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DOWNSTAIRS! Needs YOU! (To play or promote gigs!)


Downstairs Gav

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To all you kids who want to be adults NOW and do adult stuff NOW and it's so UNFAIR and I HATE YOU etc - you'll miss being a kid when you are no longer one.  And yes, I'd have told you to "fuck off, Grandpa" if the roles were reversed.

 

That rhetoric does make you sound dead old.  Playing in and going to see local bands was a massive part of my mid-teens.

 

And as far as good business goes, built up a rep as a solid music venue that's not got a crumbly Daily Mail attitude towards YOUTHS and young people will be more likely to throw their money behind the bar once they hit 18 (obviously not an issue for The Moorings/Scum Drums due to them being extremely well established already).  And indeed, gun coke costs fuck all, so selling a handful of those to a big rabble of spotty teens while building a decent reputation is probably better than shutting up shop because nobody goes to gigs on a Tuesday.  Yeah, some kids get themselves jacked up, but no shit, so do grown ups.

 

See also: keep the kids off the streets, encourage them to do something creative etc etc.

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That rhetoric does make you sound dead old.  Playing in and going to see local bands was a massive part of my mid-teens.

 

And as far as good business goes, built up a rep as a solid music venue that's not got a crumbly Daily Mail attitude towards YOUTHS and young people will be more likely to throw their money behind the bar once they hit 18 (obviously not an issue for The Moorings/Scum Drums due to them being extremely well established already).  And indeed, gun coke costs fuck all, so selling a handful of those to a big rabble of spotty teens while building a decent reputation is probably better than shutting up shop because nobody goes to gigs on a Tuesday.  Yeah, some kids get themselves jacked up, but no shit, so do grown ups.

 

See also: keep the kids off the streets, encourage them to do something creative etc etc.

 

"Rhetoric" - that's a bit strong.  I thought I was whimsically acknowledging both points of view.  Clearly I could have worded it better.  Fail.

 

Sorry you didn't take it in the spirit it was intended and think I'm some sort of intolerant old Daily Mail reading duffer :(

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Apologies if I took it the wrong way.  I suppose I agree with the sentiment, but if going to gigs with a piss poor PA, meeting girls who don't go to the same high school as you and the eternal struggle to get hold of booze and pot aren't essential to being 15 anymore, it's not as good as when I were a lad.

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well it is a fair argument that the place wont make as much money but couldn't it just be once a month thing for one night only monthly and maybe if it becomes more popular maybe once a fortnight? depending on how it goes, i say advertise it once and if you get permission to go with it as everyone knows and probably knows and have experienced its harder to get gigs and more experience playing

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well it is a fair argument that the place wont make as much money but couldn't it just be once a month thing for one night only monthly and maybe if it becomes more popular maybe once a fortnight? depending on how it goes, i say advertise it once and if you get permission to go with it as everyone knows and probably knows and have experienced its harder to get gigs and more experience playing

Exactly what I think, one night a month to give kids a chance of a stage to play on.  Bands have to start somewhere.  I think the other problem in Aberdeen now which people keep saying to me is that now 1Up has gone, where do you put gig posters up?

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I grew up in Edinburgh, so my experience of a scene is completely different.  I think early 2000's was better back home too.  I have had a little bit of experience in bands.  We weren't the best band ever, but we had friends in bands too that were also under 18s.  We'd bump into them at the same practice rooms and we had a choice of venues that would let us play.  I don't think any of the venues we played in (or wanted to play in) still exist in Edinburgh, neither do the practice rooms we played in (where Idlewild also used to practice) or the shops where we could put up posters.  

 

I also used to work on a couple of metal record labels street teams putting up posters, handing out sticker flyers etc which a lot of councils across the UK smashed by saying you had to gain a license to hand out the flyers because of the clean up job (especially with stickers on lamp posts etc).  Promoting has changed since I stopped doing street team work (even the ways we used to do it online has changed).  If we want to build the scene back up to these 'glory days' then we need to start with the grassroots, with supporting local talent and giving kids somewhere to play, bring their buddies along to and get excited about, because they'll be the punters in the +18 places in the future too.

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I think the other problem in Aberdeen now which people keep saying to me is that now 1Up has gone, where do you put gig posters up?

The Beautiful Mountain, The Buttery, HMV, ii Music, R&B Music anf both universities all take gig posters. I know that I have forgotten places too, plenty of shops up George Street do.

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Kids always think that everyone thinks they're all trouble makers.  I remember being pissed off for being demonised as a teenager.  I was no angel but I wasn't a troublemaker.

 

I don't think anyone on here is really saying kids are all trouble or anything like that.  The point I was trying to make is that these guys are trying to run a business and there is definitely a perceived risk with letting a bunch of u18s into a licensed establishment.  That may be misplaced and it may be overstated, but it is there.

 

The other point I was trying to make is that they also don't have a "duty" of some sort to give kids a chance.  You could argue that it may be in their long term interest (or their short term interest) but they aren't somehow dutybound to give you a gig.

 

IF (and it is an "if"), the venue allows under 18s to attend and somehow one (it just takes one) of them gets smashed out of their tits and gets taken away in an ambulance or worse, the masses of ticket money received in that one night won't compensate for the loss of their licence or pay the costs of a potential law suit, or whatever.

 

That's the sort of thing you have to understand that these guys will have at the backs of their minds when considering under 18s gigs.  Of course, there is the risk of that happening to an adult too but at least in the case of an adult, the venue is legally entitled to sell alcohol to that adult and the press just wouldn't be as bad if an adult didn't look after themselves properly.

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That does not stop a less intoxicated person buying more booze for someone who is the worse for wear.

We're meant to stop that too. Licensed premises are now held entirely responsible for everything no matter how tenuous the link. As soon as a person enters a licensed premises they may abdicate all personal responsibility and place their fragile body in the hands of try bartenders. The authorities consider us more along the lines of pharmacists on minimum wage. If you have a drink, then fall in front of a bus 2 miles down the road, we'll get the blame for causing your death. So don't worry, it's not your fault your forgot to tie your shoelaces, and fear not some evil premises manager somewhere will be getting dragged out of bed and thrown in jail without a trial to compensate your family for their loss :)

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