Now before anyone blows off thinking, what's Uppie coming with now, note that I have before me a copy of "Revealing The Vision Of Caithness", an arts development study of Caithness and I'm going to work from this document to deliver my viewpoint. So bare in mind this document was the result of wide ranging consultaion amongst artists of ALL interests in Caithness. Your area was voiced locally by Cinema For Thurso Group along with issues facing amateur film makers. Well done CFT!
Now there is a unbelievably wide range of venue provision in Caithness however it is the case that venues are remote with poor or no transport connections and very much under-fasilitated. These aspects makes the difficult situation that the community faces for arts provision generally.
Across the county there is a large auditoria capacity but it's a bit here, a bit there and a little more on the top of a hill somewhere. For both audience and performers this is just useless. Even if you can get to the venue you may be faced with failure at basic levels such as inadiquate number of power sockets. Plug in your amp and watch the lights go out- you can't have it all!
Then theres the audience capacity. You obviously have a magic number that is the break even point for the costs but many venues can't meet the cost needs of a band.
The Scottish Executive has a specific directive regarding venue provision in Thurso which states quite catagorically the need for a performance space of 250 to 300 seated with full stage fasilities, backstage and front of house.
In the glorious technicolor past Thurso Picture House and Wick Pivilion cinemas both put on bands and concerts regularly. Thurso Picture House was built as a cinema/theatre so it was fully provisioned for both film and live performance. Those days are gone and along with the 465 house capacity.
It's between Thurso High School and Skinandis for seated audience but Skinandis seats are spread throughout a building in an irratic way which is far from ideal compared to it's former life as a cinema. Remarkably however, Skins still seats around 350. Up side for Skinandis is that it is very well equiped in many respects and is fully A/V capable in proportion to it's size.
Thurso High School, well clearly a school hall not a public venue so that automaticall creates limitations even though the stage there is better equiped than the Assemble Rooms in both light and sound. The hall there is popular with orchestras due to it's acoustic values.
The Redwood is a cozy size with potential whilst the Viewfirth is large with a very poor stage best used for bingo (at a push). It is a place of legend none the less.
Drink is alas another issue, whether we like it or not a bar is an important part of the whole thing because a gig is in many respects a social occasion where all you guys and girls meet up with the same interest in music and musicians. A venue without license or bar is not good for a gig.
That doesn't help local bands though but now listen up. Have any of you spoken to Caithness Arts about venues, Boss, Estrella, Crimson Tide, I know you guys are on their arts directory pages, have you asked them about venues. Part of what they were set up to do is to persue venue provision in Thurso in accordance with the Scottish Executives words. There are things afoot that may be of worth for you guys to get your voices in about. If you don't speak up to Caithness Arts venues may always be an issue to you. Blue Mondays has one person in it's midst who has had to work with Caithness Arts and he could be your avenue of approach on the venue subject. (A bandstand in Sir John's Square would be a venue too!)
I suggest you have a look at the report, it's in your local libraries and might still be online here in Caithness.orgs archive pages- email Bill to find out. It's worth a read even though it has some huge gaps and it will help all of you to get a grip of a situation that you are not alone in.
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