Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lawton on October 18, 2010 at 1:22am

John, please don't get me wrong, I'm not in any way suggesting that you are not doing miracles regarding the event organisation and pricing. I am just feeling very depressed at my own misfortune for not being able to afford to travel there in time on top of the cost of ticket and accom. If it is possible I would like to buy a ticket for the next event right now so the money doesn't go on something trivial like food or the gas bill.
As there were no offers of shared travel, I'll say right now that I will be driving from the Manchester area to the next event and will be happy to accept passengers who can help out with the petrol cost. Hopefully this might spur any CBG locals to come out of the woodwork.
Basically, I would really love to meet you all, find out what you are all bulding and playing, and just generally be more in touch with whatever is happening regarding CBGs in my own country. I've spent over 40 years having the piss taken out of me for making and playing instruments made from other people's throw-outs and it is difficult being on your own.


ChickenboneJohn said:

I announced concession price tickets AND the concession price ticket/hotel room deal over a month before the event. If I recall correctly, I posted it on the site in a couple of places and also messaged the whole Brits group. It was £20 for a room and ticket - to get a (shared) hotel room and a ticket would have been at least £50.00, so I reckon less than half price was a pretty good deal.

Other people took advantage of the concession price deals,and other people payed the full whack, I hope nobody felt short-changed or feel hard done by...but I can only do so much to ensure that as many people as possible get to the event.

The ticket prices were the same as last year, but if anyone can figure out to how to hire a venue like that, complete with tech assistance, porters etc, hire a top notch (and effing huge) PA system & sound engineer, set-up a full professional stage, pay for hotel rooms for performers, subsidise concession tickets, arrange to collect and drop-off performers from the airport, arrange press photo shoots, radio interviews, technical meetings with the venue....and on top of all that PAY three headline performers..., yes, if you can do that for less than £25 a pop, you're a better man than I am Gunga Din..to quote Kipling. And all this is valuing my time at zero, nothing, zilch....I don't aim to make a profit, I call on LOADS of favours to make this event happen, and by the time I do the accounts, if it ends up a few quid in the black, it probably works out at about 10p an hour for the time I put in....sorry, rant over.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good day, my sympathies and commiserations to those who couldn't make it for any reason...even though I say so myself, I reckon you missed a pretty decent day...let me know if by any chance you want this to happen again.


John



Kevin Lawton said:

Well, I only missed last year by a whisker so I had to wait patiently for this year. Now I've missed it too because I just couldn't scrape together enough cash for the ticket, accommodation and travel in time. If anyone had've been able to give a lift then I would have been there, or if there was somewhere to pitch a tent or whever then that would have done.
Sorry I'm feeling really depressed now guys cos there's nobody into CBGs around my neck of the woods as far as I know and I really cannot wait another year. Does anyone know of any other CBG event coming up soon please ? Hopefully not quite so far away ?
The only comment I can make on pricing is that the CBG started out as a poor man's instrument and, to those of us who are unemployed, it still is.
While £25 for a ticket, the same again for accomodation, and then double it for travelling might not seem like much to someone with a job, when you are unemployed it truely is a fortune. Perhaps if there was some kind of opportunity for some of us to 'earn our keep' or 'sing for our supper' at the event ? I would have done almost anything to have been there - I really wanted to be at the inaugeral event and desperately wanted to be with you all this time, but the meagre funds from a couple of emergency e-bay sales came through too late.

Permalink Reply by Mark on October 18, 2010 at 1:23am

I feel I should chip in here with my view that it was remarkably good value for money (and I know others feel the same because they said so). I'm on a pretty tight budget myself these days so the very reasonable price was a big factor in deciding if I could go. The tickets would surely need to have been a lot more if it hadn't been for the enormous effort and energy put into the event by John and the others who made it happen, so I can't say enough how grateful I am to them.

Deciding the pricing for an event like this is always going to be a tricky call. The ethos is very much about encouraging people to have a go and promoting the idea that making great music can be a low cost thing and obviously there's a risk that some of the target audience will be deterred if the cost is above a certain level. But (unless the government bring back something like the Enterprise Allowance Scheme that was exploited by musicians in the early 80s) we can't expect these events to be subsidised - the ticket income will have to cover venue and equipment costs and so on.

