South East Venues: The Rowbarge, Guildford, Surrey

Responses to This Article

Guitar/VoxPermalink Reply by Charles Ranson on October 8, 2010 at 17:30

I'd second the 'Absolute' suggestion - the go-to station when you tire of pretending to be an XFM lovin' teenager ;)

Hmmm...Bagster House...that's in my manor...

Permalink Reply by dave on October 9, 2010 at 22:38

cant believe there were six bassists at the unicorn in aldershot ,almost every new band starting up is looking for a bassist,almost every wanted add is for bass ,and they are all looking for a jam in aldershot.its a waste of talent to just go out and jam for free.and its an insult if the bar dont even come across with free beer for the musicians.and it lets down fellow musicians trying to make a living by filling venues.it keeps prices down and gigs even harder to get at a local level.jammers should stick to villiage halls and non paying venues .i am all for bands running jam sessions and charging the right money, i have done a couple off jam nights and sessions in the past and allways charged and spread the dough around on beer and a few quid for any guys that had to pay petrol or fares .

Permalink Reply by dave on October 9, 2010 at 23:06

well trisha you will have to drag your guitarist kicking and screaming into the light.its hard to get somone thats developed thier own sound over years of playing to move on before they are ready.the problem is once you are at a certain level you tend to spend more time playing what you know instead of listening to new material ,i was in that rut years ago until it was pointed out to me,to be honest i felt that i had wasted a lot of time.

Permalink Reply by Paul Santilli on October 10, 2010 at 14:33

Absolute Radio hah! I tuned in, and what did I hear? B52s!

Bass/VoxPermalink Reply by Trisha Macnair on October 10, 2010 at 15:59

well come along if you feel like it - I'm going on Monday, rather nervously as I will not know anyone save the nice Scratch who runs it ! 8-11.

Bass/VoxPermalink Reply by Trisha Macnair on October 10, 2010 at 16:02

There's no dragging him, but instead we are looking at setting up a seperate band as the rest of us are so keen to do more and he is retreating into career and marriage/kids..

Permalink Reply by dave on October 10, 2010 at 16:39

career and kids eh ,hate seeing peoplle throwing thier lives away like that.seriuusly though a band is a masive commitment its ok for older retired guys like me but a 20yo guy has to make realistic choices,if you have to think about it dont do it is my motto.

Permalink Reply by Kirsty Pollock on October 10, 2010 at 19:54

why don't my replies thread properly?

Wow Dave, never thought of jam nights like that. Let me assemble my thoughts...

I think that every bassist there at the Unicorn was in a band already. And the pub also does gigs - the young group up first have a gig there later this month. The Greedies got the gig at the Row Barge on the strength of a jam night performance, so it they can be a force for good - at least I think. Every one I have been to has been at a place that also does gigs. Also they can work quite well as a quick audition for anyone you are thinking of getting into your band. Most of the audience seem to be the other musicians (with the odd boy/girlfriend or mum) - at least at the ones I go to.

I don't know if jams cut down on possible gig nights. That i couldn't say.

Permalink Reply by dave on October 10, 2010 at 20:37

its a valid point that a regular venue has a jam night to audition bands like the greedies in order to see how good they are but the sure way of auditioning a band is to check out thier full set at a venue thus filling more seats.and what about promoters and agents these guys are on the front line keeping prices up and assuring proper payment .being realistic anybody can set up a website and get bookings for pub gigs at £150 a night but to make any real money you need at least a wedding and a decent function every week.even solo acts struggle to get by on pub money alone.if a venue has three live music nights a week and one is a free jam night his entertainment budget is saving 30% while there is 30% less work coming from the venue for profesional musians.so it does make it a little harder for evreryone.pub gigs have been bread and butter for me and a lot of struggling musicians .keep music live but paid for,live bands have finally started pushing discos out of the pubs and clubs and while live music is so popular it would be nice to see prices going up.good rant or what.

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