Live in Edinburgh This Week – 1st November 2009
Well this is a bit of a big week for Song, by Toad Records. Apart from the fact that the Loch Lomond/Builders & the Butchers split 12″ is now officially available to buy, we also have the Meursault single launch on Saturday, with three of my favourite bands. We’re releasing four A-sides on two 7″ singles, on clear vinyl: new recordings of William Henry Miller Parts One and Two are going back to back with A Few Kind Words and the Dirt & the Roots from Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues. Officially, neither single is being released until the first week of December, but they will be available at live shows from this week onwards, including all tour dates the boys are playing over the next few weeks – details on their MySpace page.
Edinburgh’s best DIY arts venue, The Bowery, officially opened a year ago this week (or so), and the single launch just happens to be their first birthday party. The Edinburgh University Settlement, however, are getting rid of Ruth and Jane and taking the whole place over, so by the end of December the Bowery as we know and love it will cease to exist. I am trying to get in touch with the Settlement themselves to find out exactly why they are doing this, and what alternatives they are putting in place, but in terms of the artistic community in this city this looks like nothing short of a bloody disaster.
Basically, this means that we have two months left to enjoy the place and show our gratitude to Ruth and Jane for the incredible amount of hard work they have put into giving us all such a special place to go and drink and to see live music, so please come along as often as possible over the next two months in order to give them the best send off we can manage.
Wednesday 4th November 2009: Daniel Johnston, The Wave Pictures & Laura Marling at The Queen’s Hall.
As marquee gigs go, this is the best Edinburgh has had for a long time. Apart from the general elusiveness of Daniel Johnston himself, this is treat for the entire lineup. In terms of wonky, off-kilter, sometimes painfully personal lyrics you won’t find better, but the key bit is how deceptively poppy the songwriting can be from both Johnston himself and support band the Wave Pictures.
Daniel Johnston – Foxy Girl
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Thursday 5th November 2009: Withered Hand, Candythief & James Lowe play the Leith Tape Club at the Iso Lounge.
This is a really cracking lineup for the Leith Tape Club. Most people here will know Withered Hand’s brilliant anti-folkery, but I highly recommend the flamboyantly orchestrated pop of Candythief as well. I’ve no idea how it will strip back to the bare-bones approach necessitated by the Tape Club, but I’m keen to hear it.
Withered Hand – Withered Hand
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Saturday 7th November 2009: Meursault, Withered Hand & Jesus H. Foxx at the Bowery.
As lineups go, if I were the sort who spent his time masturbating to music, I would spank myself raw to the mere thought of this one. Probably whilst lying in a bath full of lovely clear vinyl!
Meursault – A Few Kind Words
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Saturday 7th November 2009: Sara & the Snakes, Mitchell Museum & The Last Battle play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.
It’s good to see the Limbo chaps back in the saddle. Mitchell Museum are mental live, and the Last Battle have formed from the ashes of local band Thieves in Suits, and since then I have heard some really good things about them.
Mitchell Museum – Arthur Loves the Shadows
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Saturday 7th November 2009: Mark Eitzel & Franz Nicolay at Cabaret Voltaire.
Hmm, I’m not sure you really want all these good gigs on on a night when you’re trying to have a successful single launch, but this lineup looks really interesting. Hailing from American Music Club and The Hold Steady respectively, I don’t know too much about either man’s solo material, but the bands they are/were both in before can be pretty bloody excellent.
Mark Eitzel – Patriot’s Heart (Live)
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There’s a band called the Kays Lavelle playing the Wee Red Bar on Wednesday, with Esperi and Noiserv.
And also on Saturday at Henry’s there’s the Go Away Birds, who I’ve still not managed to see live yet, with Adam Stafford also on the bill.
Sorry, got carried away ranting about the Bowery before my internet window closed at half past.
Matthew never puts the Kays shows on his page. We’re too small time.
Thanks for trying though.
Sorry I won’t make it along on Saturday Matthew. I am on father duties. Hope it’s a cracking night.
The Ruth/Jane being chucked out The Bowery situation is a total travesty, I agree. It makes me genuinely sad in my otherwise cold heart. Saturday should be a good one – I’m looking forward to seeing Deterioriated Digits play.
i wonder if the the band names Esperi and Noiserv came about from someone randomly/blinding tapping away at a keyboard?
The Settlement themselves claim to know nothing about it. A direct quote when I called them was ‘as far as I am concerned they are there as long as they want to be there’, which is in direct contradiction to what the girls themselves have been told. The guy actually spoke to me like I was making up malicious nonsense. It seems that the left hand doesn’t know who the right hand is shafting.
is there not some form of contract?
