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Venues

Places where your band will play come in all shapes and sizes and can be divided up into different types.

The type of venue will give you some idea of what to expect when you get there. When you are advancing the show (see section) find out about the venue, what kind of shows they put on, what part of town is it in etc.
You might not be able to do very much about your death metal band being booked into a drum and bass club by this stage but at least if you know in advance you can think of a way to break it to them gently.

1 Pubs;

Can vary enormously from standard boozers that put on the occasional band on the strippers night off to pubs whose main business is putting on gigs. The house lighting and sound systems will also be variable. Always try to speak not just email, with the house technician to find out about the supplied gear. It may be worthwhile bringing some bits and pieces of your own, microphones in particular can often be a bit ropey in cash strapped pub venues.

Some will have separate music rooms and in some you will be in the same room as everyone else and will present an extra challenge to try and win over the regular punters. Often the pub will promote their own shows but some will have nights run by outside promoters and be available for hire.

Typical pub venues;

'The Steamboat', Ipswich. A typical music pub, food at lunchtime, bands in the evenings , enthusiastic landlady, Val.

'The Bull & Gate', Kentish Town. A well known pub venue which has been going for many years.

2. Village and community halls;

Will usually be hired by a promoter or band and don’t get involved in promoting their own shows. Will very often have few or no technical facilities, sound and lights and you or the promoter will have to supply all the equipment needed. Make sure you build this into your budgeting and planning. Also staff although they may be helpful will probably have little specialist knowledge about bands’ requirements. So be patient when advancing shows in these kind of venues and explain what you need in a friendly way.

3. Clubs;

Can vary from specialist music clubs like 'The 100 club' which has put on all sorts of acts since the 1950s . Clubs like this are likely to have decent sound and light systems and staff who are used to putting on bands. Some like the 'Milky Way' in Amsterdam are thoroughly professional concert venues used to dealing with international touring acts.
However standards do vary so make sure you do your advancing!
As well as clubs who exist to put on bands there are many dance clubs which as well as putting on pas by artists are used as band venues. Always be wary of sound and lighting systems in venues of this type as often when they say they have a 30kw sound system and 12 moving head lighting fixtures these are all pointing at the dance floor and are not much use for your band.

4. Colleges;

Once the backbone of the UK touring circuit slightly in decline now with the diversifying of student taste they do however still provide a nationwide network of mid level venues. They used to be virtually all student ran but are now often run by full time staff. 'UEA' in Norwich was one of the first to be run like this and managed by Nick Raynes established a reputation for itself as one of the best medium sized venues in the country. Bands would often start their tours there after doing production rehearsals at the college. Various venues are run by 'UEA' including 'The LCR and Hive', 'The Union Pub and Bar' and 'The Waterfront'.

Many colleges in addition to shows in their main halls put on bands in various bars around their campuses.
The larger college venues tend not to have their own sound and lighting systems and to use temporary stages as the hall are used for canteens etc.
When you are starting off if you play at a college it will probably be as a support act and although these will be usually booked through an agency it is worth getting in touch with the ents. Office to try and blag a gig.

5. Theatres, City Halls and larger venues;

The next level of venues are the theatres and ex ballrooms and cinemas like 'The Forum' in Kentish Town or 'The Regent' in Ipswich. Both hold about 1500 people The Forum has sound and light systems the Regent does not.
These are some of the best venues in the country from the point of view of seeing and hearing a band, the acoustics tend to be pretty good, ex cinema and you can generally see the stage. They often, like the Forum have a bit of atmosphere and a slightly deacayed air which suits rock music.
The next stage are the arenas and purpose built sheds like the 02, Ok it wasn’t purpose built for bands but…

Typically an act touring these kind of venues and up would be carrying everything with them including the kitchen sink, that is their own catering.
Venues like these will generally put on a wide variety of events, anything that can sell tickets and are less likely to have a “flavour” of their own.
But once you are playing and filling spaces like these you won’t really mind.