I am in a band in London and we think we are ready to play a few gigs. Can anyone from experience suggest some good venues who are happy to put on inexperienced bands?

Ta very much

What style of music do you play?

If you play indie pop/rock, then the Bull & Gate is a good place. The Windmill in Brixton is quite good too. Up All Night is a cool indie promoter too. Half Moon in Putney is another venue welcoming first timers.

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Songwriting and music recording blog

As Rachel says, it depends what style of music. My first advice would be to get hold of Dave at The Band Agency They're very receptive to new bands and promote at a few venues around London. Their night at Infinity is a good bet for a first gig. They can be a bit chaotic though - they're not always on it with the organisational side of things.

Agreed with Rachel about the Windmill. The people there are lovely and it's a really informal atmosphere, although it doesn't have a full PA so the drums aren't miked up. Don't know if that's important to you but you'll get s friendly reception from the staff. It's a bit of a hike from the Tube though.

You can also try Plum Promotions. The put on nights at the Water Rats in King's Cross which I love playing. Unfortunately they'll first want to book you into the Betsy Trotwood, which is an apalling venue. I've never understood how they have the gall to put acts on there, but it's probably worth getting it out of the way early on so you can play at the real place later.

Finally Bugbear are worth a shout. They book the Hope & Anchor in Islington, which is a good bet for a first gig. They also book the Dublin Castle, which is a ghastly place to play but (as you probably already know) is one of those venues that you kind of have to do if you want to attract 'industry' at a later date. Hence it's probably worth getting in with them.

Hope that helps,

Matt.

Quote Tinhouse:

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You can also try Plum Promotions. The put on nights at the Water Rats in King's Cross which I love playing. Unfortunately they'll first want to book you into the Betsy Trotwood, which is an apalling venue. I've never understood how they have the gall to put acts on there, but it's probably worth getting it out of the way early on so you can play at the real place later.

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Betsey Trotwood is a great venue actually - it's different, it's not a "rock" venue per se. It's intimate, it feels like playing in someone's living room, which i totally love! But it's not really good for drummers obviously...

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Songwriting and music recording blog

Here's another: http://www.thedirtyrider.com/

Just remember that all these "promoters" expect you to supply an audience. They will put you on with two or three other bands, and keep track of how many say at the door they have come to see you. If you don't get a decent number (say, >15) they are unlikely to rebook you. Expect to get paid about 60% of the door take after a deduction (usually about £60 or so) for costs. So if you persuade 20 of your mates to come and pay £5 each you'll get £24!

Anyway, it's good live experience - we used this route to get our first few gigs but wouldn't dream of doing it again

Edited by Garry S (16/02/05 02:08 PM)

Quote RachelAPP:

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Betsey Trotwood is a great venue actually - it's different, it's not a "rock" venue per se. It's intimate, it feels like playing in someone's living room, which i totally love! But it's not really good for drummers obviously...

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Maybe that's why I have such a poor view of it, being a drummer & all. But the first time I went I was just struck by the wrongness of anyone charging me money to go and see a band there. Bad sound, dreadful sightlines and even if you can get a drum kit on the stage, the ceiling is too low and the hard walls mean that it's overwhelming.

I felt like I'd been properly ripped off as a punter, and the out-of-town band I went to see there (a laptop & vox duo) were even more miffed that they'd come so far for a gig in a tiny little basement with half the punters unable to get in because of the natural bottleneck that forms right by the door.

There are loads of nice intimate venues in London - the Playroom, the Kashmir Klub night at the Bedford or the 12 Bar Club for example. Maybe it's just me being dumb but the venue didn't bill itself as a small & intimate one, so I'd expected something a bit more businesslike. And so did the band I went to see.

Obviously everyone's entitled to an opinion, and if you like the venue then fair go to you. I agree it would make an OK spot for an open mic night but I just feel that it's totally wrong for the type of music they try and put on in it. I do kind of feel that they co-erce bands into playing there on the promise of a Water Rats gig later. To me that's an admission that it's not great - if it was then they wouldn't have to do that.

Matt.

Thanks very much for your answers. Being complete novices we are still a bit green about these matters.

I suppose our stuff could be called punk-ish. We are aiming to be very loud and fast with a few electronic effects thrown in. When I say 'band', the final gigging lineup is still to be sorted out. At the moment we are two guitarists and a vocalist and may well use a backing tape/cd for drums/percussion/sound effects etc as we have had problems getting a permanent drummer.

I'd hope this would not be too much of a problem, or are any small venues a bit funny about recorded backing parts?

On accasions I caught the odd band doing something similar when I used to visit the Bull and Gate a few years back, so I suppose we would fit in there and 'indie' seems to be such a catch-all phrase we could fit in somwehere.

I haven't been to the Betsy Trotwood but it sounds like at least there wouldn't be as much pressure to bring a crowd of friends with us to such a small venue (or am I wrong to presume this?).

Actually it's quite an important point as those gig as a duo will have fewer friends etc to call on.I suppose that if you don't bring 30 people you can hop around like a flea from one venue another until you do get a 'following'. (I hate that term).

Thanks again and good luck with your own efforts.