Man at Leeds

[Martyn Jones]

Well what a great gig to around 30 paying fans,fine versions of C'mon Spunk box Bananas, 3 songs from new cd Steel the World  Russion roulette Speak. The price & Mad on Her were the opening songs. Dream away was played in the Blues a slow one just after Spunk rock. The man with x ray eyes & Many are called .....but few come to the gig closed the set, thr band returned for Bananas & Conflict of Intrest who thought that would be played agian?
How long can they continue to play to so few? point to ponder I got my tickrt from Jumbo Leeds not one poster was on display but all the gigs for the next month or so were Hmmm.

[Mark Davies]

I counted a few more than 30, but it is still not nearly enough. Shame, as it was a great gig. Similar size crowd to Hebden Bridge, but it felt bigger because of the smaller room & lower ceiling. Not as consistently together as at Hebden Bridge, but the highs were sufficiently higher to more than compensate. Spunk Rock was excellent - and the crowd clearly thought so too by their appreciation. And it included a solo from Josh that lasted minutes. Josh - more please . On the face of it, you wouldn't have Conflict of Interest pegged as a barnstorming, set closing, jam number, but it was, with bells on. Good sound from the team at the Roscoe. The band were clearly enjoying themselves, and Ace was back on form with the banter. It seemed to me that there were whole chunks of the jamming bits that were completely new from last Sat - excellent. If you weren't there, you missed a treat. Photos will undoubtedly follow. P.S. The beer at the Roscoe has gone downhill - shame.

[Rob W]

Frankly, there's been a fair few gigs I've been to, even with MJ and Deke playing, when over 30 punters would have been welcomed!

I remember discussing with Jules ages ago, why play more than one gig in a locality? Surely that would affect numbers? Even I had to choose one or the other when they played M/cr then Colne the following day. And at the Colne gig, the gig was moved from the main hall to the bar area due to not many more than 30 attending.

[Mark Davies]

Frankly, there's been a fair few gigs I've been to, even with MJ and Deke playing, when over 30 punters would have been welcomed!

I remember discussing with Jules ages ago, why play more than one gig in a locality? Surely that would affect numbers? Even I had to choose one or the other when they played M/cr then Colne the following day. And at the Colne gig, the gig was moved from the main hall to the bar area due to not many more than 30 attending.

This tour was clearly organised by someone without O Level Geography and no access to a map of the UK. Perhaps they only had a Map of India?

[Mark Davies]

Photos now available http://homepage.ntlworld.com/markdav/index.htm.

[Allan Heron]

Frankly, there's been a fair few gigs I've been to, even with MJ and Deke playing, when over 30 punters would have been welcomed!

I remember discussing with Jules ages ago, why play more than one gig in a locality? Surely that would affect numbers? Even I had to choose one or the other when they played M/cr then Colne the following day. And at the Colne gig, the gig was moved from the main hall to the bar area due to not many more than 30 attending.

Indeed, I think the reports about crowds for the UK gigs are doing no more than following a trend that has been present for a goodly number of years.

If the band are serious about continuing as a viable unit then they do need to show some serious intent - continuing with the low level approach that has been the case for a number of years isn't going to cut the mustard.   There's a series of comfortable locations that the band have gone back to again...and again.....and again to, it would seem diminishing returns whilst other areas have gone unmolested by a rampaging Manband!!

I think the band need to give serious consideration to tagging themselves onto one of the Legends of Classic Rock style tours to get them some more attention.  These tours are usually not satisfactory to the hardcore fans of the bands in question but I think they all benefit by being able to play in better venues and larger crowds by dint of sharing the load.  That might provide them with a springboard from which they are better able to branch out.

That apart there is a need to think more carefully about gigs and get out of the usual same old, same old.

[Rob W]

I think the band need to give serious consideration to tagging themselves onto one of the Legends of Classic Rock style tours to get them some more attention.  These tours are usually not satisfactory to the hardcore fans of the bands in question but I think they all benefit by being able to play in better venues and larger crowds by dint of sharing the load.  That might provide them with a springboard from which they are better able to branch out.

That apart there is a need to think more carefully about gigs and get out of the usual same old, same old.
[/quote]

Interesting point. This is something I suggested a few years back. May only be a 60min set or thereabouts, but better to play in front of a fair few hundred, some of whom may well then swell the numbers at Man gigs, rather than the same few faces. I was knocked down with a we aren't a cabaret act (I think Nigel Cross in an early TWC said similar).  Each to their own.

