Idea: Youth Music Events with Local Bands, Wick-for under 18's only

[bb1stwick]

Dear under 18's,

There has been an idea about starting a regular concert by live bands and rap artists from the town of Wick. There would be a regular event hopefully.

We need to know first of all who and how many would be interested if this youth event took place.

I have spoken to a band member from Wick and the idea mostly came from that person. This induvidual who is aged 34 has a son at the age of 7 and a daughter aged 16. The band singer and guitar player has been in music since the age of 5. "There is no where to go for youths at night for music, music is my life and I want to provide a safe, well organised disco or concert for children or teens aged below 18 years of age" said the band member.

I agree that there would be a safe, controlled environment with NO DRINK, DRUGS OR FIGHTING allowed during these event/s.

There would be food like hot dogs, crisps, cans of juice, sweets etc available during the whole event.

If you are interested or know of who would be wanting to go to such an event, please reply and if there is a big enough response, this would go ahead.

Yours Sincerely

Wick people that care about music and children.

P.S This would be open to all under 18's who arrive at the door

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Here, in Hawick, we're lucky enough to have a Beanscene - a comfortable coffee house with an emphasis on good music, film and food, as well as community spirit and working with locals on arts projects. Once a month my partner holds a folk music session there; it's only been running a couple of months but the numbers of people - young and old - are increasing dramatically. The upside is, people can only drink alcohol so long as they've bought some food; under 18s can buy milkshakes, nachos etc. It makes for a safe, comfortable evening, where people of all ages can come together, play, swap stories, and learn new tunes. So, while am not saying Wick needs a Beanscene to help address its own problems with getting under 18s into music within a safe environment - it would certainly help. How about meeting up at Lyth Arts Centre? It's big enough, isolated (noise wouldn't too much of a problem, one would hope), and, well, it is an arts centre in Caithness, isn't it? Why not ask them?

All the best, and good luck.

[sweetpea]

Great idea. Starting point might be with the Music Link Media that takes place on Thursday nights at the Youth Club, seems they have quite a large number of young people every week. They also have instruments, equipment and recording facilities.

[rfr10]

That does sound like a good idea as there is a lack of things for young people to take part in. We may consider incorporating a music event into our youth cafe once we manage to set it up. It may be the best idea to consult with music link media in Wick as they will have all the equipment. You'd need to think of a venue for rehearsals / events though and it's unlikely the youth club can be used frequently due to the number of clubs/ activities currently taking place there every night.

We are currently trying to improve Wick (or Caithness in general) for young people, therefore, if you require any help / contacts, please let me know.

Good luck with it!

[Douglas Cowie]

As Sweatpea says MLM is available every Thursday night from 6.00 to 10.00 PM,we cater for 3rd year High School pupils and upwards. We have a full stage set up where bands can book 20 minute practice slots. with all the equipment and instruments provided. We also have a rehearsal room with guitars and practice amps as well as a digital drumkit. We also have a room set up for guitar/keyboard and vocal tuition and of course we now have a fully functional state of the art recording studio. In addition we have digital cameras and video cameras which can be used with video editing facilities.
MLM has just purchased a new PA system which will allow it to run concerts/events in just about any venues in Caithness.
If you want to just hang about and listen to the bands or have a game of pool you can do just that.
You can drop in or out at any time during the night.
PM me if you want to discuss further.

[bb1stwick]

The BB Hall is a good idea for the youth bands to play in. It is a large hall for loads to go along and listen to different bands. I heard of MLM but this would be like a place for the kids to go and enjoy a good night away from school and learning music but to enjoy meeting others who is there enloying themselves too.

Thanks Douglas Cowie for your reply, I know now of things that are on offer for the young ones.