Fire The Scriptwriter

Tag: 2023/4/26

The London Diary: Shoreditch, day 117

Day 117

Monday April 17

I go for a local hustle round Shoreditch today which begins with a few underwhelming reactions. The most surprising and disappointing comes from a bar I thought would have been a good, soft start because it advertises a comedy night. When we see stuff like this we associate it with a bar, or a bar manager, which is proactive and open to ideas, or at least live entertainment. Maybe this person really will get back to me like they say, and I’ve just caught them a little preoccupied in their total indifference, but I leave thinking, ‘Why does this have to be so hard?’ But just carry on. Forget the last one and just keep going. We’ve had far worse rejections to be fair, but this one is just 

so benignly dispiriting. Like, what? ‘You didn’t even want to engage? Not even a little bit?’

From here I walk to Hoxton Square and a bar called The Red Dog Saloon. There, I am met by manager Adrian who definitely does engage. Then his reaction is along the lines of, free live music? For 20 minutes or so? What’s not to like? Sure. Come and do your thing. We settle on this Saturday. He even asks if we could do the following Saturday as well. If it works, of course. Damn. I can’t believe it. I’ve got us a Saturday gig in Shoreditch. And not only that, a possible repeat show. And who knows what after that? A regular Saturday in the heart of Shoreditch maybe? Why not? This really is just too cool. Once again, like we’ve experienced so many times, this hustling thing can feel like an impossible task and then it suddenly becomes the easiest job in the world. Catch the right person at the right time and it’s all, of course. Come on in. Sometimes you don’t even get to finish the pitch. You can just feel them straining to interrupt and say yes. Adrian really feels like one of those right people. He just seems to get it.

There is a brief chat before he completely opens the doos. This is where he asks a few fair enough questions including, ‘How many people do you think you can bring?’ My answer is immediate and I totally own it and stand behind it. ‘Probably no-one. But that’s not what this is about. We just want to use your bar and your customers.’ He actually nods smiles at this. A reaction I like to think means he appreciates the forthrightness of the answer. In context, and he gets this too, I’m saying we’ll give you a short free show on the back of almost a hundred gigs and two European tours of experience. This next part of the pitch has been expanded here a little for you. We’re not even massively that bothered about money in the hat anymore; we will still do it just to make the point that what we’re doing has value, and it’s nice when it comes back that we do, but anyone can decide what that value is. But from now, we’re really going to feel the bars out and bring the hat out if we feel it’s appropriate. And anyway, places and people are becoming more and more cashless. But hey, there’s always the Paypal donate button on our site. However, money or no money, these shows do have definite, solid value for us. You know that old cliche about gigs being offered for ‘exposure’, well for us it really is like that right now, at least for these gigs we’re arranging ourselves; they’re all about building our brand as they put us in front of new audiences. We also feel we’re taking our songs direct to the market. People who might hear us, and maybe even come to see us once we’re on the radio, or maybe have some sort of bigger profile. However, those people will not be seeing us in a dedicated music venue, or on some cool lineup. But they are seeing us now. To take this even a stage or two further, and to the idea we had right at the beginning, at this stage we’re often playing to people who don’t go and see live original music at all. Certainly not unknown live acts. So yeah, we really are going to completely new territories. This can be evidenced in much of the reaction we had when we first stated these intentions. Reactions that, while coming from a caring place, sometimes strayed into borderline verbally aggressive territory. ‘I am telling you. Do. Not. Do. This.’ And other people actually using the word beg. ‘I am begging you not to do this.’ Well guess what, we’ve done it almost a hundred times now. All over Europe. And now we’re doing it in London.

