Only play here if you don't want to get paid, and if you're alright with the owner running off..
We played here on Friday 14th May, and had a bad experience.
The turnout was poor, but nonetheless we held out 'til 11.30 until we started playing, which in effect meant that we didn't leave the place until 3AM (got there for 7PM).
After we played the promoter Ian said they were having difficulty paying us as they hadn't collected enough cash on the tills, and usually the owner Tony makes up the shortfall. However, he'd disappeared and turned his phone off so no-one could get hold of him. So we were offered a part of our fee and were promised to get paid the rest. The promoter and bar staff were very apologetic (one was even crying) and the promoter claimed he was going to quit.
We've spoken to Tony since and he did claim we were to be sent a cheque with the difference, which has transpired to be something of a lie to stall us from putting the word about how we'd be treated.
Worse still, we had been warned. The week leading up to it the band Ohasis got in touch with us to say they'd be offered a massive reduction on their fee which they refused as they'd travelled from Nottingham for the gig. It was only after they kicked up a big fuss did the owner come back and sort them out. We were a little foolish to still do the gig but as our fee was alot less than Ohasis' then we thought it wouldn't be an issue.
It's worth noting that VLC are not mercenaries, and if Tony had reasoned with us before we'd played that the turnout was poor and would we accept a reduced fee and maybe just play a short set then that'd have been fine. However, we went way beyond the call of duty to do our part (our singer Chris paid £800 to get his front tooth done privately so we wouldn't have to cancel the gig) only to be bumped by a crook.
Stay away from Fever Night Club.
Gareth