Well Noiserv is Portugese. So he might have got confused with English keyboards.
I really am gutted about the Bowery.
I just wish the bowery had a good sound system.
i just wish they would put a stage in the place, but thats a bit irrelevant right now, i hope something gets sorted and the place (or a place elsewhere) can continue the great work that has been carried out over the past year.
Well I think we have to try and find somewhere for the Bowery to continue, so if anyone knows of any potential spaces no would be a really good time to say so.
This is a traversty – those girls work so hard!
What about some kind of petition? Or is that totally lame?
I think we need to establish precisely how keen Ruth and Jane are to keep The Bowery open if they do get the chance, given all the messing about the Settlement have dished out to them.
Then if they are up for it, we can mobilise the troops.
Jane is off to the States. Ruth and Phil, on the other hand, would be great, but yeah, I have no idea if she’d want to keep on working with them.
Otherwise, the only other option is to try and find another space and move The Bowery there instead. Legally, as I understand it, they have no right to the name, but I’ll check on that.
I hope if I lose my job songbytoad gets as behind me as this. Brilliant.
i’m sure we could use your job in trying to help Euan…..know of any unused buildings out there?
Know of lots of old buildings that need a use mate. But mainly ones that people want to sell or demolish rather then rent.
Matthew – I actually know of a place that might be interested if you want to text me or e-mail.
Thanks mate, that’s brilliant.
TOTALLY gutted about the Bowery. B*stards. (she said from a University computer..)
It’s such a shame after all the hard work they’ve put in, maybe the Uni saw what a success they’d made of it and thought they’d have a bit of that..
Well they seem to have no conception of the fact that letting people spend a year building a successful business and then appointing someone else to run it and asking them to stay on to train them properly and hand over all their contacts is absolutely not okay.
I am trying to get some sort of reaction from the Settlement but so far I’ve only met blanket denial. We’ll see, I’ll keep at it, but for now they don’t seem to have anything to say for themselves.
The decision to remove Jane and Ruth is going to be an absolute disaster for the University Settlement. Ruth and Jane have worked so hard to make this place as special, intimate and as atmospheric as it is. I moved to Edinburgh 3 months ago, made my first trip to The Bowery after about two weeks, and I instantly felt an affinity with the place. Indeed, I am typing this from my laptop behind the bar.
I’m not in the know about what the Settlement want to actually do with the space but I have made it known to Ruth that if she has other ideas up her sleeve, that I want to be involved in some capacity. It’s such a shame that the people who genuinely want to offer Edinburgh something more alternative are being slapped in the face.
Matthew, could you forward me the email address of the person from the University Settlement that you contacted, please? I want to send an email too. And, given that I work in The Bowery, I’d like to think I’d get an honest answer from them about decisions being made and what their future plans are.
I’ve heard on the grapevine that they want to focus all gig activity upon the Roxy Arthouse Hall. Are they kidding? It’s like Durham fucking Cathedral inside. Ten Tracks hosted a gig in there on Saturday night and the atmosphere was fucking horrible because the space is just too big for the types of gigs that the building attracts.
Halls that size are quite simply no use for grass roots music. They’re miles too big, and are fine if someone wants to start a new Queen’s Hall or whatever, but places that size aren’t used that much anyway.
And it’s not just about the music. What’ll end up happening is that the bands go back to their dive bars, the poets back to their cafes, the artists back to their galleries and that big mixture of diverse arts, the presence of every single fragment of which was a massive encouragement to everyone else, will simply break up again.
Quite simply, it looks like we are going to have to find a new location for the Bowery. Euan has emailed through a couple of really promising suggestions which I intend to follow up, so a massive thank you in his direction.
But quite why they felt the need to take away something so important to so many diverse communities within the city is beyond me. Mind you, they probably don’t think they are taking it away, which just goes to show how little they grasp the situation in the first place.
Matthew, can you post the guy’s email address on here so we can all try and get a response?
Or we could all just apply for this.
lets not post the guy’s email on here……lets leave that side to the people in the know and we can support in other ways.
