Hi all,
Well another week and another brace of enjoyable gigs completed. More of that later but as many of you only want this week’s gig list here it is
Saturday 3rd August
The Springfield
Coppull
Sunday 4th August
The Toll Point
Denton Manchester 7:00pm.
We may still get a booking for Friday but if we do I’ll let you know.
So, last week we thought we only had the one Saturday gig but we managed to be offered a cancellation for the Friday night, The Imperial Hotel in Morecambe. Obviously being a cancellation it wasn’t packed out as the original band was a different style but we did see quite a few of our Morecambe friends and it all has the makings of being a good venue. We return in September.
Saturday night was one I had been looking forward to for some time. The Hop Pocket in Chorley is well known for its Thursday Rock & Blues nights although to be fair Saturdays are not currently as popular. Still, it’s a great venue and as far as we could tell the people that were there had a good night. We were rebooked and return in November. Let’s see if we can get more people there next time. It turned out that an independent reviewer called Keith Blackledge who often has reviews in the the Chorley Guardian was there but whether the review makes it to the paper I can’t say at this point. Well so far it hasn’t but it’s on our website at http://www.clan-rock.com/fr_reviews.cfm if you want to have a look.
What else? Well I seem to have got over my bout of the blues and I am looking forward to a busy August. We have eleven gigs booked which isn’t too bad at all. If we do get booked this Friday then that will make it twelve.
The Single “On the Radio” finally appeared on iTunes and Amazon after a bit of chasing. You can find it at Itunes at Amazon. The promo for this has been slightly delayed but it will pick up a pace now.
This week sees the start of the Cambridge Rock festival, Dear to our hearts as we played both the Springfest and the main summer festival in 2011. We are not playing there this year but it’s a great festival, not too large and very friendly. We have been told we will play there again so fingers crossed for next year. Hope anyone going has a great time.
It’s a funny world really in respect to venues, some love us some don’t want to know? We know we can’t win ‘em all and overall we don’t do too badly. All we know is that 99% of the time we are well received and the other times it is generally because we are the wrong type of band for the venue.
As we always say we just deliver “Good time Feel good rock” to try and give everyone a good night out including ourselves.Ultimately the best nights are created by the audience. Given we normally play a similar set it is surprising how the audiences vary and can make the difference between a difficult gig and a brilliant gig.
From our point of view a smaller appreciative audience makes for a much better night than a large number of indifferent people
As we know a lot of it is down to perception as well, If people are told that someone is worth seeing they will often believe it.
Marketing and PR is very important as you can be the best band in the world but if no-one has heard of you? We are often told by people “oh you should play there” or “why don’t you play there, they’d love you” but sadly it doesn’t work like that.
In general we have already been in touch with the places they mention but unless they hear from other people that we are worth booking it won’t happen. So come on all you Tweeters and Facebookers spread the word. Share the Clan Page, links to the website www.clan-rock.com etc. Tell the venues!
I’m still surprised at the amount of comments I receive from people viewing my “gear” videos on Youtube. Up to approx 30,000 now. Generally they are appreciative and constructive although obviously once you put anything on the internet you are open to a few insults and negative comments. I don’t get many but the only way to respond is to ignore them or delete them. Entering into dialogue with such people is pointless.
I’m not sure what the enjoyment is in insulting someone anonymously? Nothing better to do I guess. Strange people.
Rants
Hmm, well nothing major to get annoyed about. I mentioned on FB the other day about people crowding around luggage carousels at the airport. If they just stood back it would all be much easier and far more efficient.
Speaking of flying, is it really necessary to check your passport so many times between passing through to airside and finally sitting in your designated seat. I’m not sure where they think you are going to go between the gate entrance and the end of the air bridge?
It’s summer so the roadworks appear to be on the increase? I don’t suppose there is ever a good time really.
We had a Sunday afternoon gig recently and with it being holiday season I really noticed so many examples of “the Sunday driver”. I’m thinking of writing a song about them.
Music
Difficult one this week, all quite non specific, been flitting all over the place. Planet rock radio is boring me and Radio 2 isn’t great. So it’s been the Ipod most of the time. Quite enjoyed Fleetwood Mac – various albums and also Tom Petty which works really well in the hot weather. Gin Blossoms still sound good.
So, recommended this week? Well Black Sabbath 13 is still sounding good. Probably the best release of the year so far.
So until next time
Keep rockin’
Craig