GLASTONBUDGET 2012 Jubilee Weekend!

[Prime_BASS]

Not sure if this should be in here or Gigs or Events, but as its not a bassbash and im more interested in who is actually playing and peoples opinion etc than advertising my band playing (althouigh I am a little bit) If I am wrong then obviously pleasze move it to the right section.

So my band is playing this festival weekend thing thats apparantly a huge and big deal (despite me never even hearing of it until the week before our audition) I have a few questions and want peoples thoughts on such an event.

Apparantly last year saw 10,000 visitors and this year they are expecting 15,000, if this is true I am fairly stoked to play. How many of you have heard of or been to, or played at or know friends or local bands that have played this event in the past 8 years???

We as a band were so surpised to get on the bill at all as a lot of bands (in nottingham must have been over 100) from all over the place had auditioned, and only 130 bands are going to be on (on various stages)

Since lets say as a guesstimate about 500 bands auditioned, the thing was they could all potentially get through in a battle of the bands type settings. So I guess it must be good that a young (15 to 21) originals band is playing?

I also guess a few bigger bands (cover acts such as Guns 2 Roses and Oasish) would be on the bill and have no "audition" phase, and obviously get the bigger stage.

The thing that gets me is the price point. Its glastonBUDGET, and for an adult with a caravan its nearly £80! day tickets with out are roughly half, and I know other festivals are close to £200! However its a struggle getting people to go to a local gig for £3 on a weekend where I am from, I find it hard to believe that 15,000 people will be going. Thats a taking of around £400,000! We aren't getting paid!

So where does all that money go?????

(links in teh sig the site is still in progress for the bands section)

[crez5150]

Well if you add the costs up for running a festival of this size...... £400k isn't an awful lot.

We've played Glastonbudget before and it's a great experience and can do great things for your band. If you plan it correctly, you will up your band following dramatically.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1325500542' post='1483583']
Well if you add the costs up for running a festival of this size...... £400k isn't an awful lot.

We've played Glastonbudget before and it's a great experience and can do great things for your band. If you plan it correctly, you will up your band following dramatically.
[/quote]

How do you mean by plan it correctly??

[crez5150]

I mean make sure that you have all your PR/Marketing material up to date and ready to go.... make sure that you get your band name out there in front of as many of those festival goers as possible. Make sure that you get your name across to the audience.... Facebook/Twitter details.... get as many followers as possible and use that while you are there

[pantherairsoft]

Well done dude! A good friend's band is playing as well - Def Goldblum. They are collectively, MC Duke01 (who appeared on our last EP) and the Nottingham band, Cleaver Hook. Together they are the most amazing Public Enemy covers act!

[JTUK]

I don't get this.... they charge those sort of prices and you don't get paid..??
I can't believe the entire bill is not paid... but don't know what the bill is likely to be either..

You need to sit down and decide what you can/might get out of it and then decide if it is worth it to you.

[crez5150]

There are some really excellent act's that get on the bill for Glastonbudget. As I said earlier.... you can really raise your bands profile and also obtain really good gigs from playing at this festival.
We obtained some very lucrative gigs by playing there. There are promoters there looking for decent acts. You can make money by selling your merchandise if you have it..... Think of it as a promotional tool....

[Happy Jack]

I hooked up with a soul band before Xmas, depped for them for one gig ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYXG6n_0HIE ) and had a lot of fun, but one reason we didn't take it further was that they play Glastonbudget each year.

They rate it very highly, loads of fun and you get to meet a helluva lot of other musos, BUT you'd better like camping. I don't.

The idea of spending 3 days / 2 nights in a tent in a field while keeping an eye on a 1966 Precision does absolutely nothing for me, and it's not what I play bass for.

Maybe 30 years ago.

Actually ... not even then.

[JTUK]

We play a local Beer and Music fest and the camping part is a lot of fun..if the weather is good and the tents are properly sorted.
But also, it isn't too far to pop home either...

If you do the gig and treat it as audition in front of a decent amount of people and agents, and then are prepared for the follow-up..which may well be that your gigs come from all-over, I can see that it is worth it as a loss-leader.
If you aren't prepared to do that..then there seems little point.
Depending how far it is for you to travel...you should at least get/ask petrol exes..

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1325502425' post='1483601']
Well done dude! A good friend's band is playing as well - Def Goldblum. They are collectively, MC Duke01 (who appeared on our last EP) and the Nottingham band, Cleaver Hook. Together they are the most amazing Public Enemy covers act!
[/quote]

That actually sounds amazing!

