Rickicaz1279 Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Before i begin, id like to say this is not a gripe just because we came second last year But, i would like to warn all bands and artists about a competition happening this year in November, its called The Red BattleIts a farcicle battle of the bands which most bands pulled out of halfway like Enrapture, due to realising its absolute insanityThey want you to pay 50p a vote and Text for the bands to win, which is ridiculous, because it then becomes a competition between who can make the red battle the most money by racking up there mobile phone contract billnot to mention half way through the competition they mention oh, you wont get payed unless you sell 50 million ticketsOh and for most of the shows they charge a ridiculous door price, and with each heat the price goes up. Im pretty sure a lot of the bands who played it with us last year will agree it was an absolute farce...Apart from the winners of course hahaAnyway, its a LOT of unneeded hassle for local bands, so i just wanted to give y'all a bit of a pre-warning, as theyve recently started accepting applicationsfor those of you already confirmed for it, good luck! but honestly, i think youll see after the first heat that i'm right. theres some massive prizes up for grabs in this competition, but you'll lose your dignity and respect for it. anyway yes, Red battle 09 - avoid if possible, just giving my two cents of advice! dont have to follow it. and again its not a gripe because we came second in it last year we all wanted to pull out with the rest of the guys in round 2! but thought we'd see it through to the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodyRATM Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Worst gigs ever.I actually agree with everything above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithy_freekorps Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 I concur with everything you have said. After we signed up for this last year, we got all the information/terms through and we decided to not take this serious at all. It is a money making battle of the bands competition that will rip off your mates and fans.__________________________________________________Free Korps upcoming shows...Fri 26th June at 7.30pm @ Moshulu, Aberdeen.(with The Debuts & The Underkills)TicketWebFri 28th June at 7:30pm @ The Flying Duck, Glasgow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Aberdeen Music 'Battle Of The Bands Rant 101'Whoopty skip. It's a BOTB, what did you actually expect? If you actually had any integrity you would have pulled out as soon as you sussed out the con, or was the prospect of telling your mates OMGZ WE'RE PLAYING MOSHULU FTW!!LOL! too much at the time?All a bit hypocritcal too, considering the Bloodstock heats were virtually the same principle, as was getting all your Cryspace mates to vote for you to play MetalFest!Good luck with that, but it works both ways squire..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben_1903 Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 from what i've seen, the bands that win are ned indie bands who take all their school mates with them and they vote about times each.lame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewarden Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 from what i've seen, the bands that win are ned indie bands who take all their school mates with them and they vote about times each.lame.see:every battle of the bands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraser Shredwards Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 All a bit hypocritcal too, considering the Bloodstock heats were virtually the same principle, as was getting all your Cryspace mates to vote for you to play MetalFest!From my experiences there are some battle of the bands that are good(where you play to alot of people at bangin venues and maybe even make a bit of money) and the ones like the Red Battle that are a joke(where your fans get ripped off by the promoters and you get treated like shit if you don't sell 50 tickets) I've had enough battle of the bands for one lifetime but theres nothing wrong with the general premise of it so if theres a legitimate one happening preferably one that offers a festival slot as the prize(organised by the festival itself) then i've got complete confidence in my band and have no reason to bitch about it like alot of people do.but the Red Battle is run by absolute jesters and i strongly advise any bands to AVOID this circus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 From my experiences there are some battle of the bands that are good(where you play to alot of people at bangin venues and maybe even make a bit of money) and the ones like the Red Battle that are a joke(where your fans get ripped off by the promoters and you get treated like shit if you don't sell 50 tickets) I've had enough battle of the bands for one lifetime but theres nothing wrong with the general premise of it so if theres a legitimate one happening preferably one that offers a festival slot as the prize(organised by the festival itself) then i've got complete confidence in my band and have no reason to bitch about it like alot of people do.but the Red Battle is run by absolute jesters and i strongly advise any bands to AVOID this circus.Agree with a fair bit of what you're saying, but I just find the whole BOTB concept abhorrent (the only one I was a part of Ricki's first gig strangely enough, and that was corrupt to fuck), and I'd probably feel cheated by putting the time/effort/money into two gigs in Glasgow for the square root of fuck all. If that's the route you decide to go down as a band, then it's on your head and no-one else's, but I just found it slightly out of bounds when Ricki is crying foul over this con-trick many months after it happened...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gold Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Sadly, unless you live in San Dimas, California and have a nifty phone box, battle of the bands are a pile of crep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 San Dimas high school football rules! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Red BattleWhoopty skip. It's a BOTB, what did you actually expect? If you actually had any integrity you would have pulled out as soon as you sussed out the con, or was the prospect of telling your mates OMGZ WE'RE PLAYING MOSHULU FTW!!LOL! too much at the time?All a bit hypocritcal too, considering the Bloodstock heats were virtually the same principle, as was getting all your Cryspace mates to vote for you to play MetalFest!Good luck with that, but it works both ways squire.....It's not hypocritical.The red battle seemed like a good idea the first time you hear about it, but you realise what a load of filth it is when you read closer into it and progress through the heats.The Bloodstock heats weren't the same either, that wasn't a money making scam, the bands and the fans weren't ripped off, it was a BOTB organised by bloodstock and the judge was a bloodstock rep, there to see which band was most suitable for the festival in his opinion.The same applies for the MetalFest voting. It's not the same, cos there was no money involved, therefore it wasn't a scam like Red Battle is. Aswell as getting to play a festival, we spread the word about the band and more people heard our music, so even if we hadn't won it, we still would've seen benefit from it.Needless to say, we've learned from our experiences with the Red Battle and we wanted to spread the word about how gash it is so that other bands don't get lured into it with a