I think the clubbing scene in the city is a reflection of what's on around the uk. If you put on people that aren't A listers then the clubs aren't as busy as if you put on Annie Mac.

There's a lot of good parties around the UK that are basically popular because they do a shed load of promotion from the start and dont stop promoting. Relying on your mates or message board posts simply aren't enough, there are a LOAD of students in carlisle that if you put on the right event they will keep coming back for. But only if you promote to them in the first place.

havnt had much responce from local talent tbh.show what state the clubbing scene is in this city.

fuckin hell i'll play for half the price!!!

i agree with rich tough the promotional work really has to be full on, tc's tried it last year putting nights on, i remember they put scott bond on expecting to fill the place but because they were basically relying on word of mouth and very few flyers it bombed and that wasnt the only night it happened ask yatesy about new years.?lol

not saying you lads arnt committed to making it work or you aint working hard enough at it and i aint really in a position to give you advice on how to go about but i hope you keep at it though because i do believe there is a market there for it just ask ki, the uber nights seemed to do well after all.

One of the Mystery Jets was in our office the other week.

I'd say it's house music that's having the toughest time right now as far as specialist nights go.

I haven't had a good rant about the state of Carlisle's House scene for a while, so here goes:

There was a transitional phase from the late 1990's/early 2000's when house music in this town switched from 'proper' house nights like Perfect, to the cheesy, commercial 'funky' house played at +8 in places like Fat Fingers when it first opened as a bar.

Granted, there were nights like Lucid, Freeze etc on the go, but the popularity of the music shifted further into the domain of a style conscious, Top Shop wearing, Hed Kandi loving, mainstream audience.

Underground House music didn't really stand much of a chance after that, as the whole focus of the scene seemed to be more about vanity, cliqueyness and unbelievably bad, commercial music.

Riding the crest, of the fashion TV and cocktails wave, of shit, bar orientated, house music gave Carlisle, Concrete, which, despite their valiant effort in trying to give something back with Uber, isn't really much more than a fancy, drinking establishment for mainstream people.

I think what's happened now the wave has crashed, is that house music can go back to being underground, but unfortunately, there has been a lot of damage done to the scene in recent years and I don't blame anybody under the age of 25 for thinking that it's shit music for narcissistic, clueless, fashionable, cunts.

It wouldn't surprise me if that was a belief held by many across the land, considering the majority of the house crossover chart successes (with perhaps the exception of Samim) have been intentionally produced to get to the top of the charts, and as a result, have been fucking shite in the process.

The fact is, the damage has been done for a while and it's going to take a long time before things get better, if at all, on the house front.

The proof is in the fact we've had some really great names from the younger, more contemporary DJ's in House music, who have been met with utter apathy.
Get the ageing, acid house era DJ's in and they'll be met with rapturous applause from the late 30's/early 40's old Hacienda going crowd.
It's such a fucking shame, but if you were a teenager, would you be wanting to dance around with some sweaty office worker off their tits on E's, trying to recapture a bit of their youth?...

I think not.

Mate how much is N-JOI costing per ticket, cos if you can go to manchester and see Frankie Knuckles, Danny Rampling and Robert owen's live for £12 a head, then you have no chance of doing anything in this city of tight fisted pretentious pricks

Carlisle is a tricky one, I have done nights with varying levels of sucsess and some stunnig failiures over the last 10 yrs. But you either piss and moan about it or you can stick your neck out and do something you believe in. Anyone brave enough to do the latter has my respect because it's not easy.

You cant please everyone with the acts you book or the price you charge but at least your doing something. Good luck.

What i'm trying to say is that anywhere between £8-15 per head for people to go and see N-JOI is just too much. And you say the grandads but what do people remember N-JOI for? 1 song

It's not as if it's alive PA though is it?!

Tickets prices etc wouldn't have to be as high if the DJs costs weren't so extortionate. I for one know that Gaz and Jamie have put a hell of alot of work into Statik, and Matt makes a good point above - last thing it needs is negative critisism as does any night in Carlisle, cos yes it's fucking hard work putting something on that will please everyone, it's getting to the point where people will think, sod it why should I bother as they're basically spending £££s on nights which end up just being parties for their mates (if they can be arsed to turn-up).

