Lemon Tree No More???

[glennbuchan]

that's gutting. had some really good nights at the lemon tree. Will miss it a lot:(

[The Kernel Loaf]

This is completely shit, but it was inevitable.

[Guest idol_wild]

It's all the punters fault? No mention of the appaling money loss the venus was making then.

and you can hardly run a business by simply existing & then expecting people to find out what you sell - surely that's the marketing departments job.

the difference between the LT & drummonds is that one is an Arts Venue - and you expect to see art there, not karaoke acts.

and it's all very well saying people should attend "random gigs" - but not everyone worked there like you & got discount/freebies for these gigs.

I was going to respond to what was said a page back, but you just articulated pretty much everything I was going to say. Bravo.

To suggest it's up to us to find out what is going on at The Lemon Tree is an insular and backward approach to operating a venue.

[Pancho]

Shows I've seen AND enjoyed in the lemon tree in 3 years and 3 months:

Mylo

Bloc Party

Skatalites

The Kills

Part Chimp

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Six Organs of Admittance

Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit

The Black Lips

Akron Family and Howlin Rain

Not that my taste or attendance to shows is any measure but 10 shows in over 3 years isn't a great innings. You often get as many good gigs (of similar size) in glasgow in a month, why were so many missed e.g. decemberists, interpol, clap your hands, explosions, my morning jacket... the list is endless.

With the exception of Bloc Party and possibly the recent Akron Family/Howlin Rain i feel every show (especially "club" nights") would have benefited from being in a different venue. I always leave the lemon tree feeling i have been to a gig in an airport foyer (with airport prices). This along with often trigger-happy bouncers leaves the atmosphere turgid.

Finally, in the time i've been in aberdeen the heavy reliance on tribute acts was detrimental, i accept they can be quite profitable but the integrity of a "cultural" venue is surely more important? - if you're making a loss, you might as well make the most of it!

Better booking, promotion and more attention to atmosphere rather than a ridiculously expensive PA and soundproofing may have saved the place... but this is Aberdeen. People are still complaining about Drakes closing but the few times i was there, there was only about half a dozen folk in the place (one of which was Steven Dedalus... each time... Fun!). With gigs also canceled in Cellar 35 for people having fun, can the music scene win?

[Metarie]

Ok, fair enough, shoving everyone into the same category isn't fair, but the Tree was an easy target for a lot of people.

Another thing is that the Lemon Tree wasn't just catering for a young crowd, as most others in Aberdeen seem to, many of the acts appealed to older folk so maybe this forum isn't the best place to get an objective view point. But I do think that the punters are partly to blame. If you stopped getting the brochure delivered, then use the website or phone them up to renew the subscription. It's easy to say that they dub their own grave, but how many of you actually made an effort to try and help it?

[stepmaster5000]

Im devastated, I just hope that the tunnels and peacock will be able to book bands of the same international level that the lemon tree did. Artist such as Devendra Banhart, Akron Family, Low, Spiritualised, the Black Lips, Boredoms, etc,etc

Tonight Im going dedicate my radio show Death From Exposure on aberdeenstudentradio.com to the lemon tree, playing music from some of my favourite gigs over the years. The show will be on from 5-6 and you should all feel free to e-mail requests for songs by bands that have played the venue over the years, and Ill do my best to play them.

[Chris]

seeing Kelly Joe Phelps with a full band. (sniff sniff)

Fuck! Who's going to book Kelly now? Seen him twice at the Lemon Tree.

Also just thought that there'll be no rootin' aboot next year either.

[unbroken]

sometimes i find it hard justifying paying shit loads of money for a gig. Mark Eitzel for example, it cost 16 to get in, there were no posters ANYWHERE aside from in 'the trees' foyer, meaning there was NO ONE there. I only found out about the gig as I was randomly looking through the brochure the day before.

That shouldn't happen, no matter what comeback you are going to try and have, that just should not happen.

Luckily the gig was great, so I didn't mind parting with that much money.

I do agree with you, the lemon tree did not cater for everyones music taste, it did cater for an older crowd, but what promotion was done to get older people there? Surely if they are fairly unsuccessful at getting a younger crowd in the building, it must be even harder to get older folk in?

People can only do so much, it hasn't supported the local scene for a very long time now, so no wonder lots of people turned their back on it.

[Guest idol_wild]

But I do think that the punters are partly to blame. If you stopped getting the brochure delivered, then use the website or phone them up to renew the subscription. It's easy to say that they dub their own grave, but how many of you actually made an effort to try and help it?

Erm...the Lemon Tree was a business. Trying to make a profit. Those are the basics, right? Therefore the Lemon Tree needed to promote and sell its product to customers in order to yield this profit, right?

If this is the case, we, the customers, have no obligation at all to "make an effort to help it". The Lemon Tree has to sell the product to us. 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.

[unbroken]

exactly.

[RF Scott]

Probably not the best time to bring this up, but...

Why, if you were paying at the door, did the 1.50 booking fee get magically transformed into an 'event fee,' on top of the admission charge? Surely that's the event fee?! Always a bit annoying to find out a show is 1.50 more than you thought. Sure, it's less than the price of a drink, but if you've budgeted for the night, and the money that tips your budget over goes to a mysterious 'event fee,' it's more than a bit annoying.

[Shaki]

It's a shame. I feel sad today. I was looking forward to headlining the Lemon Tree one day in a sort of "Aberdeen welcomes home local hero" type gig. I feel kinda the same as I did the day they announced that Top of the Pops would be no more..........as if........all my dreams....are.......slipping away.......

Who's going to put on Stiff Little Fingers every March?!

[Duckula]

What an absolute shock. Haven't been to see any bands there recently but I've seen so many great acts in the past there - Frank Black, Spiritualized, Delgados, Low and loads more. Sad times.

[666]

I too need to express regret in the Lemon Tree closure.

Just like most people here, I was never a regular attendant, but the venue pretty much was the text book definition of "diversity".

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 hope The Tunnels is never going to face the same fate as The Lemon Tree.

How is The Tunnels doing just now anyway, anyone know?

I think it may be important for the public (ie. us) to know how venues are doing so that we can act appropriately if need be.

Could it be that there is no problem with the amount of quality (local and national/international) bands we are getting, but with the actual number of people attending maybe?

There have been a few gigs as of late that could have benefited with more attendance....Robots In Disguise (Moshulu) and The Hot Puppies (The Tunnels) form example. Does that have to do with the bands or the promoters? Or a combination of both? Maybe neither?

And lastly, I wouldn't complain about seeing The Needles at Exodus if it's a feasible solution.

[stepmaster5000]

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

[unbroken]

why whats so shocking about it? its aberdeen music....

[jester1470]

For my money the biggest problem with the Lemon Tree was getting the info out there, IIRC they didnt send anbything to the GC Guide (though i could be wrong) and it was very fruistratibng when you would get the magazine sent to you, but discovered that by the time you got the magazine 2/3rds of it had gone anyway. They were terrible at one point for sending out magazines that were at least a month out of date - of course like others its been a few years since i received anything at all.

As a venue I always liked it, though I echo what people said about drinks prices etc. I hope that the council could possibly reconsider and open up a similar thing in the same location as they need a space for much of the art stuff that was there and the chances are much of that stuff will always make a loss, so it should almost be accepted if they weant that kind of thing to run it should be acceopted it will lose, and then maybe they could concentrate on the music thing as a more profitable business.

[joseph]

Yet another reason to leave Aberdeen then?

[Sam 45]

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.

[Guest idol_wild]

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]

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]

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...

8-)

[framheim]

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]

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.