Bill Kirchen last night in the UK, with PeterUK!

[Steve G]

Made the pilgrimage to Nottingham last night to watch Bill Kirchen In Nottingham.

Its about 45 miles from where I live which if you're from England is a long way but if youre from the US is like walking across the street

Despite a fairly poor turnout (shame on you British tele lovers) Bill put on supreme show and left me grinning this morning even after four hours sleep.. couldn't wait to get downstairs and ogle the tele he signed for me, just to check it had really happened!

Was great to meet our man PeterUK and great to meet Bill and his band. Bill, as everyone notes, is probably the nicest man in the world.

You might be able to view the pictures here but Ive no guarantee as Im pretty bad at this stuff!

[rolling56]

yes post the pics please

[Steve G]

Rolling56 can you see the little link at the bottom of my post? That should lead you to my flickr page. Apologies if not! Incidentally Bill used a durham sex drive, boss delay and fulltone ocd..

[rolling56]

All i see is your FB link.

[Steve G]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5335677...7630095705334/

[Steve G]

Does that work?

[rolling56]

yes it does and thank you!

[Zagnut]

That link works fine, great pics! Bill Kirchen is one of those players who can wring just about any sound you ever wanted to hear out of a Telecaster and amp. Glad it was a good time!

[musicalmartin]

Glad you had a great time .I didnt know he was in the UK but it looks like he just played two pubs which is shame .I wouldn't have gone to Notts to see him ,too far but if he had been more locally it would have been great .I missed Duane Eddy at Gt Yarmouth .I got all excited when I saw a feature about him in the local paper and then found out it was a week old ...doh.

[Steve G]

Your ewlcome thanks for the interest. Yes, he's awesome! I have a word to the wise and hammer of the honky tonk gods (his last two discs) Can anyone recommend a good next step into his catalogue?

[Steve G]

Here's where he's been and where he's going Martin, just in case you haven't seen all the dates... not much near Gt Yarmouth Im afraid!

Thursday night - June 7 - 8 pm - The New Roscoe, Bristol St., Oatlands, LS7 1DH, Leeds, United Kingdom
Friday - June 8 - 8 pm - The Cluny, 36 Lime St., Ouseburn, NE 12PQ, Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Saturday - June 9 - The Nottingham Boat Club - Trentside, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FA, Nottingham, UK
Sunday, June 10 - 9 pm, The Musician Pub, 42 Crafton St. West Leicester LE1 2DE, Leicester, UK. Drugstore Cowboys and Mickey Kemp open.
Monday, June 11 - 8 pm, Famous Monday Blues presents Bill Kirchen at the Jericho Tavern, 56 Walton St., Jericho, Oxford, OX2 6AE, Oxford, UK

[blue metalflake]

I'm sure it must have been a great gig.

[Hotrod40]

Thanks for sharing...Nice he signed your tele.

[PeterUK]

Thanks Steve.

It was a great night despite the poor turnout

PeterUK

[1955]

He's one of my favorites!

[PoiDog]

Bill K. is simply amazing!

I urge all of our UK brothers and sisters to check him out if you can. Saw him last year in Maryland and was extremely impressed.

[Sooper8]

Yeah, Leek to Nottingham isn't the easiest run...I know, I'm from Burton on Trent.

Talking about Nottingham gigs....Anyone thinking of going to see Steve Cropper in Nottingham Jan 2013, or is that just too far in advance for anyone to plan?

[Steve G]

Who is he playing with Sooper? Just his own band or one of those revue things?

[PeterUK]

Originally Posted by musicalmartin

I didnt know he was in the UK but it looks like he just played two pubs which is shame .I wouldn't have gone to Notts to see him ,too far but if he had been more locally it would have been great .

Martin you don't seem to be the only one.

I posted this on the TDPRI back in April and I made regular updates via Facebook and Twitter. I even got BBC Radio 2s Bob Harris to Re-tweet the tour dates!

I blame the Promoter......

......which apparently was me! I was asked by Bill's UK contact to recommend a Nottingham venue for the Saturday and I provided a list of established musical venues plus several willing pubs who had the capability to host live music. The Britannia Boat Club - a famous venue in the past for hosting the likes of Cream and The Who in the past - was chosen and I was asked if I could secure this venue (i.e. pay for it). Which I did. I then reminded my UK contact that it would need a PA......you know what's coming, which I sourced and paid for. To get the PA I hired a van and set up the PA because the sound guy was away so we felt we could sort it ourselves.

By now I'm £263 out of pocket and had I realised I would [only] get refunded from the proceeds of the gig - and had I realised that I was the Promoter - I might have been incentivised to, err.....promote the gig.

I've known Bill for ages and love his show but it's the most I've paid to see him play.

Next time he's in the UK and just buy a ticket like everyone else then I won't have the stress and expense of "promoting" the gig.

Originally Posted by PoiDog

I urge all of our UK brothers and sisters to check him out if you can. Saw him last year in Maryland and was extremely impressed.

Those that turned up were mighty impressed. They were generally people who had picked up details of the gig from my Facebook and Twitter posts.

The irony (an expensive irony on reflection) was that two of the pubs who I initially contacted really chased me hard to "host" the gig and because they had regular passing trade, we could have packed those places. One of the pubs was FREE! Oh hum.

Peter

[Steve G]

Sorry it turned out this way for you Peter.

The music business is indeed a perilous one!

Testament to Bill that he put a great show on despite the small crowd, no recompense to you of course though!