By the very fact that we’re playing even just a few songs in a bar, as well as being seen and heard, we have the opportunity to give out our cards and beer mats – and, when we have it, maybe sell merch with permission. We’re also able talk to new people and personally introduce The Diaries. That is the act, the website, and the very Diaries themselves. Then afterwards, if we get a person or two wanting to chat and know more, which we often do, bring it on. If we can gather up just one fan at a time along the way, that’s a fan who is now on our side and who will be out there spreading the word. That might be person to person, or person to a few people. There really is no more powerful message or advertising than that. There’s the value right there. Also, by taking ourselves out there again and again like this, we continue to socialise in a highly active and targeted way, and increase the chances of a personal meeting or introduction to a person, or people, who would like to get involved to try to take this to other levels. And it’s only three or four songs or 20 minutes or so anyway. It’s not like we’re giving a whole evening away. Meaning we don’t have to give that much of ourselves, and we’re not taking gigs away from those who play bars to pay their way.  This could all be the very definition of direct marketing.

As for that ‘how many people can you bring’ question, which Adrian was totally right to ask, we have thoughts there too. Really, at this stage of the game, it means how many mates or supportive family members do you have. Because sure, I could say 50 people, book a show and bring 50 people. Great. We’ve played to our audience and they’ve all spent money at the bar and made it worth everyone’s while. But have they really? When, in all good will and support, do you think those 50 people will come and see us again? They’ve done their thing, they’ve supported us, they’ve taken the time to see our show and, I’m sure, had a lovely enjoyable evening. Will they come out again if we get a show tomorrow? Next week? Two weeks’ time? Realistically, you’re looking at another six months before you can excite enough of your mates to make this ‘worthwhile’ again. Three if you’re lucky. But even then, will they come again the time after that? So no. That model doesn’t work to build an act either. It just gives you a one-off hit in a venue, and maybe an ego trip as you can pretend to be a rockstar to an adoring crowd for a night. One night. Good luck getting out regularly and building a name and a brand with that.

The London Diary: Shoreditch, day 118

Day 118

Tuesday April 18, 2023

You really don’t get much time to impress for the kind of gigs we’ve generally been doing so you have to grab them straight away and claim the territory as yours. Sometimes the overwhelm option is good, or sometimes you just hit a big singalong number straight away. Or sometimes you should just read the room and settle into it. Which is a lot easier said than done and, of all the options above, we’ve not always got it quite right, but this is what experience is all about. We’re in The White Hart tonight and, after Sunday when we didn’t get it quite right, we’ve taken that experience and put together a setlist that eases us into this show. So we’re starting with Freefall which has a really nice build of pace to it and has served us well as a first song quite a few times. It starts really gentle, settles into somewhere around mid pace, then goes through the gears quite steadily before a more rocking ending which prepares an audience if we think it’s now time to turn it all up. We won’t do that tonight. Yes, we start with Freefall, but we’ve decided to keep it chilled and basically not be too intrusive or dominating. We’re bringing out our play it nice set with the plan being to then really rock it up in the second half and storm it home.

We have ourselves set up and we’re ready. The place is really big and long and it’s mostly a work crowd catching up after work. We’re not going to be heard down the end anyway, so we decide to concentrate on playing to what we have up here at the back of the bar in a large enough raised area. We get started and I think it’s fair to say there’s a little bemusement among the people to suddenly find the two of us singing and playing among them. They’re kind of with it though, but the talking level remains high and we’re somewhat lost in the overall buzz. This goes on through our second song, although we can see that, around the room, some people are paying attention and really starting to get into it. But we’re still very much on the losing end of the battle and make the spontaneous decision to just enjoy it and play for ourselves. So there we are in the middle of the room just playing for each other and getting off on our own music. If no-one else is, we’re not going to let that touch us. We carry on like this for four or five more songs, generally feeling ignored, but knowing that there are pockets of people at least giving us a chance and some individuals truly starting to feel it. But it must be hard for them anyone get into it if they want to because I’m not sure how much they can really hear. But the end of each song is greeted with some applause and even the odd shout, so we are connecting somewhere out there. At the same time, we feel we really are losing the battle of noise with this room, even if we are mildly starting to win over the odd heart here and mind there. We’re just gearing up to get into the rocking part of the set and are thinking that we might just have enough people in here to take with us who can then maybe bring some other people. That’s when Kristoff looks over and gives us the signal that we have one more. Oh. Oh. That wasn’t the plan at all. We feel we were just getting warmed up, but maybe we’ve already lost on points and there’s no point carrying on. No matter. We’ve stood up to this and we haven’t backed down an inch.

