Boards

Get popular in your own town and then promoters in London will invite you to play for them. Otherwise you're just wasting your own time and money.

Tim at The Windmill
Vis The Spoon at Tommy Flynns / Legion
Goonight at Wilmington and Buffalo Bar
Harry at Old Blue Last (If he's still there)

Avoid:

Monto Water Rats

there are mainly two sorts of band nights in london.

1. Nights put on by independent promoters/magazines/websites. They hire the venue, make their flyers and put on the night. They generally put lots of effort into getting people to come down, maybe the night has a theme or a specific genre of music in mind, like indiepop or prog/metal or dressing up or making a movie or something. They generally happen monthly (as it's so much work for the promoter) and are the best nights to play. IF you think your band would fit a particular night, find their night on myspace and message them. If they like you, they'll probably book you. And maybe even pay you! They're not that bothered about how many people you'll bring (unless you're the headliner) - they've probably got a genre-specific crowd already. Nights like this include Twee as Fuck, Skill Wizard, Dice Club, Decasia, Offset Presents, Videopia, Chamber etc. Some venues (usually the best ones) ONLY book these independent promoters each night. Venues like this are the Old Blue Last, the Buffalo Bar, the Lexington, Hoxton Bar and Grill, Notting Hill Arts Club...

2. Nights put on by the venue or by 'in-house' promoters working for the venue. They have to put three bands on EVERY night to keep the venue going, so it's much easier to get a gig as an opener or something. However, there will be no 'general' crowd there, only the people who have specifically come to see YOU, as the night will have no theme or following. There's rarely very much good promotion - maybe a flyer with every band for the next month on it, or some half-arsed timeout listing. The other REALLY important thing is that they'll expect you to bring 30 or so people, and won't pay you unless you do. A lot of out-of-town bands get roped into playing these by being told that they're 'industry showcases'. Promoters like this include Bugbear Promotions and Plum Promotions. Venues like this include Water Rats, Dublin Castle, Bull & Gate, Betsy Trotworth, Hope & Anchor.

Generally, do some research and find out what nights suit your band's style, and then try and play number 1, by myspacing them. You'll play to people who haven't heard you before (which is the point, right??), get a guestlist to get your mates in for free, and play with similar bands you more than likely get along with.

I wouldn't touch number 2 with a bargepole. You'll come to town thinking you're playing a showcase gig in a well-known venue, and end up playing at 8pm to ONLY your 15 mates, before being told that you're not getting paid cos you didn't bring 40 people.

On the other hand if you're a very middle of the road indie guitar band, number 2 may be your only option...

I was just reading this and wanted to jump in and defend the Betsey Trotwood. A year or two ago it was indeed terrible, the base of operations for Plum and a load of random bands each night, but then around 2007 Scott and Raz bought the pub, kicked Plum out and now it only does a bunch of monthly promoters including nights by Indigo Moss, Saint Etienne, comedy and poetry and other really nice stuff. They have a sort of folk revival theme to the whole thing.

I'm doing the last of my monthly nights there - Extradition Order's Friends and Fellow Travellers. We tend to be a bit more garage and anti than straight out folk so different to the norm there, but it's still home to us. We did a great Willie McTell night there a year ago with McTell's biographer in attendance and all kinds of amazing fun.

So just thought I'd leap in and say the venue is a charmer these days and shouldn't be lumped in with the Water Rats, Lark in the Park etc. etc.

Yeh I think you're right that the Lark has shut down. Hope so. It was the first show my band ever played and it's always stuck in my mind as the perfect example of the shitty pay to play thing.

As for Betsey - most the stuff happens upstairs these days as it is without amplification. Ours is still downstairs because we're too loud and troublesome and the top isn't soundproofed. They've redecorated down there now into a jolly blood red, and no weird tv sets and cameras showing you the bands.

I had a fun lock in there the other month with jeff lewis, wave pictures, david cronenberg's wife and us handing the guitar round far too drunk to do anything decent with it.

May as well be cheeky and make this into a plug for our show there on Sunday - come down for the last of our monthly nights from 4:30. It's a great lineup of folks and good will to all. You can see how it's changed for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100265204352&ref=ts

it turns out the same people who run Water Rats also run Underbelly and 229. Might as well add them to list 1....