John Young Band gigs (hopefully!)

[Breezey]

JY/JYB UK, Europe and USA tour

OK so it probably sounds a little grandiose but after the recent US shows I think it's worth looking at.
People have been in touch from all over the planet regarding solo shows and band gigs. At this fledgling stage in our career it is impossible to please everyone but hopefully we can go a little way toward that by arranging some shows in the UK, Europe and the USA & Canada.

So how to do this .... well in the past we arranged D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself ) gigs and that was before the advent of myspace. As we are now heading past the 10,000 friends mark I think it's time to see if we can take this concept to another level.

The DIY gig idea is simple we create a date for a show offer a pre-sale price and ask our friends to commit (in principle) to a ticket/tickets.(This means you mail us and let us know any shows you would be interested in /possibly interested in attending ;-)

As this builds past our initial target (generally 30- 50 tickets for a solo show and 50-75 for a band gig) we then firm up the date and ask for confirmation payments which are fully refundable should a) the date be cancelled or b) you are unable to make it to the show due to unforseen circumstances.

Any suggestions for suitable venues are always welcome and of course do get in touch if you feel a show would work in your area (should you not be on the listing)
If anyone who would like to be involved on the ground in a 'street team' capacity then by all means get in touch as you know your area much better than we do!
We would also like to hear from possible support acts (especially if you have local knowledge gig wise ...or for that matter a good PA !:-) either bands or singer songwriters (as long as it is in a similarly musical vein).

OK so prices for shows are as follows
in advance door
UK Solo £7 £10
UK Band £10 £15
Europe Solo Euro 10 Euro 15
USA Solo $ 17 $25

The dates are on the gig guide shortly but are also listed below for good measure . All the dates will be t.b.c. and the confirmations will depend on the response we receive from your goodselves . (Dates can also be subject to change due to touring commitments. )

JY Solo
8/7 Newcastle, England
15/7 Edinburgh, Scotland
22/7 Dublin, Ireland
30/9 Barcelona, Spain
7/10 Oslo, Norway
12/10 Houston, TX USA
13/10 San Antonio TX, USA
14/10 Austin TX, USA
15/10 Dallas TX, USA
19/10 San Diego CA USA
20/10 Long Beach CA USA
21/10 Santa Monica CA USA
22/10 Santa Barbara CA USA
25/10 Sacramento CA, USA
26/10 San Francisco CA, USA
27/10 Portland OR USA
28/10 Seattle WA USA
29/10 Vancouver BC Canada
18/11 Netherlands (city to be decided)

John Young Band
31/8 Birmingham UK
1/9 London UK
2/9 Swansea Wales
3/9 Milton Keynes UK
25/11 Guildford UK
26/11 Swindon UK

Further to the US dates some extra shows maybe added in either Canada or Florida...so by all means let me know where you would like to see a show.

OK that's the initial idea I guess all is subject to change so please get your pledges in for tickets and your suggestions in for venues and shows.

love n peace to all
jy

[Ben Fletcher]

I'll be seeing you at Guildford. There are an interesting choice of venues, I would hope JY gets enough interest to fill the Civic Hall. The likes of Velvet Revolver and Thunder have played there before and I'm told it is a great live music venue.

[Boatman]

Birmingham UK is a bit vague does that include Bilston?

He has built up interest at The Robin 2 when he was the regular one-man opening-act and at Rotherham. We'd see him at either if he promised to play Bedside Manners! (with permission from DG of course! I'd see him at the Flowerpot or Guildhall too - you know where they are breezey!

[Breezey]

Thanks for your response so far !!

Boatman, none of the gigs are confirmed yet, John just wants a show of interest so that he knows which ones to pursue. Then he looks for a venue in that area (or asks contacts he has in those areas) and gradually it builds from there into an actual gig. Originally they were called virtual gigs but I guess DIY sums it all up.

Please let John know if you are interesed in going to any of the gigs ([e-mail]) as it may make the difference between it going ahead or not!!

See you at as many as I can persuade Prog Paul to take me to ;D

The Tea Lady x

[Breezey]

John Young News
Courtesy of the interest around the planet from myspace it is now
possible to book shows
worldwide by just going directly to the audience. As such I have
'pencilled in' a number of dates
around the planet for both the solo show and full band concerts.(See
attached lists)
If you are interested in going to a show just e-mail me back at
[e-mail] with details
of which show and how many tickets you might be interested in. (no
obligation)
As the numbers build up then shows,venues,support acts etc will be
confirmed and you will be
contacted with further information relating to the show(s) of your choice.
This is known as the D.I.Y.(Do it Yourself) tour and as such all shows
are in the ether and subject to
change until confirmed.Things are looking good this idea has been up
and running for just over
3 weeks and purely on yahoo and myspace yet Oslo, New York,
Philadelphia, Santa Monica and London
are already up over the 60 (pledges) mark.
Come and join us ...make these shows happen... pledge your support
If the business won't come to the music then perhaps we should reverse
the process!
Kindest regards to all
jy
P.S. Any ideas for venues,supports etc more than welcome.
*** Remember no e-mail pledges.....no shows!***
ticket prices and further details available at
www.myspace.com/johnyoungband
all dates subject to change

