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THE GOOD GIG PROMOTERS WHO TRY DO DO THINGS RIGHT - NAME THEM PLEASE..



And while we here let us name the positive people who are trying to do things the right way. Let's have a list of promoters and people who've treated you right at gigs and haven't made you pay to play

Mick at BAR MONSTA in Camden has bee nvery up front and vocal about the evils of Pay 2 Play, So has Keith from KBY in London. WRONG POP in Stoke, SILVER ROCKET in london always do things right.

If you've had a good experience pass on the details, share it with other bands and let us gig-goers know who's putting on good bills and doing it the right way.

Bands, promoters, add your comments, let us all know where you stand here and wh othe good people are

Tom Rose of Hooked on Music; one of that rare breed of promoters who actually promotes and pays bands.

http://www.myspace.com/hookedonwednesdays

Eric Coubard from "Bad Reputation" in Paris (ritual@noos.fr)
this guy has been around music scene , mostly rock and very small venues too for many years . it helped me when i was going back to Paris to breathe again some years ago .
i was a beginner as a music journalist and just got out of an operation , and this guy with amazing hearta nd humanity proposed me with his biggest smile this : "hey Cecile ,glad you finally made it in Paris you want a beer , c'mon i'd talk you about music art and life , how are you ? "
it also helped some of my friends as Jennifer Terran (remember Sean and Marina : yes this is the same woman i've been talk to you ) , Eric MCFadden , and this guy is carong really about art and people and humanity .

haha, if i was fair , i would also : me eheheheh ...but i'll let my friends tell about that much better than me

i would also like to mention Ben Chappel , in Nyc (this is the man who discovered and helped with oh so great humanity good people.

i'd like to mention : Sean and Marina
and also Monica Nelson
yes, you guys are amazing

let's say that's all for the moment for the moment

Like most big cities Manchester has some of the best and worst promoters ever. If you've read Sean's blogs you'll know who the bad ones are. here are some of the good ones.

Main man in my opinion is a lad called Ciaran Cullen. Aside from playing in a brilliant post-rock-atmospheric instrumental band called Laymar (if that sounds like your thing then their links are on the other pages here) he puts on Manchester's best night for all things post-rock, experimental, slightly strange and difficult-to-pigeonhole. It's called Wotgodforgot ( http://www.myspace.com/wotgodforgot ). He's also recently started promoting for The Castle Hotel which is a proper old-style pub gigs type of pub ( http://www.myspace.com/thecastlehotelmusic ) whose remit is "the only music venue in the Northern Quarter to offer free entry, cheap beer and a plug in and play experience! No soundcheck! Just pure unadulterated Rock 'n' Roll fun!" - he's currently booking for a whole load of nights so any up and coming bands fancying a Manchester city centre gig with no daft rules about how many people you have to bring or what you can do the week before, do get in touch on thecastlehotelmusic@googlemail.com .

Run on fairly similar lines is one of Manchester's longest running anything-so-long-as-it's-good nights FictionNonFiction ( http://www.myspace.com/fictionnonfiction ) - sadly spiralling costs mean they've had to start charging punters to get in but at a fiver for lifetime membership it's a bargain, and they treat the bands really well too.

We at manchestermusic.co.uk put on gigs at Oldham Castle (not to be confused with Manchester's Castle, above) and our policy is no minimum crowd and cos we get the venue for free all the door takings (£2 or £3 in depending on how many bands are on) gets split between the bands. This is mainly for bands from the Manchester area - http://www.myspace.com/manchestermusiccouk

Dry Bar also has good gigs on run on decent principles, but there are a couple of pay-to-play sharks who use it too. The good and not-pay-to-play nights are run by http://www.myspace.com/theantiscenerises and http://www.myspace.com/beatpromotions

For a truly DIY experience there's Jamboree ( http://www.myspace.com/jamboreemanchester ) - in their own words, "Jamboree happens once a month (every second thursday) at the Klondyke Bowls Club, Burnage Range, Levenshulme. Things that we like:
anti-folk, experimental noise, indie-pop, DIY & lo-fi stuff, spontaneous art, poetry, djing, short films & animations, homemade cakes, collaborative happenings, displays of artwork, people doing stuff and making noise.....
Biscuits may be available if you are there before they get eaten. If you want to be involved then drop us a myspace message or email jamboreemcr@hotmail.com "

I'll be back with more at some point probably....

