Why are venues so horrid to us?
As a regular gig goer I’m used to the procedures and hassles and just put up with them. One thing that does get me down though is that at medium to large venues being treated like a violent criminal by the door staff.
At most central London gigs you start the evening being herded round a slalom of cattle fences, whilst being barked at by staff in hi-vis vest and head sets. You then have to be brusquely searched both bodily and your bag all while being shouted at to get “in the right line “etc. Simple questions such as “is this the queue for ticket collection mate?” are met with blunt, curt or patronising replies. The list of stuff you can’t take in is endless. It’s a thoroughly grim ritual particularly as you’ve paid £30-40 for the pleasure.
I know large crowds need to be handled carefully and that door staff have to deal with a range of people. But can’t they do it all with a bit more courtesy and charm?
The answer is yes (sometimes) as on Tuesday going to see My Bloody Valentine at the Roundhouse there was much less gruffness (but no less efficiency and safety).
As we got to the front I sheep-like got my bag ready to be searched but was ushered in unsearched like the rest of the queue. Inside the cloakroom staff reminded me not leave my ticket in my bag and so it went on; the bar staff weren’t the usual surly Goth types but made jokes as I fiddled with change. Even the guy handing out ear plugs (!) inside was pleasant.
The difference being I think is that Roundhouse is a wider arts venue where audiences don’t expect to be treated badly as a matter of course?
Is this just me?
So where’s the worst and best places to see bands and why?
- More from Chris G.
- Login or register to post comments
Questions beginning 'why does this happen to rock audiences?"
Invariably invite the same answer which is a variant on "because they put up with it."
No venue would dream of treating the ballet-going public the way they treat the "rock-going" public because they simply wouldn't come back. If there's one thing that the current "secondary market" mania illustrates it's that there are thousands of people who will pay anything and undergo almost any discomfort to be in the same space as their idols.
Theory! Fell of the back of a lorry! Lovely theory over here!
I blame that club culture. In the '90s, big clubs largely replaced gigs. The different opening hours - late, instead of 7.30 p.m. sharp - meant that the condition punters arrived in was usually a lot roudier, more, er, confused, and less willing to queue up in an orderly fashion. As a result, the people working the door, cloakroom and bar - just to make their life easier - behaved like stroppy drill sergeants browbeating a bunch of gormless Gomer Pyles.
Then, seven or eight years ago, the club scene shrank and the gig scene expanded again to fill the gap. And the venues hired the security and bar staff that the clubs had let go, who changed their workplace but not their approach.
Plausible?
Agree with you about the Roundhouse...
Really nice, helpful staff - best venue I'd been to in a long time. One of the problems with most venues is that they have to hire security firms on the night so there's no 'regular' staff who have pride and a sense of duty for the place they work. I agree with David about the amount people will put up with - it's shocking really. I've often thought that there should be some kind of gig goers union (similar to the Football Supporters Association)who could monitor these things and fight for standards etc. Some kind of 'official' kitemark for each venue might be a good idea.
2 Brumgigs of consequence, but possibly no more....
The Ceol Castle: fabulous pub backroom, used for some time by World Unlimited, super local promoters of all things folk/world/country, as a venue. Capacity perhaps 150-200 but only Willard Clark Conspiracy ever, in my going, managed to fill it, more often 11 people and a dog sat near the front as Gene Parsons, E2K, Little Johnny England, Andy White, the Tex Pistols, the Arlenes, people not exactly well known but not entire unknowns either, came to ply their lonely trade. I think it no longer runs as a venue, more's the pity, as I loved going there, desperately trying to drum up trade whenever I was going.
Outdoors at the MAC (Midland Arts Centre), "Sounds in the Round", actually laid on by the same folk as above, with such as Oyster Band, Richard Thompson, Kate Rusby, Transglobal Underground. Weather willing, room for 3 or 400 souls in a very intimate setting. The MAC is closed for refurb this summer and I wonder if this little haven will survive.
Supply and demand
While there is such a demand for tickets the quality of venues will continue to be "iffy" at best. With a recession about to hit the high streets will we see more realistic ticket pricing and venues starting to work towards treating us like human beings? Nah! They will still blame the bands.
Can I say a good word for the Bury Met? Great venue for seeing bands, if only they would bring back draft beer in the bar...
not being stripped searched
and decent ale you want the moon on a stick!
That's true
I once heard a (former) director of the MEN Arena bragging how quickly they could dispense and sell a pint of beer. A bit difficult to look after decent ale if you only have a few seconds to get it into a plastic pot at £4 a throw.
Is this a good place to mention the management of Westlife always referred to the band in meetings as "Shelflife". Thought not.
The Hacienda
Was possibly the worst place ever to SEE bands, as from 2/3 of the club you couldn't actually see the stage. Didn't stop some of my most memorable early gigs happening there...including Einsturzende Neubauten drilling into the walls and The Smiths doing the gladioli thing. Oh happy days.
And on other Brum venues...
The appalling sound, sightlines and general complete lack of atmosphere in the NIA Arena in Birmingham (think of the biggest school gym ever with a curtain draped across half of it, then stick a stage in front) has made us swear off seeing anyone there ever again...even when the Flaming Lips played there a couple of years ago.
O so true.....
Same is true of NEC. Thank goodness the good old town hall is open again, minus its awful accoustics. Robert Cray in 4 weeks, can't wait.
Sheffield
Sheffield Arena is dire, has to be the worst venue in Britain; about as charming as herpes, avoid at all costs.
Is Dingwalls still going in any shape or form?
It was fun, even tho' the pillars got in the bloody way of any decent view. The Venue (its name) at Victoria was also great, in an early supperclub type style, think a much bigger Ronnie Scotts. Richard and Linda T used to play there a fair bit, as did Rockin' Dopsie and his Cajun Twisters.
Glad to read the Roundhouse up and running again: I recall with pleasure dressing up for my first "punk" concert, the Stranglers supported by Handsome Dick Manitoba and the Dictators, who were't half as good as the name suggests they would be. Americans.
I like those venues. . .
with a three-sided gallery upstairs, like the original Mean Fiddler or the Hammersmith Palais. You could pack them in but most people had a really good, intimate view. I don't think I ever failed to enjoy myself immensely at either of those two places.
Robin2
The Robin2 at Bilston, Wolverhampton is a great little venue albeit a bit heavy on the photos of Roy Wood in the bar. Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings are there next month, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes back again in October, can't wait...
And don't forget
the Glee Club in Brum too..............excellent sound,intimate and close up views of tomorrow's stars, and a few who don't quite make it, plus a few burlesque shows a year (never been to one, honest).