OK, we opened up a feedback survey to get people’s thoughts on the gigs so far and how they could be improved. 32 people got in touch and the main message that came back was that you lot really are a lovely bunch, all the positive comments are much more than appreciated (I won’t do a Steve Wright and put them all here but rest assured I am grateful for all of them).
Below are the results and what changes you’ll see in future (as well as responses to individual suggestions).
100% of you were happy with the start/finish times of the gigs so no changes coming there. In response to the number of bands we have playing 98% of you were keen for this to remain the same (the other 2% wanted less bands). This will therefore remain the same (sorry to the 2%!) although the next gig will actually have five bands but as you’ll be able to see this is a one off kind of thing.
Everyone was happy with how long the bands have been playing for so all good on that front and same goes for the pricing structure (although one person was happy to pay more so by all means feel free to do so!).
With regard to the bands we have playing and the levels they play at, 23% of you suggested that the noisier bands turn down a little bit more. I think this makes a lot of sense so we’ll be talking to the lovely sound people at Wharf Chambers as well as to the louder bands in future to see what we can do about this. With regards to the bands themselves, equal amounts of you wanted more noisy bands and less noisy bands (10% each) so we’ll just continue to make sure there’s a good mix at future gigs (glad to see 80% were happy with the current balance).
More specific feedback and answers to these:
“Could you pipe the music into the bar?” I like the idea but to be honest I just don’t think the infrastructure is there. Great idea though and there might be some more practical alternatives possible like having some other music played over the bar PA between bands or during noisier bands so people can still enjoy music whilst in the bar.
“Acoustic bands in other room?”. I see the logic behind this but I’m also worried about this being a bit unfair on the bands playing. I am going to try and make the bands in the main room more accessible to all but if these do continue to be a bit loud at times then I’m going to think about getting in some music over the PA in the bar or potentially an acoustic act in there. I’ll review these after a couple more gigs.
“More cake”. About a zillion people asked for this after the trauma of That Old Chestnut selling out at every gig so far! The message will be passed on!
“Buggy parking”. I’m not entirely sure what can be done about this at busier gigs but I’ll see if we can perhaps get some padlocks in for the bike rack in the garden.
“Nappy bin”. Totally agree. At the next gig there will be a bigger bin in the toilet.
“Alternative to glass bottles for kids”. There are always plastic cups at the end of the bar (along with free water) so please feel free to pour drinks from glass bottles into these.
“Could my band play?”. Very probably. Just drop us an email (youthanthems@gmail.com) though with only four gigs a year it might be a while.
“More obvious that ear defenders are needed”/”More obvious who bands are suited to” In future all Facebook events will remind people to bring ear defenders for Children and will also have a description that includes a measure of loudness.
“Make the bar bigger”. Not much that we can do about that I’m afraid!
“Warm food”. This is something that has been looked into and will certainly be happening at the next gig (more so than you might expect!) and will see what we think for future gigs after that.
Any more questions or feedback just get in touch!
Youth Anthems 