Ejector Seat in Southampton (and now Brighton):

These guys have been consistently putting on awesome shows from their own pockets for 4 years now, and have always been concerned about the quality of music and not the profit margin.

http://www.ejectorseat.co.uk

I (and everyone else) salute them!

thanks for that info Blackout Cath, and what a coincidental something or other, just listening to that Laymar album right now now, it really is something rather good - we're swamped with instrumental post-rock at the moment, really had enough of it, put this album on with a "oh no, not more of the damn stuff, pass me a Sammy Hagar album instead" bad attitude and it really has just blown me away, still coming down from the first listen of the last track called Swords, heard it for the first time some five minutes ago - whooooooooooooooosh! Nineteen minutes of absolute whooooooooooooooooooosh!! One of the best things I've heard this year - stunning stuff!

Yes, this is the kind of positive gig promoter information we need, things like Ejector Seat and such, let us build up a whole load of information for everyone to use and let's support these people who are doing it right, THANKS EVERYONE. Maybe we'll print it all out, call it Who needs A Stage Pass or something

If anyone is looking for shows in Wales, check these places out. They don't pay much, but they do pay everytime:

The Whammy Bar, Ystrad Mynach (Swansea) - www.myspace.com/thewhammybar
The Dolls House, Abertillery - www.myspace.com/xdollshousex
The Studio Bar, Merthyr - www.myspace.com/thestudiobarmerthyr

Avoid like the plague:
Josh Mowsh at Misfit Promotions and his band Go-X (Rips bands off, gets bands to hire venues for him under the pretence of DIY gigs swaps and then doesn't pay up as 'the night made a loss', but his band still gets paid!?!)

Copied across from the Myspaff blog.

http://eclecticfusion.ning.com (Based in London)
http://www.myspace.com/thedarkblueboogaloo (Stourbridge/Midlands)
http://www.myspace.com/thewunderbar (Nr Bath)
http://www.myspace.com/acousticbrewuk (Birmingham)
http://www.myspace.com/edgeless (Nr Bath)
http://www.myspace.com/sheermusic (Swindon)
http://www.myspace.com/offbeatpromotions (Bath)
http://www.myspace.com/amorecords (Bath)

yeah, but those Edgeless people seem ot be about nothing but damn battle of the bands crap

At the moment, they have a battle of the bands thing going on, but they've been putting on good quality gigs for quite some time now.

Battle of the bands things suck, cut crap and just put good bands on, music isn't a battle, all that is about is who had the most friends paying to get in in and who#s mates drinks the most - bullshit, the lot of it - good promoters do not put on battle of the bands competitions, they put on good ballanced bills full of bands they're excited about and inspired by, they give new bands support slots with pulling bands and build pu the new bands so they become the headline money making bands - still, that's only my opinion, all up to you bands what you do with this information. I would go to a battle of the bands gig if you paid me, and several have tried to pay me...

Fair enough, different opinions and all that. We never take BOTB seriously at all, and treat them as just another gig, so it really doesn't bother us that they are BOTBs. They're just another place to play.

good promoters do not put on battle of the bands competitions, they put on good ballanced bills full of bands they're excited about and inspired by, they give new bands support slots with pulling bands

Which is what Edgeless have done for quite some time now. But I'm not here to argue, just to share friendly faces I've worked with.

everyone has the choice - hate the way venues are just clogged up with pay to play and battle of the bands crap and if you bands fall for it they'll keep on doing it to you - it isn't just another gig, its another promoter scam. SAY NO IT, WISE UP!

Anyway, the bank manager/session musician over at the Mono wants to give you your money back, I think that's what he said just now...

Like whats going on here,

The Croft, Bristol- 01179874144, Matt deals with the bookings or can put you on to other promotors that use the venue. depending on your sound.

Mr Wolfs, Bristol-01179273221 think it still has dress code, if you look like a chav or towny, NO ENTRY FOR YOU. All ways rammed on a weekend, plays all styles, bands get fed and watered. Closes about 6am

Whit Lion, Braunton, North Devon-01271813085, ask for J, Used to pay £150, no stage, small room but cool vibe, they like you to play for about an hour+.

Barfly, Cardiff-02920396589, Greg. The Welsh can be a tuff crowed but if you rock you rock.

Some people who put gigs on in Blackburn / Lancs

http://www.myspace.com/littlecaesarpromotions