Rumours of death

[mrph]

Say what you like about Whitby, it makes an impression. My friends list seems to be hijacked by today's band announcements (on wgw and whitby), and all of the posts about it are rapidly gaining comments.

Some people say the announced line-up is great.
Some people say it stinks.
Some say it's hit and miss, or are still undecided.

But y'know what, all these people seem to be posting about it as if it matters...

When they announce a line-up and nobody even cares, that's when we'll know that WGW is on its last legs.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/eddy_/]

Well obviously they care, £34 is a lot to shell out on something you don't give a toss one way or another about.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Yup. But, y'know, you could run a hypothetical festival, charge £34 per ticket and get a lot less attention than this.

People care about WGW because they want to shell out the ticket money (...although they might mutter that they'd prefer it to be cheaper) and go. It's still a very important fixture in the UK goth calendar.

Things like Morecambe Goth Festival and - to a lesser extent - Dark City just don't get the same level of attention. Even when the scale of the event / line-up is comparable.

[akira-kev.livejournal.com]

34.....it's more than that....

For 2005, tickets are priced at £36 (+75p booking fee) for both April and October.

[akira-kev.livejournal.com]

morecambe and darkcity are newer festival been running 2-3 years to just getting the wind in it's sails so to speak, compare Whitby to something like infest which has been running a bit longer, I personally think that whitby loses on the attention scale, as it's doesn't have a big overseas pull, for bands and punters...also i find more and more people not just 1 or 2 but 20-30 saying that they are going to go to whitby but not buy a ticket for the spa and are going to go to the fringe events around on the nights, which is to say that's it the people and the friends, people are going to see not the event or bands, which can only be a bad thing for WGW event...as these people are taking up accommodation etc that other spa buying people could use hence losing out on cash.

[http://users.livejournal.com/eddy_/]

People care about WGW because they want to shell out the ticket money

I disagree. Yes WGW is an important fixture, and most people love going, but it's often not for the bands. There have been some god awful line-ups over the years, and had they been anywhere but WGW they wouldn't have got anywhere.

I think what people like about WGW is the social aspect more than the 'event' itself, and I for one feel that the WGW team are exploiting that.

[sogoth.livejournal.com]

I stopped caring about whitby shortly after I started going. If I'm paying to see bands I want to see bands I care about... WGW rarely does anything for me in that area. Then again... being a not so secret cyber at heart (musically if not looks wise) that's hardly suprising is it? ;)

The main reason I keep going is so that Claire can sell her wares to people in the market.

One thing to think about with Jo's post yesterday though. She mentioned that they had sold almost 400 tickets so far? isn't this normally about the time we start seeing people hunting for tickets to buy as they have pretty much sold out?

[diffrentcolours]

I can't say I'm hugely bothered. I was expecting that the lineup wouldn't be enough to make me want to go, and I was right. If anything, I thought there'd be more than one band I'd want to see, but I was wrong about that.

Hopefully In The Nursery will play other UK gigs near Whitby-time.

[akira-kev.livejournal.com]

There have been some god awful line-ups over the years,

indeed i've just been reading the WGW forum, i must join it and post...but i saw this and i've got to agree with it.

from: delicti Re: Would we pay more for bigger headliners?
I'm afraid that I agree with the above post. I've been to lots of gigs and festivals where they had top name bands and the ticket price was no more than £35. For instance - Invocation. Yes I know it was in 1999. But it was in Tutbury which is a darn sight harder to get to than Whitby. The line up was gobsmacking and it only cost me £25 for the two days. And before anyone jumps in, yes I am aware of the near bankruptcy experience but I'm just making a point. I can't remember the exact order but headlining was Mr Andi Sexgang. Other bands included VNV Nation, Covenant, Two Witches, Star Industry, Funhouse and Midnight Configuration. I've still got the flyer. If Morecambe can get Apoptygma then Whitby should surely be able to get at least one mega band. Sorry for the rant. Feel much better now.

[giggly-teapot.livejournal.com]

Well it is an odd line up
GLJ both versions were crap the last time I saw them. I wonder what line up it is? Will he be wearing his nice powderblue west coast hippie t-shirt this time?

I am surprised that SBA are first on, I think they will blast the others off the stage if they are on form. From all accounts Greenhaus have improved lately, and apparently they have given Frankie the olde Spanish Archer.
If SBA were on the same night as In The Nursery and Queen Adreena I would be tempted.

[giggly-teapot.livejournal.com]

From all accounts the sale of tickets have been low as alot of people were going without buying Spa tickets until the saw the line up.

There will be an awlful lot of disappointed Queen Adreena fans, as accommodation is nearly non-existant in Whitby at the moment.

Will we see the first WGW mosh pit?

[giggly-teapot.livejournal.com]

I noticed you did not mention Beyond The Veil in Leeds this Easter, which usually has a lineup chock full of bands you may not of heard of, who turn out to be rather fab.

I do think the Whitby Crew is playing about, and who mentioned paying more for a decent headliner, when you work out the numbers that Edinburgh, Leeds, Morecambe and Infest have to play with, how do they manage it.
I say no more.

[akira-kev.livejournal.com]

indeed I haven't mention BTV, because i have no experience of it due to the fact ever Easter I'm never in the country, so glad you brought it up.

[akira-kev.livejournal.com]

are queen adreena the tbc??? it will be the old GLJ as the others can't use the name....

Friday
Gene Loves Jezebel
Voltaire
Psychophile
Screaming Banshee Aircrew

Saturday
In The Nursery
t.b.c.
Devilish Presley
Greenhaus

[mrph.livejournal.com]

They're the name I've heard, yeah. I guess we'll get official word pretty soon, though.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Shame, 'cos you're missing a fun weekend.

Very different feel from the larger festivals - somewhere between the Convergence 'hotel lobby full of goths chatting into the early hours...' and an odd (but nice) 'industry' meeting... a comparatively high percentage of DJs, promoters, journalists and band folks in the attendees, probably because they're the people most likely to be intrigued by the various UK debut bands.

I've tried not to compare it to Infest/Whitby/Dark City because IMO it's a completely different kind of animal and does very different (but very good) things - although perhaps InFest is the closest comparison, just because both are good at getting audiences to trust them when they announce obscure bands who turn out to be rather impressive...

[mrph.livejournal.com]

...very soon, in fact. Confirmed.

[kest]

so, given that I'm sort of indifferent to the band list, and I'll be a little short on money by the time whitby actually rolls around, how much does one miss by not buying a ticket, do you think?

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The ticket only covers two nights at the Spa - Friday and Saturday - so you still get access to the bazaar (which is daytime), and the other evening events (Creamy on Thursday, plus either Sexy Sunday or the Sunday 80s night) sell their own tickets...

The main thing you miss is spending the evening in the Spa foyer then, I guess. Which is still quite an event - but probably isn't worth the money if you don't want to see the bands.

I'm willing to bet there'll be spare tickets on sale in the pub that weekend, anyway. So if money and interest allow, you can always grab one then...?