Want to play up to 800 people?

[Bigsby]

I'm kind of used to it

There's certainly less pressure.

[Old Gold]

Sorry I didn't mean to belittle anything or anyone, that was not my intention at all. My point was that all of us that play have been involved with gigs where no-one has turned up, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been totally deflated by it.

Making the venues bigger won't magically change that.

IMP, Vocoustics, Teenage Lust, Autumn Jams etc. did not get excellent reputations by going on popular music websites and demanding that outdated gimmicks were the key to good concerts. They simply book excellent, interesting lineups.

[Guest A.R.S. Promotions]

Making the venues bigger won't magically change that.

IMP, Vocoustics, Teenage Lust, Autumn Jams etc. did not get excellent reputations by going on popular music websites and demanding that outdated gimmicks were the key to good concerts. They simply book excellent, interesting lineups.

We totally realise this, we just want to offer the best of facilities to make sure we can attract bands that will pull us a crowd until we become more established. If you don't offer the most interesting options you won't attract the interesting line ups

[FatHand]

I put on my own nights for my band to play at and I get excellent bands to support. These shows are not always attended by hundreds of people but we ALWAYS have an ace time playin, and listening to the other acts. I would never call them pokey. I have, however, played to hundreds of people in my soul band and it be a terrible gig.

[Old Gold]

If you don't offer the most interesting options you won't attract the interesting line ups

Sounds like a pyramid scheme.

Playing in an art gallery or a house party is interesting. What's particularly interesting about what you're offering? A total barn of a venue that you'll struggle to quarter fill?

[Shaki]

Making the venues bigger won't magically change that.

IMP, Vocoustics, Teenage Lust, Autumn Jams etc. did not get excellent reputations by going on popular music websites and demanding that outdated gimmicks were the key to good concerts. They simply book excellent, interesting lineups.

A good point. I think an important distinction to be made is that none of the above are in it to make money whereas ARS have stated that this is part of their aim. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, just saying.

[Guest A.R.S. Promotions]

Sounds like a pyramid scheme.

Playing in an art gallery or a house party is interesting. What's particularly interesting about what you're offering? A total barn of a venue that you'll struggle to quarter fill?

We were just over 100 bodies away from capacity in our first gig, I'll let you do the sums

[FatHand]

We were just over 100 bodies away from capacity in our first gig, I'll let you do the sums

BOTB is still shit

[Old Gold]

Well jesus christ big shot, why don't you just pay your support band some clams for a job well done, instead of preying on people stupid enough to play to shedloads of people for nothing? With attendance numbers and hard sums like that, I can't fathom why you wouldn't.

[HateEvent]

I almost feel like bumping my last post in case it was missed or overlooked.

[Teabags]

I kind of feel like punching myself in the face for ever even getting involved in this crock of shit.

[tchocky]

Well jesus christ big shot, why don't you just pay your support band some clams for a job well done, instead of preying on people stupid enough to play to shedloads of people for nothing? With attendance numbers and hard sums like that, I can't fathom why you wouldn't.

I don't think it's been said anywhere that the support band will not be paid anything.

My understanding of ARS' model was:-

1. BOTB with no entrance fee for bands nor any request that they sell tickets, etc;

2. Winner of BOTB gets support slot at one of their future events and will be "looked after" although not promised a percentage of the door. This read to me that the "winning band" from the BOTB would receive some form of payment for being the support act which I assume would come from a portion of door/ticket money.

I've no affiliation with ARS (I don't like the BOTB model for a kick off) but it would really help if people on this board started actually reading posts in full before jumping in with all guns blazing.

[paranoid]

$hittrspd vs Broken Rain.

Make this happen.

[SooperKeef]

I was thinking 'Itchy Ring-ics' would work.

I'm still voting for ShutterSpeed though!

We should form a cover band that doesn't do any covers....that'd be fun.

(and I don't mean a pastiche band like The Rutles, or Dukes of Stratosfear).

How about 'Nearvana'?

Dibs On being guitarist in nearvana

[Guest Motleyal]

I think a band showcase would be better than a botb.

Show up, do your stuff and leave your details with ARS. This way, they'll get a pool of bands and can pick to suit the headlining band's style.

[Guest Gladstone]

With all due respect, no-one on here says the same with the battle of the bands for the wizard festival!!

No band, unless signed and on the main stage gets paid for it

The Wizard Festival is not holding a BOTB this year, and I don't think it will ever be done again. As far as I'm aware, they were offered by The Tunnels to host the BOTB for 2008, and thought it might be a good way to see a lot of local bands etc etc, but I can assure you that the organisers were not happy with how it went, and weren't happy that the name of the Wizard Festival was associated with that BOTB.

My band played in one of those heats, and it was total balls. Far too many bands being squeezed into one evening, and the BOTB went on for weeks and weeks and weeks.

Despite the fact that the heats and the whole set up wasn't great, that particular BOTB was more popular and got a bit more uptake from local bands who wouldn't normally get involved in BOTB for a few reasons. The first one being there was a slot on the mainstage of a 5,000 capacity summer festival up for grabs. The second one being there was absolutely zero money taken from the bands to enter. The third one being it was free entry for all the punters. Now, The Tunnels obviously did quite well out of the BOTB because they had quite a number of busy Monday nights out of it, but I don't think any of the bands would have felt exploited because it wasn't a "bring as many mates as you can" affair - the winners were picked by a panel at each heat. Not a good idea in my opinion either - how 3/4 guys can decide who is the "best" out of a mix of indie bands, metal bands, classic rock bands, pop bands etc all playing on the same night, well it's impossible.

