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Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue


madcow
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if the garrison is losing money because less people are attending films, how come on the last 2 occassions i have wanted to go and see a film, they have been sold out. as for the seating, 3 hours watchin king kong at the garrison was sheer pergatory. out of interest, how much would it cost to upgade the seating in the garrison, so that the seats were more like the seats in the vue in aberdeen, or anyother cinema for that matter??? so far the only objections seem to be coming from the publicans, fear of losing money i suppose, and given the problem shetland has with alcohol, i can only see an alternative night out, being a good thing. i, and many others like me do not drink, where do we go for a night out. try being in a pub and not drinking alcohol, you are made most unwelcome

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I'm sure not too long ago Marvin was on the Northstart Website actually sticking up for the venue?....Mmmmmm :?

 

Firstly don't use my name in vain. If you have a point to make use your own name.....not mine.

 

Secondly....I have never posted anywhere in favour of the new music venue. I am however not against the project. I think it is wise to be informed of all the facts before damning it or supporting it. Where I stand at the moment is that further research into existing venues should be done before embarking on a £9m spend.

 

The main aim of the whole project as far as I can see is the future development of the arts in Shetland (regardless of which building it happens in). I for one are 100% in favour of that!

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Also, no one has explained to me yet why given the proposed location the concerns which led to the refusal of Shearers Ice Factory becoming a nightclub a few years ago are apparently no longer an issue, when as far as I can see they're as 'relevant' as they were then. As I remember it they were:-

 

1) drunk people falling into the sea and drowning

2) lack of car parking facilities

3) police concerns about residential and commercial properties in the vicinity and 4) their forces being spread more thinly around the town.

 

 

I've got to say, the type of venue being proposed is hardly likely to be frequented by dozens of drunk people. I have rarely seen drunk people coming out of a cinema, and the type of music events the Arts Trust would wish to put on would hardly be targetted at the binge drinking fraternity. Using this as an argument against, you could also oppose the siting of shops anywhere near the sea, or for that matter advocate the closing of several pubs in Lerwick and in the Shetland countryside. Equally, I hardly think the venue is going to require particularly onerous policing levels.

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Firstly don't use my name in vain. If you have a point to make use your own name.....not mine.

 

Well said Marvin!

 

Come on people, let's not be sneaky about this.

Differing opinions are what a discussion forum is all about. But other users will quickly lose respect for you if you continually hide behind a guest login.

And using other members nicknames (even subtly altered versions) is totally unacceptable.

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Marvin,

 

I'm not that knowledgeable on the finer details of the North Star's structure, so I'm not asserting anything here, just offering a couple of points for discussion.

 

Firstly, is it not the wrong shape for a good concert hall? Good sounding venues need to be much longer and narrower. I'm not an acoustic designer but I can also see problems with the balcony position. The building's just not designed for this purpose.

 

It might not be ideal but it is very good - much better than most of the established venues on the mainland. Take for instance the Lemon Tree. It is an absolute shocker of a design. The North Star as things stand has a great layout and has brilliant lines of sight. Acoustics can be treated if it needs to be improved. Its a long time since I've been in balcony so I can't vouch for the acoustics up there but on the main floor the sound is great. Speaker design and PA in general have come a long way and with flying rigs and computer-controlled sound I have no fear that the sound could be comparable in quality to any decent purpose built venue

 

Secondly, and I do have experience in this area, designing and installing AV systems in old buildings is usually much more expensive than accommodating them into designs for new buildings.

The cost will of course depend on exactly what kind of system is installed, but I'm hearing talk of large scale PA, lighting rigs, audio and video recording and broadcast. That's a lot of gear and a lot of control systems.

 

True but with good design and good planning it is possible.

 

I don't think you should be so sure that the North Star would be a cheaper alternative. Has anyone looked into this?

 

The short answer is no. Several venues were suggested many years ago when the first wave of consultants got to work on the project. These included The Fort but I can't remember the rest. The North Star would have been excluded due to the fact it was open as a commercial premises. I however, do not believe that even if the place was levelled and rebuilt that it would cost as much as the new building. When it comes down to it (put cost aside for a moment) its the anti competitive problem that using the North Star will solve. The Council could own the building and lease the bar side of the venture back to George Hepburn. I'm sure George would be happy with a busier venue without the huge capital cost of fixing it up. What I'm saying is that surely this is an avenue that should be considered. yes/no?

 

Also, you talk of new buildings at Shetland College and a separate recording studio. All this is going to cost money as well. And separating everything surely defeats one of the principle purposes of the venue, which is, as I understand it, to provide a centralised focus for music/art development.

 

Agreed but the new venue is a gold plated option. Cheaper alternatives should be discussed. I don't see this new venue as a black and white issue. At the moment all we hear is polarised opinions. What could appease everybody is a middle ground, which is cheaper. Seems sense to me. I'm sure that anywhere else in the world that a venture like this is embarked on all the options would be weighed up. We don't always need to go for the perfect (expensive) solution.

