Our gigs cancelled at request of 'name' tribute act

[Number6]

Find a local pub venue and arrange a pre gig gig of your own there on their gig night.....the pub will love you if they get in all the punters and you'll have some new followers and maybe earn a few quid too.....sorted!

[Les]

Bank it on your bands FaceBook page in a nice "we are ever so flattered to be a threat to" Limehouse Lizzy being factual not bitchy and link to theirs.

[DaytonaRik]

We've already got a gig booked on their June date in Nottingham - I suspect our marketing/booking guy will be hard at work making sure that everyone in a 20 mile radius know about it!!!!

[DaytonaRik]

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1457713038' post='3001270']
Bank it on your bands FaceBook page in a nice "we are ever so flattered to be a threat to" Limehouse Lizzy being factual not bitchy and link to theirs.
[/quote]
Now that I like! Chances are it's an over-zealous management call anyway - I'll bet Wayne and the rest of the band have no idea this has happened!

Still - it's nice to be thought of as a threat...it means we're doing something right

[blamelouis]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1457712397' post='3001262']
Find a local pub venue and arrange a pre gig gig of your own there on their gig night.....the pub will love you if they get in all the punters and you'll have some new followers and maybe earn a few quid too.....sorted!
[/quote]

Sounds a great option

[fretmeister]

Find another close pub and play there on the same night as the other lot.

[pete.young]

Any desire I might have had to go and see Limehouse Lizzy has completely evaporated. Who the hell do they think they are?

[Grangur]

[quote name='DaytonaRik' timestamp='1457708380' post='3001189']


Exactly this. There is no affiliation with Thin Lizzy as far as I'm aware - Black Star Riders continue to tour with the occasional official Thin Lizzy gigs for good measure.

We are taking it as a HUGE compliment as we already know of punters who have elected to come and watch us for free in/around derby in lieu of forking out nearly £20 to watch Limehouse play locally the next night.
[/quote]

Looks to me like this is their revenge for this happening. If it were me I'd like to know exactly what they said to the landlord at the cancelled venue. Are they simply insisting on a cancel or are they saying something else?

[4StringPete]

Personally, I think for a covers band to be pulling this is bullshit. I'm aware they are a professional touring band and out to make a living, but they are not, and never be Thin Lizzy. If you play the blues circuit, there are a hundred bands playing the same songs. You don't cry about it, you up the ante and make sure you give the punters the best versions you can. Those songs are from the pen of the amazing Phillip Lynott, nobody who wasn't involved has any right to ownership of this material.

[lojo]

That's mean, only the original artist has any right morally to do this, and most of them wouldn't.

Let's hope another Lizzy tribute comes along to compete for their shows and wins that fans over in the future , there satus to command and sell tickets is not guarented

Any lizzy forums you can rant about this on ?

[Pinball]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1457691202' post='3000950']
It is a form of flattery, however I`d be annoyed about it. I think the period of a month is reasonable, anything after that isn`t, in my opinion.

Similar things happen with some venues in London, if you`ve a gig booked In some venues one of their clauses is that you don't play any other London venues within one month.
[/quote]

That makes good sense, playing too much locally is counter productive. There is a 3 week rule in Bristol where bands and venues agree not to book an act if it is within 3 weeks of them playing somewhere else within Bristol. I would find the Tribute example annoying though after all they aren't Thin Lizzy. It's a bit of a cheek.

[Pinball]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1457880015' post='3002582']
Find another close pub and play there on the same night as the other lot.
[/quote]
Hah, yes I like that option

[RockfordStone]

well as you are both thin lizzy tributes, cant you put on another gig somewhere and insist limehouse lizzy cancel their slot as it is too close to yours?
im sure it was a management decision, but its not on by them really

Edited March 14, 2016 by RockfordStone

[E sharp]

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1457896370' post='3002795']
Any desire I might have had to go and see Limehouse Lizzy has completely evaporated. Who the hell do they think they are?
[/quote]
I'll tell you in a few months - we're supporting them at a festival

[acidbass]

I place the blame firmly on the venue for this. Limehouse Lizzy are clearly trying to protect their income, and I am surprised that the venue are clearing their books for them like this. I assume you will take your gigs and following elsewhere when booking a local gig in future.