We are working on new material and recording but for the young and poor and perfectionist kind of guys we are we dont want just any old crap that has been cobbled together (by me, im currently doing more work on this than i ever did at school) Plus we all work and or do school full time so finding the days to

Also since we got the nod we were to play we got contacted by a few Promoters.
A lot of others have said it does really help with raising bands profile but a lot work has to be done by us also, which is fine. Its finding the best for the cheapist. Plus if I do it (mixing tracks) I can focus it all on bass ;P

[BigRedX]

If you're a covers/tribute band and at least half-way decent at what you do then IMO Glastonbudget has the potential to be a great opportunity for you. However if you're playing original material probably not so much.

Dick Venom & The Terrortones played last year, and it was reasonably fun to do, but we won't be doing it again. As with all of these things there's lots of things going on at the same time (there were at least 5 separate stages going last year) so how big your audience is will depend on who's playing at the same time as you and what the weather is doing. The originals bands play on the smaller stages in marquees which means that you are less visible to passing punters but if the rain starts to come down you could find yourself with a decent sized audience looking to keep dry. There are opportunities - it's up to you to make the most of it. However due to the nature of the festival the audience on the whole aren't into anything that strays too far from what they are familiar with. If you don't have a good stage presence or your music is much outside the mainstream then don't expect a lot from the audience.

Also while the main stages are incredibly tightly run the lesser stages aren't so well organised. We were supposed to be on late afternoon, but things on our stage were already running late when we checked in. By the time the band before us came to play the sets were already being shortened from the specified 35 minutes. The band before us were told one more song and immediately launched into an 8 minute prog-rock opus... We had to trim 2 more songs from an already shortened set.

There's no need to camp unless you want to stay for the whole weekend. I went home with all the gear after playing.

IMO it's certainly worth doing once, but don't expect great thing especially if you are playing originals. However it'll look reasonably good on the band "CV" and make sure if you are playing your own compositions that you join the PRS and get the songs registered as there's some decent performance royalties to be had from playing.

[daz]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1325500155' post='1483580']
So where does all that money go?????

[/quote]

probably half to pay bloody official trouble causers. Better known as security men, with the other half going on health and safety bollocks.

[mike257]

I didn't know they had many original bands on there - I'd always known of it as a festival for tribute bands (hence Glaston-budget, because you're getting the budget version of the bands!!). I know a friend of the missus goes pretty much every year and has raved about it being a great atmosphere and a really good time.

Congrats for getting picked, and as everyone has said, make what you can of it. If nothing else, you'll have a weekend of music and a good laugh with your band, and playing a fairly well known fezzy like that can only be good for your reputation. Enjoy it!!

[JTUK]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1325504297' post='1483629']
If you're a covers/tribute band and at least half-way decent at what you do then IMO Glastonbudget has the potential to be a great opportunity for you. However if you're playing original material probably not so much.

Dick Venom & The Terrortones played last year, and it was reasonably fun to do, but we won't be doing it again. As with all of these things there's lots of things going on at the same time (there were at least 5 separate stages going last year) so how big your audience is will depend on who's playing at the same time as you and what the weather is doing. The originals bands play on the smaller stages in marquees which means that you are less visible to passing punters but if the rain starts to come down you could find yourself with a decent sized audience looking to keep dry. There are opportunities - it's up to you to make the most of it. However due to the nature of the festival the audience on the whole aren't into anything that strays too far from what they are familiar with. If you don't have a good stage presence or your music is much outside the mainstream then don't expect a lot from the audience.

Also while the main stages are incredibly tightly run the lesser stages aren't so well organised. We were supposed to be on late afternoon, but things on our stage were already running late when we checked in. By the time the band before us came to play the sets were already being shortened from the specified 35 minutes. The band before us were told one more song and immediately launched into an 8 minute prog-rock opus... We had to trim 2 more songs from an already shortened set.

There's no need to camp unless you want to stay for the whole weekend. I went home with all the gear after playing.

IMO it's certainly worth doing once, but don't expect great thing especially if you are playing originals. However it'll look reasonably good on the band "CV" and make sure if you are playing your own compositions that you join the PRS and get the songs registered as there's some decent performance royalties to be had from playing.
[/quote]

Sounds like a reality check....and something I can't be doing with, tbh.
If you aren't treated well at these things, can't see the point.
If they are hearding cattle and If I was 20..then maybe