Has anyone played in these venues (London) ?

[PapillonIrl]

Hi all,

Will be heading to London next month with the original outfit I play with, and we will be playing the above venues on the 21 and 22 of Feb.

Was curious as to whether any of you folks had any experiences of these venues to share.

Particularly:

House engineer
Typical audience numbers
Quality of billing
Vibe
Stage sound/monitor mixes
House backline quality
Tricks to get industry people down there

Thanks in advance,


Nathan

p.s. here's the [url="http://www.myspace.com/shanebarryofficial"]band[/url]

[Musky]

I've played the Windmill a few times.

It uses out of house as well as in-house promoters so obviously the billing can vary, but whenever I've played there it's been reasonably well matched. I'm struggling to remember what they used for backline which kind of suggests it didn't blow me away. The PA/engineer is ok out front, but last time I played there the monitor mix wasn't brilliant - probably because we didn't get a soundcheck. Vibe is good IMHO - it's a smallish venue, and being long and narrow encourages punters to the front if they want to see you. The Windmill has a reasonable reputation as a venue, with some decent small bands with a bit of a buzz playing there - enough to encourage people into the wilds of Brixton anyway. But like any venue in London there is no walk up crowd (well next to none anyway) - it's the bands that pull in the crowd, not the venue.

As for tricks to get industry people down there, they are the same as pulling in punters. Realistically, you're not going to get any industry types there unless they've heard of you and think you sound interesting.

[PapillonIrl]

[quote name='Musky' post='392538' date='Jan 27 2009, 11:12 AM']I've played the Windmill a few times.

It uses out of house as well as in-house promoters so obviously the billing can vary, but whenever I've played there it's been reasonably well matched. I'm struggling to remember what they used for backline which kind of suggests it didn't blow me away. The PA/engineer is ok out front, but last time I played there the monitor mix wasn't brilliant - probably because we didn't get a soundcheck. Vibe is good IMHO - it's a smallish venue, and being long and narrow encourages punters to the front if they want to see you. The Windmill has a reasonable reputation as a venue, with some decent small bands with a bit of a buzz playing there - enough to encourage people into the wilds of Brixton anyway. But like any venue in London there is no walk up crowd (well next to none anyway) - it's the bands that pull in the crowd, not the venue.

As for tricks to get industry people down there, they are the same as pulling in punters. Realistically, you're not going to get any industry types there unless they've heard of you and think you sound interesting.[/quote]


Thanks for that mate.


Anybody played in the Camden venue ?

Cheers,

Nathan

[Toadonroll]

I played the Fiddlers Elbow a few years ago.
We had an excellent sound engineer, but I think the promotor was a bit flaky and all the othe bands pulled out. Since this is the only time I've ever been there, I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

House engineer: Excellent
Typical audience numbers: We played to our mates and the local drunkards!
Quality of billing: Terrible, all the other bands pulled out!
Vibe: Acceptable
Stage sound/monitor mixes: Excellent
House backline quality: Not sure, we used our own.
Tricks to get industry people down there : Trendy haircuts, tight jeans and don't tune your instruments!

[PapillonIrl]

[quote name='Toadonroll' post='392601' date='Jan 27 2009, 12:03 PM']Tricks to get industry people down there : Trendy haircuts, tight jeans and don't tune your instruments![/quote]



We fail on all counts.

Thanks,

Nathan

[cheddatom]

We played the Fiddlers Elbow twice near the start of last year. We were told we'd have to bring 15 people or we'd be charged!? But we knew in advance so just got plenty of mates in. That was the first gig. The 2nd gig we had already passed the test but and mates didn't want to make the journey again. There were around 15 people in there, which as small pubs go (played a lot of them!!) isn't too bad. I very much doubt you'd ever get any record execs in there. From what I remember the PA was OK for vocals, I don't think he mic'd anything else up. The soundman was friendly instead of the standard c***. We didn't share/borrow any backline. Anyway, it wasn't too hard to get to, the sound was great on stage (probably down to us more than him) we went down well, no hassle, back home for a victory smoke by 1am!

(I did actually hit a fox on the way home which cause £1500 worth of damage to an A4 estate, but that's got nout to do with the venue)

[PapillonIrl]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='392667' date='Jan 27 2009, 12:56 PM']We played the Fiddlers Elbow twice near the start of last year. We were told we'd have to bring 15 people or we'd be charged!? But we knew in advance so just got plenty of mates in. That was the first gig. The 2nd gig we had already passed the test but and mates didn't want to make the journey again. There were around 15 people in there, which as small pubs go (played a lot of them!!) isn't too bad. I very much doubt you'd ever get any record execs in there. From what I remember the PA was OK for vocals, I don't think he mic'd anything else up. The soundman was friendly instead of the standard c***. We didn't share/borrow any backline. Anyway, it wasn't too hard to get to, the sound was great on stage (probably down to us more than him) we went down well, no hassle, back home for a victory smoke by 1am!

(I did actually hit a fox on the way home which cause £1500 worth of damage to an A4 estate, but that's got nout to do with the venue)[/quote]

Vocal PA support only ? How big is this stage ? Will it accommodate a 7 piece band (inc. keyboard rig and 4 piece brass section) ?

