Read the Fanzine at The Leather Exchange, London Bridge on
Saturday 19th August 2006
Lineup:
The Thought Criminals,
The Real Heat,
Rod Thomas
The Thought Criminals Myspace Page
The Real Heat Myspace Page
Rod Thomas Myspace Page
The Dublin Castle was great for occasional gigs, but the cost meant that we couldn't afford to experiment or take chances, and the three month lead time made it difficult to do regularly, so we wanted to find a cheaper venue where we could do something more regular.
I'd signed up for a function room finder website not expecting much but got a reply from a pub in London Bridge called The Leather Exchange.
It was a small pub that didn't usually open at weekends but were willing to open if we got enough people along. They already did some piano oriented music nights but tended to do comedy nights.
| "The stage looked worryingly small" |
The stage looked worryingly small on the photos but nevertheless it showed a bit of promise.
JG was too busy to come and check it out, and he had doubts as to whether it was going to be a worthwhile venue after we'd experienced The Dublin Castle. However, Tris was going to be in the area anyway so I met up with him to check the place out.
| " the stage wasn't small, it was tiny" |
First impressions - it was a bit of a walk from London Bridge tube, through long dark tunnels that was scary enough during the day let alone late at night, and the stage wasn't small, it was tiny.
But for all the minuses there were a lot of pluses.
First of all, it was going to cost £100 to hire the first night as a token of good faith (after all they were opening up the bar especially) but if we got good crowds and the takings were ok we would get it free after that. Not only that, but they supplied a sound man - something that cost £80 a night at the Progress Bar
It was on 2 floors, so Tris came up with the idea that he could split the hire fee, he would DJ upstairs and I would DJ and put on bands downstairs - make it a bit of a competition and give people a choice of music with no more arguments over musical differences, let the crowds decide!
Also of course whilst it was a bit off the beaten track, it was in Zone 1 and there are large parts of South London with no tube that have over-ground stations that terminate at London Bridge, so if we could get the word out (not easy in London) we could build up a nice steady audience.
| "it didn't take too many people to make it look busy" |
Being a pub with tables and chairs downstairs, it didn't take too many people to make it look busy, but including upstairs there was a capacity of 120 so we had the best of both worlds in a way.
Most importantly, Peter the owner wanted us there and tried to help out as much as he could.
It seemed the ideal venue at that stage of the development of the night, somewhere where you could experiment and try things out without risking a lot of money - and as long as we brought a reasonable crowd down to keep the bar takings at a decent level (and there was about a dozen of us between the Read the Fanzine gang and the bands) everyone was happy.
The PA system was very basic (I saw the mixing desk on Thomann's website for about £80) so I was aware that I couldn't book full on guitar bands. The Thought Criminals and The Real Heat were ideal as they could use a backing track if needed and they looked the part. Rod Thomas was already a one man band by this point so again he was an ideal candidate to play the night.
I turned up on the night of the gig and the pub was locked, just then the sound man and Rod Thomas turned up. The longer we waited the more I feared it was going to turn out to be another Progress Bar experience.
Fortunately someone turned up with a key and the preparations started in earnest - I began putting posters up and putting the remainder of my promotional CDs out.
The Thought Criminals
| "they'd never seen anything like it" |
When the Thought Criminals started turning up - looking a bit like a cross between slipknot and a modern day glam rock band, the bar staff literally had their mouths open like they'd never seen anything like it! They were just recovering when Rocky the lead singer turned up and shocked them all over again!
Rod Thomas
By the time Rod Thomas took to the stage we already had sold about 30 tickets @ £3 which was a good start to the night. He sounded great, and managed to enthral the audience despite Tris's attempts to lure people upstairs for a DJ set!
The Real Heat
I was worried that The Real Heat hadn't turned up for sound checks so I rang Suki again they jumped in a taxi, turned up, had a drink and then went on. It was no surprise to see Suki on NMEs cool list a year or so later. I had also been a bit worried that they were a bit too R&B / Pop for our night, but the audience loved it!
The Thought Criminals
The thought Criminals did an energetic set and the crowd were suitably impressed.
Kirlian from the band liked the night enough that he was planning on coming back even when they weren't playing and was going to email their mailing list about our night.
What I liked most about it was the nice relaxed atmosphere where random people got up and DJ for a bit.
I had been worried that after The Dublin Castle the Leather Exchange would have been an anti-climax. But far from it. Of course at the same hire fee we'd have gone for the Dublin Castle every time, but The Leather Exchange was brimming full of potential - and importantly Peter the owner wanted us there and did everything he could to help, unlike the Progress Bar who seemed to go out of their way to hinder the only night that brought people into their venue!
| "I pretty much broke even on the night" |
I pretty much broke even on the night, everyone seemed to enjoy it, though in the competition stakes I had an unfair advantage over Tris with me being downstairs and having the bands - a lot of the people he brought along stayed downstairs to watch The Real Heat!
Finally Read the Fanzine seemed to be on track - we would do the Leather Exchange gigs on a monthly basis and learn the trade in a low pressure environment, whilst doing gigs at the Dublin Castle every quarter for the bands that are too big to fit on the stage of the Leather Exchange!
Read on: The Smyths at Bar Monsta, Camden