Read the Fanzine First Live Night:
Saturday 29th April 2006
@ Progress Bar, Tufnell Park
Lineup: Kaputt, Parke Davis and Gary from Vespucci & Jones
After the Extra Time bar gig Tris had got "doing a night" out of his system and was too busy to do it regularly, but I was keen to keep it going and take the concept further
We'd had an idea about passing the baton on to someone else, after all lots of people talk about doing a night but few ever get around to it. Having done a lot of the leg-work we could hand them a ready made night that they can put their stamp on then pass it on to someone else, until eventually it came back to us.
I liked the idea, and many people showed an interest at the actual night, but none of them got past the talking stage. JG on the other hand showed an interest in continued involvement so I decided to proceed with him.
| "a lot of people had said they would have come if it was on a Friday or Saturday (as it turned out, when we did a Saturday night they complained it was (just) in Zone 2, when we moved it to Zone 1 they started avoiding me)" |
The first decision was where to host it - the Extra Time bar had a lot going for it, but it wasn't ideal. For example they didn't do weekend hires yet a lot of people had said they would have come if it was on a Friday or Saturday (as it turned out, when we did a Saturday night they complained it was (just) in Zone 2, when we moved it to Zone 1 they started avoiding me).
I became interested in a venue in Tufnell Park called The Progress Bar, a large pub building in the middle of a long residential street linking Tufnell Park to Holloway Road.
The upstairs venue was "shabby-chic" (more shabby than chic to be fair) and I liked it, the downside was that it cost £250 to hire on a Saturday night.
At first I thought it was just too expensive, until they mentioned that we could have bands on ... now my imagination was running wild! We could charge an entrance fee if we have bands on!
Kaputt
As timing would have it, a band called Kaputt had recently sent me an e-mail asking if we put on bands as well as DJs as they were keen to play. Not only that but the lead singer had been in the Go Team - surely that would have people queuing up! Oh I had a lot to learn.
I moved swiftly and before you knew it the venue and the band were booked, flyers designed and printed, e-mail flyer sent out it was all going pretty smoothly, or so I thought!
| "they had no Microphones, Stands, Cables, or anything other than a clapped out basic mixing desk and amp." |
My inexperience of putting bands on soon came to light when one of the members of Kaputt asked "Does the venue have any DI boxes?", After a google to find out what a DI box is (if you're interested it stands for Direct Input and allows the band to plug their instruments directly into the venues PA system so that the sound engineer has control over the levels - needless to say, I didn't know that at the time) I contacted the venue and they didn't have any DI boxes, which was no biggy, at least not compared to the fact that they had no Microphones, Stands, Cables, or anything other than a clapped out basic mixing desk and amp. Putting that little problem to the side for a moment, another bombshell was that the venue didn't have a sound engineer - and it's not a skill you can pick up just like that.
It looked like a complete disaster and as I saw it we had 2 options - a) cancel the night and lose my £125 deposit. b) do another free entry DJ night and lose the £250 booking cost.
Neither of these options particularly appealed as I was still determined to put live bands on.
Upon hearing of our dilemma, Tris seemed to have the answer. He had a mate who used to put on raves that would bring his own PA system, microphones etc and do the sound engineering, free of charge - provided him and his colleague could test out a new light show they were working on.
It sounded perfect - no cost, and a light show to boot!
| "if Tris had mentioned that his mate had wired up a U2 gig in his native Australia then I'd have been more likely to take him seriously." |
Alas, I started to have my doubts. Tris was going to have to drive down to Southampton to pick them up, with all the potential of getting stuck in traffic or breaking down. Then there was the fact that the drummer in Kaputt was adamant that drum kits needed to be micked up whilst Tris's mate reckoned that in a pub venue it wasn't necessary. As a lay person I had no idea who was right, but if Tris had mentioned that his mate had wired up a U2 gig (amongst others) in his native Australia then I'd have been more likely to take him seriously.
As it was, I started to worry that perhaps experience of putting on raves wasn't strictly relevant to putting on pub gigs.
| "when you look back on your life if double-glazing is amongst the highlights then you've gone seriously wrong somewhere." |
With perfect timing, I received the annual royalties for a book I'd written. It was just under £500, not exactly life changing, I could have squandered it on double-glazing or something like that, but when you look back on your life if double-glazing is amongst the highlights then you've gone seriously wrong somewhere.