Chutters talking sense??? Christ, I’d have responded to this sooner, but I was so shocked I fell over and it’s taken me this long to get back up again.
i’m very surprised at the settlements choice here. the venue has become a focal point for many promotors, bands and events on the scene in the last year. it seems they are quite out of touch with this, and have little to no concept of how much a success it has been.
if you consider that the space has actually had an impact on the way jesus h. foxx – one of the cities best bands in my opine – play and sound (as they said in their under the radar feature) then is hard to ignore that this place is a little bit special. closing it is a foolish step to take.
i don’t know what the financial situation is, but surely the bowery is making them a reasonable amount of money, given how many successful shows seem to be put on there. if they are hoping to cash in on the success that ruth and jane have had, i imagine it changing hands wouldn’t play in their favour.
I don’t think they intend to close it exactly Martin. In fact I think they like the place, but Ruth and Jane won’t be running it anymore and they seem not to understand that this is very much not the same thing.
I have heard similar rumours to the ones Phillip mentioned above – ie the gig space moving upstairs and so on – but no-one seems to really know.
This makes their response all the more baffling. I phoned up to ask them what their plans were for the redevelopment of the Roxy Art House and instead of just answering the question they panicked and started shouting about checking sources and so on.
If they are doing something which they believe is going to be of benefit to the grass roots arts community in the city then you would think they would be proud to talk about it, but instead they acted like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Does that mean they want the kind of communities Ruth and Jane nurtured to quietly fuck off so they can focus on more glamorous fare and tryin to compete with the Queen’s Hall?Well I have no idea, but it looks like it from their reaction.
Whether you want to think of this site as music press or a record label or an occasional promoter, it is definitely a part of the arts community within Edinburgh and it’s just ridiculous to pretend that we shouldn’t be asking about the plans for the redevelopment of one of our most important spaces.
It’s not like I was even aggressive or rude to them either, I simply called to ask what their plans were for redeveloping the space, but their response has been baffling.
Idlewild and Sparrow @ picturehouse?
Well spotted. I’m not so keen on Idlewild though, which is probably why I missed this.
I was joking about the email address! We’re a long way from embarking on disruptive action yet.
That general manager’s position advertised at the Roxy has got me thinking about how they might be planning to run things, though.
The points they may be missing as I see it are
- The salary range for the general manager’s role isn’t really high enough to attract anyone with a great deal of experience or expertise. They may feel that they should let any appointee to that position choose their own team, which is an honourable notion, but they’ll be lucky to get someone with the skills and knowledge of both the licenced trade and entertainments promotion to assemble an effective team for that money.
- The Roxy doesn’t have the cachet of The Queen’s Hall, or the facilities of the Picture House to realistically compete with those venues. Full stop.
- There will inevitably be opposition from local residents around Roxburgh place regarding increased noise. If you consider the Bowery already gets complaints about noise, putting bigger, louder acts on upstairs in a larger hall with less natural insulation is only going to antogonise the locals further.
- If they behave unreasonably toward the current Bowery team, they’ll not only lose the support and “buy-in” of the local arts and music community, but they risk attracting active protests and boycotts. Which, given the close-knit nature of the Edinburgh community, is a feasible and significant threat to the ongoing success of the venue.
Well I agree that they are unlikely to be able to compete with the Picture House or the Queen’s Hall, and I certainly think they may have rather misjudged the practicality of having loud gigs upstairs, but I am tempted to say that that’s their problem and I really don’t care.
Somewhat ironically, the reason I phoned them is that I wanted to actually understand their plans before I said anything critical about them, making their scalded cat reaction a little counter-productive. I didn’t want to go slagging their plans off on the basis of what I kinda thought they might be.
Removing Ruth and Jane will be a big blow to the communities the Bowery has nurtured, and they will deservedly lose a lot of goodwill simply on that fact. But in the long run, if they maintain the work the girls started and continue to provide a low-cost, quirky, welcoming atmosphere with a flexible attitude to booking and to encourage interaction between the various artistic communities, then they will still be a big benefit to the arts in Edinburgh, and I will be perfectly happy to say so.
If, on the other hand, they are intending to refocus on the upstairs hall at the expense of downstairs, spend too much time trying to book big-name acts and are going to continue to behave with this sort of hostility towards large parts of the independent music community then it will look more to me like they are embarking on some sort of colossal vanity project and don’t actually give a shit about grass-roots communities. In which case I’ll think they’re a bunch of stupid pricks and will be only too happy to tell them so.
But I really don’t think answering a few questions about their plans – Christ, I practically asked for a sales pitch – should be something they are so afraid to do. Unless they’re trying to say that we are not in their plans and can therefore piss off, which they might be.
Hold on. Can I just ask some simple questions cause I’m kind of in the dark on a lot of this.
