I figured the sideways orientation had something to do with the fire exits. I’ll be honest, I’m not that much of a fan, but if there’s reasons that can’t be solved then so be it. No-one has an ideal layout, so you just have to make the best of it.

I am not, as I said above, a big fan of the space at Sneaky’s. Honestly, though, I really don’t think it matters that much. Every venue has their floor plan flaws, and at the more DIY end of the market you have to make some compromises, there’s just no way around that.

What defines a venue, for my money, is the attitude of the people who run it and the kind of shows which are booked. If you are a nice person, supportive of the local scene, and consistently book good shows then people will love the place irrespective of any limitations of space. The quirks may even become part of the charm, if people consistently find themselves at shows there and come to love the place.

Basically, my attitude is as stated above: work hard, book good things, and be a decent person to deal with and people will (or fucking well should) overlook everything else. This, it has to be said, seems very much to be what you are doing, which is why I’ve been as complimentary as I have recently.

I agree with you about the lack of any need for a competitive attitude as well. At the moment what we all need is for people to start seeing Edinburgh as a worthwhile stop on their tour itinerary, in which case having PCL involved can only be a good thing, as far as I’m concerned, although I don’t know them personally. Certainly they’re brought some really good bands to Sneaky’s, and that benefits all of us.

So good work, and please, please keep it up. I know it took me a while to twig, but I’m impressed with what you’ve been doing at Sneaky’s since I started to pay proper attention. Sure, the venue’s not ideal in many ways, but I just don’t think that matters in the long run.

I don’t want to get overly involved with chatter, but since there are comments going up such as

“Sneeky [sic] Pete’s is the worse venue that i have even had the pleasure of attending a gig at…..shite hole-tastic”

and

“Sneeky Pete’s a dog turd of a venue….plain and simple….if i could i would wish it to fuck off and die a slow and lonely death”

… I thought it only fair to put our case, just a little bit… and also to mention that there are a couple of mis-conceptions about the way bookings work at Sneaky’s.

I’ve spent a number of years doing what I can to book the best Edinburgh bands, and also trying desperately to get a decent standard of touring bands to visit Edinburgh. Finally with Sneaky’s we seem to have found a place to do it. I for one am very pleased about it.

I’m longstanding friends with the excellent crew run Limbo – those guys make such a real effort on their nights, well above the call of duty. Andy and Dave have raised the bar in Edinburgh, and elsewhere for that matter, and we can only hope to follow.

Henry’s has always been a great venue in my opinion. I ran a clubnight there for a year, and whilst I had to battle against production standards, it was a real blast.

The Wee Red is an excellent venue, and the sound can be really good at times. Colvin is a stand up guy and I’ve really enjoyed the shows I’ve done there. It reeks of history and that can only be a good thing.

I’ve not yet been to the Bowery (mea culpa, sadly I work too many hours to make it to enough gigs outside Sneaky’s!), but I’ve heard many very warm comments, and there definitely seems to be a real sense of community about the place.

I worked at Cabaret Voltaire for a couple of years (and still run one of their clubnights) and really can’t fault them at all. They have one of the best PAs in Edinburgh and for their size they beat most UK venues hands down. Solen was an amazing booker and Jim is a great new choice for the job. In particular I think Jim will concentrate on the local scene and I’m sure he will make the Cab an amazing platform for the best Edinburgh acts.

So with all that in mind…

I simply can’t agree with the idea of hating any venue for putting on acts that they love and believe in.

I’ve said for years that what I’d like best is for Edinburgh to have as many venues as possible putting on as many great shows as possible, and for all of them to be done really well. We’ve got a situation now where London agents have got their eyes fixed on Edinburgh as there seems to be a real sense of a decent scene brewing. The fact that we’ve got people debating the relative merits of several small venues that are all consistently putting on great shows is surely a cause for celebration.

Three years ago I really struggled to find decent local acts to support touring acts in Edinburgh. These days Edinburgh bands frequently outshine the touring acts. If we (collectively) hadn’t given bands good places to play, then I’m sure any semblance of a scene could never have developed.

People will of course have qualms with any venue, so I thought I’d answer any complaints about Sneaky’s:

** It’s too small!!!***
- Sorry but yes, we are a small venue. I was never sure that we could put on gigs at all. But I have a real commitment to putting on the best bands I can and wanted to give them the best possible home. We demolished every fixture in the place to make enough room for a stage and still just about squeeze in a bar.
- Although our official capacity is 120, we limit this to 84, as we want people to see the show. Since we’re frequently sold out, we could make a lot of extra money by over-selling shows, but we’ve chosen not to. We really to want people to get the best possible gig experience.