In an instant I'd booked a Sound Engineer, use of his Mackie PA System, Sure Mics etc, and whilst I was on a spending spree, booked his lighting package, and it's just as well the venue didn't allow smoke machines else I'd have booked that too!
Tris was justifiably not happy as he'd called in a few favours to get his mate on board, and now he had to cancel him and explain that I didn't have confidence in him.
The cost were now so out of control, having spent nearly £500 on an engineer, pa system and lighting, not to mention £250 on hiring the venue, and £100 for the band, that even with a full house of 125 paying customers at £5 each, I couldn't even break-even!
Since I was spending so much, it seemed like a good idea to book more bands so I began sounding out Big Cash Prizes about playing and emailed JG to see if he thought it was a good idea. I hadn't had a reply so I went ahead and tried to book BCP.
As it turned out, there had been problems with his e-mail server delaying delivery of his immediate reply which was along the lines of "DON'T DO IT!".
| " Very good advice, which I naturally chose to ignore." |
He made a lot of valid points - I'd already come a cropper once with my haste and it would make more sense to stick with one band and not try to run before we could walk. Very good advice, which I naturally chose to ignore. So whilst BCP couldn't make it in the end because of another commitment, another band called Parke Davis who'd asked to play were right up my street so I signed them up.
Gary from Vespucci & Jones
The lineup was completed by a mutual mate Gary who always started to play the piano when there were parties at his house and it turned out he was putting together a band called Vespucci & Jones. The Progress Bar perhaps didn't have a decent PA system, but they did have a baby grand piano!
Parke Davis
On the afternoon of the gig I met the sound engineer at the venue and helped him cart all his equipment up the stairs - and there was a lot of it!
I was a bit fed up that nobody else could make it until early evening but it did mean I could learn about the PA system and lighting as I helped the sound engineer put it together.
When he turned the lights on I was amazed at how a basic upstairs function room in a north London boozer had been transformed into a pukka looking gig venue that could rival anywhere, and when Parke Davis started to sound check I could tell that it was going to sound good.
| " I managed to piss off a lot of people at one point or another" |
In my enthusiasm I completely forgot about sorting out a meal for the sound engineer, something that he pulled me up on after the event. It's safe to say I managed to piss off a lot of people at one point or another!
The manager had been a bit off-hand early in the afternoon but he changed his tune when he saw the professional setup, and was even happier when he saw the turnout.
| " I'd already spent so much money that I just didn't care" |
JG and I stood at the door, waiting for people to form an orderly queue and pay their £5. But as soon as the doors opened, a load of people just barged past. I should have gone around and pestered them to pay up, but really I was so relieved that a good crowd had turned up, and I'd already spent so much money that I just didn't care.
We'd all done "themed" DJ Sets - mine was Beggars Vs Ninjas - two of my favourite record labels were Beggars Banquet group and Ninja Tune, so I decided to check out their respective back catalogues through the now defunct "all you can eat" Wippit legal download service, and pulled out some real gems.
I'd put hundreds of albums on my MP3 player and listened to them at work and during my commute to narrow it down to an hour set, and I was so paranoid that I'd even listed the track timings of where I should cross fade! But it paid off, several people came over to tell me how much they'd enjoyed it and asked for the track listing.
Parke Davis Recorded Live at Read The Fanzine - Progress Bar
Parke Davis came on and people were dancing like loons, you couldn't even get close to the front of the stage. Gary mellowed the audience out a bit, before Kaputt went for the jugular!
The only near mishap was that the DJ amp conked out during Glyn's DJ set. All the DJs had put their coats on top of it and it had overheated. Fortunately one of Tris's mates was on-hand to sort it out and get it going again, and the manager offered me a free hire to make up for it!
Despite all the ups and downs before the night, it was the kind of gig I wanted to put on, and I did! A healthy turn out (over 100), great bands, great atmosphere, and for me - a sense of achievement having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Read on: Second Live Night: Progress Bar in Tufnell Park
