Anyone Know The Manager From British Joke, Mosborough?

Nobodys Hero · 29-02-2008, 19:16

If you do, please pass on our thanks for being so inconsiderate to our band, and the people who turned up to see us, some who travelled from as far away as Hull, Lincoln & Stoke & have overnight hotel accommodation arranged.

We arrived at 5.00pm to set up for a gig that had been booked since the middle of January. When we got there he told us the pub was closed & the gig was cancelled.

Still can't believe he didn't even have the decency to let us know as we've been told that they've known about this for 3 weeks!!

We're more annoyed for the people we couldn't get messages to in time, so many people will have had wasted journeys. It still looks bad on us, even though not our fault.

As I'm writing this post, I know there are people on their way to the cancelled gig & I have no way of stopping them continuing a wasted journey.

Thanx to the inconsiderate arsehole of a manager from the British Oak (or I think more appropriately the British JOKE!)

Hope we can return the favour some day.

Tim

NOBODY'S HEROES

SKEGGY · 29-02-2008, 19:51

Thats bad. If you`re with an agency tell them so they don`t send anymore acts to that venue, the can also contact other agencies and eventually he won`t be able to book any bands at all.

Nobodys Hero · 01-03-2008, 08:28

We're not with an agency but we're still gonna try our best to put word around as many people as we can, so hopefully the end result will be that they can't get any more acts to play there!

shaznay · 01-03-2008, 08:50

why was the pub closed i wonder? on a friday night

glenis123 · 01-03-2008, 08:54

I assume by booking you then this forms some kind of contract....take him to court for loss of earning ect.....small claims only cost £26 online.........that will teach him

Nobodys Hero · 01-03-2008, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaznay

why was the pub closed i wonder? on a friday night

Apparently the previous landlady did a runner with a few grand! The manager was still there yesterday along with some bigwigs from another pub chain (taking the place over) so looks like he will still be there when the pub reopens tonight.

We will never play there again while he's still there, despite filling the place when we played previous gigs!

Nobodys Hero · 01-03-2008, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenis123

I assume by booking you then this forms some kind of contract....take him to court for loss of earning ect.....small claims only cost £26 online.........that will teach him

Would have thought so Glenis but it's not the loss of earnings we're bothered about. It's the folks who turned up, some of whom travelled a long way. Also the time & effort we put in to advertising our gigs. We do our own posters/flyers and spend ages printing, laminating & sticking em up!
It's the inconvenience for us and our audience that makes something like this a proper let down and everyone thinks it's disgusting that this manager didn't have the decency to let us know until we arrived!

DList · 01-03-2008, 11:36

if the landlady's done a runner what did you want him to do? he's probably got much bigger problems at the moment, esp if the bigwigs from the brewery are breathing down his neck...

i know it inconvenienced you, but he's probably got a lot on at the moment. surely you should be upset with the landlady? surely she booked you?

Ousetunes · 01-03-2008, 12:09

This is a perfect example of how bands and performing artists are treated in general by landlords, managers and tenants of licensed premises and is one reason why I packed in being in a band.

They think you've got nothing better to do, think your day starts and ends with your performance and that if you ask for more than a pound an hour you must be joking.

They think your equipment must have been free, that new strings and leads grow on trees and are therefore free to replace and expect you to perform on a 'stage' measuring three feet by two with one electrical plug socket (and no lighting).

I recall playing a gig in the Hallamshire on West Street. Finished a day's work, rushed to the group's digs at Fir Vale, loaded my drum kit into my car (from the cellar), back home to get changed and eat; to Hallamshire to set up (and anyone who's played there knows what the steps are like) and performed the gig from (something like) 9.30 till 11pm.

I then had the task of loading the kit back into the car, helping my bandmates load their gear into the van, drive home and get to bed, something like 1.30 in the morning. Thus, I'd been at it from something like 5.30pm to 1.30am.

My pay? 50p.

My advice? Get a manager, get a contract and get all parties to stick to it.

Ousetunes · 01-03-2008, 12:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nobodys Hero

Thanx to the inconsiderate arsehole of a manager from the British Oak (or I think more appropriately the British JOKE!)

Tim

NOBODY'S HEROES

I take it you're not the lyricist then?

muddycoffee · 01-03-2008, 12:10

My brother is a Pub DJ and has been since about 1991. He has lots of recent examples of pub managers doing a runner all of a sudden recently in the last few years. Mostly it is due to the pubcos and their terrible and greedy treatment of the pub managers who often work extremely long hours to make the business profitable, only for the pubco to see this and rack up their charges to steal it from them.

I am not condoning your pub landlord with his treatment of you, your band and your band's supporters, but realistically they are probably in dire financial straits, and you should move on and mark it down to experience.

