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.

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

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.

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!