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Cursive Hearts



Last Updated: 11/16/2009

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Status: Single
City: Toronto/Glasgow/Edinburgh/Castle Douglas
State: Scotland
Country: UK
Signup Date: 12/2/2008
April 27, 2009 - Monday 

Current mood:  angry
So there is a few things we would wish to address.
Firstly we would like to apologize to everyone who came to see us at the Dumfries gig as we feel that we did not play as well as we wanted to and to be perfectly honest we are embarassed about how things turned out.
Firstly the gig was one of the worst organised we have ever been too, with each band taking 30mins plus to soundcheck meaning we didn't get a soundcheck at all. Not even a line check.
We had 5minutes to set up and start playing.
When the first guitar riff kicked in we realized we couldn't hear a thing onstage, and by that I don't mean we could barely hear anything, I mean we literally could not hear any bass or guitar whatsoever.  Our stage monitors were not even on, or so it seemed to us anyway.  We had to stop playing midsong as we didn't even know where we were in the song. After telling the FOH engineer of the problem, NOTHING was done about it so we laboured on through our set as best we could.
Sadly our frustration did get the better of us and, combined with the lack of sound on stage, we played atrociously, and for that we are sorry.
After the gig all the other bands were paid.  We were not. Nothing. Not a penny.
This is despite the fact we brought the largest percentage of audience members out of all the bands (a minimum of 20 out of 56).  Also despite the fact we drove 2 hours to the gig and back, spending in excess of £30 in petrol.  When the gig was originally booked the "promoter" Mark Hogg PROMISED us we would get our travel expenses back. When he said this he entered into a verbal agreement with us which, in Scotland, is legally binding.
When asked why we were not getting paid the excuses ran thick and fast, and also it became clear that Hogg did not know what he was doing.
Here is some of his excuses:

"Well you left before the end of the gig" - this is despite him LIVING in the same halls of residence as us.
"You didn't bring all the crowd!" - true, but we brought a larger audience than other bands that were paid.
"You don't deserve it!" - we dont deserve to get paid from the money of the people that came to see us, but he and other bands do.
"The venue didn't like you from the minute you walked in the door" - we did not get this impression from the venue at all, and in the end of the day we brought people into that venue and made them money.
"There's no money left, I gave it all out" - again he knows where we live and sleep, a wee envelope under the door would not have been hard

There are more but they all really go along the same vein: I'm not going to pay you because there is no money left, deal with it.
This is the most unprofessional attitude we have ever seen from a promoter and we would urge anyone to avoid playing a gig for Hogg.


Also a band we played with at the 13th note months ago decided to blog about us two days ago.
In this blog they attacked our performance for, as far as I can see, no reason at all.
They posted another blog after I sent them a message and I would like to make several things clear.
Firstly; the band in question said they wanted to headline. In fact they inferred that if they didn't headline they wouldn't want to play. Despite the fact another Glasgow band sold 25+ tickets and could have headlined to a busy audience. They were always vague about how many people they were bringing and on the day of said they had at least 20. There was about 5 or 6 who actualy came for them.
This band complained about the audience being friends of the other band and leaving before them, only coming to support their friends. Well i don't know how much experince this band has with the music industry but this is how gigs work, the people who sell the most tickets go on last. This is so the friends of the bands do end up seeing the bands they don't know. Not just in Glasgow but everywhere.  If this band had gone on 2nd when I told them to they would have played to 50+ people. It is this bands own arrogance, or perhaps inexperience, that caused them to play to such a shit crowd.
Instead of complaining about other bands friends not paying attention to them maybe they should spend more time getting their friends to actually come to their gigs, then they would have an audience to play to.
Sorry this is a long read. I don't even feel done. But this is all I will say.


