Bit of a cliché this, but I have some really good friends who run pubs. Isabel and Bloc at The Blue Pig, and Julian at The Crown in Nuneaton for example. Both establishments support live music, both serve fabulous beer, offer decent honest grub and have helped me personally with various projects. Their boosers are popular, welcoming and busy. What can we learn from this? We can learn that “Manager” means someone who manages. Having a B.Phil (hons) degree in Management and Organisation, I can tell you that a good definition of management is “getting things done through people.” Not “to” people, or “despite of” or even “with.” But through. Using them as a conduit for successful communication. Important distinction, that.
Pub rock has uncovered and showcased some of the greatest music acts in the U.K. We were never one of them, but we've played in pubs, Inns, taverns and beer festivals all over the place. Mostly for free and usually just for fun. Am I imagining it, or are some places getting greedier as the Recession bites? They invite the public in, are happy to take their money over the counter, but then also want them out again as quickly as possible. Providing a few trays of leftovers meantime, warmed up in ancient deep fat, is looked upon as a privilege on a par with a knighthood. There's a little more than that to being a good host than that.
I've been a singer in bands providing live entertainment since 1975. Admittedly with a few gaps in between. Over that time I've seen all kinds of irrational behaviour exhibited in pubs, and not just by the audiences! We've been made really welcome in loads of venues, and have often received fabulous hospitality. We've also occasionally been treated as if we were somehow inferior. That strikes me as silly, because many British pubs are in deep, deep trouble. Publicans with “attitude” don't help. I love pubs and I don't want any to close. But sometimes you're in one,and you just get a premonition. You think, suddenly, with a bit of a chill, “ Here's another one on the critical list. Lots of bluster here, but these people really haven't got a clue.”
You get used to various reactions over such a long period of time. Alongside all the many triumphs and exhilarating moments there are a handful of memories one might rather forget. I've seen fights break out Blues Brothers style on the dance floor in front of us. We've been turned off by sound meters, halted by Bingo sessions and paid to leave by a back exit. We've been barred for swearing (tame stuff by modern day standards). We've been told “never come back” purely for playing a reggae number. We've sent (accidentally) a firework into a hastily evacuated police tent. But mostly these incidents ocurred at bigger venues than a pub.
What some publicans fail to understand is that it's a two way street, pubs and music. Putting on Live music, especially where admission is free,carries few overheads. Especially in establishments where P.R.S. and M.U. are just abbreviations. Publicising events properly can fill an unused room on less busy nights. Musicians, and the audiences they bring in will buy drinks and bar snacks. If free food is offered, it may well encourage potential customers to drink more, and to come back and have a meal. In a busy pub, visitors who are there solely for the music may also note other forthcoming future attractions and may return. If the beer is half way decent, real Ale followers may come back to sample it again. All a lucrative return just for making people feel welcome. Conversely if staff make it plain that punters are only there on sufferance and are viewed purely as a wallet on legs and a transient nuisance, then that too is noticed. Takings will dive eventually and people will simply stay away.
