Let’s Make 2012 A Year To Remember At The Kings!
I feel I need to make some salient points for everyone to understand about what and how things actually happen at The Kings after yesterday’s catch-up post.
The Kings as a business needs to make money to survive and Richard and Sharon have tried their best to promote The Kings for the last five years by being the ONLY regular live music venue in the area. One would have to go to Grimsby/Cleethorpes, Horncastle or Lincoln to find other such places. In 2011 there were 90 live music gigs at The Kings, everyone of them free to all customers.
This live music is provided free of charge therefore The Kings HAS to make enough money over the bar to be able to afford them and for we customers to have a good night. Believe me when I write that several times the band costs have not been covered either through the band not being popular or it clashing with some other event(s) such as a Town Hall special gig or function.
Secondly the sound engineering provided by Balding Bloke is provided free of charge, it is all his own equipment, he is the one who dedicates himself to doing this, he alone stands the costs of repairs and spares. Very rarely does a band offer to assist him carting his excellent kit in or out and whilst most bands thank him for his expertise I believe only a couple of bands have ever offered him any money or beer in kind. Why does he do this?
We all know that BB’s life is music however he does it for The Kings because he has many years of vested interest there from when he was the tenant, he wants it to be a success not just for Sharon but also for the customers and the town plus by becoming recognised as a quality music venue we can encourage more well-known bands to visit the town. And therein lies a financial conundrum for everyone, are customers prepared to PAY say £10.00 a ticket to see such bands? People seem to be prepared to travel to Lincoln or Sheffield on coaches at £20-50 ticket yet unwilling to support local venues promote named bands…I know what I’m writing about since I personally lost £600 on one band alone a couple of years ago.
Insofar as the website is concerned I have been a webmaster since 1994 (yikes 18th year coming up) and I also provide my services for free since I am similarly like-minded to BB, Sharon and Richard and trying to get people to interact positively is a constant uphill task since so few give any feedback until such time they feel I have been too harsh or critical. That is the last thing I ever want to write about any band however when something is not right, it is not right. Many less-experienced bands make the fatal mistake at The Kings of not having their top speakers high enough for the sound to travel down the bar, sure it may sound good in the mosh pit but more than halfway down the bar quite often their vocals are totally lost in a melee of bodies and if the guitarists start competing with one another turning up their backline, then quite often the situation can go into meltdown.
When I keep posting does anyone else want to write the blog I am serious, I have very little spare time, but when writing a blog to be taken seriously one must be honest about a band’s performance. Just because band members are your friends it does them no good whatsoever to be told they were good when they were not or that you could not actually hear them properly. It should be helpful for bands to know this since when practising they rarely have a crowd around them plus acoustics vary in every venue. What may sound brilliant in practice can sound awful live on stage, unfortunately that’s life and the sort of thing why BB puts his neck on the line!
SO, SINCE I HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE’S ATTENTION FOR ONCE:
Q. Why is the image gallery never updated?
A. Because no one ever gives me any to post…simples. For security reasons I am averse to let anyone upload images to my programmes and server. If anyone uses a social imaging site and wants to do this for The Kings, please let Sharon know: sharonatthekings [ at ] hotmail.co.uk
Q. Do you want a forum board where you can discuss all these things and post images etc?
A. Not a problem.
Q. Why is The Kings Facebook page not linked?
A. I believe because it is locked down to signed-in members only. I don’t use Facebook so have no idea other than I can’t see it.
Q. Why did I remove Twitter?
A. No one was using it other than porn spam!
Q. Can we be notified by SMS text or email of what’s happening?
A. Again not a problem, let Sharon know and it can be done: sharonatthekings [ at ] hotmail.co.uk
Q. Are there any other features you would like to see?
A. Let Sharon know however The Kings site is not a social networking site, it is primarily a business site therefore if you fancy something broader and more encompassing it would not be a problem to create something with a direct link to The Kings. For instance I own Louth.eu which currently points to The Kings site and would be an ideal domain to use.
And finally, thank you for taking the time to reading this post and I look forward to your positive contributions.