 

Great debate by the way.......shame it didn't happen last night at the Garrison. :lol:

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It might not be ideal but it is very good - much better than most of the established venues on the mainland. Take for instance the Lemon Tree. It is an absolute shocker of a design. The North Star as things stand has a great layout and has brilliant lines of sight. Acoustics can be treated if it needs to be improved. Its a long time since I've been in balcony so I can't vouch for the acoustics up there but on the main floor the sound is great. Speaker design and PA in general have come a long way and with flying rigs and computer-controlled sound I have no fear that the sound could be comparable in quality to any decent purpose built venue

 

I'm afraid I just can't agree with you there. The sound on the main floor at the 'Star is poor as it stands. It's really muddy.

Having said that, it would be the same down the front at any venue, but the problem the North Star faces is that there's no way you can be anything other than "down the front", the room is just not long enough. This also means that it could be very awkward to find a good position to engineer from.

I've never engineered there myself though, anybody else with an opinion on that?

PA design is advancing all the time, but it's not so advanced that you can magically make a bad room sound good. And yes, you could treat it, but why not just start with a well proportioned, great sounding room?

 

True but with good design and good planning it is possible.

 

Possible, but much more expensive.

 

I don't see this new venue as a black and white issue. At the moment all we hear is polarised opinions. What could appease everybody is a middle ground, which is cheaper. Seems sense to me.

 

Amen to that brother!

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I'm afraid I just can't agree with you there. The sound on the main floor at the 'Star is poor as it stands. It's really muddy.

 

It used to be....but the sound on the floor is fine now. Stevie has been refining the sound in there for the last year and a half. When the Arts Trust rig is in it is a better sound than any other venue I've been in....each to their own though....I am of course speaking about rock/dance gigs. It might be totally different thing if a classical artist used it.

 

Cheers

 

Marvin

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Stevie has been refining the sound in there for the last year and a half. When the Arts Trust rig is in it is a better sound than any other venue I've been in....each to their own though....I am of course speaking about rock/dance gigs. It might be totally different thing if a classical artist used it.

 

Now Stevie Hook is a man who's opinion I'd be very interested to hear. Can someone get him on here?

 

I have to admit I've never heard it with the Arts Trust rig in, but I can't really see how even the best PA can overcome the problems I've mentioned.

 

You've made a good last point there. Surely we should be aiming for the most versatile space possible.

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Jimmy Jimson wrote

I've got to say, the type of venue being proposed is hardly likely to be frequented by dozens of drunk people. I have rarely seen drunk people coming out of a cinema, and the type of music events the Arts Trust would wish to put on would hardly be targetted at the binge drinking fraternity.

 

Another red herring here. A 600 person (standing) venue with no drunks. Big name bands need big audiences and I just dont see how the arts trust are going to get sober well behaved audiences of that size in Lerwick.

 

As for the idea of locating the venue in Lerwick I just do not see any other option for a project of this size simply because of the population distribution within Shetland.

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Guest Anonymous
Another red herring here. A 600 person (standing) venue with no drunks. Big name bands need big audiences and I just dont see how the arts trust are going to get sober well behaved audiences of that size in Lerwick.

 

This is ridiculous. I say close the Thule! Also can't believe why ppl play Clickimin - so near the loch an' all.

 

Come on, no matter where a venue is, there area always has risks - especially when people are totally hammered, but surely if they are, they should be ejected by security. Also, one could argue that getting that drunk, no matter where you are could kill you. This argument is nonsense. Everywhere in Lerwick is close to the sea. Even if it was in an open space, ppl would be jsut as likely to die of hypothermia. You can't cater for things like that.

 

It's like saying that we should shut all roads outside pubs because a drunk might stumble out the door and kill themselves...

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It has come to our attention that an individual has been posting messages under various pseudonyms throughout this thread. In the spirit of open and transparent debate, we request that the person in question avoids this in future. Thank you, site Admin

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Guest Anonymous
Jimmy Jimson wrote
I've got to say, the type of venue being proposed is hardly likely to be frequented by dozens of drunk people. I have rarely seen drunk people coming out of a cinema, and the type of music events the Arts Trust would wish to put on would hardly be targetted at the binge drinking fraternity.

 

Another red herring here. A 600 person (standing) venue with no drunks. Big name bands need big audiences and I just dont see how the arts trust are going to get sober well behaved audiences of that size in Lerwick.

 

As for the idea of locating the venue in Lerwick I just do not see any other option for a project of this size simply because of the population distribution within Shetland.

 

if this is so then why is the arts trust not doing this sort of think now?

 

why have the no gumption that id people seen that they realy were a need and the arts trust were bomed out everyweek then perhaps i would be more for it - but the relalety is that most of the fims are hafe full and you hardly see a consert sold out - and they are not that many of them to start with.

 

to make the new place work and pay they would need to fill that 600 people every week - if not everyday!

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