We have one more. One song to attempt to maybe land one punch in a very one sided contest and go home thinking that we might have lost, but we at least got one shot in and we never went down. Nights like this are tough, but I can’t help thinking they’re tougher on Maja who, afterall, is the singer fronting this, and maybe not even able to hear herself too much on a night like this. Can’t be much fun. But she really does tough and front these things out and this has been one of the toughest. No-one’s been nasty at all, it’s just that there, well, hasn’t really been anything at all. Unless she’s been able to look up and see some of the positivity coming back that I’ve been seeing.

There really isn’t any debate about what to play next, or last. We have to. I Like You (Better When You’re Naked). Now we just go for it. What happens next stuns us. We haven’t even got to the hook of the chorus, or to the sentiment of the song. We’re still in the verses and playing our way into this, but what’s this? All around us people have started and joined in a spontaneous rhythmic clapping along to us. This has never happened before. It pulls in more and more people until we’re in the centre and out of nowhere in the middle of a show. In a room that feels it’s all totally there for us and there with us. It’s a long bar so down there we still haven’t quite connected, but we sure they can sense something’s happening up here. We certainly do. And we’ve stayed connected and in gear all night, so when the call comes to really go for it, don’t worry. We’re already there. Yep. Into the chorus and with the crowd already warmed up to is, they hit another level now. And we’re in. Where’ve you been guys? You took your time. But welcome. Now we feel in charge and in control. At least up here. But yes, down there too, more and more people are starting to look up. Something’s happening. Has been happening all night and they missed it. But come on. You might just catch up now.

We smash to the end of I Like You (Better When You’re Naked), and we’re done. Goodnight and thankyou. We haven’t just landed a punch. I think with that final flurry, we’ve levelled the contest, but when you come back from a goal down to equalise in the last minute, you always feel like you’ve won. And here we are. But what now? There’s no smattering of applause or odd shout out for this one. No. It’s a roar that greets us this time. A spontaneous, from the throat roar. Ladies and gentlemen, we have landed. Maja says thankyou very much and we start to pack up. Then it begins. One more tune. One more tune. And they’re clapping along to it as well. What they make of this down on the floor I have no idea. I look down at Kristoff and his face is just a picture of shocked bewilderment and, I have to say, a little joy that we have turned this round so spectacularly. He nods and mouths. OK. One more. So we do. And as I hit the first bouncing chords of The Cat, our new little pocket of fans cheer. They’re getting more. And oh we have them now. This is true turnaround territory when the fighter has been on the ropes all night and you’ve been begging the referee to stop it or for someone, please, someone, thrown the damn towel. But no towel got thrown, the referee didn’t call it and the guy didn’t go down. Instead, he got his one shot in, staggered the stunned opponent who’d had it his own way all night. Then, out of nowhere, the guy on the ropes just kept coming and was suddenly unstoppable. Punching punching, the previously unassailable opponent flailing backwards wondering where the hell this came from and powerless to stop it now all momentum had flipped the other way. And the crowd was on its feet in stunned, jubilant disbelief and cheering the supposed, defeated underdog all the way. And he’s going to go all the way. They never saw it but they have no doubt now.

Now you see what I mean. You can’t stop me. I’m a killing machine.

Yes they do. Each new chorus lands like a new punch and the cheering goes up another level. We have them and we are letting go. They know it and they love it. Maybe they were really on our side all along.

We smash out the other end of this song and it really is all over. Kristoff has already signalled that it’s late enough for live music and it has to stop now. OK. If we’d known we had a deadline we would have pulled out some of the bigger guns a little earlier. But I think we’ve made our point. The encore shouts are still coming and the clapping is still ringing out, settling into an insistent rhythm out of the final applause. And down on the floor and behind the bar, they can all see it.

We got battered, we got bruised. We never went down, we refused. Now, as we set microphone and guitar down and take our turn to clap, and then go over to thank those who joined and came with us out of such difficult beginnings, everyone around can now see what happened here tonight. 

We won.

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