I need to ask you a question.

At the weekend, I played a show, that I co-organised consisting of 5 bands including my own. The final band was a one man breakcore / gabba laptop guy who was due to play in the main bar (rather than the back room) after the last band.

The laptop guy set up and started playing and the owner of the bar stood over him, trying to argue with him to turn it off for the reasons that it was:
a) not music
b) a noise
c) driving people away (I might add that it was about 12.45pm and the bar closed at 2pm, people were leaving anyway to go to places that stayed open later)

The regular promoter who works there had ducked out early leaving the money from the door with the sound engineer, so he wasn't there to back me up.

After the owner physically turned the laptop guy off, a "witness" was brought to say that 2 people had complained about the breakcore. I try and reason with him that, he can't possibly know that its driving the customers away seeing as he came in, and started arguing with the laptop guy, that HE didn't like it and HE wanted it off, and because he wasn't used to this music (I might add i've been in the bar on night similar things have happened) he is reacting in a close minded manner.

This really fucking pissed me off, should I be right in thinking that if this laptop guy was gonna cause trouble the regular promoter should have said "we're probably not going to get away with this in the main bar"?

The other thing i'm debating is I have to play there again this week and I don't know if I should do it or not.

or am I blowing this well out of proportion and should just get over myself?

cheers

Bartok wrote:I might add that it was about 12.45pm and the bar closed at 2pm, people were leaving anyway to go to places that stayed open later)

Someone should inform this man that the licensing laws have been relaxed.

You story both scares and excites me. I'm putting on a very similar night at a local Arts Centre. They're more used to putting on inoffensive jazz-funk bands than they are to what we plan on filling their space with. I look forward to pissing a few people off but I'm still a little fearful that we'll get the plug pulled on us too.

I suppose that if the owner's going to be a Cunty McTwunty like this you should just walk away. Fuck him. That it pissed him off should provide some satisfaction, no?
I wouldn't play in his venue again (not unless I could be guaranteed a headline slot where I play a sax out of my arse).

well, yes, there was some amusement to be had from some of his quotes. The promoter there is a good guy, but it pissed me off that he left leaving me to deal with the owner.

Mainly I just feel bad for the guy who was going to perform, plus I love his music and was really looking forward to it.

cheers for the perspective.

Why not do a set that he's okay with for twenty minutes then go fucking batshit.

I say torch the place.
Then kick that dude in the nuts.

I dunno, I quite like the logical extention of this bar-owner's attitude!

Singer from 'The Cockney Monkey Debacle': "Ok, thanks for coming, and thanks to Monday on a Friday for letting us support them. This first one is called 'My love is like a floating corpse'! 1, 2, 3, 4..."

[music]

Bar Owner: "Sorry lads, some of the people here don't like it. I'm turning you off."

Singer from 'The Cockney Monkey Debacle' looks sad and shuffles from the stage.

I say what the fuck is "breakcore / gabba"?

I worked at at club for many years.... if we would have shut down every show we didn't care for or that scared away business, we would have ended up with about 15 shows in 8 years.

Still, probably not smart of the outside promoter to not clear it or at least give a heads up to the owner/manager of what the show would have been like.... and then ducking out early.... that is lame anyway. Better safe than sorry.

El Protoolio wrote:I say what the fuck is "breakcore / gabba"?

I'm in a band with a guy who likes/makes this music. It seems to be the Hella of dance music, if that makes sense.

I'm not a fan of electronic music but I have to try to drum along to it because I'm so happy to be in a good band that I daren't argue.

i'm not so big on breakcore. never was, really --- though i guess more than a few records i like could be accurately described as belonging to this style of music. (personally i wouldn't mourn the "Amen" break's being put out to pasture. it's an old cow. then again, so is the power chord, and people still find new uses for it.)

gabber was probably best exemplified by Disciples of Annihilation, whose album New York City Speedcore is to the genre what Entertainment! is to post-punk. it can be fun listening if you're in a hopelessly pissed-off mood, though the tough guy antics shouldn't be taken to seriously.