REBEL SPIRIT MUSIC Venue Picks
Brought to you by rebel spirit music
Some our favorite musicians give extensive reviews of venues across the country!
Each month we will add more!
ALEXA WILKINSON
Imperfect Partners artist currently touring her new album LIONS |
The Big Easy www.bigeasyconcerts.com Spokane, WA [read ]
The Tin Angel RSM What’s the name of the venue your going to review? where in the US is it located and what part of town is it in? AW The Tin Angel. It’s in downtown Philadelphia RSM When did you play this venue and with whom? AW I played at this venue twice. Once as a headliner and another on tour with Jonathan Clay and Todd Carey. RSM What type of music is played at the venue on a regular basis (Rock, acoustic singer songwriter, dance, etc) and what styles would fit best in the venue? AW From what I’ve experienced it’s mostly an acoustic venue. It’s a smaller stage so you can’t really fit more than a 4 piece band. Anyone that can hold down the fort by themselves SHOULD play there. RSM What size crowd makes this room feel full? …or Semi full? AW 15 people will make the room seem semi full. IT can fit up to 75 comfortably, but it’s a narrow room with little tables so it appears full even when it’s a more intimate crowd. RSM Did this venue seem to have patrons/regulars or was the crowd you played to solely there for the artist? AW A little bit of both. A lot of people came because it’s a popular venue for new acoustic music, and other’s came because they were Philly fans. Either way, everyone goes there to listen to music. Really listen. RSM What was the sound system and backline like? Did you have any contact with the sound engineer? AW The sound system, though minimal, was actually quite good. They have plenty of extra cables, DI’s, boom stands, and even guitar stands that hang on a curtained wall. Basic monitor set up in front and a nice house system. The engineer is easily reached and easy to work with. RSM Is there a charge to enter the venue? Do you know what percentage of the door bands get to keep or did you receive a set fee or tips? AW There is a charge at the door and the bands get to keep %100. RSM Does the venue assist in promoting the show or is promoting the show entirely up to the artist? AW They put up band posters (if you send them) and promote outside the venue. If you make a day trip down there with some friends it would take like 2 hours minimum to promote… visually. Local papers promote Tin Angel shows and they put it on their website as well. RSM Any other things that stand out with the venue? AW The bar is amazing and everyone working there is extremely kind. One of my favourite venues to play. Rams Head Tavern RSM What’s the name of the venue your going to review? where in the US is it located and what part of town is it in? AW Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis MD RSM When did you play this venue and with whom? AW Played there twice, opening for Virginia Coalition and another time in Fall 2007. RSM What type of music is played at the venue on a regular basis (Rock, acoustic singer songwriter, dance, etc) and what styles would fit best in the venue? AW mostly “light” rock or singer songwriter with a full backing band. The venue is definitely a listening venue so dance music or heavy rock would be a bit much. RSM What size crowd makes this room feel full? …or Semi full? AW The room is designed to be kind of a dinner theatre. A semi full room would be about 50 people and full room would be over 100 seated. RSM Did this venue seem to have patrons/regulars or was the crowd you played to solely there for the artist? AW BOTH. A lot of people just go there because they know they bring in a lot of great “undiscovered” acts and ant to hear good live music. A lot of other people go specifically to hear the artist, so its nice to grab new fans there as well as mingling with the established ones. RSM What was the sound system and backline like? Did you have any contact with the sound engineer? AW the sound system is really amazing. the engineer is easy to get a hold of and work with. Bring your own amps, but leave the baby grand piano at home cause they’ve got one! RSM Is there a charge to enter the venue? Do you know what percentage of the door bands get to keep or did you receive a set fee or tips? AW there’s a ticket cost to get in, which are pre sold online. Once you get in though its kind of implied that you sit down and get food and beer. Merchandise sold exclusively by the house so they tax the t-shirts and CD’s, but they do give you options on that. RSM Does the venue assist in promoting the show or is promoting the show entirely up to the artist? AW I would say its up to the artist to promote around town. Rams Head promotes at the venue but if you want posters put up, get some street team members or friends to do some extra promotion. RSM Any other things that stand out with the venue? AW The