Hackney Colliery Band & Huey Morgan (DJ) @ Guildhall, Cambridge

As it says on the tin.... on Sat 22nd March... here's the link and some live footage: http://www.cornex.co.uk/hackney-colliery-band-huey-morgan-dj-0

You read my mind!

I was going to ask if anyone had been to a gig at the Guildhall, and if so what the acoustics were like?

I'm up for this gig, but the last time I was at the Guildhall for my office Christmas party, we had a disco and live band and the acoustics were terrible.

Can anyone reassure me?

Ta

I played a gig there about twenty years ago. The acoustics were indeed appalling.

Is the gig in that big room with the paintings around the outside?

Here's a photo of it during an electoral count, not during a gig: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/imagelibrary/Client%20Images/Client000...

I know that a lot of 80's gigs took place in "The Guildhall" and I'm wondering if it's the same place. It always seemed far too posh to be hosting the likes of The Fall and a lot of 80's rock fans drinking lager.

I saw the UK Subs in that very room in the '80's!

I was thinking that the powers that be were obviously more tolerent of gigs and the riff raff in their spaces in the old days. In this age of noise complaints and other nonsense it is much harder to find gig venues.

But they are obviously still allowing gigs there, since this one is on in March. More of this sort of thing please!

Is the gig in that big room with the paintings around the outside?

Yup, that's the one. Band set up on the wooden stage to the left. Sparse audience covered their ears and prayed for it to end.

When you imagine a gig you generally imagine a packed audience excitedly pogoing to a great band rocking out onstage. You often don't imagine the more everyday ones where no one turns up and the sound isn't very good.

Still, it's good that some places still allow bands to play. Especially if they have oil paintings around the outside of the room.

I should imagine it'll be in that room, although there is a smaller room next door, not sure how intimate a funk band and DJ set can be, I was planning on grooving on down!

I'd never noticed before (as usually I'm in that room for some sort of trade fair), but there is a mahoosive Organ in the main room, so it must have been used as a Music Hall at some point since it was built. Maybe I can email Allan Brigham for a little history lesson ;-)

Anyway, I think the Corn Exchange use the Guildhall occasionally, they must have double booked as Steel Panther are on at Cornex. There's nothing listed yet at The Junction, I wonder why this couldn't go there?

more to the point i have never seen a colliery in Hackney. Is there where the expression 'Its grim up north east london' comes from

Here goes with the answers...
- Yes it's in the big room - bar in small room (with sensible prices and lots of bar staff!!)
- Yes acoustics are appalling for standard rock band but because HCB are brass we're using the natural acoustics of the room - it was built for solo singers.
- We're bringing in a PA and top quality sound desk so we can control the EQ - most of the 10 piece will not be amplified except the sousaphone which is used for bands bass line, this way the bands sound will retain a groovy bass line - we'll also probably mic up the drums and trumpet so we can control the EQ on these
- We're bringing in roof drapes to dampen the sound and jazz up the venue along with good lighting
- I staged Boy With Tape On His Face here last year and the venue's a cracker I think - although the acoustics didn't come into play for him as he's a mime act, the support act was musical stand-up and he sounded good - hence my decision to go ahead with this gig. There's a pic attached of Tape Face gig

I too went to loads of gigs here in the 80's but to be honest was so wrecked i don't even remember the sound being rubbish.

Hope this answers all your acoustic concerns? Now go buy some tickets so I can pay for all this expensive extra equipment I having to bring in for this gig!

Wow, okay. I can see this is being carefully planned.

Ticket shall be bought forthwith. Looking forward to it!

Nice one - it'll be a good night - it's already sold just under 200 tickets so it'll be nice and full too.

I keep going on about this, but I do approve of the paintings round the walls. More places should have something to look at between the bands. Especially if you're like me and usually go to gigs by yourself. Years gone by you could buy a fanzine and read that but no one makes them any more.

SR maybe you could start a new craze of audiences doing their own paintings at gigs?

It would work quite well at arty avant garde gigs. The bigger ones would probably be thwarted by arsehole bouncers forbidding patrons from bringing their art materials in.

I might try and start a trend by doing a pencil sketch of the band. While surrounded by everyone else filming it on their wretched iPhones.

I have seen someone play live who was being recorded by an artist (can't remember what medium). Unfortunately I have no idea when this was, though it may well have been an ATP weekender. It was cool.

Splendid idea SR - perhaps a pocket sized brass rubbing kit may be the next 'Must Have' accessory for the discerning gig -goer

Years ago before camera phones/Instagram/twitter etc. were around I knew someone who instead sketched every meal on their Palm Pilot and posted it to a special blog. She eventually diversified beyond just drawing her food, and there exists a drawing of me playing live (on my Palm Pilot) at the Museum of Technology.

A cheeky bump seeing as it's next Saturday…you can even win tickets here: http://www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/what-s-on/music/win_tickets_to_...