MCD - Let's talk... (1 Viewer)

[Rimbaud]

Nothing can be done about MCD really - can there?Yea bycott them or something - nah...
So how do Alpharelish and all the other people putting on gigs, get bands such as Oxes/Trans Am/Sweep over here?Contact the bands management directly?Or is it contacts over in the U.k. who go - "We got " " touring here in a bit - do you wanna fill some dates?"
Just curious.
I got this mail from this crowd from Eastern Europe last year - They were trying to strenghten the DIY/underground circuit in europe by working together and giving each other help.

Example:
They help give bands from Ireland a hand gigging in Czech Republic - and you return the favour by helping Czech bands gig Ireland.
They sent this suggestion/email to most gezzers like yourselfs around Europe too.I don`t think it took off though.Guys from Germany agreed - as well as some other eastern block geezers.
I thought it was a great idea - get more of a concrete grip on the touring bands scene in europe.Hence, for souls like myself - get to see more bands..
Don`t know if they`re still up for it though - or how their brianwave went, or even if it did make things better.
Is this relevent by the way?It may help someone...

 

[Rimbaud]

Networking - and the ways to defeat an evil, evil, MCD through co-operation and ..bla

This is their game -

"Is your band planning a tour?
We are setting up a tourbooking service (see "FluffWheels" section). however, due to a lack of time, we can't do the whole tour for all the bands that ask us.
We would still like to help as many bands as possible, so if your band is planning a tour (it has to be diy, not with a booking agency!), write us an email ([email protected]) and let us know when and where you want to go. We will then send your contact details on to promoters.
Are you a promoter?
Do you organise gigs in your town? Do you run a club or a squat? Do you want to help bands with a gig? We'll keep you informed about bands on the road if you leave your contact details here:"

and it goes on with more info etc...

Thats the basic run of the email i got - which is posted ontheir site - www.fluffmusic.com

Never know - it may help in your wars against the evil MCD... or may not.

A pint a Guinness after all that i think!
Later.

 

[pete]

Originally posted by nlgbbbblth
is that old board still accessible?

Nah. I was never able to convert it. I think i still have the files here - I might try again some time.

 

[pete]

Originally posted by Vinnie
First up, Pete, how was the wrestling? I don't think I've ever been so jealous of anyone EVER!

Bleedin deadly. WM on the sunday, Raw on the monday.

 

[jp]

here's something that i think is quite relevant to this

there's a band called jetplane landing that i've been listening to a lot lately. if any of you know them then you'll know that they're into the whole DIY ethics thing. a quick glance at their website and it's obvious they're very dedicated to their fans.
which is why i was totally pissed off to see MCD promoting their upcoming irish tour
so that's gay

this part is also relevant

the band i'm in had been in contact with jetplane for a while trying to organise a support slot
the band said they were too busy to book the support bands themselves (as they wanted local bands at each date) so we were told to contact the promoters directly
we did this and MCD told us that as long as jetplane said it was cool then they were cool
we told them that jetplane were cool with it (which as far as we were concerned they were as they had told us that it was ok to go ahead and contact the promoters)
MCD didn't write back for fucking ages to confirm the date with us
when they did write back they told us that the band never said it was ok and that they had a support slot for the gig



i feel well and truly fuckt by both jetplane landing and MCD

 

[Theseus Mock]

aren't jet plane landing a newer disguise of cuckoo who were fucked over by Geffen?

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

I heard there was a connection between cuckoo and jetplane landing a while ago.
Surely the best way to "fight" mcd is not through boycotting etc,someone else will probably buy the ticket anyway,but by supporting the little guy so that when something bigger comes along,Mogwai or Jetplane Landing, they are in a better position and better known to take on the gig if they want?

 

[Chunky D]

Surely the best way to fight mcd is to go to one of their gigs and smash shit up. That way you can smash shit up and those bitchs (might) have to pay for it, and who does'nt like smashing shit up?