The Editor
PS The one thing me and BB always forget - Many thanks to the brilliant bar staff who tolerate us every week!
People I concur with the Editor. Let me make it perfectly clear that FUNK’DEF!NO are very greatful to B.B. It was good job well done on the night from all accounts. John, sir, we thank you.
When a band, solo artist or entertainer of any sort takes to the stage, THEY TO put their necks on the line. You can rehearse 6 nights a week yet “showtime” can be a night of epic disaster. On those occassions you’ll find that mud does stick and future bookings at any venue will be very few and far between. Publicans do converse and if you failed them be very sure, not matter how many ” friends ” like you, your feet wont touch the stage again for a very long time.
I/We hope that we shall return to the Kings, I/We know we as a unit will do our absolute best to entertain you all if we do.
Music is a gift folks, not everyone can do it, not everyone will apreciate what you do, but please bear in mind that if you don’t do your absolute best you’re only kidding yourself.
Very kindest regards and very best wishes to you all from FUNK’DEF!NO.
I agree that it is very easy for a band to ruin any chances they have of getting gigs, but can I just point out that it is people like yourself editor that can ruin it for them. It is apparent that there is a huge difference of opinion between yourself and people who were also in attendance, from the beginning, and Sharon herself was very happy with the way the evening went, so can we leave it at that and agree to disagree, you are entitled to your own opinion as is everyone but you need to be aware that speaking about anyone in the manner you have done is going to 1- scupper chances of gigs elsewhere for people, and 2- upset people, including customers that disagree and this will feed back to the landlady / landlord at any pub. Could I suggest that you maybe start to speak to people who are in the pub / bar / club who have maybe seen the whole performance instead of the last hour or so and get a wider range of opinions to form a better and less biased blog? May help.
@lynzi
You obviously know who I am therefore you should also be aware that I talk to many, many people during and after any gig to get their impressions of a band. Also it is very obvious that not everyone can get into the mosh pit where, admitedly, the sound can be be much better than further down the bar simply because if the top speakers are not high enough that sound is swallowed-up by bodies…for your info bass does not have a directional sound that’s why it can be placed on the floor.
As for scuppering any bands’ chances of getting further gigs nothing could be further from the truth. If bands do not or are not prepared to listen and learn from experienced people then that is THEIR problem. As Tony wrote above “Publicans do converse and if you failed them be very sure, not matter how many ” friends ” like you, your feet wont touch the stage again for a very long time.”
It is not in The Kings nor my, definitely not any bands, interest to have to write “could have done better” reviews. I am not biased in any way whatsoever, nothing gives me greater pleasure than asking for a set list at the end of the night, talking to the band about how they thought it went, what else do/can they do etc. It makes my blogging so much easier, it makes The Kings’ life so much easier and it makes all the customers happy and at the end of the day that is what people want…a good night’s entertainment and leave with the thought “I want to go back there again and see another band, it was a great night out”.
Mistakes happen and especially so when live performances are concerned, that’s life, everyone tries their best to minimise them however it has, does and always will happen. Live is live is live. I can re-write a post again, again and again, I can correct it, I can delete it, I can add bells and whistles I forgot first time round…don’t go into politics if you don’t want to be quoted ad verbatim…and undoubtedly don’t go into business if you believe there are only profits to be made!
It’s a pity you weren’t there last night, the first band of 2012 started the year in style, they set a very high standard that many would aspire to.
I’m sorry, I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, I am not local to Louth in fact, and happened to be visiting over the new year period. I was actually at the rear of the bar, stood very close to the sound man as it happens and the band was very clear, in fact, a lot of the dancing and joining in began with the people who were stood nearer to the revolving doors! Publicans do converse, and it is clear that Sharon was happy with what was happening in her establishment as if you’ve looked on their facebook page they are quite busy over the next few weeks. I for 1 will be continuing to follow the bands progress with great interest as I am sure many other folk will do.
@lynzi
Apologies lynzi, you have precisely the same name and spelling of someone else I know who frequents The Kings!