I reckon so. Mainly because Drummonds is keen to put on nights dominated by local kid-metal bands. Which are always extremely well attended. It's yoof culture these days, innit. They also host all the Fat Hippy nights, which are also well attended.

[Frosty Jack]

Absolute nightmare. I loved that place, and The Lorelei always said it was our 'spiritual home'. I seem to remember being there on the first ever night (Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra I think?) and it was always pretty much the ultimate place for an Aberdeen band to play.
Obviously it had problems for years, I don't think it ever made money right from the start, but I don't see much point in arguing about whose fault that was. However I can't help thinking the end could have been handled much better. The fact that pretty much everyone considered closure to be practically inevitable at some point makes me wonder why the board have acted like it was a complete shock to them. As it is there are so many people affected by this needlessly. Surely they could have had the foresight to plan the closure in an organised manner, firstly giving staff a reasonable amount of notice and certainly not 3 weeks before Christmas. And the bookings could have been pared down until the final date, instead of leaving so many customers high and dry with apparently no hope of refunds. Promoters and bands are now out of pocket too, having spent a lot of time and money organising gigs that now have to be cancelled, refunded or re-organised, again with no notice. This includes my band, who had a great deal invested in our Christmas gig on the 15th - people flying in from all over the country and abroad, and a lot of work all down the pan. We will now be working as hard as we can to re-arrange, but it's stress we could really do without. I'm sure the Needles and others are thinking the same.
This closure is a disaster, but the real nightmare is the needlessly incompetent way it has been carried out.

[Stichman]

Originally Posted by Metarie

but how many of you actually made an effort to try and help it?

What on earth does that mean?

I went to gigs I was interested in seeing. That tends to be my attitiude towards all venues. I hope you're not suggesting we should all have gone to shows we had no interest in? That's ridiculous. I don't really fancy paying through the nose for some shitty tribute act.
As has been mentioned already - it was a business. It's up to them to get the punters in the door, so it's a bit much to accuse us all of not looking after the poor old Lemon Tree. I love that place as much as anyone, but Joe Public can't be held accountable for its demise.

The brutal truth is that these sorts of places die for a reason. The Lemon Tree took on way too much work, and they obviously didn't have anything even close to enough money to keep it running.

[Gemz]

Originally Posted by stuartmaxwell

as for gemz fae merkin music whinging about the place, you are a complete mug for paying that kind of money and it would appear that you were totally naieve in your approach in dealing with a professional venue.

Mug for paying that kinda money? Thats how much it costs...

Once again u have opened that trap of yours without reading...i was 'whinging' about management saying that these local gigs were not profitable...

Yeah you got me though...once again...a professional venue that sends out the contract 2 days before gig an then pays out more than a month after the gig when it states in the 'PrOfEsSiOnAl' contract i would be paid in 14 days...

[daveofficer]

Originally Posted by stepmaster5000

I cant believe everyone's being so negative and petty.

is there anything positive to say about the event? it's sad that the lemon tree is closed, it really will be missed and i never had a bad time playing there and saw some brilliant gigs but it was a business and was a poorly run one at that. it couldn't keep pishing money away particularly as it was subsidised by the council. hopefully something will take it's place. perhaps even someone will take it over and make it work.

i do geniunely feel sorry for the staff though and hope they manage to get something sorted out for christmas.

[french_disko]

Originally Posted by stepmaster5000

I cant believe everyone's being so negative and petty.

what do you expect?

people are pissed off that it's closed, pissed off at the way it was managed, pissed off at the financial losses, pissed off at the costs being passed onto the punters and pissed off at the seemingly apathetic marketing campaign that the venue seemed to be adopting as it's policy.

and, to top it all, the only post in the thread from a employee (albeit former) is placing the blame at the door of the paying public!

for the record, i'm GUTTED it's closed - i've enjoyed many a great night in there in the last 13 years & it's a huge blow that it's shut up in such a pitiful manner.

I'll save the nostalgia for another thread in the future - at the moment i feel too "negative and petty" to write any happy posts. And I reckon most people on here are feeling the same too.

[Stichman]

Originally Posted by french_disko

what do you expect?

people are pissed off that it's closed, pissed off at the way it was managed, pissed off at the financial losses, pissed off at the costs being passed onto the punters and pissed off at the seemingly apathetic marketing campaign that the venue seemed to be adopting as it's policy.

and, to top it all, the only post in the thread from a employee (albeit former) is placing the blame at the door of the paying public!

.

I 100% agree

[Gemz]

Originally Posted by daveofficer

i do geniunely feel sorry for the staff though and hope they manage to get something sorted out for christmas.

BIGTIME...what a fuckin shame!!!