*** I can’t see around the pillar!!! ***
- The pillar keep the building up. We’ve got five storeys above us and if we removed the pillar the whole place would topple.
- Also Edinburgh crowds in particular seem averse to standing close to acts. Consequently even if only 20 people are in front of the stage, you’ll still find ten lurking at a distance, not getting a proper view, and afraid to move closer.

*** Why is it sideways???!!! ***
- Two reasons:
1. There is a bizarre anti-bass-trap if you face the room forwards. All bass gets sucked up and disappears and everything sounds tinny. I think it’s something to do with the curved ceiling, but who knows, I haven’t had a acoustic engineer in yet.
2. The stage would block the fire exit, there are laws about this and we have to observe them. Soz.

*** PCL run the place and that gives them an unfair advantage ***
PCL don’t run the place. We get some hookups, but most of our hires are from outside promoters. PCL actually put on, on average, one gig a month. Andy is the in-house booker and I’m greatly impressed with his breadth of knowledge of upcoming bands. It hink he’s done a truly great job in he short 3 months he’s been with us.

The exact situation, for the what want to know, is that I have a 50% share alongside Paul of PCL. Paul doesn’t get overly involved, and they pay a gig hire fee the same as everyone else, no special rates, no nothing, everyone pays the same fee.

*** Sneaky’s have an in-house booker and that gives them an unfair advantage ***
- Well I really can’t make any apologise for this. We’ve got a mission to put on the best shows we possibly can, and whilst I tried for a time to book the shows for Sneaky’s, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. I already run all of the club shows and do the sound half of the time, not to mention working the bar.
- Every venue must have someone to control the calendar, and so it makes sense to have a booker.

As I said before, I want all of Edinburgh’s venues to do really well, and I really hope that we all have a future. We’ve seen far too many venue closures in the past few years, and every little but helps. It’s very un-businessmanlike, but I really don’t feel all that competitive about things. Edinburgh has long needed a really good shakeup, and any amount we can contribute is all for the good.

Also I’d like to mention that I’m glad no-one has dissed the sound. It’s incredibly hard to get a good sound in a venue this size, and we’ve made huge investments to try to get it right, I hope you’ve noticed!

Finally… if you’re still reading… I appreciate that the bulk of the comments before must have come mainly from musicians, many of whom have played here. We really do listen and want to make this a great place for you all to play. We’ll absolutely listen to any constructive criticism. If you’re not the type to follow this with a comment, you can find me behind the bar or the sound desk most nights, and I’m all ears!

bowery, wee red, limbo etc are all amazing venues and we’re lucky to have them. sure, they all have their faults but think back not two years ago…things were dire. we’re getting there.

the bowery does need a stage though, and the wee red needs more than just trampoline (despite it being one of the best nights going) to sustain peoples opinion of it the great venue that it is.

ps. yes ted, vs was awesome. x

Sneaky Pete’s I’m not impressed with just cos the layout is perverse. Not sure what the thought process behind that was.

I like Voodoo Rooms too, or at least I like what Limbo does to the ballroom – those lights on the wall and the projector and stuff is all their work as far as i can tell, so a doff of the chapeau goes their way. Also the sound is always great, another bug bear of mine in venues like Bannermans, which is not a favourite of mine.

I agree with DC too – it’ll be up to the tenant to fit out a space but if there’s a door behind the stage there will be health and safety constraints in terms of putting something like a stage in front of a fire exit for example. Not saying it is a fire exit but if it’s used for stuff then building control won’t allow it.

Actually, this is an interesting point. The venue owner doesn’t have any responsibility for what their leaseholder does (presuming ‘the Bowery’ has a lease on the space for what they do). It’s the leaseholder’s job to ensure what they do in that building stands up to all environmental regulations etc., & any additions to the fixtures & fittings (such as a stage) is down to them. All the owner has done is rent them the property. The only time they have any say in the matter or liability is if its specifically mentioned in the contract/lease.

I remember now that there’s a door at the back. Bugger. That’ll reduce the depth of the stage somewhat if you fit a ramp/stairs.

And Art Fag dedicated a song to me…

swoon