It was a rainy Saturday night in Ipswich, but that was no excuse for such a disappointing audience turnout. I had travelled up the A12, daughter in tow, from Mid-Essex for only our second Aynsley gig (having seen the Riga ‘Solo’ show a few weeks ago).
I was really looking forward to seeing Aynsley & Band, and contemplating a ‘massive’ queue outside……… In reality, we walked into a near empty hall. If it hadn’t have been for the equipment on stage, I would have been thinking we’d got the wrong night.
By the time the support band, The Dave Jackson Band, climbed on stage, there were only about 40 people there. The atmosphere was a bit ‘lacking’, but Dave on Guitar, his wife Janet on Bass and ‘Spoons’ sitting in on Drums, ripped into a great set of Blues Rock numbers. Suddenly, you forgot the surroundings and just took in the music.
By the time Aynsley and the Band came on, I’m sure everyone, like me, just wanted to see the maestro perform. And we were not disappointed. It was one superb performance.
Highlight of the night for me, was the ‘cover’ of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ (as a relative ‘newbie’, is this a regular for Aynsley?), which totally eclipsed the original.
There are very few performers, today, who impress me enough to ‘put pen to paper’ and enthuse over (I call it the ‘WOW’ factor). Aynsley (only outshone, in my eyes, by the brilliant Joe Bonamassa) certainly fits into that category.
I just hope that the lack of punters at Ipswich (it must have been a ‘downer’ for the band too, as well as a bit of a ‘commercial’ disaster), doesn’t put Aynsley off of coming ‘down this way’ again sometime soon.
Lets hope that Tuesday’s Scarborough gig ‘Sells out’, as suggested.
I look forward to seeing the band play Down South, to a ‘Full House’ in the future.

Good review Iceman, glad to hear that the gig went well, although it does appear the crowd was disappointing. This is where I feel a street team would really help and we can perhaps get more people to check out Aynsley. Our resident expert Britbabe can confirm more about Purple rain, but there is a topic about it on this forum.
Looking forward to the Scarborough reviews now…

Great review, Iceman, thanks for sharing.  Unfortunately the small crowd thing isn’t that unusual, for any of the great talent we have here in our country.  Purple Rain has been a regular fixture since the Blues Caravan tour, the first time I heard it was in Berlin and the crowd there went absolutely mental, I’m not sure if that was the first time he’d done it ever but his face was a picture and it took a good couple of minutes for things to calm down enough to continue!  Scarborough was fantastic, I’m just trying to come round after nowhere near enough sleep, and then I’ll get on to my review!

I was one of the few at Ipswich - also one of the fewer at the Riga - I recall seeing you & your daughter at the Riga Iceman, but didn’t see you there on Saturday.

Yes, it was a disappointing turnout, particularly when you consider at the Regent Theatre next door there was a virtual sell-out at the singalongaabba do.

That said, AL was in top form. Particular faves being Everything I Need and Angel, split up for once, Always Tomorrow and the superb cover of Purple Rain, which I first saw at Stowmarket.

I do hope this doesn’t mean fewer or no gigs in the locale - maybe the R&B Night at the Staff Club, where Oli is playing this Saturday?

Hi NJD - Suppose you couldn’t really miss us at the Riga. We were able to hide amongst the ‘crowd’ at Ipswich .
We were sitting in the front row of seats..... or was it the back row............no, actually it was the only row, directly facing the stage - Great view!!!!.
Couldn’t quite make out whether those ‘heavy’ bouncers were there to keep undesirables out, or stop anybody from leaving early!! (Joke!!). Maybe they should have gone next door to the Abba ‘do’, and dragged a few in to see Aynsley. ......No accounting for taste!!!.
Here’s to the next local show sometime soon.

It must get to a stage where its not viable for the promoter to put on gigs like this - how many were actually there and paid to get in?? - we have the same problem in London - I went to see Danny Bryant a couple of months back and not many there - went to an AC/DC tribute band 2 weeks ago (Dirty/Dc) and packed - so its the same old story, you win some and lose some - but you get a bit choosey on who you book - I saw Aynsley at the 100 Club about 6 months ago and I would say about 100 paying guests - maybe a bit more - so maybe £1000-£1500 taken in ticket sales - what do the band charge??? - can only guess, but I doubt whether anyone is making a mint out of these gigs, after taking out all the costs.......

Interesting topic, I despair sometimes too about the lack of people that see lesser known acts live. In my hometown of Dumfries there is a good live venue that had a few decent live acts when it opened, but is now continually booked by tribute acts, rather than new original talent. While I accept these acts have their place, it would be nice to see creative musicians being supported by larger audiences. I guess it is partly due to us to ensure this is the case. A simple way of doing this is to take someone with you to the gig, as Iceman did with his daughter. Maybe if Aynsley plays Ipswich again, she will bring someone else with her. Its nice to experience good live music, but its also good to see friends/family see it too!

too true - its a tricky one - perhaps you need a Pete Feenstra up there who can run a few clubs and put on some good acts - have you checked out Pete’s website??? - I am sitting here listening to the Joe Bonamassa show on Planet Rock - tuesday nights between 7 and 8 pm - hope you are all tuned in!!!