It’s not all about the big gigs
It’s not all about the big gigs
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We all remember our first proper gig. Mine was September 1994, when ‘The Outcast Band’ played the Worcester Student Union, known as “The Dive”. Up until then, my exposure to music gigs had been the cover bands or singers with backing tracks at my local pub. I was hooked. I woke up the next morning wearing the Tour T-shirt, clutching the CD “The Devils Road” (I still have it) with no memory of buying them and, of course, a raging hangover.
Since then, I’ve been to numerous gigs and have seen outstanding performances (the memory of Roxette’s Crash, Boom, Bang Tour in Birmingham NEC still gives me goosebumps), and I love listening to live music. But I’m not the fit, slightly feral, enthusiastic, and some would say, devastatingly attractive, young man that I once was. Large gigs in the park or Principality Stadium are great, but after a bit, I just want to sit down and listen. Then the muttering starts, “Excuse me, do you have to stand so close?” alongside “I came to listen to the band sing, not you”, and various other phrases that seem perfectly common in my new life mode as a smiling, grumpy old man. But I do still love live grass roots music, so it’s lucky I live in Swansea.
Swansea has a thriving music scene; we are one of the very few cities in the country where an aspiring artist can play a couple of open mic nights to learn their craft, then get support gigs with other bands, before landing their own 50 -150 capacity gigs in music venues such as Hippos and the Elysium. From there, they can upgrade to 300+ capacity at The Bunkhouse, and from there it’s 500+ capacity at Sin City. Next, it’s the Grand Theatre at 1500 seats, before their eyes turn to the Swansea Building Society Arena at 3000 seats, the Swansea.com Stadium at 20,000 seats, and finally Singleton Park, with a capacity of 40,000. All of that potential sits within a 3-mile radius.
What must be remembered is that whilst the massive gigs in Cardiff Castle, Principality Stadium, and Singleton Park are great for business, they tend to be a one-shot deal. Our local grassroots venues are there all year, drawing customers into our city centres, and let’s face it, Oasis probably played their first gig in a venue much like The Bunkhouse.
Now throw in the various festivals, including the upcoming Swansea Fringe in November, and you can see why the Swansea grassroots music scene is bouncing, with more people than ever buying tickets and going to gigs.
However, there is an issue. The model, nationally, is that, generally, venues get bar sales and the band/promoter gets ticket sales. This isn’t a choice by the venue, it’s the way the industry works. But it just doesn’t work anymore. The average spend per head at smaller gigs has dropped from around the £12 mark pre-covid, to £4.50 a head. There are various reasons for this, including beer prices (which is mainly alcohol duty), cost of living, and healthier lifestyles in the younger generation.
The grassroots venues get it from all sides. Not only do they have to deal with the issues that come from the touring music industry, but also the issues in the hospitality industry, where NI and Minimum wage increases have had a huge effect. Being smaller venues, the alcohol they buy from the breweries is more expensive per pint than what Wetherspoons, for example, sell to their customers.
Let me give you an example. In 2023, the grassroots music venues of South Wales had a collective profit margin of around 1%. In 2024, their business rates went up by 1.5%. The BID have been working with the venues and Swansea council (who have been brilliant) to try and address these issues, and together we are making headway.
What’s the solution? Do we raise the profile of the venues to encourage more people to go? Well, numbers are already the highest they’ve been. Raise ticket prices? Venues have no say on ticket prices that come from the band/promoter. Encourage people to drink more? Well, no, you can’t do that. The only real solution is to change the industry model.
The Music Venue Trust has recently been to parliament to try and do just that, but these things take time. In the short term, the responsibility falls on us, the punter, to support these venues as best we can.
Go to gigs and buy drinks, but as businesspeople, we can do more. We can talk to venues about sponsoring events or even the stage. If we have a corporate event coming up, ask them to get involved and source and supply the band. Anything that supports these businesses, as they are the lifeblood of the musical talent in this city and across the country. Without them, the bands find it harder to gain a foothold in the industry and build their exposure.
In 2004, I had the pleasure of going to a gig in the Patti Pavillion to see a band I’d never heard of, and at the time, not many other people had either. That band was Biffy Clyro. Five years later, they were winning awards and topping the charts. They were everywhere. So, that band that you’ve never heard of? They could be the next big thing, so go and support them, help them learn their craft, buy a pint or two, and help the venue in question. Let’s support and build the next generation of stadium-filling artists!
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