 

[DontMugYourself]

Originally posted by Chunky D
Surely the best way to fight mcd is to go to one of their gigs and smash shit up. That way you can smash shit up and those bitchs (might) have to pay for it, and who does'nt like smashing shit up?

I can sense your a clever man!!

But anyway, Hag has said it best on this thresd, ALL his points I believe are correct.

Yes business is business and be it right or wrong most aggressive companies strive to 'devastate their competition', e.g. Coke V Pepsi, Ryanair V the World...the list goes on and on and on.. We are victims of MCDs success. They have done so well they have been able to buy their own venues and control those that they book so regularly. The bars are where the cash is on these nights. And now they are getting the bar and the door. And belive me it is only going to get worse.

Look at how many media companies Rupert Murdock with Fox & Sky and the Many newspapers he owns, That shit can influence history and more than 'inflluence' public opinion

If you were MCD why would you charge €30 to see Eminem when you can get €75? If you were Aikens why would you not put Neil Young on in the Point and charge €30 when you could put him on in Vicar St and Charge €105? Answer, because people are willing to pay it!! They sell out those gigs in minutes.

In fairness though Witness is very fairly priced for the ammount of bands that are playing.

Thats what I think anyway

 

[muddymae]

!

 

[pete]

Originally posted by DontMugYourself
Yes business is business and be it right or wrong most aggressive companies strive to 'devastate their competition', e.g. Coke V Pepsi, Ryanair V the World...the list goes on and on and on.. We are victims of MCDs success.

Look.. I'm sorry, but this whole "oh well it happens, business is business nothing can be done about it so you better just roll over and accept it" attitude is just so fucked up.

Ryanair may be a fucked up company but they are competing with other airlines, resulting in lower fares across the board. This is good for the consumer - it's not that long ago that your only choice of airline to fly to english airports was Aer Lingus, and it cost an arm and a leg for a flight that now costs less than the taxi fare home from the airport.

What we appear to have here is a MONOPOLY. Why do you think Microsoft were taken to court by the US government? Why do you think the Bell telephone company was forcibly split up into smaller companies? They were using their dominant market position to basically screw over their customers and keep new entrants out of the market.

Here's a quote from the Competition Authority website:

Why do we need competition?
Greater competition in the economy stimulates innovation and efficiency among business; enables consumers to buy goods and services at the best possible price; and enhances overall national competitiveness. We call this the competitive process and we are committed to safeguarding this process in the interests of consumers, business and the Irish economy in general.

When does the Competition Authority take action?
Anti-competitive behaviour occurs when firms agree to fix prices, limit output, divide business between them or abuse their market power, with no benefits to consumers. In these situations the Competition Authority will use its enforcement powers to act promptly and rigorously to protect the interests of Irish consumers and overall economic welfare. The Competition Act sets out the basic competition rules, give the Competition Authority the power to investigate breaches of the law and where necessary to bring civil and criminal prosecutions.

see i'm just ranting now because my main PC is fucked and i'm pissed off... fuck computers..... it's not like i even go to gigs any more.

 

[Chunky D]

DontMugYourself,i appologise profusely for my lack of intelligence i would hope you can find it in your big intelligent heart to forgive me you condescending prick .... i mean beautiful person.

ps i love you!!!

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

So the consensus seems to be that most people's problem is with ticket prices and such - are there any more stories of them fucking bands over? Is that the kind of thing that people don't want to discuss?

 

[Knacker]

I agree with what Pete's saying. There needs to be a proper competitor in the market. I mean, I went to Giddy Motors on Saturday (thank you Kirstie and Neil)... it was being run by MCD.

Looking at this on purely commericial grounds, it doesn't make any sense for MCD to put this on. They gave away a whole load of complimentary tickets and the place was not even half full.

MCD have their own venues, so when they go and rent out Whelans or the Village they are preventing bands or promoters from putting on their own shows in these independently run venues. The effect of this is that it means that bands have to cosy up to MCD in order to get gigs. MCD decides who gets decent slots on a Saturday night. And it also means they can set the going rate for ticket prices.

