TNSgigs - the future

The first ever TNS gig was in April 2004. Since then we've been a monthly band night (and some months we've put more than one gig on). Over the years we've been lucky enough to receive some fantastic support and most importantly to see some fantastic bands. However, as TNS continues to develop as a label the band night side of things is the area we feel is starting to struggle.

After starting out all those years ago as a free night in the Attic, things have slowly changed. We then moved to Joshua for a few years before heading over to Retro Bar. As we have gone we have slowly increased the price to pay travelling bands at first then local bands, as well as covering venue hire costs. Throughout all this we remained not-for-profit. If we did make some cash on a gig we usually lost it on the next and we still to this day sometimes pay bands out of our own pockets despite, as you all know, extensively advertising all of our events.

We moved to a Saturday night this year, thinking that it would improve the night, but after one of our best ever gigs (the Stupids in January), attendances have decreased constantly over the year. We know there are reasons for this; people are skint (and we realise that you need to pay beer money as well as entrance money).

There are also sooooo many more gigs than there were 6 years ago, which ultimately means that having a gig on a specific day each month almost inevitably means a gig clash of some kind. Having so many gigs in the area can only be a good thing but it makes us realise that maybe we don't need as many TNS live gigs anymore. The night started to combat the fact the only gigs in Manchester for Punk bands were pay to play, luckily that is no longer the case.

Obviously Bomb Ibiza has also gone this year and I guess Em experienced similar pressures. But there is so much good stuff going on through the likes of Dean at Slit and the Bolton lot that we are certainly not going to go short of live music. We feel that it is more worthwhile for us to spend our increasingly limited time working on the label, the fanzine and the podcast (which has died of late). All these gigs (and those across the country), along with independent labels, fanzines etc, need your continued support, without you they will longer exist.

This is also not a full stop anyway. This will be the end of TNS as a regular night BUT we will continue to do the occasional one off gig. We have two gigs lined up on Sun 5th Sept and Sat 16th October and after these we'll be taking some time out, but in 2011 we expect to be doing the odd gig.

Hopefully we'll see some of you at these two nights, it would be really appreciated to have your support. It kinda makes us really sad to stop the regular nights, but there is also little point doing it half heartedly, with falling support. We'd finally just like to thank everyone for all they have done over the past 6 years. It genuinely means the world to us.