London gigs - on a flyer

Sisteray have a big London gig coming up in week or so (as if you didn't know ;-) and one of the agreements we have with the promoters is that we would get out and about and hand flyers out at a few gigs. So the past week, in between rehearsals, we have been doing just that, the fact that we also managed, by fair means and foul, to actually get into some of these gigs is somewhat of a bonus.

The special guests at our gig @ The Black Heart on December 3rd are The Bulletproof Bomb, they are without doubt, one of the most exciting live bands around at the moment and if there's any other band we would like and expect to break through in 2016 other than ourselves it's TBB, and on Tuesday we all found ourselves around Chalk Farm.
Maximo Park were playing @ The Roundhouse , we couldn't afford tickets or find a nice person to put us on the guest list for this one, so we just went along and handed out flyers to people in the queue,  Some Maximo Park people look like our people, though there were a few looking like they had just come from 'the office' (no offence) and some smiled and politely took flyers from us. From the heady heights and size of The Roundhouse (one day friends) we popped over the road to The Monarch where The Bulletproof Bomb were actually playing, supporting The Scruff Club.

It was free to get in The Monarch as it was a launch event and there was a decent sized crowd. Glad we got to catch opener Veronica Bianqui all the way from LA apparently, who certainly knows how to open eyes and ears and has a stand out tune in 'If Love Is A Gun'. It's a fast catchy tune, deserves a listen and sets up things nicely for The Bulletproof Bomb who are next to take the stage. Before they did we managed to step outside for a beer and good to meet the boys from the band Lighthouse, who will be the opening band at our Camden gig. We're just on the first rung of this rock and roll ladder but it became apparent that things don't change and we shared stories of dodgy record labels and unscrupulous promoters.
The boys from The Bulletproof Bomb took the stage and smashed it with their speedy energetic songs and even with instrument swaps and guitar strings breaking, showed what an infectious bunch they are, it was the first time we had all caught them live together and are pleased that the bar is set high in the quality department for The Black Heart on December, with a great lineup of really charming blokes. Can't wait.!

Wednesday night was a good night for gigs in London but the two that really shone out for us was Reverend And The Makers at Koko and Hidden Charms @ The Lexington. We were torn and as only two of us could come out, we were a bit thin on the ground to cover both and The Lexington is a great venue but you really have to get inside to hand out flyers.
There is a new 'Poll' function on Twitter, has anyone discovered it?
Don't quite know how it even actually works but you can set up a poll between two choices (eats into your 140 characters) - Anyway, we did a poll, The Reverend And The Makers or Hidden Charms and The Reverend sneaked it so it was Mornington Crescent rather than Pentonville Road.

Actually, we're learning a bit about this flyering malarkey, one thing is, handing out flyers to crowds coming out of a gig is generally a lot more difficult. People are buzzing about the gig, snogging their partners in the hope they get invited back for a bit of inbetweeners or rushing for transport. However, get to a gig nice and early, where a few tickets have been sold and there's usually a queue of people who are much more amenable to having something to peruse and chat to us about what's on the flyer. This is the bit we like best. This was Wednesday's plan, though to be honest we did get a little bit waylaid in the pub. It was pointed out, that talking to two young ladies in the pub over one flyer and buying them drinks for half an hour, with 250 flyers in your back pocket while the queue quietly sneaks into the venue, is not the most productive way of tackling our task in hand. Eventually we made it with the full intention of heading up to The Lexington where we thought we had a much better chance of actually blagging into the Hidden Charms gig and hearing some music but there was a buzz on the phone and it was news that Koko had put Sisteray on the guest list for the Rev, so thank you Koke, you made our night.. well, you and the #RevArmy

What a gig! But first a bit of a shout for Franko Fraize who was supporting, came on dressed in a bright yellow kagoule and spoke a few words, could have sworn blind it was Danny Dyer but when the band kicked into the first tune, the crowd got into it instantly, infectious chorus paired with rapid fire lyrics and he nailed it, certainly won over the #Revarmy. A nice surprise and we'll definitely keep an eye out for any other gigs coming up.

Grabbed a few beers before the Reverend took the stage and dipped in and out of albums with the set list, particularly enjoyed new songs Black Widow and Mr. Glassalfempty with it's Bruce Foxton bassline and a classic Heavyweight Champion of the World and that was before they were half way through their set.

The Rev is irrepressible live and has the tunes to back it up, they kept on coming and didn't look like stopping. In fact, they didn't, the plug got pulled. That didn't stop The Reverend though and we all piled outside the venue, as he did an alfresco acoustic encore. It was a special moments, not least because we got to meet some lovely members of the #RevArmy and were able to have a chat and hand out a few more flyers.

Thursday, it was to The Black Heart in Camden . The Jacques were playing and we had a great gig playing there with them the other week (which is how we come be headlining there in two weeks time ourselves) .

On Friday, the weather started to turn, winter is coming people, time for wooly hats. Didn't get out until late, so went up to the Forum in Kentish Town where people were coming out of The Enemy gig @ The Forum and then hot foot down to Camden @ Koko again for The Sherlocks at Club NME. The Sherlocks have had a great year and looks even better for them next year - they've just taken a step up with a new booking agent so no surprise they'll be supporting The Libertines on their UK arena shows, can't deny a few pangs of jealousy when we saw that but hey lads we fancy doing a few shows with you too, so we'll try to get in touch. Their recent single 'Heart Of Gold' was certainly a standout live and for the second time in a week spent a lot of time talking about Sisteray at the Koko bar. Wouldn't have it any other way. So that's last week

This week, there's more rehearsals than flyering as the gig is less than two weeks away but we're definitely going to check out The Vaccines at Brixton, if you're there come and say hello. We have also had a long discussion about Courtney Barnett, who is playing two nights at The Forum on Tuesday and Wednesday, some of us really like her tunes, others not so sure but the main crux of the debate is around whether it is worth us going to hand out flyers and if her audience, might or could be our audience, if you know what we mean - what do you think?

Finally, on Friday, 27th Nov, we will definitely be trying to get ourselves along to The Dexters at The Lexington, looks like it is sold out which is great for the lads. We going to do something special for this one, although we'll no doubt have flyers in our pockets, each band member has got 2 Golden VIP / ace face tickets for our gig to give away, criteria for getting one is, well, obviously we've got to be pretty sure you'll come and make use of the ticket, but also a music fan and someone we think might enhance the overall quality of the night or some other such bullshit, we'll see. One way or another we are going to make 3rd December special. Please join us.