It’s worth it but you probably need at least a trio prepared to work and make it happen.
The feelers should go out to your network?
Insert small room story…Nottingham, a long time ago, club in the lace market, DIY Soundsystem DJ’s downstairs. Up stairs in a room that was as big as a room in a house. Victorian fireplace, Dance floor section for 20 ish. Rare Groove and funk all night mostly us (two dancing idiots) probably put everyone off, great night.
one thing’s for sure - it’s a whole lot easier to make a small room sound better.
What was the night? May have been something I was involved in…
Yep, sounds about right.
Was definitely a very small room with some good vibes.
Pair of Disco speakers and an old Crown amp with no fans. It cut out in the night and had to fanned cool by waving a record!
Sound quality was excellent.
I have the room, soundsystem, bar and cashiers all ready to go. Great location, and very easy to organise (they get the bar $, I get the door, which is fine by me). First attempt will be around my birthday so I think that’s around 30-40 people guaranteed (I used to be more popular, ha!). 100 would be a good start. 150 excellent, although cramped at this particular space. I do have a substantial network, and a few friends willing to spin records for not a lot of money, because they’re in the same vibe as I am about small vs big room. Shooting for end of May (my birthday is the 28th, a Saturday!), let’s see.
Just went to a huge festival over the weekend. It was pretty cool, great lineup, but once again I felt totally detached. Just made me think I’m on the right path with this.
Well, for those still interested, the party’s going on friday the 20th, I’m putting ticket sales up on mondayto firends here in São Paulo. Max capacity is 200 people, but that would mean th eplace will be packed. I’m happy at 100, ecstatic if it hits 150.
Here’s some food for thought:
My friends and I formed a 4 person crew at the start of 2021 when things started easing/opening up here in Sydney and put on a free monthly night in a cocktail bar. Of the 12 months 2021, we were ultimately only able to put on 6 events due to developing covid restrictions. Now we are back in the swing of things we’ve decided a new more intimate space is needed and recently we found one.
The above is a long winded way to introduce my question which is how best to get bodies through the door in 2022. We need around 60-70 people to fill it but our numbers due to the old location and interruptions has been more like 25-30 people per session. The owner of the new space isn’t charging us the $500 room hire but if we don’t get money going over the bar, there’s really no point in him paying staff to man the bar.
Do posters in cafes still work? We have 200 people on our Facebook group but not many have attended so far. I realise things need to grow organically but we need it to be less than embarrassing for us on our opening event. Any tips or advice is welcomed.
Pic of space for reference. It’s an underground room.
If as promoters you are more of an “older crowd” then I’d definitely recommend finding great new DJs with a following. Not only does that generate numbers but they also tend to be younger and more up for it.
And they have friends who are more likely to go out. Our friends are the ones with kids who don’t go out on the regular. Thanks for the feedback - it’s a good point indeed
Put posters IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD that the club is in. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t know about your thing, but come out just because its nearby and easy.
Also, I’ve had strange luck putting up posters in Asian grocery stores nearby the venue. There seams to be a weird connection between people who like soul/disco/boogie/Balearic and people who like cooking their own Asian food.
Put posters in cafes but only in the female toilets
Do miss plastic people. Also had some great times in dance tunnel. And always preferred fabric room 3 when I used to go.
Parties here like Lowlife which have a naturally older crowd have been revitalised by younger, mainly female DJs and their crowds. Keeps it from going stale.
Yes - we are very conscious about having a good representation of female spinners - nothing worse than a middle aged sausage party.
I’ve personally found it hard to even find a crew who would even turn up for doors on time. Let us know what works and if you get feedback from your posters?
In terms of making your first night good also.
You can try and make your event production as unique and exciting as possible. At the very least as dark and immersive as possible. If you can add cues (like in theatre) for certain parts of the evening with some kind of lighting colour change, smoke (probably not a go in a fancy decor venue) or a projection effect. Nobody will care what sound or lights you have, just the use of sound and light to create changes at pivotal points of your set. Specifically for this room, negotiate turning off the uplighters and using a solar 250 or two for projections. Literally flick them on when the uplighters go off. You then have three looks, uplighters, projections, just candles…good luck
Was in Pikes last night. Mixed crowd and I know it’s not everyone’s cuppa but the tiny, extremely busy room thins out a bit around 2am. Small room, air conditioned and if all else fails there’s beers by the pool 
Fantastic! i really love Sans work. Lovely man doing amazing things. I commissioned him to make a shrine to for the Holy Temple of the Blessed Bono for a nano venue at Glastonbury in 2010. It had an audience participation U2 alvin and the chipmunks puppet show karaoke too, but that’s another story😂
btw I only do small rooms, always have, always will. Unless it’s the great outdoors. I own half a dozen Solar 250s. They cover a multitude of sins. We concentrate on getting the sound right too. 4 point, funktion one. Allows people to chat without leaving the room.