1. Is the Bowery a rented space from the venue owner or is Ruth employed by the owners?
2. The Roxy Art House existed before the Bowery did, right?
3. Is this the owners building to run as they see fit?
4. If these people are so terrible, why would Ruth and Jane want to stay in the venue anyways if they could find suitable alternative accommodation? Isn’t that key here?
5. The Bowery certainly seems to be important to the Edinburgh artistic community. However, is it not the people who run it and the atmosphere they have created that matter more than the venue itself?
6. If not shouldn’t it be? The building adds to it sure, but what they have done is what is really important, right? And since I work with old buildings, I completely understand what impact a building can have on the enjoyment of a gig or night. But from personal experience, the Bowery’s not all that special. It’s just available and that’s the difficult thing about alternative space.
7. Why does the Bowery have to close at all if it’s downstairs and the Roxy is upstairs?
Am I way off track here? Personally, I don’t like it as a place to watch gigs so the venue means nothing to me really. It’s what Ruth and Jane have done that matters in all this surely?
Also, Dylan, whilst it’s sad to think that the Roxy would kick the Bowery out, I think it’s equally as sad to think the people of the Edinburgh music scene would be as narrow minded as to boycott a venue that attempted to put on bigger shows simply out of spite. If Ruth could find alternative accommodation and the Roxy started putting on bigger shows successfully, doesn’t this benefit Edinburgh’s music scene anyways? I would encourage people not to let this situation turn ugly.
Without fully understanding what is going on. And it appears to me that Mr Toad is trying to establish that. So perhaps everyone should wait and see what the plans are and then lose the rag.
And before the usual suspects jump down my throat. I’m only asking questions to understand things better.
ha ha!
I’m just thinking objectively Tom. Until I have a fuller picture I refuse to get angry.
Euan, when you read other people’s comments on here, do you naturally tend to hear them in your head in an angry, ranting tone of voice?
My comments were just a few questions which came to mind after considering the general manager’s post the Settlement have publically advertised.
There is certainly a sense of concern; as some of our friends livelihoods are in question here, along with a venue that provides an important hub for the arts and music community which we all enjoy being part of, but no one seems to have lost the rag about it yet.
As you’re correct to suggest, for the time being we’re still long on speculation and short on facts.
i love blogs……
……i doubt we would talk to each other in this way if sat around a table in a pub……i for one couldn’t listen to the lengthy rants that go on, and would have to start pulling faces or making fart noises!
love you lot!
No Dylan. I don’t. I was simply trying to establish a few facts, which I’m sure Matthew will answer soon sensibly and without being rude to me.
My comment to you was general, as I do think it would be sad if people reacted in such a manner as you suggested might happen in terms of boycotting the venue. I was not suggesting that you were encouraging that, merely stating that I hoped it would not be a situation that arose in the future.
ahem!
for fucks sake.
Right, so many questions Euan.
1. The Bowery was an independent business operating on the grounds of the Roxy Art House.
2. The Roxy Art House was in private ownership for years. I think it only recently came into the ownership of Edinburgh University and has been empty ever since. The Settlement took over running it and their plans to resurrect the Roxy Art House seem to have been advancing further and further over the last year. I’m a little sketchy on that history though, so take it with a pinch of salt.
3. The Settlement had every right to get rid of Ruth and Jane. Ethical questions about letting people spend a year building up a business and then simply expecting to take it off them I will leave you to answer for yourself, but they are perfectly within their rights to do it.
4. Euan, I can’t answer this for you. I know Ruth is devastated, but we’d all be better off with her back in charge of the Bowery, I think. Jane is off to the States to become a writer, however.
5. I agree, the Bowery is basically nothing without Ruth and Jane. This makes the Settlement seem more than a little reckless in getting rid of them, but does mean that should we be able to find other premises then I see no reason why their work couldn’t continue. That was a really good space though – the gig space sounded brilliant for acoustic music, the bar was separate from the stage to prevent constant chatter ruining gigs, and there was wall space for exhibitions. It will be very hard to find another space like that in central Edinburgh, I fear, particularly on profit share terms, as opposed to the usurious deals imposed by most breweries.
6. Your personal experience of the building would appear to be in direct contradiction to pretty much everyone else’s. Which is fine, that’s your opinion, but Ruth and Jane’s ability to bring charm, personality and warmth to what was basically a series of cellar rooms seemed pretty impressive to me. There is certainly no other current venue in the city which is as nice. Not even close.
7. The Bowery is Ruth and Jane’s business, and they own it, so without them there is no Bowery. According to my basic research, which I will be backing up with more investigation, the Settlement can’t keep the name, and after hoofing those two out they certainly will struggle to keep the goodwill.