false sense of hope when at the end of the day it's a popularity contest to see who can throw the most money into the organisers' pockets by voting for the most mainstream band to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 The red battle 2009 do not play it!!Just to make the same points as Ricki, we're not posting these things cos we're bitter about not winning, we're trying to warn other bands about this scam before they get disappointed.Ascension played in The Red Battle 2008, at first we thought it sounded good so we applied for it. We found out it was text voting which cost you 50p + network charge to vote for the band that you wanted to win.Some of the bands pulled out after realising it was a money making scam, but we decided to stay and see it through.Basically, it's a popularity contest which is all about which band can throw most money at the organisers with voting money. It's not about the music at all, because there was no judges present in the heats. The national final in Liverpool stated that you needed to sell 50 tickets before the judges' opinion was taken into consideration.I can't understand who would buy a ticket to see a local band in a different country!It's a shame cos lots of good bands played and in the end it was the most mainstream, indie, ned band who won, cos they brought about 100 thug fans and the organisers realised that they would be the ones to make them the most money.The reason I'm writing this is because if someone had written this before we applied, we wouldn't have bothered with it.If you are considering playing the Red Battle this year, be very wary, read the rules properly and take into account what Ricki and Myself have to say about it.Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
givemeasmile Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I completely agree, we pulled out of the second heat after realising that the competition had absolutely no desire to display talent but instead decided to reward bands for their willingness to obtain votes which in turn meant a wad of cash for the company. The Locals from Aberdeen won the entire competition last year, which is quite obviously a fantastic achievement for which they deserve the merit and are now playing an entire UK tour on the back of it (which I believe was a prize??), but you can't help but think that if they didn't take a bus load of people to Liverpool (at least 100 people) that the competition result may well have been different...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbroken Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 why take part in a battle of the bands competition anyways?You are already an established band to a degree, so playing these things would be pointless, no?A tour as a prize??!!!??!?FUCK SAKE.Book it yourself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saf-one Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 No band has ever gotten anywhere by winning a "competition".ALL battle of the bands/voting comps only exists to either make money, obtain emails, advertise or market research...fuck alll to do with good music.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossP Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Didn't Idlewild and Placebo win 'In the City' or something like that, which then helped them get their record deals...?I agree BOTB are bad btw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saf-one Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Didn't Idlewild and Placebo win 'In the City' or something like that, which then helped them get their record deals...?I agree BOTB are bad btw...In The City - That music industry/go north/mini sxsw type thing in Manchester?- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossP Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Aye that's the one! Pretty sure I remember they both won it many years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 It's not hypocritical.Your vocalist was on here last year trying to coerce folk into coming along even though you knew it was 'filth'! There's a linkback at the bottom of this page' date=' it is a good read.....Some of the bands pulled out after realising it was a money making scam, but we decided to stay and see it through.It's doesn't matter if the prize is a support slot with Bon Jovi, or a packet of crisps and a scotch egg (copyright Del Franklin 1980), you are a part of the whole swindle by asking folk to fork out 6/7 quid for a gig which you have no control over. To then come back on 6-months odd later and have a rant about it stinks of shit.......As I said before, MetalFest was a decent gig for your lot to pull, but the whole BOTB works both ways, and the only people who ever win are the folk not sweating their arse off wearing face paint/body armour/dominatrix gear/etc on stage for 30 minutes...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootray Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Deciding to see it through sounds like less bands, more chance to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saf-one Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Aye that's the one! Pretty sure I remember they both won it many years ago?I thought it was more of a conferencing/workshop/music industry shmooze thing with live showcases too. Bit like a mini SXSW, didnt think you could "win" it. I could (very easily) be wrong tho.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartmaxwell Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 you are a part of the whole swindle by asking folk to fork out 6/7 quid for a gig which you have no control over. this is the great stink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossP Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I thought it was more of a conferencing/workshop/music industry shmooze thing with live showcases too. Bit like a mini SXSW, didnt think you could "win" it. I could (very easily) be wrong tho.-That's the idea of it. At the very end though, a panel of judges vote for the best act of the showcases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saf-one Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 That's the idea of it. At the very end though, a panel of judges vote for the best act of the showcases.Fair enough.I guess thats a healthier way to do it rather than milking bands fan bases, family and friends of cash etcA band actully winning on merit by a pannel of "industry experts" (Well...maybe).- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dick Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Your vocalist was on here last year trying to coerce folk into coming along even though you knew it was 'filth'! There's a linkback at the bottom of this page, it is a good read.....It's doesn't matter if the prize is a support slot with Bon Jovi, or a packet of crisps and a scotch egg (copyright Del Franklin 1980), you are a part of the whole swindle by asking folk to fork out 6/7 quid for a gig which you have no control over. To then come back on 6-months odd later and have a rant about it stinks of shit.......As I said before, MetalFest was a decent gig for your lot to pull, but the whole BOTB works both ways, and the only people who ever win are the folk not sweating their arse off wearing face paint/body armour/dominatrix gear/etc on stage for 30 minutes......Well what would've been the point in giving up?We don't wear shit like that on stage ?(Anyway, the purpose of this discussion is to let people know what the Red Battle is really about, not to criticise our actions at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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