*EDIT*
Some may notice their comments have been deleted along with our replies. This is because they contained information that I feel have no place on our page.
Posts will be allowed on the blog if the are sensible or add to the conversation.
If you are one of Hoggs few friends and just want to have a go at us, feel free to send us a private message, but don't expect us to get back to you.
I would like to thank Dave for his comments below. It shows great character and rather than just attacking us he bothers to give us helpful advice.
I will also say, I am not deleting comments that disagree with us, if you feel we were in the wrong feel free to do so but PLEASE justify it it factually, not just on the biased opinion of you know Hogg.
Dave
Dave Miller

 
Hey guys. Why not try and support a new promoter rather than just attack one. Don't mean to be funny but you should look at your own professionalism. You maybe should consider drawing up a performance contract or agreeing upon a guarantee in writing...Yes, maybe hearing yourself was a little difficult but this should NEVER cause you to completely stop playing on-stage. Also, you and your fans cared about nothing else but your own performance. This, I have seen time and time again and can never understand. I think some bands get too wrapped up in their "22 fans" or their position on the bill. Why not just get on with it? You have some valid points but are going about this the completely wrong way...Good luck in the future. Dave.. 
 
Posted by Dave on April 28, 2009 - Tuesday - 8:05 AM
[Reply to this
Cursive Hearts

 
As mentioned in the blog, we can not help it if the people we bring want to leave after us. Infact it is probably to be expected as we are a small band and the only people coming to see us are our friends. While several of the people we brought stayed to see Painfish, as we know the band, they left for More From Jim and Sheepwagon as most had seen them before and were just not interested...Lets be clear here, we are not complaining about where we were on the bill. We also would not have cared if we got no money if we brought no people, but as it is at least one band who played brought no people and got paid £15, which to be honest even we would have been happy with as we are a small band and students and could not afford to pay for the petrol...Also, as for stopping our first song, I will be honest, it was a BRAND NEW song, barely 2 weeks old, and our first time playing it in public, when our singer needs to take a que from the guitar and he cant hear it, it is going to make continuing with the song pointless...You may feel we are going about this the wrong way, you also may feel we are unfair putting down a new promoter but if he wasn't your friend and you saw a band being treated this way, I am sure you would be just as shocked at the unprofessionalism as we were...As mentioned before, we are a very new band, we have been together 6months, when it comes to gigs we didn't experience with written contracts or anything but I can assure you from now on every gig we will get things like that in writing... 
 
Posted by Cursive Hearts on April 28, 2009 - Tuesday - 8:12 AM
[Reply to this
Dave
Dave Miller

 
Hey guys. First off, thanks for allowing my comment to be posted...and for the reply. I do see where you are coming from with your point about pay. However, as advice, always ensure you cover yourself against unclear fee situations and it can be avoided. If someone says they will cover expenses, estimate what they are, say £20 for example, and say that will be your guaranteed fee and get them to ping you an email with details of the gig with this included. If you know in advance that friends of yours are going to the show and you will be pulling in a fair few people ask for a door deal. One or two pounds for every person through the door. ..As for your new song, look into how comfortable you are playing new songs before playing them at shows. A messed up song is worse than a long-awaited one. Look into stage technique. If you need a que from the guitarist and you know you can't hear it, sing over by their amp for a while etc. Not many venues that you will play at grassroots level will have a decent monitor system, if any at all...Also, I don't mean seem like I'm having a go at you though, just trying to give you some pointers.....Regards..Dave.. 
 
Posted by Dave on April 28, 2009 - Tuesday - 8:00 PM
[Reply to this
Cursive Hearts

 
Thank you for replying again...To be honest it is refreshing to get coherent replies...We do realise we should have gotten a written agreement but as it was a fellow student who lived with us in halls we really didn't think it would end up the way it did...The only thing I will add is the week leading up to the gig in the practice room was the tightest we have been, including the new songs...But that I suppose is what comes from playing with the same gear in the exact same set up four days a week for months...Again, I want to thank you for your replies and advice and it is something we will definately be taking on board...Fraser.. 
 
Posted by Cursive Hearts on April 28, 2009 - Tuesday - 8:05 PM
[Reply to this
Trapped in Kansas

 
guys, this sounds pretty harsh from all parties, tbh you should of got something it would seem.....but aside from that, god dam this blog makes for one juicy read!....haha x.. 
 
Posted by Trapped in Kansas on April 30, 2009 - Thursday - 8:22 PM
[Reply to this
Dave
Dave Miller

 
Haha, yea hopefully you will get a better shot a these gigs with your own gear that i have no doubt, works. Good luck in the future folks... 
 
Posted by Dave on May 1, 2009 - Friday - 5:34 PM
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