Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue

[Spinner72]

The greatest income for mareel will be generated by the talent of Shetlands artists.

 

The fact you can't see this, simply goes to prove how neccesary the facilities are.

 

 

I've got to mention Tom's T in the park/Alcohol promotion thing - in that case its alcohol promoting music, not the other way round... If it were sponsored by cadburys, would that make all musicians and fans instantly fat?

 

Yeh it flys in the face of cutting serious levels of binge drinking in Shetland.

 

I feel the total opposite is the case.

 

At all the music venues i've been at (Barrowlands, ABC, Cinema's etc) you don't see people lining up at the bar and getting plastered.

 

Ususally you get a drink at the start of the night, one in the interval, and thats about it.

 

A large part of Shetland's problem is that there is nothing to do in town after that quiet drink, other than to have another one. When mareel is in place, you can go see a film, partake/listen in on a session (in a non-pub environment) or enjoy any of the other artistic presentations.

[Baron Farkoff]

The only "gret" idea being to sell drink?

 

Pleeease.

[Talpa]

If great ideas are going to make money for this place why are they not in evidence in the business plan?

 

Oh WiiMan, indeed indeed. Why not? Because they can't be.

 

As I understand - whilst they can be highlighted in project plans etc. the financial business plan must be based on direct income/ expenditure. It cannot take into account the money that will made by the creative industries in/ for Shetland as they benefit from and make the best of this investment in infrastructure, equiptment and training.

 

"A new report has concluded that the Creative Industries are worth £25 million a year to Shetland's economy." Shetland-Music.com

 

Imagine what they could be worth when we have this investment? As creative businesses grow, as people gain professional skills and stay here because they can use those skills here and even move here to work in our flourishing creative industries?

 

There should, indeed there must be, a way in which this can be taken into account in the future. Objectors may have ignored this to date or maybe they just don't get it yet - but it is essential.

 

A big, crucial point. Jolly good on you for making it

[Baron Farkoff]

PJ's point about Northern Hemisphere interaction is great.

The potential for filmmaking as well as music to link up is such a natural thing, with all the countries mentioned being very prolific with cool stuff going on, and the worlds interest shifting its Sauron like eye toward these secret islands.

Once there is a cultural base here, everyone can pool their knowledge and make bigger things happen quicker.They can also enjoy the freedom and isolation of a far-out croft if they so wish, which is one thing you can't buy in London.

Then come the big ideas, the really powerful statements and movements in art. With a community of interacting specialists all learning and reacting with one another they will be able to achieve even greater things than they might if they had to struggle on individually carrying all parts of a project all of the time.

There is some great pop music brewing in these crazy Northern lands, all connected now by the means of transferring sounds and visions and all kinds of stuff down a phone line. This has revolutionised the abilities of independent artists to connect with both their audience and each other, and the first generation of this art, in all its forms, is only now really emerging to full public exposure as people become more and more exposed to simple stuff like youtube.

All of this makes money, if you know how to do it.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

I quite agree with what youv'e said Baron.

 

Spinner said, The greatest income for Mareel will be generated by the talent of Shetland Artists. It may in the long run be the objective, but surely the preference would be to bring in popular bands and artists to appeal to a wide range of paying public.

Do you believe the Mareel will have to rely on large sales of Alcohol to survive?

 

The T/PARK alcohol thingy....alcohol promoting music, not the other way around, it's the association between that event and alcohol promotion that flys in the face of so called Scottish Goverment policy on dealing with dangerous level of drinking.

[marlin13]

Spinner made an excellent point about the support he and others received from their local public hall, it was and still is a very nurturing place for music.

there is a network of around 50 halls in Shetland which could and should if at all possible do something similar. No it won't work everywhere but there should not be a problem in a significant number of halls given the right attitudes from hall committees and potential musicians. No matter how good Mareel is the soaring cost of fuel and other practical transport issues, especially for youngsters will mean that it could never really take on the role of a regular practice venue for people from the country or Isles. The two must work in collabaration and I sincerely hope the ARTS mob take this onboard and don't just "withdraw" to Mareel.

[Spinner72]

Spinner said, The greatest income for Mareel will be generated by the talent of Shetland Artists. It may in the long run be the objective, but surely the preference would be to bring in popular bands and artists to appeal to a wide range of paying public.

Do you believe the Mareel will have to rely on large sales of Alcohol to survive?