It is perfectly feasible that Ruth might simply lose the will to argue about it, or that they might buy the name off her which is common practise, but I am close to certain that they can’t continue ‘The Bowery’ without her permission. They could always threaten to make her jobless right before Christmas unless she is cooperative, or similar kinds of ‘inducements’, but I assume they wouldn’t stoop to that sort of appaling behaviour.
However, there is a valid, if somewhat brutal, argument which says that those who live by the sword die by the sword. The cowboy business practises which allow the Settlement to get rid of Ruth and Jane so summarily are the same ones which basically allowed the place to exist for the last year. We’ve benefitted from it, now we (and specifically they) are being deprived by it, so any hard-nosed businessman would probably just say tough shit, it was always living on borrowed time.
All this is somewhat bye the bye, however. The wider question for me is the effect on the local arts communities who have now lost a home.
Basically, it is entirely feasible that the Settlement will be trying to emulate the Bowery’s achievements in bringing together and supporting all the various strands of the arts in the city, and they might have great plans and they might hire a great new booker for the place, in which case the only grievance is a personal one about the way Ruth and Jane have been treated.
Basically, though, I fear that they are going to be focussing far too much on marquee gigs upstairs to the neglect of the smaller stuff downstairs, and their weird reaction to being asked only exacerbates that fear. To be a benefit to grass roots music that size of venue needs to stay, and the sympathetic attitude Ruth and Jane brought to the place really needs to be preserved. A hall the size of upstairs is no use to anyone – only Broken Records would even have a hope of filling that room – to support Edinburgh music at all, the cosiness, friendliness and accessibility of the Bowery needs to be preserved. And what about the poets – you don’t need a thousand-head venue for a poetry bloody reading. They can’t price small-time promoters out of it either, which is something else I really fear.
It’s possible that the above paragraph is no more than groundless paranoia of course, but if so then why were they so hysterical in their refusal to talk about their plans for the place? If their plans include that kind of stuff then you’d assume they’d be happy to talk about it – look at the actual remit of the Settlement here – they’ve just got rid of the two people who were actually fulfilling that remit.
Three-post mentalism all in one comment!
Matthew. I appreciate that response. Makes everything a lot clearer. Well as clear as you can make it without the Settlement giving you some answers. Ruth and Jane have done a brilliant job with the place. My grievance with it is simply that every show I’ve been to has had bad sound and I’ve not enjoyed the gigs – thats just personal. You’re quite right to point out that the venue as a whole worked really well and I loved the quirkiness and atmosphere. I don’t deny that whatsoever.
So fingers crossed that either the Settlement and Ruth can sort out this mess together or we can find them somewhere that they can run their business, where their efforts are truly appreciated.
I must add that the above is all just my understanding of the situation. I am confident that it is accurate, but I am not absolutely certain, and wouldn’t want to stake my pension on it.
The Eitzel/Nicolay gigs are not to be missed. Saw them this weekend and it was absolutely great. I didn’t know too much about them either, but I was swept away.
Dear, I don’t think you have a pension other than offing me for the insurance money when we hit 60.
I’m not going to get too far into things here as I think this is a discussion for Ruth, myself and the Settlement to be having rather than for me to be talking about here. It is, however, nice to hear such strong support for what we’ve been doing for the past year. I’m glad you like it.
However, I need to point out that the Settlement are definitely not some sort of villainous bunch of capitalists trying to make a fast buck here. Without the deal they’ve offered us over the past year there is no way we could have set up as a venue at all. It is the depressing financial reality that cozy small scale gigs and a picky music policy simply doesn’t bring in enough to pay the mortgage, and so the space needs to expand and make full use of the gig room downstairs and the large hall, as well as the bar spaces, the gallery and the theatre. The venue will continue to be run as an independent arts space, working with the local music and arts scenes and hopefully doing wonderful and exciting things. It is not being sold out to the Magners brigade.
What Ruth and I will be doing as part of this is still under discussion, but whether we are operating as part of this building or touring the Bandstands of the UK or flying our brand of charm to NYC, I hope you people will come visit and get gin-obliterated with us.
If you would like to do anything helpful, the best would be to just come see us. Come down tomorrow and buy a drink. Pay to see the next random band that’s playing, whether you’ve heard of them or not. Say fuck you to the commercial music scene and be here, often and heavy drinking. This is what is required to support a small music scene, people.
x
Jane, I take all of your points – the reason most of the stuff we’re into struggles is because that is kind of what underground and alternative really mean: just not that many people are into it, which means it doesn’t make much money.
