Julie played a pub gig at the "Fox and Newt" in Leeds, UK not so long ago. Classic "problems" in a pub, lots of talking, pool games in constant progress, even a games machine which seemed to want to make it's own musical presence felt through most of the second set. Not the makings of a great time for a solo acoustic musician? Maybe not, but it was really successful.

We had some people from the mailing list travel reasonable distances to get to the gig, and several commented that Julie had increased in stature in their eyes because of the way she had overcome the difficulties. Even more importantly, many of the pub regulars came up to us at the end of the night to thank her for a great gig and to thank me for "getting the sound just right" - by which they meant that I hadn't tried to compete with their talking by upping the volume.

We also had the highest number of new additions to Julie's mailing list that we've had all year.   Those little paper slips just kept on coming in.

Conclusion? We learnt not to judge a venue by first impressions and that the fee isn't the only reason to continue with a venue that might not initially seem right for acoustic music. Add to that an enthusiatic and very helpful landlord - how many times have you been helped with the loading and unloading? - and you can guess we are going back (Friday 19 September 2003) !

Best regards
John Robinson
http://www.JulieEllison.co.uk