I mean think about it. They rented Whelan's out on a Saturday night. Didn't even get half the capacity. And then gave away a whole load of free tickets.
A) How did MCD benefit from this (they clearly lost money)?
B) How did Whelan's benefit from this (their venue wasn't even half-full on a Saturday night)?
C) How did Giddy Motors benefit from this (there was no-one there to see what they're like)?
D) How did the punters benefit from this (paying €12 or something for a ticket)?

MCD have an monopoly and it'd be healthy them, us and everyone if they let independently run promoters have access to Whelan's or the Village or wherever. The next time a band or a promoter rents out Whelan's and they are gazumped by MCD, they should take it to the Competition Authority.

 

[Pantone247]

Originally posted by Knacker
The next time a band or a promoter rents out Whelan's and they are gazumped by MCD, they should take it to the Competition Authority.

we booked Whelans for a date in June coming, a week or so later we were told we couldn't have it because Glen Tilbrook was coming over and could only do that date we had. So we were bumped off. We had fixed a price, agreed a date. As far as I can see we had the venue booked.

Obvioulsy we didn't...

Now we have a new date, BUT Mr Whelans guy won't confirm with us till tow weeks before hand that we *actually* have this new date booked for real.

Meaning any sort of poster or promoting or spamming of lists has to wait till Whelans decided they're probably not going to get a better deal and decided to give it to us... even though we'll pay full whack anyhow.

I can understand why Whelans would go for Glen over us (indeed I was at his last gig and it was jammed to the rafters by mid 30's lots of money to flash about on booze types... Glen was deadly btw) but it is so bare faced and cheeky and mind bogglingly unfair.

not sure if MCD are bringing over Glen but

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

It's easy for me to say, but that sounds like the kind of shit you shouldn't put up with... you can't really do shit about promoting the gig, can you?
In the kind of places where reasonable people reside, surely the promoter would call you up ( assuming you'd booked a gig with him ) and say -
" hey, big band, need your date, blah blah, I'll give you €xxx in compensation and a different date "

Y'know ... he broke the agreement
Common sense.
etc.

Am I wishing too hard I didn't live in Ireland?

 

[Latex lizzie]

..In a word yes. We know thats the utopia or the fair way things should be done. But not now,not in this country. How do you re teach a nation about fairness, used to be a mans word was his bond back in the day a shake was just as good because if word got out around town that you wleched on a deal then no one did buisness with you anymore. People don't give a shit about that now..just show me the money etc.

 

[egg_]

Originally posted by Knacker
I mean think about it. They rented Whelan's out on a Saturday night. Didn't even get half the capacity. And then gave away a whole load of free tickets.
A) How did MCD benefit from this (they clearly lost money)?
B) How did Whelan's benefit from this (their venue wasn't even half-full on a Saturday night)?
C) How did Giddy Motors benefit from this (there was no-one there to see what they're like)?
D) How did the punters benefit from this (paying €12 or something for a ticket)?

The obvious answer to A) is market share. A smaller promoter charging less could probably have broken even on the gig (even charging less for tickets), but it was in MCD's interest to keep out the smaller promoter in order to keep their hold on the marketplace, even if it cost them money. The same way as it's in their interest to poach staff from smaller promoters. I too find the "no hard feelings, it's just business" attitude kinda sickening, but given the prevailing greed=good attitude among the business classes MCD's behaviour is kinda predictable

 

[HarpoonFace]

MCD/Kid606

Does anyone know what happened with the MCD / Kid606 incident ??

 

[Alex]

Well... I'm not sure if it's right to blame MCD for this but when I moved to Ireland two years ago I couldn't believe how expensive gigs were!

In year 2000 (just before moving up here) I went to quite a lot of gigs in Milan... can't remember them all but here's a few:


Rage Against The Machine -> € 18
Pearl Jam -> € 25
Ben Harper -> € 10 (!!!)

There's definitely something wrong with tickets pricing here in Ireland....