Future Venue

[David St.Hubbins]

This year's Bloodstock sold out and if the current demand trend continues, even more people will want to go next year. Do you think it will become necessary to change from the Assembly Rooms to a bigger venue? When do you think this will become necessary? Has anyone got any ideas for an appropriate venue?

I think we will be OK with the assembly rooms for at least another couple of years, although I'd need to know what proportion of tickets were sold on the day to give a more informed oppinion.

 

[god_king]

Bang Your Head festival in Germany started off from just couple of bands ( Blind Guardian, Tokyo Blade etc, back in '96 ) then it started to grow very fast.

I agree with assembly rooms will be ok for another couple of years but I'm not so sure heavy metal music in this country is growing trend despite us British invented the genre. Heavy Metal/Hard Rock is very under ground still.

You better send some e-mail to Bloodstock organiser instead of making new thread like this!?

 

[PopcornDave]

Well, wherever they choose, I hope it's an indoor venue. I was very sceptical at first but after being there I can see it just wouldn't be the same as an open air thing. I also hope that the new venue isn't too big (4000 people MAX in my opinion) because I loved the fact that you could get to know someone and then meet them again a bit later. In a bigger crowd they'd just disappear and you'd never see them again. The massive crowds at Wacken are all well and good but part of Bloodstock's appeal is its intimacy and friendliness. Also, the Assembly Rooms' layout perfectly suits the functions of the festivals (eg large main stage, small second stage, good-size area for stalls, small room for signing sessions).

I'm not sure any other venue would be quite as good as the Assembly Rooms though. Aside from the advantages already mentioned, it also benefits from a very central location that isn't more than 4/5 hours drive from any point in the country (except maybe some places in Scotland and Cornwall). Unless there's a similar building in Nottingham then I can't imagine there's anywhere as conveniant for the country as a whole. All I can find in Nottingham is the Royal Centre and the Albert Hall, neither of which look as big as the Assembly Rooms. Of course there's probably a decent location in somewhere like Manchester or London but they're not quite as accessible for a lot of people.

 

[Joe5now]

I completely agree with Popcorn Dave on this one, The Assembly rooms are so intimate, I don't want a festival where the stage is 50 feet from the crowd and where you can't meet anyone. It should stay there forever in my opinion, even though this might not be possible. I hate outdoor venues, too much mud and smelly toilets.

 

[dragonmaiden]

Totally agree with the last two posts! Having been to all the Bloodstocks so far I think the venue is excellent! I know Vince has had some thoughts about additional outside venues but in additon to BS itself! It is very central. It makes a welcome change not to have to make that horrid journey down the M1. In addition, my outdoor festival days are long past.....something I keep telling Eagle every time he hassles me to go to Wacken with him...and the thoughts of those horrid loos and sweaty tents makes me barf!!

 

[god_king]

Heh I hate outdoor venue. I had enough after seeing KISS at Finsbury Park.

I also dislike too big indoor venue ie. Wembley Arena, Earls Court and Brixton Academy.

When I went and see Priest and Maiden too many w**kers in there.

And what are you talking about venue being small is nice? You see familier faces and friendly people bits?

I didn't meet anyone interesting as well as I didn't really talked to anyone nor someone talking to me.

Heh.

 

[Eagle]

And what are you talking about venue being small is nice? You see familier faces and friendly people bits?

I didn't meet anyone interesting as well as I didn't really talked to anyone nor someone talking to me.

Heh.

No one talked to you because you have a peroxide mullet

 

[David St.Hubbins]

I like the current venue a lot, it's big enough to fit a decent sized crowd, yet still intimate. I think moving to a MUCH bigger venue would be a mistake as the intimacy would be lost and the signing sessions would be even more of a logistical nightmare for the organisers.

I think the Assembly Rooms will probably be the best choice of venue for a few years to come, but I'd hate to see a situation where a lot of people couldn't attend the festival and see the bands because the venue was full.

I think apart from the capacity issue, the only disadvantage of the size of the current venue is that there is only room in the lobby for one catering stand, which greatly limits the choice of food available - especially if we can't bring our own.

 

[god_king]

No one talked to you because you have a peroxide mullet

Yeah OK.

At least I'm not a homoerotic Manowar or Hammerfall fan.

Regards

 

[wolfhoff]

I think the Assembly Rooms will fit the the bill for the forseeable future at least I hope it does as the whole Bloodstock experience is as much to do with the venue as it is the bands. Looking down on the crowd from the balcony during the Nightwish set showed a near full balcony but definately room for a few hundred more downstairs. Unless you get a flavour of the month , Kerrang friendly band on the bill I reckon the crowd coming to Derby is going to be much the same each year , give or take a hundred or so. Now blow my opinion out of the water with confirmation of Judas Priest for the Saturday next year !!

 

[Tet]

I think apart from the capacity issue, the only disadvantage of the size of the current venue is that there is only room in the lobby for one catering stand, which greatly limits the choice of food available - especially if we can't bring our own.

I'm a little confused about the capacity of the venue. Certainly I thought it was far from packed this year, mostly due to the opening up of the balcony areas. I think having the balcony open this year was great, but i seemed like we could have fitted a lot more people in and still not come close to overcrowding the place. Is the capacity dictated by the venue, or is it something decided by the Bloodstock organisers?

 

[Black Lagoon]

Love the venue and I would be happy to see Bloodstock remain at Derby. Yeah it is a longer journey for me from Cornwall than say London, but at least its not in fuckin London as they have enough gigs as it is! At least Derby is kind of central for the whole country.

There is always a great atmosphere in the Asembly Rooms, you don't suffer from the sound being blown around in the wind, you don't get rained on, you can happily have a shite and you can even grab a seat without to much hassle.
I think that a bigger venue might be on the cards in the future, but for at the moment I think anything much bigger will mean a half empty venue unless a major headliner and can pulled in. If a major headliner is pulled in I do think the event will loose part of its charm, as it is still underground and is attended by people who genuinly love metal and not you casual gig goers you get at say a Maiden gig.

So my vote goes for it to stay where it is for at least a few more years.

 

[Bloodstock]

I'm a little confused about the capacity of the venue. Certainly I thought it was far from packed this year, mostly due to the opening up of the balcony areas. I think having the balcony open this year was great, but i seemed like we could have fitted a lot more people in and still not come close to overcrowding the place. Is the capacity dictated by the venue, or is it something decided by the Bloodstock organisers?

The main hall holds 2,000 people, the Darwin Suite holds 500 people - the whole complex can hold 3,700 people (incl foyer and other rooms). However we are governed by how many tickets we can sell by the main hall. If we sold more than 2,000 and per chance everybody at any one time wanted to get into the main hall - they would not be able to, hence limiting the show to 2,000 tickets and therefore the main hall looking emptier as there were still people roaming outside !! The "complex" was sold out this year to 2,000 people.

Hope this makes sense

Vince