Ramping up the gigs

It strikes me that the only way forward is to ramp up the rock-til-you-drop gigs come September. I think that I'm gonna move the emphasis away from promoting to mature musicians and mature music fans, and marketing these nights as networking opportunities for 'older' musicians, and instead focus on appealing to a wider audience. As we've discussed before, no one cares about age, they just care about watching good music performed by experienced musicians. So where it said 'mature', insert experienced. I think the obvious thing to do is to drop the whole 'Rock-Til-You-Drop-Night' thing and reduce 'Rock-Til-You-Drop presents' to small-print.

I have agreed to promote a series of Saturday night gigs, and Sunday afternoon acoustic sessions at the Libertine in Borough, beginning in September. I have two nights at the Fiddlers before Xmas, October and December, and the Dublin Castle punk special on 16th September. And hopefully, one or two more, here and there. This should step things up over the autumn and early winter.

I still find the difference in bands' expectations about payment for gigs disconcerting. I wonder why some even want Rock-Til-You-Drop to promote them. I suppose it's that they need to play away from home from time to time, to move forward. One guy I spoke to recently about the possibility of a RTYD gig, said his trio which comprises professionals, could get 200 quid a gig at his local. They don't play for nothing. This is intimidating to me, cos I can't guarantee his band or any band even 40 quid, so I would shy away from booking such bands until I felt confident I could pay them. I don't want to let people down, I just want to give bands opportunities to move forward, to move out of their neighbourhood and comfort zone, to build a fanbase beyond their friends and colleagues, 'cos without this they will struggle in the long run. You cannot continue to rely on the same people to come out and see you. You can easily get stuck in a local venue rut too, playing the same place month in month out.

I think eventually I have to decide who it is I want to promote more specifically, cos I dunno about these blues-rocks bands? They can pretty much, pitch up in any venue in any town, say they play the blues, and get a paid gig. I didn't start RTYD to help bands that don't need helping.