I suspect the biggest costs for most people have been travel and accomodation - which are obviously outside John's control. I had to fork out £37 for a return train ticket and £50 for a hotel plus a bit for food and drink. I reckon, including the ticket, I probably had to fork out around £150. On the face of it that's a fair whack, but if I'm thinking ahead to next year it means I only need to put aside an average of around £3 a week and I ought to have it covered.

In price terms I think we're in the right ballpark at the moment. I figure we might have to expect a modest rise next time to compensate for inflation and other factors that push up costs - maybe a fiver, but I don't know, I'm only guessing.





ChickenboneJohn said:

The ticket prices were the same as last year, but if anyone can figure out to how to hire a venue like that, complete with tech assistance, porters etc, hire a top notch (and effing huge) PA system & sound engineer, set-up a full professional stage, pay for hotel rooms for performers, subsidise concession tickets, arrange to collect and drop-off performers from the airport, arrange press photo shoots, radio interviews, technical meetings with the venue....and on top of all that PAY three headline performers..., yes, if you can do that for less than £25 a pop, you're a better man than I am Gunga Din..to quote Kipling.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 18, 2010 at 5:45am

Mark and Jan, you guys were so warm and friendly, it was like I'd know you for years, within five minutes of meeting you...so glad you managed to get here and that you both enjoyed the day. Pretty much summed up what the whole thing is about.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lawton on October 18, 2010 at 5:54am

MArk, please, I'm not pissing and moaning about the cost - but just very depressed at my own inability to be able to fling money around on things I enjoy.
What matters right now to me is to find the opportunity to get together with other CBGers as it is pretty naff being all alone in this.
I think it would be really good if people could get together, and I'm certainly up for it if anyone else is ?
Like I keep on saying,. I want to meet and get together with other on this list but I don;t seem to get any positive replies ?


Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments said:

I feel I should chip in here with my view that it was remarkably good value for money (and I know others feel the same because they said so). I'm on a pretty tight budget myself these days so the very reasonable price was a big factor in deciding if I could go. The tickets would surely need to have been a lot more if it hadn't been for the enormous effort and energy put into the event by John and the others who made it happen, so I can't say enough how grateful I am to them.

Deciding the pricing for an event like this is always going to be a tricky call. The ethos is very much about encouraging people to have a go and promoting the idea that making great music can be a low cost thing and obviously there's a risk that some of the target audience will be deterred if the cost is above a certain level. But (unless the government bring back something like the Enterprise Allowance Scheme that was exploited by musicians in the early 80s) we can't expect these events to be subsidised - the ticket income will have to cover venue and equipment costs and so on.

I suspect the biggest costs for most people have been travel and accomodation - which are obviously outside John's control. I had to fork out £37 for a return train ticket and £50 for a hotel plus a bit for food and drink. I reckon, including the ticket, I probably had to fork out around £150. On the face of it that's a fair whack, but if I'm thinking ahead to next year it means I only need to put aside an average of around £3 a week and I ought to have it covered.

In price terms I think we're in the right ballpark at the moment. I figure we might have to expect a modest rise next time to compensate for inflation and other factors that push up costs - maybe a fiver, but I don't know, I'm only guessing.





ChickenboneJohn said:

The ticket prices were the same as last year, but if anyone can figure out to how to hire a venue like that, complete with tech assistance, porters etc, hire a top notch (and effing huge) PA system & sound engineer, set-up a full professional stage, pay for hotel rooms for performers, subsidise concession tickets, arrange to collect and drop-off performers from the airport, arrange press photo shoots, radio interviews, technical meetings with the venue....and on top of all that PAY three headline performers..., yes, if you can do that for less than £25 a pop, you're a better man than I am Gunga Din..to quote Kipling.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 18, 2010 at 8:55am

Neill...I'd marked you as 'absent' in the register, and kept looking out for you all day. Sorry to hear that stuff got in the way..we missed you. I'd got your tickets for Catfish Keith lined up...I can stick them in the post or leave them on reception - let me know.

neill connor said:

Mr Lawton, you had twelve months from the 1st cbf last year to get together a couple of hundred quid for the event and i dont care if your unemployed or what, but if you had anything about you you`d have found the money from somewhere. Ok fair enough there is a recession on and well paid jobs are hard to find, but if i wanted something bad enough when i was unemployed or a student, i found a way to get the money. The trouble with this society at the moment, amongst other things is a growing number of people expecting everything handed to them on a plate.
I had a ticket for the festival but could`nt make it because i was waiting patiently at a hospital for 30 tonnes of grit to arrive, which it never did!!. I`m a bit miffed at that, but i`m not going to whinge for the next 12 months. As Alan Partridge would say "some people".

