South London Steelies POW_WOW is on! 6 October

[Nick Bidmade]

Hi all
I have started a new thread so it hopefully stands out.
I have been to the 'Bread and Roses' pub (68 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6DZ) and have checked out the garden room. It is reserved for us for 6 October, to be confirmed. One look at the stairs convinced me all the advice about NOT using upstairs rooms was well warranted! (By the way, the first pub in the street is the Manor Arms - the Bread and Roses is approx. 3/4 of the way down on the left.)
Access is straight through the bar. The room itself is not huge and has some furniture in it - tables, chairs and a couple of 'Starbucks-style' settees which can be pushed to the walls to give us space for, I would guess 7 or 8 steels, in the round, in reasonable comfort. Any more than that and it would become quite cramped (and probably very noisy, unless discipline was strictly maintained. Headphones for 'noodlers' and constant tuners might be helpful!) Anyone got a microphone and a spare input into their amp?
There are three plug sockets - at least 2 are double sockets, so extension leads will be necessary.
Parking is on street but there are no restrictions on a Sunday. It is a residential street, so no guarantees you will be able to park right outside...
The pub is open from 12 noon until 10.30pm and the room booking is for the day - so I guess we'll stay as long as we want! Food is available at the bar and Clapham High Street will provide for more exotic tastes!
I have given to pub's address and postcode for all the SatNav users out there...
The room booking fee is £80 and I have agreed to confirm by early next week. I am happy to pay a deposit if we have agreement to go ahead.
So far, we have Henry Brixton and Henry Tooting, Shaun and myself with steel guitars. Judgebouche, Barry and Andrew wanted to come but I was not sure if they were just observers or were bringing guitars. Obviously, the more who commit the cheaper it gets, and maybe we shouldn't charge full whack for observers only (I suspect we'll get some of those anyway as the room is straight off the bar!)
I think 4 is the minimum - that's £20 each. Not a problem for me, but some folks might think it's a bit steep, so I'll hold on and see what the reaction is. I think we should be willing to commit by early next week, so can I have a quick response and a definite 'in or out' from y'all and I'll make the booking and pay the deposit. Here's hoping...

[Arcada]

I have started a new thread so it hopefully stands out.

I've made it a "Sticky" topic until 6th Oct for you

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Good to see something getting organised at last!! I will not be able to make it as its a bit out of the way for me but if you do not get your 4 people I will chip in 20 quid just to make it happen! Something tells me I won`t have to pay .... chances are it will be over subscribed

[SteelieAJK]

I'll try to get to this, probably won't have car, it's not a fun drive thru central london anyway, but only an hour by train from watford to clapham common I think. Won't have steel though.

[Shaun]

Thats great Nick well done, I can bring along a powered PA speaker (200W) and small mixer for backing tracks and a Mic. I can borrow a second speaker if needed but I don't think well need it.

[andrew marson]

Great stuff- count me in as a paying participant ! Can't help with a spare steel for Allan but could bring along a spare amp if needed. What time do we start and do you need any help beforehand setting up? Cheers, Andy.

[Nick Bidmade]

Thanks Arcada - that will help to maintain some prominence for this.
Thanks also John - let's hope we can drum up enough support for you to keep your wallet dry! If we can establish this as a regular event, maybe we could attract you down at some point?
Allan - it would be great to have you come along - I'd be happy for you to 'sit in' on my steel (although the 2" lift kit might be a problem)...
Shaun - the PA sounds great - presumably we could play backing tracks?? (I'm not at all familiar with digital music so don't really understand how it works or what kit you need).
Andrew - I guess we can't get in before 12 noon, so if we all aim to arrive between 12 and 12.30 we should be able to manage a reasonably 'ordered' set up. As I said, there's not a massive amount of room - 6 steels being set up at the same time could provide a few 'Keystone Cops' moments so a staggered arrival might not be a bad idea! There will be some furniture to shift, but not that much.
I'm also aware that even with the relatively modest numbers, we have single E9, double-necks and Universals, and I'm sure there will be a range of experience - I think for the first session maybe we can do no more than play each other a few of our 'party pieces', see if we think regular meeting is viable and then look at ways we could use future time to best advantage - maybe agreeing to rehearse a couple of tunes between sessions so we have a few tunes to do the rounds, as it were, or we could present a few turnarounds or intros for others to learn etc ... As far as raw beginners, those of a nervous disposition, etc are concerned - come and join me!!!
I'm just looking forward to getting it off the ground.
Also I know Will C hoped to attend but I think the date clashes with his holiday... Will, hopefully next time.
If we do look as though numbers are going to exceed available space, I think we'd need to limit steels to a max of 8 - so first come, first served. Those who have said they will be attending, with steels, once again, are 2 Henrys, Shaun, Andrew and myself. PLEASE CONFIRM!

[Shaun]

I'll be there Nick consider me Confirmed

I'll bring along the nessary leads for MP3 Players (digital Tracks ) possibly not needed first time round but no problem to put in car.
I'll be great to catch up / get to know each other, Really looking forward to it.

[judgebouche]

Hi All

Sounds great, and be nice to meet you all.

Yeah, I'm happy to put myself down as an observer but more than happy to contribute financially. Two reasons: 1) I'll probably be the first to run out of licks and 2) have no VP or amp yet. Seems it has potential to be a regular thing so happy to just watch this time.

Cheers
David

[andrew marson]

David, if you would like I can bring along a vp and an amp. Cheers, Andy.

P.S. I'll be the first to run out of licks.