47
Songs at Saints
Religious Buildings
We have all enjoyed going to gigs at
an arena, or a nightclub, but have you
ever been to one in a church?
Conference News chats to John
Tolley, managing director at Banquet
Records, to find out how All Saints
Church, Kingston-upon-Thames, can
offer a unique gig experience.
When did you first use All Saints for
an event?
I’m guessing six or seven years ago. I
think what Banquet Records has
always tried to do when putting on
gigs, is to choose the right gig venues.
We have done a lot of gigs at
nightclubs over the years, which are
interesting buildings because they
are empty most of the time and they
are always in the town centre.
The same ideology applies to
churches: they are obviously busy on
Sundays, but they are not busy on
Friday or Saturday evenings. To use
this space, we were inspired by Union
Chapel and what they do, and we
wanted to have a version of that.
Because we were already putting
on gigs in nightclubs, where we have
a PA system that we bring in and out,
it’s quite easy to move a gig from a
nightclub to a church.
This is why we use churches,
obviously there are beautiful things
about them, but on a pragmatic level
it is about a performance space for
people.
We don’t just use All Saints, we
also use St Johns which is also in
Kingston-upon-Thames.
What is the appeal?
We do a lot of gigs at nightclubs
which is good for rock and roll or
dance-type events. But for an
acoustic gig, which is quite slow and
chilled, it’s all about the beauty of the
voice and a nightclub isn’t the right
environment for that, but a church is.
For example, we presented Lucy
Rose at All Saints recently, and
everyone is sitting down, and it
creates a different kind of
environment…it sounds incredible.
All Saints likes us using it because
they find that not enough people are
looking inside, so this is a way for
younger people to understand the
significance of the building’s history.
Above: All Saints
Church,
Kingston-upon-Thames.
Photo from social media
Left below: All Saints
Church, view towards
the West Door. Photo
from social media
How much flexibility does it offer?
All Saints is harder to book than
some because it does quite a lot.
There are real-life working churches
that serve the community. I’m not a
person of faith, but I can see the good
that they’re trying to do.
At the moment, for five nights a
week, All Saints is a homeless shelter
in the evening, that’s really important.
They have regular events like a choir
and bell ringers, so it can sometimes
be quite hard to book. It is one of the
reasons why we also use St Johns.
This is easier to book because it’s not
as centrally located, but still has all
the beauty of a church.
www.conference-news.co.uk
What is feedback like?
The first gig we did was a small-scale
event, to see if it works, and it did.
Some of the artists we’ve had, like
Hozier, makes for a completely
unique experience. Some people
might see Hozier at an academy
venue or an arena venue, but they’re
not seeing it in a stripped back
setting. It gives us a chance to have
the bands playing in a different type
of way, because you don’t want to
drown out the church with loud drums
and bass.
When people come in, they’re
taking photos of the room before they
even take photos of the band. The
marrying up of these two things for
me isn’t like for like, you can’t
compare them. We did Suede
acoustic then Suede at Pryzm [a
Kingston nightclub and venue], which
are completely different shows,
they’re different sets so play
differently.
Would you recommend the venue
(or venue concept) to other event
organisers?
Yes, although it can be quite tricky.
You need to make sure you have the
availability when you need it. Banquet
is in a position now where we have a
PA system and a full-time sound
engineer, so we can pop over and do
stuff as and when. If you don’t have
those things in place it can be quite
hard, you’ll need to bring in your own
PA equipment. The people at All
Saints are very helpful.
I think as a more general point,
people and politicians need to
reassess what the High Street is and
what town centres mean for their
community. You need to look at
nightclubs and churches, which are
more often than not closed, and find
ways of opening them. It doesn’t have
to be music; it can be conferences or
jumble sales.
There are spaces in the middle of
town centres which should be used
because otherwise you’re closing the
door and no one is using it: it’s a
waste of space.