Ok here is the deal - I'm business savvy enough to not hinge the hopes of not running at a loss on the neccessity of a large turn out. I knew doing the show at this venue would be a slight gamble in perhaps not the same numbers at the familiar venues it's been held at in the past - Amplifier and Capitol, but I negotiated a deal that wouldn't be a loss, and I thought it would be worth it to give local metal a chance on a big stage normally reserved for internation touring acts (there is local metal that has just the same calibre if not better than some). The turn out was still very good for a local show, and management told me they were impressed with how strong the following is for metal compared to other local music styles - hip hop / rock / pop, and the numbers were actually more than some international acts that had been through recently.
The trouble came in with issues I was not made aware of until the last minute, and if I'd be able to factor them in from the start it wouldn't be so bad. I was only made aware on Tuesday that Metros has NO audio gear on stage whatsoever, only the front of house speakers etc. So I had to organise and hire all the foldbacks, mics, stands, cables, effects, mixing desk, technician to deliver and set it up, and a sound engineer for the night.
Huge thanks to Luke and CCA Productions for the gear and set up for a great price, he helped out a lot as he realised the predicament and is familiar with the metal scene. Also to Aidan for doing the sound and helping out with that.
Then I only found out the day before that they don't even have a drum riser there, so that had to be hired and delivery organised on the day, otherwise you would hardly have been able to see the drummers. Thanks to Mark De Vattimo and Metal Mike from Psychonaut for helping out with that. THEN just before the first band was set to start they told me they were planning on charging me $500 for using the lighting rig! Thanks to Beth for doing the lighting on the night and going in beforehand to try set it up.
So for the turnout we got if I'd done the show at Amplifier or Capitol again it would have cost just over $340, doing it at Metros - add an extra $3000 (Keep in mind that is with me wheeling and dealing to get things a lot cheaper).
We sold out Amplifier last year and they actually had to turn people away because they were at capacity. This year I thought perhaps doing it there again, but maybe move it to a larger venue such as Capitol or somewhere else. I contacted the booking agent for Amplifier / Capitol at the start of the year and was told "We have too much metal here this year so we're going to have to pass."
I said that I thought the idea of a venue was to have the maximum amount of people in there and buying drinks, regardless of what style event was on, but he said the owners wanted to share it between other styles. He suggested doing it at the Rocket Room, which although is a great place, is no where near big enough, to which they said to do it over 2 nights.
Anyway I left it at that, but a couple of days later he emailed me saying he'd had a rethink and thought maybe he was being a bit harsh and shouldn't penalise people with a good track record. I was already a bit soured after this and then this opportunity at Metros came up and I thought what the hell.
At this stage I haven't made a loss, but I also haven't gotten to pay the bands yet. If I paid them what I wanted to pay them then I would be losing money. I still haven't done the full calculations as I'm waiting on another couple of things, but I could probably still pay them maybe $200 each and not make a loss (which I guess is more they they might get from some other gigs, but as I said not as much as I'd like to pay). That would mean I'd probably just break even, though not get much for my time, petrol, phone calls, etc, or to help fund the running costs of WF, which is what the awards show generally doubles for.
Anyway I might just do something like that and organise a separate fund raiser show later on. I consider the awards show as a success, in that it went smoothly once it was on, and all the bands seemed to enjoy it and the crowd seemed to get into it as well. It was just all the last minute ambush of things and costs on me which put me in a somewhat foul mood and kinda ruined my night. It's not my place to complain though, I did it for the bands and the fans, and hopefully it showed people what is possible and gave some more credibility to the local scene.
Goatlady, that review is great - thanks for that. I also have a review done by WF founder Warmaster, who graced the awards show with his presence which I will put up soon. He must have been amped up by it as had arrived in my inbox by 4am the next morning.
As mentioned in the review the results were as follows:
Best Band: Lacrymae
Best Release 2008: Gallows For Grace, for A Process For The Destruction Of Tomorrow
Best Bassist: Alex from Noctis and Voyager
Best Keyboardist: Jessie from Claim The Throne
Best Drummer: Louis "Disaster" from The Furor and Mhorgl
Best Vocalist: Francesco and Agostino from Lacrymae
Best Guitarist: Mark from Psychonaut
And I have now unlocked the results from the polls, so you can see how it all panned out.
I guess that turned out to be a long winded response but I thought I should clear up a few things.
Darren