[Paul S]

I've seen Limehouse Lizzy a couple of times. They are very good - certainly one of the better tribute bands I have seen. The front man doesn't try to be Phil but is in his own right very charismatic - and they can pretty much guarantee to sell out a venue. The first couple of times I tried to see them by getting in at the door and I wasn't able to. I guess that is why there is the exclusion zone.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1458033549' post='3003966']
I've seen Limehouse Lizzy a couple of times. They are very good - certainly one of the better tribute bands I have seen. The front man doesn't try to be Phil but is in his own right very charismatic - and they can pretty much guarantee to sell out a venue. The first couple of times I tried to see them by getting in at the door and I wasn't able to. I guess that is why there is the exclusion zone.
[/quote]
If they're that good, why are they/their manager acting like this? Maybe they heard the OP's band & thought "They're better than we are"?

[12stringbassist]

Personally I think Limehouse Lizzy are completely up themselves after reading this.
The time gap between your gigs and theirs, not even at the same venue.... pathetic.

Whether you are in the MU or not, you definitely had a contract with the venue when you took the dates.
I would tell the venue that you want the two dates back and that you will change your set (that's IF you can do that).

I would also call LL out on this and ask them what the f*** they think they are playing at?

Edited March 18, 2016 by 12stringbassist

[JTUK]

Even for the same band, I think 4-6 weeks between a pub 'free' and a ticketed event is about right but sales will really tell the the real story anyway.
What that has got to do with another band I'm not sure... but you can look at it as a sort of compliment from the other band but not so much that the venues
chooses to pull your gigs..
Sometimes these go to the Brewery if they are both supplied by the same...but you may also find Breweries don't or can't dictate to such a level
and it is all about keeping the venues happy.

[Bigwan]

[quote name='12stringbassist' timestamp='1458233782' post='3005874']
Personally I think Limehouse Lizzy are completely up themselves after reading this.
The time gap between your gigs and theirs, not even at the same venue.... pathetic.
[/quote]

I know the drummer from Limehouse Lizzy. He is certainly not "up himself".

[DaytonaRik]

Thanks for the mostly supportive comments guys.

We've decided begrudgingly to just take it on the chin and not darken that venue's door again. Whether it's a band, their management or venue decision we'll never know I guess but given that like us, they're just a cover band (albeit a very good one) it does seem well out of order but realistically what can be done without making things difficult for ourselves with this and possibly other venues?

We'll just keep doing what we're doing - improving and fine tuning things to the point where we hope we can compete with the more established 'tribute' acts - we don't try to be Thin Lizzy...not even the current Thin Lizzy manage that...but we do put on a great gig chock full of classic Lizzy tunes.

But all is not doom and gloom - we're at Nottingham's The Greyhound in Beeston tonight and at Rock City on Fri 29th April opening up for Guns & Roses Experience so some top gigs ahead.

Edited March 19, 2016 by DaytonaRik

[BottomE]

My initial reaction is to be a little outraged but i aint trying to make a living booking bands so have trouble seeing the venue perspective. However, dates don't clash, different room, free entry - i dunno it seems a bit harsh.

Similarly, we had a venue stop booking us ~(and some other bands) because we played at another venue in the same area. We took it as a compliment. Funny enough we get a call from them last week after not playing there for over a year - "can we book you again?". Yeah sure. Turns out their quest for exclusivity has ended up with them booking bands who don't have many gigs in the area - and there is a reason they don't have many gigs. Punters voted with their feet and stopped going to the venue so it all backfired for them. Moral of the story - sh*te happens, be polite if it does as you never know what will happen further down the road.