Gig guide
31/8 Birmigham UK (Band)
1/9 London UK (Band)
2/9 Swansea UK (Band)
3/9 Milton Keynes (Band)
29/9 Manchester UK (solo)
7/10 Oslo Norway (Solo)
12/10 Houston TX, USA (Solo)
13/10 San Antonio TX USA (solo)
14/10 Austin TX USA (solo)
15/10 Dallas TX USA (solo)
17/10 Phoenix AZ USA (solo)
18/10 San Diego CA USA (solo)
20/10 Long Beach CA USA (solo)
21/10 Santa Monica CA USA (solo)
22/10 Santa Barbara CA USA (solo)
25/10 Sacramento CA USA (solo)
26/10 San Francisco CA USA (solo)
27/10 Portland OR USA (solo)
28/10 Seattle WA USA (solo)
29/10 Vancouver Canada (solo)
3/11 Montreal Canada (solo)
5/11 Toronto Canada (solo)
7/11 Detroit MI USA (solo)
8/11 Cleveland OH USA (solo)
10/11 Milwaukee WI USA (solo)
11/11 Chicago IL USA (solo)
12/11 Indianapolis IN USA (solo)
14/11 Philadelphia PA USA (solo)
15/11 New York NY USA (solo)
16/11 Boston MA USA (solo)
18/11 Netherlands (solo)
23/11 Sheffield UK (band)
24/11 Tamworth UK (band/not DIY)
25/11 Guildford UK (band)
26/11 Swindon UK (band)
3/12 Limelight Theatre, Aylesbury (solo supp Jump not DIY)
7/12 Sarasota FL USA (solo)
8/12 Clearwater FL USA (solo)
9/12 Tampa FL USA (solo)
10/12 Orlando FL USA (solo)
12/12 Atlanta GA USA (solo)
14/12 Daytona Beach FL USA (solo)
15/12 Saint Augustine FL USA (solo)
17/12 west Palm Beach FL USA (solo)
19/12 Fort lauderdale FL USA (solo)
20/12 Miami FL USA (solo)

D.I.Y. .............Why's and Wherefores

Why...
Well promoters and agents (generally... not all) are pretty spineless
and won't touch anything new if it is not tried and tested.
Unless a record company or sponsor is promoting a new artist the
general consensus among 'the biz' is that it won't sell.
This of course is complete rubbish as myspace is proving.
Thankfully the tide is changing with the advent of global
communication between artist and audience.

At present the little house I live in is surrounded by builders and
they in turn need some daytime distraction and as such the radio
blares away all day long. The songs in general with the odd exception
all appear to be made by the same people with little thought for
musical and lyrical content... they are the equivalent of musical
wallpaper and as such that is kind of what it is.
To elevate this wallpaper to the level that it has achieved is an
insult to our intelligence and to have regular wallpaper awards is
laughable but that is pretty much what goes on.
The industry is run by accountants and lawyers who couldn't make a
musical or lyrical decision to save their lives. If we all went to the
dentist and he or she said I'm sorry i'm really a dancer but let's
have a look at your teeth...we'd all run a mile.
Music is intelligent and now thanks to myspace and similar sites
people are able to make their own choices.

Wherefore.....
Well DIY is a simple enough premise.Audiences like the music but they
have no way of hearing it or seeing it indeed no way of knowing it exists!
The way around this is to contact like minded souls (via the internet)
and offer them the chance to listen to, and see the product.
As promoters in general continue to choose tributes, covers bands and
has beens (makes you wonder why they got involved in music in the
first place!) then the only way for artists such as myself and the JYB
is to Do It Yourself.... D.I.Y.
As i'm fairly impoverished the easiest way to make a gig happen is to
make sure you have an audience first.
So invites are sent out for gigs that are basically 'in the ether' and
as soon as break even points are reached then the gig is booked, PA's
are sorted, equipment is hired and support bands (and audiences!) are
contacted.
It's a complex way of doing things but it seems to be working.
Already (without outside advertising) Oslo, London, New York and
Philadelphia all have over 60 pledges.
Some concerts will inevitably fall by the wayside but in general tours
should go ahead and I hope that because of all the contact between the
audience (you lot) and the artist (us/me) it will create a strong bond
and affinity for the future, after all when was the last time you went
to a concert where the artist/act invited you to attend!

If anyone has any questions about the DIY stuff please feel free to
contact me.
Kindest wishes
jy