To book or not to book?

As the jazz schedule gets back into gear after a quiet couple of months, there’s picking and choosing to do again. Maybe a bit of planning too.

Should that include booking ahead? We’re pretty spoilt in Bristol, in the sense that if you find out about a gig on the day, or just wait and see, you can usually still get a ticket*. And jazz favours spontaneity, right?

Still, it eases promoters’ and bands’ minds a tad when there are advance bookings. It is a bit worrying if you are promoting something in the Lantern (Hi Ian!) and there are only a dozen tickets  sold on the Monday for a Sunday gig.

I’m also reading more often elsewhere about gigs getting cancelled because venues are discouraged by poor advance sales, though I’m not sure this has happened in Bristol yet (do tell me if it has). And it is becoming very familiar to see social media posts from writers (I used to do books myself so I follow a lot of authors) pleading for advance orders as publishers use them to gauge interest in a forthcoming title, which influences their promotion priorities – publishers as institutions are pretty dumb and usually have more titles coming through than they have resources to support properly. 

So I’d say do book if you can, even if it’s only a week or so ahead. There are ticket links on the calendar whenever I can find them – currently covering Bristol Music Club up to the Christmas, the BeBop club through September-October, and the Beacon and St Georges. I confess I don’t always book ahead myself: I tend to go to a lot of gigs and sometimes want to keep the week flexible as long as possible, but plan to try harder to book the ones I definitely intend to hear. It also, I find, helps ensure I actually get it together to go.

*Oh, and there are a few dates where holding back is not advisable. Courtney Pine at St George’s on Sept 18th is sold out, and if you want to hear Jasmine Myra on 29th October or Andy Sheppard’s 70th birthday concert there on Jan 30th from a decent seat, better book now!