Your ideal rock night

[Steverockhead]

Ok, if you could plan the ideal weekly rock night in town what would it be?
Feel free to comment my ideas but try to keep your posts realistic

I've said for a while the only way rock nights would be a success was if everyone pulled together or if we had one place that was so big/good that no other venue could compete with it

My ideal venue would be a club, a proper sized one too
Good P.A system and video output controlled by the dj to various screens around the place

4-5 bands per night

8pm till 2-4am

£3 entry

Doors open at 8pm

free entry until 9pm

9.15pm first band goes on

10.00 second band

10.45 third band

11.30 fourth band

Dj plays after until close

Why..

Bands.. and so many
Its very hard to fill a big venue especially as no-one wants to go to a club until the end of the night, and there's the extra competition these days from pubs that have late licenses, so you have to realistically offer something different from the usual club theme even on a rock night.
Scene bands do bring more people in but they mainly cater to underages, which is something I doubt we would want to do, also the music would have to be more mainstream based, people will sit through a song they don't like but not so much a whole band (or bands), so absolutly nothing that could be described as just noise or screaming.
Putting bands on early on is a way of getting bodies in the place and establishing a good atmosphere, the reason I would go for 4 bands is due to the number of guaranteed people that would be there keeping the place from looking empty even on a night with the worst turn outs (also known as a rent-a-crowd).
Lets say on average each band totals about 7 people, that's going to be around 25-30 bodies, that's enough to keep some venues looking half full.
I'm not really one for bands myself as in I wouldn't go some where just because a band is playing, but if I was going to go to the club anyway some good bands are a way of keeping things interesting especially early on.
There's also the added benefit of promotion, bands do bring in more people, and unless you keep changing your drink offers every week, you probably don't have anything to make a big fuss about without different live bands every week.

£3 entry ..
No-one likes paying in but lets be honest, you get what you pay for.
Also, we have been spoiled a bit the last few years, back in the day you would pay £3 into Regents Park on a Wednesday, now a days such a thing is unheard of but it all goes towards the running of the night and its a small price to pay for a good night out really.. free entry for the first hour tho to encourage a good start


Videos??..
I've always wanted to be able to have control of videos in a club, I'm not just talking about being able to play music videos along with the tunes, I would want 1 screen just playing random silly clips, you know the ones .. people are usually getting hurt but its funny, I'd have nothing but hours of that playing constantly without sound.
Not on the main screen or anything just around so people could look at something to stop them being bored.
There's loads of promo stuff you can do with it from advertising drinks offers to encouraging people to make there own "misheard lyrics" videos and sending them in.(Think Fall out boy stick man video, yeah you know the one)
Everyone always mentions the idea of Guitar Hero or other computer related fun as well.
One of the best things about booking a good band is showing off just how good the band is when they have a really good video, I wish I could have shown off some of the band videos in The Venue back in the day
Example:- Razorwire


Rise To Addiction



In short its the only way I can think of getting a decent sized place and being able to keep it full and above the competition, put bands on, promote it with its own dedicated site, as well as playing an active part on Barnsleyrock, keep the community involved, support the local bands as well as establishing a great live venue for some of the best up and coming bands in the UK

[Miss.Plastik]

Good idea
I went out last night and it was shit... really shit
We all need to pull together and make this happen! =D

[Emski]

some good ideas Steve, by putting bands on till say 12 and then dj after you catering both for those that want to listen to live music and those that will turn up after for the drinks/pits those that would only go to a cluib at the end of the night anyways.

We know that paying a few quid in for a few bands works (well used to anyways) think the early days of venue when it would be packed with bands on and the dj after. it was the only place really to go till late on a friday so of course there were more people in once place but it also worked because there was live music and a dj.

My fave rock nights throughout the past were regents wednesdays (and then hell) and venue on Fridays. I do think the heedies night was showing some potential especially when held upstairs im mambo due to fact i think it was perfect size, decent dance floor and also plenmtry of space to chill. However managment there just did not give a toss. Now i know tht the new manager of that building is Ty who used to have vnue/assembly. reckon theres a chance hed be up for rock night again?

I like the idea of screens (very CRC though) but would that really be cost effective?

i think ideally a new rock night would have to have lots to entice people in and would need cash spending on it which tbh i doubt many people would be interested in. I think you would also need to out good drinks offers on to get people in. 341 hell wednesdays used to be great. Maybe to get people in early you coukld do 341 before 12 or something get people in earlier and then they stay,

From going to rock nights lately ill normally stay till about 2 (due to having to get back to where i live and notice that by then some places are still really empty and lots of people have not even made it to the club yet. If i was in the club and there were loadsa ppl there i think i would be more encouraged to stray past 2 but when you have spent the last 2 hours in the club with less than 10 people then its not exatly convincing me to stay!

[Steverockhead]

Just want everyone to realize WHY rock nights are shit



Feel like just banging every ones heads together sometimes
Even now, no-one gets it

Updated the Intro blog btw, more ppl could do with reading it by the sounds...

