Sod this for a game of soldiers

The 4th Suit

The Galileo Seven

Alpha Rays

I think I've done three or four Fiddler's gigs now. Attendance at all of them has been disappointing. It's a shame. It's a decent venue. There's no division between venue and bar. Once you're in, you're in. The sound is good. It's five minutes walk from Chalk Farm tube station. The staff are friendly.

At the last gig, the Blues night, there was nearly 60 people in the 150 capacity venue, but only 22 of these were paying customers. 20 musicians. A few WAGS. And a bunch of locals made up the numbers. It seemed reasonably busy. People danced, and so on.

Last night, there were 12 paying customers. Just enough money at the end to pay the sound man. Their were a few WAGS, a couple of French guys who thought they were above paying to see their mates. The locals. But there was a gaping void in front of the stage. People were pinned to the walls around the venue of fear of standing out, literally.

Is is worth it?

Tox of 14 Carat Grapefruit came out to support The 4th Suit who'd travelled from Bristol to play. And what a fine punk band they are. And lovely blokes. The kind of band that stops me from giving up on this whole thing. Hobbyists. A good attitude. No egos. No bullshit. Mates, mostly from school. Loyal to each other. No bickering. They plugged in, following their late arrival, and played. Then they relaxed. And ate. And drank. And drove home to Bristol.

Steve 'Istvanski' was out in support of The Galileo Seven, which featured on lead vocals and guitar, former Stabilisers guitarist Allan Crockford, perhaps more famously known for his place in 80s psychedelic-mod-rockers The Prisoners. They were very professional. Kept themselves to themselves, but put in a fine performance, much like The 4th Suit, performing as if the venue was more than half-full rather than more than half-empty.

By the time the Alpha Rays hit the stage the place was empty, save a handful of loyal friends. Which was sort of depressing.

I think I'm going to knock these gigs on the head. I'll honour the bookings I have committed to. And I'll probably continue to do The Libertine gigs, especially the Saturday night electric ones. But with respect, many of these bands are wasting their time playing in 150 or more capacity venues. They don't have the following. These are pub bands. They want less bands on their bill, and to be able to play longer sets, but they don't draw enough people to justify these arrangements.

Last night, two of the bands were travelling ones, so they can be forgiven for not bringing a big crowd, but The Alpha Rays are a London band. They won't survive long on the Full-PA Toilet Circuit without more support. I don't pressure bands to bring people. I'm beginning to see why venues do though. I don't want to be a promoter like that. It's not me.

On Tuesday night, 14 Carat Grapefruit arranged a ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP gig of their own. In the spirit of the mature musicians' community, they branded it as such. They asked me to bring my stage-banner down and I went along and introduced the bands. I flyered it, and did some real-world social networking. Their performance was well attended, but as the night went on, the Miller in London Bridge felt much the same as The Fiddlers did last night at 11.15. Empty.

I think this is the way forward for RTYD. I'm tired of organising these bigger gigs. Bands can arrange their own gigs at these places. I will promote those bands and musicians that I like, and are friends with. I will happily endorse their gigs, and include them in my monthly email-outs, as long as they give a nod to ROCK-TIL-YOU-DROP in some way.

I need to focus on my own band. And when that's back in one piece, I will do as 14CG do, and organise Pocket Rocket gigs, with support from stalwart RTYD-associated bands that I like and care about.