NWB - Community Blog

i live in burnley - i went in during the football season. i personally wouldnt recommend playing there unless its changed recently.

or unless you like tattoos on faces and people with no teeth.

Blog search produced this:

www.northwestbands.co.uk/.../dean-casement-trio-gig-tonight-cancelled

Didn`t mind the tattoos and no teeth, but that was the women !!!

There are quite a few bands on here who've 'bottled out' of playing allegedly rough pubs.....stop being big chickens and either research the venue before you book a gig or learn to fight.....simple.
We recently broke into Huddersfield and the bloke who helps us arrange gigs in that area is a bloke called Paddy who's face is covered in tattoos...but he's a great bloke...salt of the Earth...
Granted, rough looking fuckers are usually 'rockers' of some kind but these are NOT usually the people who cause trouble.....
Problem seems to come from bands who book through an agent and are too lazy to check out the venue for themselves, then they hear 'it's rough'....there was a big fight there last week...etc....which makes the band look like a bunch of wimps....lazy wimps at that.....
Check out a venue for yourself, and make the decision for yourself.....if you don't fancy it....don't book it.....

why bother playing a gig if your gonna spend all night shitting it? Play somewhere comfortable.
@Gary LGIT, I agree, do your own homework and ignore hearsay - some people are scared by certain pubs... I get scared in barbers! :0)

RED ZOO
Calm down mate.....I wasn't having a go at you.....And when did I suggest it's the bands that cause any trouble....please remove your mind-forged manacles and read my comments again..... And, IMO a 40 mile round trip is not a lot if it gives you peace of mind.....I'm doing a similar 'fact finding' trip this weekend to check out a venue, mainly to make sure it's worth us confirming a booking.
I don't wanna take my band somewhere where we are not going to be comfortable doing what we do.....makes sense to me.....well worth a gallon of petrol and a bit of effort.
I wasn't suggesting YOU are lazy.....
I'm merely stating the fact that ALL bands should properly research a venue before commiting to a gig....
The press only report bad news.....how many bands have posted a bad review of this venue compared to the number of bands who played the venue without problem.....
Have you been to this venue....is there enough room to set up....what's the access like....is it the right sort of crowd for your style of music...etc....all things you need to know before you turn up and IMO the best way to find out is to go in person and NOT just take the word of ONE band who 'didn't like' the venue for whatever reason.....

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a 'review' section on here for that very purpose.
I have reviewed several venues simply from a band point of view, not a 'how good were we last night' type of thing, for the express purpose of letting other bands who may not have played there know what to expect.
For complete peace of mind, Gary is right - if in doubt visit the venue - but if you just want an idea of how big it is, how big the stage area is, how the load in and out goes and what sort of crowd, then a review from another NWB band (or fan) should give a pretty fair idea.
Just MO.

AYP

This is Mark from Absolute Heroes - we played there 10th June after the first footy match of world cup and had a great gig. The lndlords were great, bought us drinks and their customers were a bit rough but enjoyed the stuff we did, especially the older punk stuff. One guy dancing did fall over monitors but we are no strangers to this - we see it regularly!!!
We have re-booked and won't be worried about going back.

Red Zoo
Like I said, I wasn't having a 'pop' at you.....
At least you are trying to gain information about a venue, in your own way.....just offering an opinion which may be relevant to a few other bands.
The Price of petrol is cheaper than a visit to the Dentist, or new PA equipment, or a new van windscreen.....

a rating system for venues by bands would be a good idea, a sort of 1-5 star type thing, anonymous, a bit like leaving feedback on ebay,
How do you rate the audience.........
How do you rate the hosts............
how do you rate the performing area...
Would you be happy to play there again...
This would have to be linked to a genuine booking played at a gig where you can leave feedback sort of thing, perhaps venues could do the same with bands, I dont know, just a thought....Tex

see where youre coming from Tex but even off other peoples ratings, you'll never be sure. Using this case as an example, 40 mile round trip, whats that - 40 minute journey at 30mph - its not Magellan is it? Go for a pint with the band and check it out.

Listen boys we have played at this venue and we recently had to cancel a gig there which i posted on here for a band to step in and fill, which resulted in a barage of funnies ie "I predict a riot" in the set list etc.I really wasnt bothered if anyone took it, but we had a genuine reason to cancel and i did my bit to try and get a replacement.
However i seriously doubt we will play there in the future, not just cos its full of meatheads etc, but mainly because we got stuck in the smallest corner space ive ever played, almost set up in a straight line.Yes there are dickheads in there but ive played plenty of venues over the years with the same situation and i believe i can handle myself resonably well,and ive never "BOTTLED OUT" of playing any so called rough pubs. But i will not tolerate pissed up meatheads thinking they can intimidate you and using all their one brain cell to spill beer on the equipment it took me years to assemble, and to be told instead of getting £180 as originally agreed we are getting just £100.Just read what Dean Casement blog says reg this. So LGIT dont know if you ever played the royal butterfly , i really dont think so and if you have or you want to you, either youve got crap gear or you dont give a flying F about it getting nicked or trashed.So here is your research results "RED ZOO"
Forget your personal safety and the petrol cost, if you truly value all your gear DONT PLAY THERE !
Paul

hahahahahahahaha we played "i predict a riot" /we also got the full asking price no problem/+we do have great gear/ its has got a small stage area but hey ho......
i do think its new landlady though

good luck HEROES keep letting piss heads fall over your monitors, as long you got em insured and youve got public liability you got no probs have you.We also got full asking price when we played there last time but other bands have not recently , ref to the above Dean Casement blog and you will see this
But whatever,each to their own.Oh and next time you there ask the landlady how the previous lanlord is and what happend to him, interesting story.Plus i think RED ZOO is doing reseach about the venue , he is asking other bands who have played at the butterfly their opinions on the place, that to me is pro active not "Lazy",and isnt that what being part of the NW Band community is all about, helping eachother? and seriously if we used an agent which we dont, if he booked us into the butterfly he wouldnt be our agent anymore

@Aces Totally agree with you. We certainly won't be considering playing there, and@Red Zoo, you're quite right to use this site to try to gain objective information about venues, gear, agents etc.

Rob

Red Zoo
No worries mate, you make the best decision for your band....sorry if I ruffled a few feathers here.....It wasn't personal....just my general opinion.....Gary

We (BBGM ) played there last night. Can only speak as we found it.
Fantastic night, great crowd, even blokes dancing on the tables.
Tracey is a wonderful, committed landlady.
Any of you folks living in Burnley could do worse than try and support her and help it grow as a venue.

I agree with everything in the Above post, UNM played there tonight and got a great reception, both from the Landlady Tracy and the locals. They were well into their music and each song was received well (they love their heavy rock btw) the pub itself is clean and tidy, and all the locals were chatty and friendly. A great venue.