So yeah - all I'm trying to say is that BOTB, although a bit shite because it was a BOTB wasn't as bad as normal BOTB, and it was a one-off that happened 2 years ago, and I don't think it will ever happen again because they learned that it wasn't the right way to do things. And, don't try to justify your "bring all your mates", profiteering out of young keen bands BOTB by saying "but, the Wizard Festival do it" because they don't.

EDIT: It's nae your BOTB is it? It is your mate's one though. So aye - don't try and justify his BOTB etc etc.

[Lame Guitarist]

.

- how 3/4 guys can decide who is the "best" out of a mix of indie bands, metal bands, classic rock bands, pop bands etc all playing on the same night, well it's impossible.

.

Thats a good point, Anything that is judged by a panel isn't judged fairly in my opinion. Its judged to each person on the panels personal taste. Which I guess is biased to the bands that person likes. You get a judge that likes Metal and an Indie band comes on that are damn good, the judge doesn't like them and thats that, they don't get any further on. To be fair, the support band would have to match the style of the headliner. Its the classic Hendrix on the same bill as the Monkee's syndrome. Many years ago some numpty thought it would give Hendrix exposure by placing him on that bill. It didn't work and the audience didn't take to him at all. You could have the same on a BOTB if you took a really good band that won but didn't fit the bill of the gig the BOTB was for!

I haven't played in a battle of the bands for many years and would never do another one. Wouldn't feel comfortable.

[Frosty Jack]

Why don't we just ban BOTB from Aberdeen music? No one on here supports them, just stick it in the rules that you can't advertise them on here or something.

If we banned things for just not liking them, you wouldn't be asking that...

[paranoid]

If we banned things for just not liking them, you wouldn't be asking that...

I repped the shot out of that post. It doesn't show up so I just thought I'd say. Aces.

[RobJM]

Forgive me if this has already been said, my attention span doesn't last long enough to go through all the posts

If you have a slot in mind, to support band 'X' in August, would it not be a better idea to say who they are in the BOTB to win a support slot for, then open it to bands of that genre,or something that complements it.

Then as someone said earlier let a panel decide,maybe of people from your company/or choice,maybe include a rep from band 'X', or local similar genre musicians.

[Fish out of water]

So, are X any good then?

[FatHand]

Or just get into the current local music scene and see what's out there. Go to gigs, listen to myspace pages, see what is going down well with people by getting recommendations. Bands are starting to get stuff up on youtube these days too. There are lots of options, even for those who can't make a gig every other night. I've not been disappoint with bands I've got from out with Aberdeen by doing things this way, actually my expectations have been surpassed.

It's like a broken record but ^^^^ is the best way to do it. BOTB is a lazy way of doing things and only attracts a certain type of group. Most of the folk who are in reasonably successful groups on this site are saying it's a shit idea, best to follow that advice when these are the bands you'd probably want to put on.

[Oedo 808]

If we banned things for just not liking them, you wouldn't be asking that...

Aww, that's not nice.

[RobJM]

So, are X any good then?

A bit better than W but not as heavy as Z

[rcalder82]

Hi RockAustin, how many Promoters are in Aberdeen doing the same thing, doing pokey little gigs for local bands? And with all respect, no matter how much effort these Promoters make most of the events turn out to be disappointing, through no fault of there own!

ARS wanted to do something different. We want to be able to offer something different to the local scene, but it's gonna take time. Our plan is to get some decent size gigs on and build a reputation of doing things properly and having the Aberdeen scene talking about us in positive way. Our first event at The Forum was a massive success, and everyone who attended was absolutely blown away by what they saw and heard! Ok we had a good crowd pulling tool with ABDC, but we worked hard to make it a success for all concerned and it was! Until we have proved ourselves (Which we will), we're gonna keep going along our original plan route, and eventually it will pay dividends, not just for us, but hopefully for the Aberdeen music scene as a whole. Putting on a local original act will prove no benefit to ARS directly, we just thought it would be good to get a local band involved in what could prove to be very well attended gigs

On the battle of the bands thing, you know not everyone is going to agree to it. But, I'll be very satisfied if it works out and we succeed with our plans.

You keep coming back to the whole "pokey little gigs" thing which is pretty annoying and the fact you say "most of the events turn out to be disappointing" is also way off the mark. Having put on 100 odd "pokey little gigs" for up and coming touring bands and good local supports I can safely say that I would class none as a disappointment. As you said you dont get the chance to see local bands presumably you have no right to judge either.

Yes some are not as well attended as I believe they should be and on odd occassions I might lose a bit of cash, but I'd far rather be doing this with bands I genuinely enjoy than trying to make money from what you are doing.

The Aberdeen music scene is more likely to be improved by the likes of Interesting Music, Vocoustics, Phil (Idol-Wild) when he was doing shows here, and yeah Ill say it, myself with AGP, than someone putting on yet another tribute band and shit local support. Not a criticism as such, just fact. Every shithole town/city is full of tribute/cover bands that yeah will get a crowd sometimes, but do nothing for the actual music scene. Promoters who work hard to get interesting, new, innovative music to the city are the ones who are more likely to make a difference.

I wasn't going to respond because I dont really care what you are doing with the BOTB thing. There are always these competitions going about, someone will always do them. The fact you keep belittling people like myself etc for doing smaller shows is a bit lame as is your whole idea of more people = better gig.

I think it is safe to say you will not get any good local band to play this. Full stop.