Thought this was a bigger place.

Cheers,

Nathan

[attackbass]

Played the Windmill years ago in my old band as a secret show. It's basically a pub from what I remember with a pretty small stage. I thnk from what I remember the sound was ok - nothing spectacular but it was good. It was about the time bloc party jsut broke out and I can remember they had done a similar thing.

In terms of backline - i'd bring your own, I haven't been to a venue ever where they have supplied backline that was of any quality.
Crowd/Industry - It's unlikely that there will be any industry people there unless you have either invited them or they go to that bar or pub on the offchance. Same goes for crowd, especially london... people don't tend to go to gig when they don't know the band, unless they're there for a drink/night out or are there to see the support acts - best way to get a crowd is to message your fans on myspace from london and get them down there.

Also playin twice in London back to back can affect turn outs sometimes.

Hope you have a good gig and the turn out is good.

[PapillonIrl]

[quote name='attackbass' post='392996' date='Jan 27 2009, 06:04 PM']Played the Windmill years ago in my old band as a secret show. It's basically a pub from what I remember with a pretty small stage. I thnk from what I remember the sound was ok - nothing spectacular but it was good. It was about the time bloc party jsut broke out and I can remember they had done a similar thing.

In terms of backline - i'd bring your own, I haven't been to a venue ever where they have supplied backline that was of any quality.
Crowd/Industry - It's unlikely that there will be any industry people there unless you have either invited them or they go to that bar or pub on the offchance. Same goes for crowd, especially london... people don't tend to go to gig when they don't know the band, unless they're there for a drink/night out or are there to see the support acts - best way to get a crowd is to message your fans on myspace from london and get them down there.

Also playin twice in London back to back can affect turn outs sometimes.

Hope you have a good gig and the turn out is good.[/quote]

Thanks.

Bringing our own backline is not going to happen this time round, as we need to travel by plane in order to meet other commitments (we're based in Ireland).

I think I might start another thread regarding backline rental outfits in London...

Nathan

Edited January 27, 2009 by PapillonIrl

[ahpook]

[quote name='attackbass' post='392996' date='Jan 27 2009, 06:04 PM']I remember with a pretty small stage. I thnk from what I remember the sound was ok - nothing spectacular but it was good.[/quote]

spot on - i've played there a few times...it's got a nice atmosphere, but not always that busy.

bring your own crowd !

[attackbass]

[quote name='PapillonIrl' post='393105' date='Jan 27 2009, 07:44 PM']Thanks.

Bringing our own backline is not going to happen this time round, as we need to travel by plane in order to meet other commitments (we're based in Ireland).

I think I might start another thread regarding backline rental outfits in London...

Nathan[/quote]

Get in touch with the other bands playing the gigs and see what you can arrange to share backline.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='PapillonIrl' post='392744' date='Jan 27 2009, 02:14 PM']Vocal PA support only ? How big is this stage ? Will it accommodate a 7 piece band (inc. keyboard rig and 4 piece brass section) ?

Thought this was a bigger place.

Cheers,

Nathan[/quote]

Maybe i'm wrong about the PA as I have a vague memory of him trying to get a DI out of my amp. I doubt they'll have many mics for your brass section! It'd be best to try and get hold of the soundman before you leave for the gig to sort it out. You will be cramped on the stage, especially if there are other bands on filling it with gear. I could hardly move and we're a three piece.

[tombboy]

We play the Fidds on a regular basis. Geat little venue. Dan, the promoter is a nice guy as is the sound engineer who really knows his stuff. Eastern european fella... can't remember his name. They are converting rooms in the basement into rehearsal and recording facilities too. Weirdest smoking area ever... small triangle bit out the back of the pub. Also they have a locked room for cases etc.
Great sound on stage and FOH. You should have a blast.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='tombboy' post='393563' date='Jan 28 2009, 12:01 PM']We play the Fidds on a regular basis. Geat little venue. Dan, the promoter is a nice guy as is the sound engineer who really knows his stuff. Eastern european fella... can't remember his name. They are converting rooms in the basement into rehearsal and recording facilities too. Weirdest smoking area ever... small triangle bit out the back of the pub. Also they have a locked room for cases etc.
Great sound on stage and FOH. You should have a blast.[/quote]


+ 1, play there a lot and even if the sound man hasn't got a clue what your saying he gets a good sound.

[MananaMan]

Played the Elbow late on last year. Sound guy was capable, but frustratingly slow (3 hours to soundcheck three bands...)

Promoter and all staff in the venue are friendly, not too bad a place to get to although parking could be a trouble.

Stage is pretty small, we're a five piece (3 guitars) and some of us were on the floor... although we were first on so there was a lot of backline on the stage too. Its also kind of triangular, so it looks bigger than it is when you get everyone up there!

Quality of the other bands - sub-standard when we were there, although I think the headliners were OK.

As for crowd/vibe, well, we didn't have a good time there and won't be rushing to return (played better places in Camden) but that's not to say you guys won't like it!