Yesterday, the 100 Club – one of London’s most prolific venues – announced on Twitter that it would no longer be disclosing stage times for its events. The reason? To encourage patrons to attend the support sets, rather than arrive just in time for the headline act.
The decision of the club elicited both praise and criticism on social media. On the one hand, users praised the club for throwing its support behind budding, often less-established artists/bands. On the other hand, some argued that this decision would alienate time-strapped patrons, and even jeopardise the support sets. The polarising response to the tweet is perhaps why it has since been taken down. The 100 Club have subsequently tweeted that they will be seeking a ‘middle ground‘.
The intentions of the club are clearly quite admirable. Performing as a support act rather than the headline should by no means indicate any less talent or musicianship. Moreover, there are plenty of talented yet fledgling artists/bands – particularly in the blues and soul milieu – who need audience support in lifting their careers. And, fundamentally, the club is right: support sets are a ‘great way to discover new music.‘
However, the proposed policy of the club is victim to several oversights. Firstly, it ignores the reality that people organise and plan gigs/music events around busy schedules. Especially when attending an event on a weekday (i.e. a working day), knowing stage times allows for a degree of wriggle room – whether that be for parental duties, organising dinner plans, or running other errands. If office workloads require working later than usual, knowing the latest possible time one can arrive at a venue is incredibly useful.
Another oversight – which Twitter users pounced on – is that the policy may compromise the support sets. As one user explained: ‘I think it will have the opposite effect to your intention: people who want to see the support will miss them because they turn up too late; and people who don’t want to see the support and turn up early will just chat loudly & ruin it for everyone else.’ Assuming that that the average patron will not (for whatever reason) arrive at the advertised ‘doors open’ time, the lack of transparency around set times may result in people who are interested in seeing the support act arriving late or missing the set entirely. This is particularly salient for those who may be commuting to an event from afar and thus need to plan.
Ultimately, the strategy is misguided. It aims to trick people into arriving early, manipulating their fear of missing out on the headline act. Those who want to see the support set – whether out of pure curiosity or existing knowledge of the act – will make the effort to do so, and transparent stage times allow for that. The potential gains of hitting an unassuming patron with a brilliant support set do not outweigh the oversights discussed above. It is also condescending. The club is right when they say that support sets are ‘a great way to discover new music.’ Again, if people want to discover new music, they will make the effort to do so.
If venues want to encourage attendances at support sets, they need to promote them. Often, the support act is mentioned as an afterthought in promotional copy. Support them on social media, share and hype their music, and position the support set as an integral part of the evening’s entertainment.