I recall Man were going to share the billing with Wishbone Ash was it, a while ago? Nothing seemed to happen. And when Deke reformed Iceberg, he said he was being promoted to go out on a simlar tour, told me whom with, but can't remember, nothing happened there.

[Colin Salter]

Excellent sense from Mr Heron there (and Rob W while I was writing this). There's no publicity to be had from pub gigs like these - as discussion about the postering for the current tour has demonstrated. The higher profile resulting from a package tour would surely raise the possibility of bigger venues and better audiences next time around. Going back to the same small venues over and over again will inevitably lead to smaller audiences, as the limited clientele for those venues (beyond the diehard fans on this forum) get bored and want to see something new.

Of course it's easy to say that and a lot harder to get bookngs at new venues; but with dwindling audiences the existing small circuit of regular venues are going to tire of booking the band soon enough. And the timing is not good I suppose - trying to reestablish an old rock band is hard enough, but an old rock band with a new line-up is a really tough job. So we're back to a high profile package tour. You know it makes sense.

[Tim W]

Leeds review and pics now posted.

[Tim W]

Yes, the dates for this series of gigs are a real puzzler.

Being in the middle of Hebden Bridge - Leeds - Doncaster, it seems churlish to complain, but that rather looks like an extended Rhubarb Triangle. Something over the border in Lancashire (the Witchwood?) in the midlands (the Flowerpot?) or over the other border (Renfrew Ferry?) might make more sense.

It's probably easier said than done. These sort of venues are getting harder to find, and they will get bigger houses for the dreaded tribute bands. Joining some sort of Classic Rock Legends tour might be an option, but I get the impression that the band have steered away from them in the past. It might be time to revisit the possibility.

[Allan Heron]

Joining some sort of Classic Rock Legends tour might be an option, but I get the impression that the band have steered away from them in the past. It might be time to revisit the possibility.

I believe that to be the case but I think the band have suffered from, to put it bluntly, an over-inflated sense of their own importance in the big scheme of things.

There's an alternative history where they are recognised for the worth of their acheivements over the years but, unfortunately, it's not our current reality

[Rob W]

.

I believe that to be the case but I think the band have suffered from, to put it bluntly, an over-inflated sense of their own importance in the big scheme of things.


[/quote]

Unfortunately, nail, hit, and right on the blinkin' head spring to mind.   

[Gavin Crumpton]

The 40th anniversary tour last year was, by and large, quite well attended. The audience at the Roscoe last year was about double that this time around (and I have video evidence to prove it!).

Just a thought, but maybe unceremoniously sacking half the band and replacing them with unknowns then releasing a poorly received album has had a bearing?

But beyond that there has been a long-standing tradition of a half-arsed approach to touring by the band. Lack of rehearsal and self promotion have been the norm for years. At a time when the band is at a low ebb after the events of last year it is really not a good idea for them to continue this tradition.

I'm sorry for those of you that still care about this band, but all things considered this band are getting exactly what they deserve. If you're half-arsed in your approach to making an album and to touring why should you expect anyone beyond the hard-core fans to turn up to see you???

[zippy]

Joining some sort of Classic Rock Legends tour might be an option, but I get the impression that the band have steered away from them in the past. It might be time to revisit the possibility.

I believe that to be the case but I think the band have suffered from, to put it bluntly, an over-inflated sense of their own importance in the big scheme of things.

There's an alternative history where they are recognised for the worth of their acheivements over the years but, unfortunately, it's not our current reality

tribute bands do get a bigger audience. the local civic hall has put a shedload of these on recently with the sex pistols band selling over 300 tickets!! the local working men's club has a thin lizzy tribute next saturday and that has almost sold out and has a 250+ capacity in 'the concert room'
the working men's club at west auckland has a 'rock' band on once a month and usually has an audience of over a hundred. mind you, it's nearly always the same people who go out of habit but a gig somewhere like that guarantees an audience providing a reasonable cover/ entrance charge is in place. some of the bands are shocking and still go down well.

having said that, it is sad that a band with the history and legacy of man are ignored by so many people.

[Michael Heatley]

I thought you'd gone, Gavin?

A pretty half-assed departure, I'd say