Since we started the band, the 4 of us have been working hard to put together a show that is, at it’s core, just 3 things.
We have curated over 2.5 hours of music so far and worked hard on delivering that music in various setlist arrangements that will entertain, and keep the audience hooked. So, when we decided that we would host our own show, a great many thoughts went through my head!
Are we ready? are the songs good enough? is the performance good enough?? will people pay to come and see an unknown cover band full of ageing emo’s??? Who the hell knows!! So we did it anyway!!
Born from a rebellious spirit in 2007, BrewDog began as a small craft brewery in Scotland aiming to shake up the beer industry with bold flavors and punk ethos, and as their empire grew, so too did their reputation for pairing their daring brews with the raw energy of live music—creating spaces that were equal parts bar, venue, and community.
So, for us as a band, the moment we secured a date at BrewDog in Reading for our first self hosted gig felt like more than just another gig—it felt like coming home to a place where great beer and gritty sound belong together, where we’ve spent countless evenings soaking in the atmosphere with a pint of Elvis Juice or Hazy Jane in hand, and where the anticipation of bringing our own set to that intimate, hop-scented stage has been building for months, shaping our rehearsals and setlists with the kind of electric purpose that only comes when you’re about to perform at a place you genuinely love.
And BOY did it not disappoint!!
Pre-sale tickets sold slowly but steadily, and by the time we reached gig day we had sold around 35 (this rose to around 80 from door sales) of the 100 cap on the venue. In all honesty, we were pretty stoked at this point! People…. REAL PEOPLE spent their REAL MONEY to come and see our show!! It was game on!!
From this point forward, the evening just fell into place perfectly! Fans came in, paid their money, enjoyed the show and as the best live music fans always do…. showered us with their photo and video captures from the evening!
A special thank you goes out to one such dude who shared a HEAP of photos with us from the night, Nathan Rees kindly shared the images below, thank you Nathan you legend!!
Success can be measured in many ways, and if you are talking objectively, we had a successful show! We set out just over a year ago with three metal musicians, and a beginner bass player, to put together a small setlist of classic pop punk, emo and nu-metal tracks in hopes of getting some local gigs, for a bit of fun! What has actually happened is that we have become so fundamentally in love with what we are doing, we’ve developed into a super motivated, highly charged energetic cover band, with an exceptionally good setlist of songs!
Success?? Subjectively I can speak for the entire band when I say that the shows we have played so far have been a HUGE success, and the reception we have received from not only this show, but previous shows has been overwhelming to say the least!
Brewdog Reading was to this date my favourite of our gigs, the audience seriously showed up with their A game and from the whole band, I would like to extand a huge thank you to everyone that came, bought tickets, supported us, took photos and video, stuck around for the whole show, and just made the night a massive success!
We would also like to thanks Brewdog Reading, and the absolutely amazing team of people they have working their! The venue, and the staff are a credit to the industry, on both hospitality and the music scene alike!