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lawton on October 18, 2010 at 3:12pm

Neil,
I don't quite get what you mean mate. You say 'if I had anything about me' - well please would you explain what you mean. Saving two hundred pounds would mean four pounds a week over a year and I have honestly had a very hard time managing to save the fifty I had by the end of last week. My weekly budget actually has a shortfall, not a surplus - but i would really welcome your positive suggestions on exactly what I can do about this. I managed to make some more cash selling a few personal items on e-bay, but the payments for that are only just coming in now.
Basically I'm just really upset that I missed out after having been looking forward to the event all year.
If you have a positive suiggestion to make then please do so. If you are criticising me in some way then please at least explain what you mean so I have some chance of being able to defend myself.
I'm just a long-term CBGer who has fallen on hard times but would really like to get together with some other friendly CBG players and builders.


neill connor said:

Mr Lawton, you had twelve months from the 1st cbf last year to get together a couple of hundred quid for the event and i dont care if your unemployed or what, but if you had anything about you you`d have found the money from somewhere. Ok fair enough there is a recession on and well paid jobs are hard to find, but if i wanted something bad enough when i was unemployed or a student, i found a way to get the money. The trouble with this society at the moment, amongst other things is a growing number of people expecting everything handed to them on a plate.
I had a ticket for the festival but could`nt make it because i was waiting patiently at a hospital for 30 tonnes of grit to arrive, which it never did!!. I`m a bit miffed at that, but i`m not going to whinge for the next 12 months. As Alan Partridge would say "some people".

Permalink Reply by HOLLOWBELLY on October 18, 2010 at 8:52pm

well I know I speak for everyone when I say I have immense respect for you Olivier-not only as a musician,(superb) but also the fact that you traveled such a long way to support the scene and share your music with us.I wasn't expecting your English to be as good as it was-you got by really easily and I bet thats given you confidence to come over to England again.I certainly hope so.
Much love and respect,
HB.

Permalink Reply by Turkish on October 18, 2010 at 10:12pm

Kevin Lawton said:

If anyone had've been able to give a lift then I would have been there ...

MarkC offered you a lift from Hyde, was that a no-go?

Permalink Reply by Little Soul Eric on October 18, 2010 at 10:29pm

I couldnt agree more with Hollowbelly
hearing origines live was amazin i just love this track

HOLLOWBELLY said:

well I know I speak for everyone when I say I have immense respect for you Olivier-not only as a musician,(superb) but also the fact that you traveled such a long way to support the scene and share your music with us.I wasn't expecting your English to be as good as it was-you got by really easily and I bet thats given you confidence to come over to England again.I certainly hope so.
Much love and respect,
HB.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 18, 2010 at 10:37pm

Olivier is a really nice guy, a super musician and very self-effacing... and the fact that he came all that way, paying for his own airfare...amazing. None of the headline acts knew they were getting paid, so as far as they were concerned, they were just turning up at their own expense to play, so it's even more to his credit that Olivier travelled so far, especially after the debacle of last year when he got stranded at Calais hours before the festival.

I managed to put the acts up free of charge, either in the hotel or at my place, and sent them home with some cash in their pockets: I wish it could have been more...but rest assured, I'll be working on it, if the Nation wills that there should be another festival next year.

Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on October 18, 2010 at 10:38pm

We will it.... we will it....

ChickenboneJohn said:

Olivier is a really nice guy, a super musician and very self-effacing... and the fact that he came all that way, paying for his own airfare...amazing. None of the headline acts knew they were getting paid, so as far as they were concerned, they were just turning up at their own expense to play, so it's even more to his credit that Olivier travelled so far, especially after the debacle of last year when he got stranded at Calais hours before the festival.

I managed to put the acts up free of charge, either in the hotel or at my place, and sent them home with some cash in their pockets: I wish it could have been more...but rest assured, I'll be working on it, if the Nation wills that there should be another festival next year.

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 19, 2010 at 4:48am

Hi Good People

And now the aftermath..would anyone like to write a review of the UK CBG Fest for Blues in Britain (or any other publications)? I reckon it's worth a shot, but I'm too close to it to be able to write proper unbiased review. I'm just trying to spread the word a bit, so that next time round, more people are aware of the movement.

Work with me people ....

John

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