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aberdeen-music

Lemon Tree No More???


StewCat

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  • 1 month later...

Was at the Lemon Tree this morning with my boss - took loads of photos for drawings he's doing which are getting passed by APA.

It's still got the old magic when you turn the lights on:

lemon_tree.jpg

Anyway, APA are looking to move forward as soon as possible - It's going to take a while to get everything sorted though.

Was told they are going to have a big push on the drama / performance side of things as opposed to the usual tirade of tribute acts. And I said on behalf of the Aberdeen Music community make the bar prices more reasonable!

Strange how it's all turned round. I'm sure there will be another spanner in the works thrown in at some point, but good to see some progress.

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Ah whit?! They've still got the old tables and chairs in there, if anything needed updating it was them.

Aww, I miss the place, it was my old safetly blanket in the form of a building.

I'm going to make one last ditch attempt to point out the bar was reasonable. 2.50 for a pint of cider, tennents, best or guiness. You're 2.65 for cider in Moshulu these days

Ah fuck it :p

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Ah whit?! They've still got the old tables and chairs in there, if anything needed updating it was them.

Aww, I miss the place, it was my old safetly blanket in the form of a building.

I'm going to make one last ditch attempt to point out the bar was reasonable. 2.50 for a pint of cider, tennents, best or guiness. You're 2.65 for cider in Moshulu these days

Ah fuck it :p

Nothing's moved since the day it was closed down, lass!

It said 2.70 a pint on the back o the Guiness tap I saw today :p

And the Peroni was extortionate. As were the nips.

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Nothing's moved since the day it was closed down, lass!

It said 2.70 a pint on the back o the Guiness tap I saw today :p

And the Peroni was extortionate. As were the nips.

How much is the Peroni? I think 3.80 is the cheapest pint of Peroni you can get in Aberdeen. It was the first 5 pound pint down in Glasgow. Bloody expensive to buy in.

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Ah whit?! They've still got the old tables and chairs in there, if anything needed updating it was them.

Aww, I miss the place, it was my old safetly blanket in the form of a building.

I'm going to make one last ditch attempt to point out the bar was reasonable. 2.50 for a pint of cider, tennents, best or guiness. You're 2.65 for cider in Moshulu these days

Ah fuck it :p

2.70 for tennents and best as well. They were that much ages before the rest of town went up to that price.

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  • 2 weeks later...
So what actually happened to save the LT? Did the council decide to throw another big lump of cash at it since everyone was greeting into their cornflakes?

Aberdeen Performing Arts stepped in to take it over.

I think this will be a good thing, as long as they keep it as a cutting edge venue and don't launch into the despair of putting on tribute act after tribute act.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Disappointed to say the least with the announcement of the first few gigs. I would have thought they would push the boat out and open with a bigger name or two. They don't give the impression they are aiming very high. Here's hoping things get a little better in time. Seems to me they are not making the most of a golden opportunity to let the world know that The Lemon Tree is back! ?(

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No publicity?

If it's only just over a month until the Lemon Tree re-opens, I would have expected some sort of publicity to announce the fact, or is their target audience only people who read The Stage?

'Duncan Hendry, chief executive of APA, said: The Welcome Back Weekend will do exactly what it says on the tin. We want to get people back into the venue who used to be regulars there and work at drawing in new audiences as well. '

Not if folk don't know that it's re-opened they won't. Or have I missed something?

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Not if folk don't know that it's re-opened they won't. Or have I missed something?

You maybe missed an advert in last nights Evening Express. Publicity in local papers this weekend, more to come next week including a brochure.

And I can EXCLUSIVELY reveal, King Creoste will be playing on Sunday 22nd June!

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From Scotland on Sunday...(although I'm not sure if FF actually played the LT?)

Lemon Tree is set to bear fruit again - Scotsman.com News

Published Date: 18 May 2008

By Marc Horne

ONE of Scotland's leading arts venues is set to rise from the ashes and reopen its doors within weeks.

The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, which helped launch the careers of Franz Ferdinand, Idlewild and the Delgados, closed in December following several years of funding difficulties.

But now the venue will reopen on June 20 with a series of celebratory events – headlined by the acclaimed Fife musician King Creosote.

The new owners, a charitable trust, have pledged that the reborn Lemon Tree will become a hub of edgy drama – and have already commissioned a play about the Piper Alpha disaster.

Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) has also pledged to get the centre's finances into shape and has revealed plans to transfer the running of the loss-making catering operation to a charity which works with vulnerable youngsters.

The Lemon Tree, which opened in 1992, gained a reputation as one of Scotland's best loved venues for music, theatre, drama, comedy and dance.

But the council-run centre, which employed more than 50 staff, went into liquidation after the Scottish Arts Council withdrew an 180,000 grant.

APA will run the new slimmed-down operation with five managers and 20 staff – reducing the wage bill from more than 500,000 to around 300,000.

The centre is also going to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster with a new play.

Lest We Forget, by Granite City playwright Mike Gibb, will run for five nights.

APA chief executive Duncan Hendry said: "One of our aims at the Lemon Tree is to present new work that has a connection with the north-east.

"We want it become a venue for new drama and want to help develop new actors, writers, designers and directors."

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The guy booking the music is the same guy who did it for years, the guy who booked all those cover/tribute bands and all the stuff that made people bitch about The Lemon Tree. It's fucking ridiculous that he got his job back. When his contract wasn't renewed they got a young lass from Glasgow in and she started to make some real changes regarding the music, unfortunately the place closed before the full effects of those chages could be seen - it takes quite a while to get a music programme up and running.

King Creosote will be a good gig though.

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The guy booking the music is the same guy who did it for years, the guy who booked all those cover/tribute bands and all the stuff that made people bitch about The Lemon Tree. It's fucking ridiculous that he got his job back. When his contract wasn't renewed they got a young lass from Glasgow in and she started to make some real changes regarding the music, unfortunately the place closed before the full effects of those chages could be seen - it takes quite a while to get a music programme up and running.

King Creosote will be a good gig though.

The only people that got an interview for the techie jobs, (so I hear) were the people who used to work there.

Same old, same old all round so it seems.

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Addressing a few concerns hopefully:

The programmer post has been filled temporarily. This is not a permanent situation and is being reviewed.

I cannot comment specifically on interview processes but I wouldn't listen to the talk surrounding jobs. It is not fair on all of the people who did apply for the positions to talk about it whether you know the full information of not. But you can rest assured that the most qualified people were offered the positions.

The website is with the designers and should be in place within the next few weeks.

In the meantime you can get information from Lemon Tree <LemonTreeAberdeen> (the old bebo site relaunched)

or Lemon Tree facebook (a new group).

Tickets are currently on sale at Aberdeen Box office

What's on details are available in the local press or from the Music Hall or HMT box offices - either the fold out brochure or the postcard listings.

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We want to return the Lemon Tree to its heyday when it was a platform for new music and comedy; a breeding ground for up-and-coming talent of all kinds.

One of the ways we will do this is by reopening the studio and bringing back the kind of local drama and dance which once made the upstairs theatre a must-see in the city.

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