What an ace thread.....somethin worth talking about.....

I may aswell add my 2 penceworth!

I'm sure anyone and everyone who has put on nights in carlisle have won and lost depending, it comes with the territory. I've been doing LemonFactory for nearly 3 years now and at this moment in time i actually have soemthing in the LF account. Its not all been like that tho, this year has been a complete cost cutting job with the production and djs especially. Yeah at the end of the day its an indie night so is never going to be competing with cutting edge underground dance music like statik but it works. The reason i started it was basically beacuase i came back to Carlisle from Sheffield and i couldnt believe a city which was about to get a university didn't have one, i wanted one for me to go to and my mates never mind anyone else and the hope that someone might see it and have a go theirsellves so i could go out and not have ther bother of putting a night on. This has happened with nights like Olio and even friday nights at concrete with the policy changing. So therefore my mission was accomplished, its the fact i actually enjoy doing them myself is why i continue.

I basically had 2 choices tho, either knock it on head or make it cheaper. Most of the LF gigs have been priced around the tenner mark and people in carlisle wont buy tickets a month in advance for thing like this, carlisle is still a pay on the door city in my eyes. This is why the dj's ive booked this year and the whole streamlining of the night has made it more accessible and affordable for people to come. (Eg Booking people like Dave Haslam & Bonehead instead of Mani & Bez). Although the latter will bring in a crowd the risk is becoming too great.

Statik on saturday was excellent in everything it was meant to be for the music and production. Statik is easily the best produced night in my opinion at spirit and knocks the spots of my night in that department, it is a specialised audience however. Foggy n jamie have worked hard to get things going and i believe it will come, i think N joi will be an amazing night.

Spirit is producing plenty of good quality nights at the moment. Lockdown is hugely popular, the drum n bass scene in Carlisle is there and increasingly popular with the students, Retro is coming back on the bank hols which will no doubt be busy, I have LemonFactory 'Live' Nights coming up with unsigned bands on a small stage, the comedy night that started was excellent and hopes to grow as it continues, a new night called Bwarp is starting at the end of the month, being in contact with all these, i can see how hard it is to make things work but it does need the support of the people that like it. I dont think you can blame too much on the botchergate girls aloud scene for more specialised nights being poorly attended, that scene has always been there and for forseeable future will always be there. The people that come to the specialised nights need to know about it and be reminded about it often. These people will come out just for that event. There not gonna come out and forget about the do and stay down botch all night.

As far as i'm concerned there are and were only 2 late club type venues i'd go to in Carlisle where i'd be sure of the people i would see and they are the brickyard and concrete, both individually great at what they do. Until either more like places that can cater for open, like spirit, then the people we like to see out enjoying and includes all of us on this thread, will make their decision to stay in week after week because they're not going out cos they think botch is all there is and theres niothing on anywhere else tonight.

This is where i go into the fact that nobody's got any money anymore but i think i've wrote enough for now....

Andy sounds like you have a lot on. Don't forget to add it all to our guide, because there aint much listed at the moment

http://www.skiddle.com/whatson/guide.php/skiddle/Carlisle/Spirit /

I find it far too much paying a tenner to get into a club in Carlisle for 3 odd hours.

I'm fairly sure that there's a lot of people who would feel the same. Fair enough if costs need to be covered, but a reduction in costs would be preferable to an increase in tickets from a punter's point of view.

I hope you have a great night tho, Matt's right about anyone who tries in Carlisle deserving utmost respect cos it's tough fucker to crack like.

Possibly the most apathetic city in the country?

United look fairly good to be one tier off the Prem next season and only for the big games can we muster more than 6,500.

That said, it's still considerably cheaper watching N-Joi.

Rich , I would do but it wont let me log in....can u have a look....

Been like this for ages now...

from expierience entry price has a lot to do with it mate...people still want to pay 1998 prices to gain entry (£5/6)...when as well know prices move up a scale every year

my opinion is stick with it as ya sound like you have the bug

good luck and hope it all goes well for ya...i for one will try and get down when i dont have my son or anything on

tony spoke highly of the fundamental basics you have laid down