Canal through the town centre

[mexico red]

years ago ( and i mean 1989) i put on some gigs in swindon.

firstly put on a band at link centre, called the chesterfields and sold that out, secondly put on a band called House of love at regents college and that sold out.
finally put on a band called Ocean Colour Scene and brunel at there was 50 people there.

The reason there are no major live venues is because swindon could not support it. simple as that. Swindon doesnt have an indie scene, which is what the majority of bands would be. there are no established indie clubs in swindon and there wont be because the town hasnt got enough indie kids to support a regular club night which would make a scene thrive.
Swindon needs a university before any major live music venue would be taken on. it needs a indie club where people can go and become part of a scene and meet like minded people. The indie scene in brighton has produced loads of bands who met at my clubs through socialising, eighties matchbox, brakes, pippettes, kooks,bats for lashes, british sea power, foals have all been regulars of my clubs for years.

In regards to there being loads of goodbands in swindon, well i beg to differ, i have seen/recieved demos of numerous bands from swindon and they were all shit with the exception of one (and they have just signed to sony). these bands were little more than covers bands and were unoriginal and almost school like. if there was a regular place for people to go im sure these bands would get better.



get a uni, get some decent restaurants, build a canal, build some cafes and bars along it, make swindon attractive and venues will come.

[Simon Pieman]

I agree about the demand side of things Mex. Seen some good bands in Swindon, although not all from Swindon. That said I wouldn't go and buy their records if they did release any.

Swindon is a boring shithole.

[Ardiles]

One of the reasons a lot of people are so disparaging about Swindon is it has so little in the way of features to distinguish it...at first sight, at any rate.  The town centre is a complete shit hole, and hasn't moved on since the early 1980s when I first knew the place.  I think the canal idea recognises this and is seeking to put something tangible in the centre that tourism and business chiefs will be able to point to and use as a catalyst for further change.

Will it work?  No idea.  I don't know enough about Swindon these days, but if it is going to work it will need to be accompanied by some serious infrastructure development - and I'm not sure the local council has the appetite for that.

The canal passing through the new(ish) Oracle development in Reading works well and certainly adds something, but you can only go ahead with a scheme like that if other infrastructure is in place.  In Reading's case, the Oracle, the Madejski and the new dual carriageway linking J11 to the town centre all went in at around the same time.  And there are no such schemes that I'm aware of in Swindon that would make this possible.

[Arriba]

if swindon had a large venue attracting top acts, it wouldn't matter what the local music scene is like.
people would travel here to see big acts.the fact that the oasis sells out nearly every gig is enough proof imo.
a bigger venue would get even bigger acts i reckon.

[reeves4england]

if swindon had a large venue attracting top acts, it wouldn't matter what the local music scene is like.
people would travel here to see big acts.the fact that the oasis sells out nearly every gig is enough proof imo.
a bigger venue would get even bigger acts i reckon.

From where?
Bristol? No, they will see people there
London? No, they will see people there
Reading? No, they will go to London
Oxford?  :|

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

years ago ( and i mean 1989) i put on some gigs in swindon.

firstly put on a band at link centre, called the chesterfields and sold that out, secondly put on a band called House of love at regents college and that sold out.
finally put on a band called Ocean Colour Scene and brunel at there was 50 people there.

The reason there are no major live venues is because swindon could not support it. simple as that. Swindon doesnt have an indie scene, which is what the majority of bands would be. there are no established indie clubs in swindon and there wont be because the town hasnt got enough indie kids to support a regular club night which would make a scene thrive.
Swindon needs a university before any major live music venue would be taken on. it needs a indie club where people can go and become part of a scene and meet like minded people. The indie scene in brighton has produced loads of bands who met at my clubs through socialising, eighties matchbox, brakes, pippettes, kooks,bats for lashes, british sea power, foals have all been regulars of my clubs for years.

In regards to there being loads of goodbands in swindon, well i beg to differ, i have seen/recieved demos of numerous bands from swindon and they were all shit with the exception of one (and they have just signed to sony). these bands were little more than covers bands and were unoriginal and almost school like. if there was a regular place for people to go im sure these bands would get better.



get a uni, get some decent restaurants, build a canal, build some cafes and bars along it, make swindon attractive and venues will come.

Good post Mex. There is no market for live music here which is kind of the point i was getting at.

What band was the Sony one by the way?

[Arriba]

if swindon had a large venue attracting top acts, it wouldn't matter what the local music scene is like.
people would travel here to see big acts.the fact that the oasis sells out nearly every gig is enough proof imo.
a bigger venue would get even bigger acts i reckon.

From where?
Bristol? No, they will see people there
London? No, they will see people there
Reading? No, they will go to London
Oxford?  :|

how do you know people wont travel from those places?people travel to go to the oasis gigs from different places.people travel to gigs all over the place, from all over the place.
 there are more towns and villages then those you've mentioned.
cirencester,bath,chippenham,didcot,sailsbury etc etc etc.
if the venue is good enough, it would almost guarantee bigger acts than we currently get here.the town is growing all the time but have shit faciltys.

[Sussex]

What band was the Sony one by the way?

Think it was Maths Class Rich. Had a no.1 in the indie charts recently.

[Simon Pieman]

What band was the Sony one by the way?

Think it was Maths Class Rich. Had a no.1 in the indie charts recently.

They're from Brighton though  

[flammableBen]

mex said what I said and I said it first but mex is ace.

[Noel Gallagher]

One of the reasons In left the area was to try and re-start up aband of mine there is little chance of a band in Swindonof doing anything or getting any recognition outside of the town itself unless you gig away from home, well in my opinion anyway.

[flammableBen]

I agree that you'd struggle to get a band out of swindon, but that's for the same reason there isn't need for big venues and shit.

You get bands where there are universities and they have venues to support them.

[Noel Gallagher]

Well since moving we already have 3 potential gigs lined up just acoustic sets but better than nothing, in a local called the Halfmoon just a normal pub but they have a great little venue within it and attract some half decent bands there. Isn't anywhere really like that in Swindon people will say the Vic or 12Bar, but it's just not the same i've heard bands who have played there and have been told not to play their own material jsut about somes the situation up in my opinion.

[flammableBen]

the 12bar and the vic are the best swindon have as far as live music, be it local or not. They do there best and the owners are pretty sound when I've chatted to them.

Swindon needs a bigger 12bar.

[Noel Gallagher]

You're probobly right I went to see Frank Tuner at 12bar and it was a decent enough show. The thing is as a town the nmusical history isn't actaully all that bad I mean although a different era we once upon a time had acts like the Betales and The Stones playing here. If other towns like Reading and MK can do it I don't see why not I eman I've seeing Oasis in K and Ian Brown in Reading one being a huge act the otehr bveing a fairly well reconised artist. So we ahould eb able to do it. Myself I have always though Lydiard park to be a massively under used area for gigs, I remember party in the parks that we used to have years ago and have always thought it could be a great place for gigs. A smaller scale knebworth if you like.