‘Manchester is officially the worst music city ever’
Someone else’s words, posted on Myspace:
Subject: Manchester is officially the worst music city ever
Body: I went to see the Jai-Alai Savant last night at the Night and Day. They have just released on Gold Standard Labs, which is run by Omar Rodruiguez of Mars Volta/At The Drive in fame.
Despite this, the band played to 3 paying customers, one guest and door staff. The gig was booked by SJM who didn’t put any other bands on and The Jai Alai Sevant played a 40 minite set to 7 or 8 people.
I spoke to the tour manager who lives in Berlin and does tour management for the Gossip as well as hundreds of other bands over the years. He’s been all around the world and everyone has mentioned that Manchester is the shittest city to play.
Did SJM drop a bollock, was it somthing to do with the Sunshine Underground gig or the football being on? It doesnt matter – what the answer is, I’m going to move to Berlin and set fire to Manchester as I leave this godforsaken music-hating city.
I’ll not be too judgemental here, because promoters SJM are about 100 more professional than anything I could ever do. But about the wider point: is Manchester in 2007, despite all the hype and rhetoric, a bad city for music?
6 Comments so far
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The last gig I went to at Night and Day was promoted by SJM. They charged £8 for two local bands and one doing their first national tour. There were people walking up to the door and walking away since they were asking for stupid money (considering that many gigs at academy 3 and even 2 are cheaper than this for well known acts).
By Graham on 05.03.07 5:43 pm
Strange that the Night and Day even let this happen when they could have 100-odd people for a local showcase. Which bands did you see?
By Mancubist on 05.03.07 7:23 pm
I dont think so in the slightest; I do think we are a bunch of lazy bastards who can’t be arsed to trek into town though.
By Matt Cox on 05.04.07 8:50 am
Bad for who, the artist or the audience?
There’s a lot of choice in Manchester if you’re an audience member looking for music to listen to. As earlier posters have commented, a lot of that music is very cheap or free too, so charging 8 quid or so for three random artitsts isn’t likely to attract much of a crowd.
And yes, the football was on, duh.
By Siftah on 05.04.07 10:33 am
I’m not too surprised, as I’ve often been to gigs at the Night and Day with hardly anyone there. But I wouldn’t be too worried about it – the greatest city in the world for live music in Austin, but even big name bands play to half-empty rooms simply because there’s so much to see all year round, and only so many people who are ever going to go and see it.
By Richard on 05.08.07 10:32 am
Pretty much bang on.
If you’re in a tiny band starting out you need to get at least 20 people (approx) or they won’t let you play. If you’ve been signed and SJM are fronting the money for the gig only a few people turn up.
Ridiculous.
By gav on 05.17.07 8:35 pm
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