Home bass ... Brixton Academy. Photograph: Martin Godwin
Like every other music-related publication in the world (apparently), the trade magazine Music Week stages an annual awards bash.
The twist is that it rewards the back-room types who wouldn't otherwise get recognition - and rightly so. Pop stars are spoiled for choice when it comes to prize-givings, so why should the people who flog their music for them be denied their evening of canapés and trophies?
The 17 categories include Best PR Campaign and High Street Retailer, which, I presume, is a two-way fight between virtually the only retailers left, HMV and the chain that used to be Virgin but now insists on calling itself Zavvi. But the only one that might pique interest among actual music fans is the Best Venue category. I hope so, anyway, since I was a judge, and spent half of yesterday bickering about what makes a venue the kind of place you want to go back to.
I'll spare you the tedium (do YOU have strong feelings about the Bournemouth International Centre's load-in facilities? In which case, Music Week would probably love to have you as a judge next year) and cut to the chase. Basically, we came to the conclusion that it takes more than just a venue's ability to book the right bands. Half our candidates boasted that they often host secret gigs by star acts - the name Arctic Monkeys often seemed to crop up here - the implication being that their venue must be special if they're able to entice big bands to play their humble stage. But what makes a place worth repeat visits is the mundane stuff that nobody thinks about till they have to spend three hours there.
One otherwise unimpeachable small hall in west London lost points because the ceiling is so low at the back, you can't see the stage - a fundamental design flaw, you'd have to agree. Someone spoke up in favour of Sheffield's Leadmill because its security staff aren't recruited from the pool of goons that seem to work the doors of certain other places. I was gung-ho about my local, Brixton Academy, which is much more tolerable now that they've cleaned up the sick-making toilets. It's the little things.
Unquantifiable considerations like "atmosphere" were among our criteria, with everyone agreeing they'd rather watch a band at a club than an arena. But atmosphere can't redeem squalor, unless squalor is the joint's selling point, in which case you can't complain. So here's the question you undoubtedly saw coming: as discerning music-blog readers, you probably go to your share of gigs, so what qualities make a venue stand out? And which is your favourite?