[Emski]

I was trying to side with you on that Steve. I know lsomewhere on that thread i did say why not concetrate on weds as opposed to new night, don;t know if that was later on that convo but ya you just get shouted down. I agree completly with everything you say steve and i know exactley why. After working at venue when you had imput in it and seeing it go to nothing due to oxygen i agree when you say people just dont get it. Barnsley aint big enough. It needs one good club each night not several trying to compete.

If millstones and oxygen both compete withQuasis it will just seperate everyone. Thats what happened after hell and later venue but it just seems to keep going around in a circle.

[Steverockhead]

Yeah I saw your posts they were later in the convo

I really dunno what to say ... its as if America just re-elected Bush for the 3rd time

Didn't CItrus just try a Friday rock night and fail?
Didn't The Courthouse also?

Now there's going to be 2 more

And nothing on a Wednesday... which has been rocknight for me for 11 years

[becci]

Emski said:

I was trying to side with you on that Steve. I know lsomewhere on that thread i did say why not concetrate on weds as opposed to new night, don;t know if that was later on that convo but ya you just get shouted down. I agree completly with everything you say steve and i know exactley why. After working at venue when you had imput in it and seeing it go to nothing due to oxygen i agree when you say people just dont get it. Barnsley aint big enough. It needs one good club each night not several trying to compete.

If millstones and oxygen both compete withQuasis it will just seperate everyone. Thats what happened after hell and later venue but it just seems to keep going around in a circle.

Millstones is not going to be competing with Quasis. They are trying to get people to go in both millstones and quasis on friday nights since they are run by the same company it would be pointless competing. I got a message on facebook about it which said :
"Millstones is starting having a rocknight on fridays with all pints 241 all bottles 2quid and free shot in quasis for anybody that buys 2 beers in millstones"
To me this seems really pointless, all thats going to happen is people will go get 2beers from millstones and then just go to quasis for the shot and then just stay there for the night.

Places need to stop trying to do new nights on fridays they are alright the way they are, Quasis always has quite a few people in there and the dj plays the songs you ask for so it is a good night. Wednesday are just disappearing, like steve said it has always been wednesday nights rock nights.

Its just going to get to a point where people just give up on rock nights because everywhere is trying to compete with everywhere else. Everyone loses out then.

[Emski]

yeah citrus did try it and it flopped.

Barnsley needs a rock night on a weds .....as long as i have been going out there as been wednesday rock night (about 10 years). Ok so i am the first to admit i dont go out on weds much as happens to us all we have to grow up and get 'proper' jobs which means i now maninly go out fridays. (and yes i admit ive only started to come back to barnsley rock nights over the last 6 month as i no longer live in tarn but i now make it at least every other week and am making that now become most fridays as i love it now im getting back into it it will be a shame for it to all get split up again!!) i moved away 3 years ago to Rotherham and as a result lost touch with a lot of people, but since started to venture back over here im now back in touch with a lot of people and coming over to tarn more. that was possible as i knew to hit the one rock club where i knew everyone would be!)

Whenwork alwas i like to venture over to tarn for weds safe in the knowledge i know there a rock pub to go to, i also know people who can only go out on wednesdays due to work, to close oxygen on weds will kill wednesdays and for what.....to open yet another night on fri and split people up even more, yeah thats really doing the rock scene good.

I have been there and worked in pubs tht were forced to close because of this diversity it doesnt do the scene any good. We should be aiming to get everyone together not seperating them!!!

[Th0rn0]

It does like the rock scene is dying.

I understand and agree with what you are wanting steve. From the technical side of things with the videos and what not I have enough computers to accommodate that if you are interested. I need to get rid of em.

But yea. Rock nights are in high demand fridays and wednesdays. But the thing is they wont but one on if there isn't going to be anyone there. Wednesday nights is the day that the room rakes in enough cash to stay afloat that week due to the amount of school kids who can go in and get served, Its retarded. So everywhere else usually closes early or doesn't open at all. The only other places I have seen stay open past that time are Soviet, voodoo and escapade. Same goes for fridays.

I just want to go out, drink, listen to good music and pit all night :)

[DJ Psycho]

i better think on my response on this one, because no doubt I'll be wrong what i say - further updates will follow shortly :)

[Steverockhead]

Lemmie guess.. another mediocre rock night?

*drumroll*

[becci]

Well it looks like there is going to be competion on wednesday nights now as well as fridays it seems. Quasis are starting rock night on wednesday as of tomorrow and oxygen is doing the bands on the odd fridays.

When will places see we dont need more rock nights the ones that are already there just need to be improved to bring in more of a crowd.

[Douglass]

there are too many half arsed 'rock' nights around.
My only problem is I don't like staying out too late because of work yet I would end up going late to avoid bands as I feel they are the worst part about a rock night.

Then again my opinion is hardly going to be valued much considering how little I even bother going out.