As a musician myself, I am surprised that you have made such a fuss over a single gig. I have played thousands myself and I would never put so much effort into a single one, as it seems like you have. I wonder if you are just starting out and are scared of having nobody to come and see you. My advice would be to look forward to playing to one man and a dog in some back street pub because you learn far more from gigs like that.

Ousetunes · 01-03-2008, 12:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by muddycoffee

As a musician myself, I am surprised that you have made such a fuss over a single gig. I have played thousands myself and I would never put so much effort into a single one, as it seems like you have. I wonder if you are just starting out and are scared of having nobody to come and see you. My advice would be to look forward to playing to one man and a dog in some back street pub because you learn far more from gigs like that.

You must have been to one of our gigs? In fact, you must be that man (the only one who EVER came to our gigs).

Thanks for coming!!

PS. You're not wrong.

Nobodys Hero · 01-03-2008, 12:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by muddycoffee

My brother is a Pub DJ and has been since about 1991. He has lots of recent examples of pub managers doing a runner all of a sudden recently in the last few years. Mostly it is due to the pubcos and their terrible and greedy treatment of the pub managers who often work extremely long hours to make the business profitable, only for the pubco to see this and rack up their charges to steal it from them.

I am not condoning your pub landlord with his treatment of you, your band and your band's supporters, but realistically they are probably in dire financial straits, and you should move on and mark it down to experience.

As a musician myself, I am surprised that you have made such a fuss over a single gig. I have played thousands myself and I would never put so much effort into a single one, as it seems like you have. I wonder if you are just starting out and are scared of having nobody to come and see you. My advice would be to look forward to playing to one man and a dog in some back street pub because you learn far more from gigs like that.

We put the same effort into all our gigs and have filled this place on at least 4 previous occasions (while the same management was present) They know how many people turn up to see us too so we're not scared of havin to play in front of small crowds, we've done that before too. We've also been let down before but the reason we're so ****** off bout this one is that although people knew about this for three weeks, they din't have the decency to let us know until we arrived.
His attitude was just "tough luck mate" and he never even apologised. That stinks. The same manager "ran" the pub for the previous landlady so he knew us and knew we were booked for last night. One phone call in the past three weeks would have prevented this. Surely that aint too much to expect!

You've obviously never been to one of our gigs and seen how many people turn up, some travelling a long way. I've also been gigging since I was 15 and I'm now 42 so I've been around the block a bit too. No venue has ever done this to me before though so I feel I've the right to be ****** off!

alex3659 · 01-03-2008, 13:13

the pub has been a joke for a while full of young idiots causing trouble for any stranger that walks in , you and your friends were better off it being closed.

Nobodys Hero · 02-03-2008, 09:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex3659

the pub has been a joke for a while full of young idiots causing trouble for any stranger that walks in , you and your friends were better off it being closed.

It's not actually the pub that's been the joke. It's the management! The words "p*ss-up" & "brewery" spring to mind!
During 2 of the last 3 gigs we played there, they ran out of draught beer/lager before 10.00pm!!

simonj · 02-03-2008, 20:34

Is this management issue in any way related to this thread? (see post 23):

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/show...ckamoor&page=2

DUFFEMS · 03-03-2008, 07:36

I remember the Briish Oak at Mosborough from the 1950/60's/70's (I know, its' a long time ago!) and it was a friendly family-type pub where the kids could sit outside.

We came past it several times a couple of years ago and last year too, we thought about calling in and seeing what had changed but, the windows looked like they'd been put through! We asked a local about it and we were told that the present landlady/landlord (this was last year) had other jobs, school caretaker or something so they weren't there all the time and the place had a large clientele of local yobs. The next time we passed the windows were boarded up.

Nobodys Hero · 03-03-2008, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonj

Is this management issue in any way related to this thread? (see post 23):

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/show...ckamoor&page=2

As it happens, it was the same people "running" the Blackamoor, British Oak & another pub in Retford. These people took over the British Oak in late October 2007.

Lightninboy · 03-03-2008, 09:20

Drop a line to Rock of the North who have a "name & shame" policy on their comments page. If nothing else it puts the word round to other bands that enter into any deal with the venue to be aware of whats happened.....
http://www.rockofthenorth.f2s.com/

It happens to way more bands than you think as well!!!!

DUFFEMS · 03-03-2008, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nobodys Hero

As it happens, it was the same people "running" the Blackamoor, British Oak & another pub in Retford. These people took over the British Oak in late October 2007.

The time period I'm talking about was prior to the takeover in October 2007 which you've mentioned, the local I spoke to said that the manager and his partner were away doing other jobs, school caretaking/cleaning so the pub was badly managed and that was why the local yobs had a stronghold.
Presumably, this was followed by another bad manager/landlord which is why Tim's had the problem.

It would appear that this pub has had a run of bad managers which is a pity.