Good bands but with a small audience

[journolud]

The slow readers club ,to me Manchesters finest band ,should be playing to much bigger audiences.

I’m not familiar with their music but know of them. They are headlining Macclesfield Party in the Pews this summer, held in an old church and if recent years is anything to go by unlikely to draw a capacity crowd, whatever that might be. Badly Drawn Boy headlined last year to a half full venue

 

[journolud]

I saw My Computer at Band on the Wall with a crowd of about 5 people. It was me, my friend, two other guys, and the support act's singer.

My Computer were from Manchester and released a couple of brilliant, if ambitious, albums in the early 2000s that got rave reviews (9 out of 10 in the NME, 10 out of 10 on Uncut, Guardian/Observer loved them, they made loads of end of year lists), but didn't sell.

Not sure how much they played live at the time, but a few years after they split up, they announced a one off gig at Band on the Wall. It turned out to just be the singer, Andrew Chester. but he has the most amazing voice, so I was still thrilled to see them. Bizarrely, they had to change the publicity for the gig in the run up, to make it clear it wasn't the full band (and this may have been my fault, as my wife mentioned to a colleague that I was going to this gig, and said colleague turned out to the partner of the other band member!).

The gig was pretty much sold out, and the support (I forget who they were), got a fantastic response.

Sadly, it turned out the support were also local, and had quite the following, and most people had turned up to see them. Not one of their fans stayed around after to watch the headline act.

To be fair, the gig sounded amazing.

My Computer gets a reboot | Tony Naylor

Tony Naylor: Andy Chester and David Luke's ill-fated Manchester band never got the recognition it deserved – but now a download-only project looks set to switch My Computer back on

www.theguardian.com

Going to give these a listen. I like being late to parties, especially ones that nobody else went to.

Will let you know if I think they deserved a bigger audience. Not that it matters what I think…

 

[blueparrot]

The Bunnymen. Most gigs are a couple of thousand. That is what the size should be. Stadiums are wank.

As a fan I prefer smaller venues couple of thousand is okay, just about perfect, but ask any band they’d rather be playing bigger venues, and making decent money, maybe not stadiums.

 

[shackattack]

Saw The Coral at this gig in Barcelona few years back. Venue was so small they had to walk through the audience to get on stage

 

[Lavinda Past]

Grant Lee Phillips (of Grant Lee Buffalo fame), Norwich Arts Centre 2017, played to an audience of 14 paying customers.

He was brilliant. Gave 100%, played 90 minutes solo, made conversation with the audience, signed autographs. Top bloke.

 

[chesterbells]

Manchester’s finest in full effect.
Headbanger’s Heaven from the NWOBHM.

 

[Fiftyyearsandcounting]

In 1961, at a gig in Aldershot, The Beatles played to an audience of just 18.

 

[1.618034]

Saw Talk Talk in Stockport in 85/86 and there were about 30 people there, including the band.

 

[Big Joe Corrigan]

Owen Ashworth (Advance Base) upstairs at Gullivers, about 30 people there. Brilliant gig.

 

[Sky Blue Thinking]

In 1961, at a gig in Aldershot, The Beatles played to an audience of just 18.
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Wonder how many claimed to have been there?