Having said that, if the Settlement are not ‘just about money’ then shunting you two aside for not making enough money seems a little contradictory. If their remit is to support community-building stuff, then this kind of action seems rather contradictory to that goal.
I do appreciate, however, that is is more than feasible that the Bowery simply wasn’t turning the profit that they wanted, but if that’s the case why are they so afraid to say it? Did they ever actually give you revenue targets to meet before deciding to take the place back? I know you can’t really answer that here, just thinking out loud.
More than anything else though, I am pissed off on a personal level because I loved the character you two brought to the place, and that’s something they simply will be unable to reproduce. Also, watching you and Ruth get shunted out of somewhere you worked so hard to build and the upset that caused was also not a lot of fun, so I was personally really fucked off by the whole thing.
I did want, however, to at least find out what they were intending to do with the place in the future, so that instead of just ranting about them taking your business off you I might at least be able to say nice things about what they intended to do with the space. If they keep the bar downstairs roughly the same, and keep using the downstairs gig space as it is being used, and keep the prices low enough that small promoters will still be able to afford it, and continue to court the same eclectic crowd of poets and illustrators and so on as you courted, then the long term damage to the communities who currently love the place will be minimal, and I would always have said as such.
But the fellow I phoned acted like he’d caught me trying to slip my hand down his trousers, and frankly that sent a message to me that me and the community I loosely represent are not welcome to show an interest, and therefore that they are trying to move away from having ‘the likes of us’ around the place, which was really fucking annoying.
I recently heard from another promoter in the city who phoned up to ask about the plans for the place and got shouted at in the most offensive manner for ten minutes.
So I appreciate you saying that they aren’t bad people, but bloody hell they’re acting like a bunch of high-falutin jackasses over this thing. If there is any controversy beyond the ‘Oh no, what’s going to happen without Ruth and Jane’ it’s because they acted in a manner that implied they’d been caught doing something really very naughty, and that’s created more of a stir out of this than anything else.
Just found all this, wow it’s great you all are so passionate about the Bowery, this is something I can totally respect and agree with. However there’s loads of conjecture going on here and I don’t think it’s helpful. I’m currently helping manage the Roxy and am employed by EUS. Some of you will probably know me from the place. EUS completely support and respect the Bowery and what’s it has done and hopefully will continue to do. We’ve supported it so much we’ve essentially subsidised it’s existance over the past year as we also want to support this community and grassroots arts. The reason you didn’t get an answer out of the person you called is because you (both) spoke to the director of the EUS and believe it or not that was the first mention he’d heard of it, as EUS are not kicking the Bowery out of the building. He understood you were a journalist calling up about something he thought was incorrect. It was nothing to do with ‘the likes of you’ as the likes of you = the likes of us. There are some changes going on (ie the general manager position) as for the building to continue to exist we have to increase revenue in order to pay the mortgage and upkeep etc so as not to lose it and get it turned into luxury flats (which is what we saved it from) however we aim to do this in the fairest, most open way possible and with the involvement and dialogue with the community using it. I also manage other projects within the EUS and this place require someone to be focused just on it And yes there probably was some miscommunication with the Bowery about this and for this we are truly sorry, but we have really tried to be as open as possible. As Jane says, the best way to support the place is to come down and drink there, go to gigs there, spread the word to other bands to play there, try and encourage touring bands and promoters to use the upstairs hall. It all goes to the same place – paying the mortgage and ideally helping more of us get work within the arts we love. Any other questions feel free to email me (my email address is the one on the Roxy website) or I’ll try and check back here. Keep on keeping on, Dan
I’m at a bit of a loss to see why the Bowery being taken over is so much of a travesty. As far as it being the best ‘DIY arts’ venue, I’m not sure what that means either. It’s a bar which puts on bands isn’t it? If it’s more than that maybe it says alot about the scope of the venue in Edinburgh. The Forest Cafe surely can claim the title of most interesting/active free, DIY arts space in Edinburgh. Apart from that it very rarely has more than 4 people in it and half of them are usually behind the bar. I agree that’s a shame but it’s not in the most obvious part of town, and the publicity (if it exists) obviously falls short and rarely pulls a crowd. As well as this anyone who stumbles across it could easily be forgiven for finding it overpriced and cliquey. So if I’m right in my assumption that it’s changing hands because it isn’t making any money then maybe it’s a shame but it’s also maybe fair enough.