 

Certainly the provision of an affordable and suitably sized venue for visiting artists is another core element of Mareel, and one which will undoubtably draw income. Hopefully though, the locals who support these acts will get their chance sooner rather than later to play for the same crowd (something I look forward to immensely) and keep the cash flowng locally..

 

Regarding the local halls, It has always been stated, and i strongly agree, that they will also reap the benefits of Mareel, getting to host gigs by popular bands as they come up to play.

 

Fuel costs and transportation are mentioned, however this is something i think Mareel has strongly in it's favour, being a literal stone's throw from the bus station, it is easily and economically accessable for young and old from all over the mainland (and beyond!)

[Ghostrider]

Fuel costs and transportation are mentioned, however this is something i think Mareel has strongly in it's favour, being a literal stone's throw from the bus station, it is easily and economically accessable for young and old from all over the mainland (and beyond!)

 

This is fine, but you will need first to get the buses running at times to be compatible with performances, which will undoubtedly be an added burden on taxpayers in subsidies. Whether having everybody pay to cover the cost of the few getting there, as well as having everybody pay towards the actual facility is a good idea, is debatable. You will also have to do something about getting rid of the relatively widespread attitude within certain sections of the population who consider the bus, the "peasant wagon" and a non-option for travelling, to make the whole thing work properly.

[Spinner72]

^^

 

I was mainly meaning the day to day use of Mareel for rehersal, training, and informal playing/socialising when referring to bus services, not suggesting they should be altered in any way to "fit in" with performances.

 

Plenty of young (and old) people take the bus to town on a to basically hang around, why cant those with an artistic intrest do so and enjoy the facility.

 

Anyone who considers the ultimate in chaffeur driven transport a "peasant wagon" needs a trip to a far more clinical facility than mareel!

 

(are there really people that sad?)

 

 

Regarding the link between alcohol and music, as i touched on before, there isn't much to do when having a drink in town, except have another one. There is no qusetion that this issue gets worse with each generation.

 

Mareel will only serve to help promote the sensible combination of music and alcohol, as together they can both be very enjoyable and trouble free.

 

Almost all resteraunts serve alcohol, but i have yet to see an outcry about tthe association of food and drink.

 

Ever gone to a concert and had a wine list handed to you as soon as you got in??

 

[Baron Farkoff]

I have, and both were excellent.

[Spinner72]

Fair enough, that post of mine probably gave away the class of gig i'm used to.

 

 

However, whilst i will readily admit that does detrimentally affect my food/drink/music analogy, it just go's to show another type of hitherto unheard of (by some of us!) event we have to look forward to..

[Baron Farkoff]

Yes, I remember it well....

Clapton was moaning that his geetar wasn't loud enough, Sinatra was complaining that his mince and tatties were cold, and James Brown wouldn't come out of the bathroom unless his kilt was ironed properly. The cheeky girls ruined their makeup in a truly vicious argument over who got to sleep with their signed photo of Bongshang, until Peerie Bryan stepped in with a photocopy. Looked like a nightmare from the balcony.

Acker Bilk was, however, a true gentleman all evening. Well,he was until his cocaine ran out... but it was ok because Elton stopped by with some of his Mams' angel dust- sorry,cake -and read everyone exerpts from his travel diaries until all the little bears were fast asleep...

 

A truly magical evening.

[WiiMan]

Sorry to break up all this fanciful nonsense, but SIBC is reporting this morning that Mareel has run into a wee bit of European State Aid bovver!

[aurora B]

Great..............funding of this magnitude should be scrutinised and what a bout a referendum to see what "the people of Shetland " that the Arts trust constantly refer to really want.

[Spinner72]

Thats just the usual, probably carbon copy, letter of complaint good old Mr Anonymous always sends to any local project which has recieved European funding.

 

Whilst that is nothing to cause any concern, the quotes from a council member in the Shetland News Article certainly should be worrying the people of shetland.

 

Surely someone telling such blatant lies directly to the media should be made to reconsider thier position, as any semblance of trust their constituents might have had will now be gone.

 

If that sounds harsh, feel free to post a link to the council minutes where the direct decision was made between supporting Mareel and building a breakwater for Fetlar.

 

Not to mention the moment the decision was taken that both must compete to be funded from the same budget, which, of course, as already stated by the same member in the media, is in fact the councils street lighting budget.