Local Venues (Oxfordshire/Wiltshire): From Robert Paige's Blog Post (11/05/11)

I'm writing this in the hope of a) sharing what I know about venues I've played in my surrounding area and b) that others out there will do the same, so we can compare notes, trade stories and hopefully help each other find compatible venues.

I play in a covers band and so the pub circuit is where we play most, so the following will primarily be of interest to those who also play in similar outfits.  I've added links where available.

The Rolleston, Swindon, Wiltshire. 

A great little rock pub. Friendly people, good beer and a raised stage area. They have bands on Fridays and Saturdays and the booking agent, Status, also deals with the adjacent venue, The Furnace, which hosts gigs by original bands and tribute acts.  

All good so far, but they only pay £160. Having said that, thanks to the bikers that frequent the place, we've managed to get on the UK Bike Rally circuit due to playing here, so we know the reaction to us will be excellent and in many places that can be a bit of a battle, and that's why we come back here now and again. http://www.therolleston.co.uk/index.asp?m=10

The Baytree, Grove, Oxfordshire.

The Baytree is a Greene King drinking house and sports bar, so there are big TVs everywhere you look. They also serve generic pub food which can be a bit of a pain as they often don't move enough tables out of the way for a band to set up and we have, in the past, had to more or less set up our gear around diners.  

The manager here doesn't actually like music(?), but seems to be coerced by the aforementioned bevco to have bands on on Fridays.  As a result, they seem to book anyone who shows an interest in playing there who sends a demo and hassles them a bit.  They book up for the year ahead each August and pay £250.00  http://www.baytreepub.biz/

The Blue Boar, Wantage, Oxfordshire.

Another Greene King pub but, in a move to rid the pub of certain unwanted elements, Hal the landlord removed all their TVs and converted what was originally a stable block, and more latterly a bowling alley, into a function room.  

This function room can hold a couple of hundred people comfortably, so filling it can be a bit of a problem but there are lasers and moonflower lights to use and a smoke machine if you want it.  They pay £250.00  https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67431080209

The Swan, Wantage, Oxfordshire

One of the best pub venues for live music in Oxfordshire. The Swan was taken over about four years ago and since then, after having various battles with local residents regarding noise, has managed to become a genuinely good place for musicians to play. 

There is an in-house PA system, monitors, mics & stands and in-house sound engineer, stage lighting has been discreetly installed and there is a drum kit to use if needed. Everything is mic'd up and put through the PA so you have a moderately quiet but easily manageable stage-mix and a crystal clear well-mixed sound through the PA.  The mix is also recorded using Cubase, so if you have a 4Gb flash-drive with you, you can take a copy of your performance home with you, and they also have a couple of discreet cameras trained on the stage area, one relays a live feed to a big-screen TV near the bar, the other is recorded so you can get a video of your gig too.

And besides all this, musicians are treated with respect and everyone who's played here wants to come back.

They hold Original Band Nights, and bands play more for exposure so simply have a free bar and a recording of their set, While covers bands, who are in it for the money, get £250.00.  http://www.myspace.com/cgradwell69

Always remember to take an invoice!

I'll update this as more venues are played/remembered.