- Memories of 4Talent @ Gigbeth – Catherine Bray’s mostly postitive thoughts on what was a job bloody well done by her, but with food for thought about Barfly on Digbeth High Street (which she’s added a very important edit comment to below – please be a bab and read):
‘The attitude of one of the older Barfly venue managers sucked. He kept referring to one of the acts as “fucking hippies”, and compared their violins to cats having sex or something, and was just generally a bit of a tool, pre-event. I’m guessing here, but he seemed to be vaguely of the opinion that if you weren’t an established pull-the-punters-in outfit then you probably weren’t worthy of playing the venue.’
For a venue that markets itself as ‘supporting the world’s best new music by filling its venues with the stars of tomorrow’, giving out that impression is not good.
- Young have their say on Birmingham and slavery… – An interactive exhibition on Birmingham’s links and role in slavery at the Custard Factory’s Gallery 13/14 December for ages 13+.
- Lost in Space 2 – ‘The cream of the Custard’s crop is set to grace the Vaad Gallery later this month, thanks to Bryn Tranter and his gang. And with Christmas looming into view now with alarming rapidity, why not pop inside for a natter and a chance to invest in some vibrant, original art? Highly recommended.’
- Jane Austen’s Emma at Custard Factory Theatre, February 2009 – ‘Having developed an outstanding reputation for unique and atmospheric adaptations, Heartbreak Productions are delighted to announce their winter tour of Emma: a brand new adaptation of the heart-warming, engaging and charming Jane Austen classic…Live music, dance and audience interaction will abound as – from the engaging yet exasperating Emma to the sympathetic yet quintessential bore, Miss Bates – the multi-talented cast recreate the rich and varied personalities of some of the most vibrant characters from English literature and bring them vividly to life.’ For further information, contact Nicci Selby – 01926 430307 or email: nicci@heartbreakproductions.co.uk.
Of relevance to the bit of my blog you quote – I’ve just added in the following edit:
EDIT, 2nd Dec: I’ve just had a very courteous email from the lovely Aimee Hardwick, Promotions Manager at the Barfly, saying she was dismayed to read that we had a problem here. It transpires from her email that the chap with the sniffy attitude wasn’t a regular Barfly staff member – so my flagging up here of this one grumpy hired hand really shouldn’t put other promoters off this venue. I’ll also note that the rest of the staff were lovely and very accommodating. Aimee suggests that I could have mentioned this problem at the time, but it honestly wasn’t that big of an issue, and it’s also my feeling that during a live event you have to simply get on with things unless a problem is serious, which this certainly wasn’t. Indeed, if he’d been tetchy with me myself I wouldn’t have really minded – grouchy techies come with the turf – but in this case I felt a sense of protectiveness over the musicians who I’d invited to come and play Birmingham for the first time.