staff, the food, the beer, the sound, the crowd… All equally amazing. I love playing at the Rams Head, I would play there any day of the week. The World Cafe RSM What’s the name of the venue your going to review? where in the US is it located and what part of town is it in? AW Maxwell’s, in Hoboken, NJ. Overlooking NYC… beautiful. RSM When did you play this venue and with whom? AW I played this venue on tour with Jonathan Clay and Todd Carey in May 2008. RSM What type of music is played at the venue on a regular basis (Rock, acoustic singer songwriter, dance, etc) and what styles would fit best in the venue? AW It’s mostly rock and full-band singer songwriter’s that play at Maxwell’s. I would recommend if you normally play solo gigs, to spring for a couple band members. RSM What size crowd makes this room feel full? …or Semi full? AW A semi full feel would have to be at least 30. The room is a rectangle shape and people tend to hide in the back by the bar or on the sides of the room. RSM Did this venue seem to have patrons/regulars or was the crowd you played to solely there for the artist? AW The crowd comes specifically to see the artist. It’s a restaurant and music venue, but it’s split very well so you don’t normally get a crowd based off of the patronage of the restaurant. RSM What was the sound system and backline like? Did you have any contact with the sound engineer? AW The sound system was good. The engineers were easy to work with and very polite (not something to encounter very often). They don’t have any extra instruments, but they do have more than enough mic stands, cables.. etc in case you brought more than your stage plot said. RSM Is there a charge to enter the venue? Do you know what percentage of the door bands get to keep or did you receive a set fee or tips? AW There is a charge to get in. I don’t know the percentage that the band gets from the door, but I know its 100% merch. No tips either. RSM Does the venue assist in promoting the show or is promoting the show entirely up to the artist? AW Bands that come through Maxwell’s I believe are already paid attention to by the local papers. When we played there we had an article in the local paper promoting it, plus posters were up around the venue and on the website. It was very well promoted I think. RSM Any other things that stand out with the venue? AW It’s an amazing location for any east coast artist. It over looks Manhattan, and the street that its on has really great parking for a full tour bus. The sound engineers are really nice and the food its excellent. Flying Mango RSM What’s the name of the venue your going to review? where in the US is it located and what part of town is it in? AW the Flying Mango, its located in Des Moines, Iowa. RSM When did you play this venue and with whom? AW I played there opening for Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers April 7th, 2008. RSM What type of music is played at the venue on a regular basis (Rock, acoustic singer songwriter, dance, etc) and what styles would fit best in the venue? AW Acoustic! I wouldn’t bring more than one other person to accompany you. The stage is very small. RSM What size crowd makes this room feel full? …or Semi full? AW Since the venue is primarily an upscale Barbeque joint, a room being full would be every table occupied, so I would say at least 30 people. 50 people could fit if you tried. RSM Did this venue seem to have patrons/regulars or was the crowd you played to solely there for the artist? AW What’s so cool about this venue is the restaurant shuts down normal operation and only lets people in that are there to see the artist. The crowd is totally attentive and basically eats their dinner and then gets to listen to music for desert. RSM What was the sound system and backline like? Did you have any contact with the sound engineer? AW the sound system was good for what the room would allow. Bring your own amp because they don’t have the ability to plug anything through the house. The room is so quiet tough that an unplugged performance might be really nice. RSM Is there a charge to enter the venue? Do you know what percentage of the door bands get to keep or did you receive a set fee or tips? AW There is a charge to get in, but I do not know how it’s split between the artist and the venue. People buy a lot of merchandise and I know that its %100 to the artist RSM Does the venue assist in promoting the show or is promoting the show entirely up to the artist? AW The Flying Mango is really proud of all the artist they bring through there. They try and promote as much as possible on their website and to their very loyal customers. RSM Any other things that stand out with the venue? AW THE FOOD. AMAZING. The Owner and his wife are incredible people, worth getting to know. I had one of the best shows there. Hands top, a top 5 small venue. |
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