I am Mike Jones AKA Sublive presents...
Published 9 Feb 2012 12:30
1 Comment
Whilst many venues nationally have been using the early part of the year to collect their thoughts, do some much needed maintenance work, run a pointless battle of the bands competition and worry about why no one is heading to their venue I have only been doing only one quarter of these things! (The maintenance bit of course! And I've also been collecting my thoughts for two minutes here and there and then realising I have a to do list longer than Gene Simmons tounge)
You probably won't have noticed many of the small changes we've made to Sub89 recently but you will notice that a few of the recently passed and recently announced shows have been a bit bigger than usual. During what is normally a quiet few weeks after Christmas we've had sellout shows for Adam Ant (That man is COOL) and Reel Big Fish (Those men are NOT cool but they know that and in turn makes them cooler) along with near capacity shows for The Misfits, The Black Dahlia Murder and We are the ocean. Part of the reason we have been able to attract these bands is not just because you lovely Berkshire people seem to enjoy few things more than running around a moshpit waving your arms around screaming (You'd be surprised, I've seen grown men in suits with ties wrapped around their heads that have just come from an office job doing this recently) and supporting live music in the best way possible (See previous brackets) but also because of the changes we've made to make an touring bands life that little bit more comfortable and in turn Sub89 an even more attractive proposition for a touring band.
The truth is, going on tour really isn't drinking sparkling champagne out of a gentlemen's bowler hat with a single cherry floating in it (This was actually one one bands requests a few months back but I'll say that was probably an isolated incident.) No, the majority of time spent in a touring band consists of waiting around, carrying heavy gear (Often whilst wearing six inch heels.. And that's just the men) and negotiating your head around the fact that you have travelled hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles to find a bad stage, lighting and sound system waiting for you a the other side of that cramped easy jet flight.
The changes we have made recently whilst not visible to the general public have made the life of a touring band playing Sub89 for us much easier. A refurbished stage, additional staging, ramps to lift gear to the stage, new drum risers, extra monitors, another new sound desk, extra lighting, improved dressing room facilities, better heaters and better air conditioning are amongst the things (That are most certainly not in my job description) that I've been helping to bring in or improve in Sub89 recently and this really does make the difference to a touring band.
Shows are running much smoother, bands are going away much happier again and no doubt they are feeding the good news of Sub89 back to their respective booking agents and managers meaning that in turn we bring more bands to Reading for you to enjoy. That's what I'm hoping anyway. And what I kept telling myself whilst I was hand cleaning the floors and walls of the venue top to bottom. The life of a promoter is less champagne out a gentlemen's bowler hat with a single cherry floating in it and more a pint of strongbow and a ginsters sandwich but I wouldn't change it for the world and from seeing people happy in our venue and leaving with smiles on their face recently I know all the hard work is worthwhile.
Here's a few recently announced shows anyway..
EMMY THE GREAT - MARCH 9TH
ARCHITECTS - APRIL 2ND
HADOUKEN! - APRIL 12TH
BAD MANNERS - APRIL 20TH
SLOW CLUB - MAY 7TH
JOHN COOPER CLARKE - JULY 6th
To buy tickets for this or any other show at the venue check out www.sub89.com. To hear quotes from the office and general moaning follow @mikesublive.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 08 Feb 12
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
-
The Captain
Unregistered User
Feb 9, 12:35
Report commentWith that line-up one can only ponder where RIGHT SAID FRED or BUCKS FIZZ are?
Recommend?
Yes 1
No 1
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our The Guide archives.
