Escape Under New Management
Escape must be missing Face/Off, because part of their ‘plan for world domination’ is to launch a brand new 
rock/alternative night on fridays.
The promoters are offering people the chance to christen the night with a new name. So if you fancy your chances, head over to Giveusaname.com. ( Hmmmm… how about ‘Pretty Shitty City’ :mrgreen: )
In all seriousness though, there are plenty of reasons to get excited. The new teaser flyer currently doing the rounds, which has been designed to look like a scrap book, has plenty of ideas and clues as to what we can expect.
The night, in association with The Office, could potentially have three rooms;
- Chillout - playing the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós & Múm
- Alternative - with The Libertines, The Flaming Lips & CSS
- Shouty Shouty - Deftones, Slayer & Glassjaw
Plus there is the promise of live acts, with the aim being to book both local acts and some exciting big names. I’ve been reliably informed that the plan is to keep the entry fee for the night at £4, which is an admirable commitment. Lets hope they can pull it off!
Friday nights at Escape Swansea will be launching at the end of June, check back for more info soon.
June 8th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
[...] The big re-opening of Friday nights @ Escape is coming ever closer, and the hype surrounding it is certainly building up speed. The news is starting to spread across the net, with various websites picking it up. Posters are flying around on Myspace and Facebook too, and if rumours are to be believed then the opening night is going to be a sell-out. It’s about time that Escape re-opens too, people seem to dislike Sin City. The layout of the club is all wrong, people want alternative nights in Swansea back where it belongs (well where it belongs is the zone and the beatbox, but they closed down years ago so Escape will have to do). [...]
June 8th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
sorry dont agree at all, i remember the days of door men there thowing my friends down the stairs and all the staff hateing the goffs (as they called them )
im sure they are just doing this as they have lost alot of money with out it
my opinion anyway
June 10th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I know that things like bouncers & drinks prices matter, but surely what its gonna come down to is the music they play and the bands that they book?
I think theres room in Swansea for another ‘alternative’ night but they’ll have to set them selves apart from face/off or they’ll both suffer.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hey guys, I understand the concern I’ve raised the same point myself because I heard people had complaints, so I will do my best to fix it.
As for the music policy we are going to try and work it completely differently and hope to offer a real local scene as I want to involve as many people and their ideas as I can.
I hope to see you there,
Robin
June 15th, 2007 at 7:20 am
I think there is indeed room for another Alternative night in Swansea, it’s just a shame that Friday night has been deemed the ‘Alternative night’. I think that 2 big clubs ( and lets not pretend that they are not big venues to fill ) have decided to square up to each other and fight for who will keep their night running. Especially as they will both be playing very similar, mediocre alt. music to attract the widest audience.
I think escape will do well, I think it does have a better layout than SIn City and feels a bit more like a community, but moving back is always an issue - just look at how badly the Zone did when it got re-branded as Rockit, it was still the same place basically but it lost it’s magic.
Is the Office gonna become a launch bar for escape? I think one of the major problems that escape had was that it didn’t have a proper launch bar, cheap entry tickets for after the pub closes - much as Bar Oz used to do with the Zone!
I think it’s gonna spoil both nights to be honest, at least while people make up their minds because they are going to struggle to both reach capacity, unfortunately.
Maybe Sin City should look to moving Face/Off to the Saturday night slot, seeing as their current ‘Student’ night is such a flop!! Maybe a Student night like that would do better on a Friday night anyway? I dunno, but I think things will have to change,
“This town ain’t big enough for the both of us”
Who is going to draw first?
June 16th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
my opinion .why is escapes new night just a rip off of face/off there isnt one bit of originality in it i.e a alternaitve room and a metal room same time, day,price even their flyers just slags the other night off but wants to be it .
very unprofesional i really hope it fails badly ,at least sincity seems to be bring alot more bands from out of town to the city
June 16th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Hey Dan,
Thanks for the reply and the interest but I honestly think we will shock you with the music policy.
There is going to be a massive launch party just be around in swansea on the 29th of June to see the effort we are going to in making this night more of a community feeling, we don’t want you to feel you are putting all your money into a faceless club with nothing coming back… so just keep checking the offers and competitions we will be offering.
If you have any questions or ideas you can always contact me on, robin@escapeswansea.com
Cheers guys
June 17th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
sin city just is not working. may not be its own fault. perhaps that site is cursed. always was maybe. plus a “student night” is the kiss of death on any club. students don’t like being labelled. non students resent it. if the music is good, the bouncers are friendly, prices reasonable then it wil succeed. escape in the park this year?? really the best. thanx
June 18th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
i love sincity ,how can u say it aint working?
fridays is always busy and have seen some cool bands there
June 19th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
as one of the owners of sincity we have been running alt/metal nights in swansea since 1989 ,from thursday barons/the zone/face/off at escape and finally sincity .
We got thrown out of escape because the owners)who are still there by the way ) started charging us ridiculus hire charges.One of the owners even thought (metal/alt kids) were detrimental to their so called superclub because they are a dance club .
I respect other people wishing to promote other alternative nights but doing it on same night and constantly slagging it off doent really help the scene,our aim is always to put everything back in to bringing better bands to swansea as you can see by our lineups and swanseas first ever music venue capable of putting on bigger bands .
hs.dosanj@ntlworld.com
June 19th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I dont think you can say that Sin City isnt working, like Nick (Hobos) said, they’ve brought a good few bands to Swansea already and its only 6 months old! Plus you got WOMP & Paint it Black, on top of the old regulars.
Lets drop the usual Swansea pessimism and just be happy that we’ll have another ‘alternative’ venue to go to :)
June 20th, 2007 at 11:33 am
As someone who has been involved in the alternative music scene in swansea for many years i am disspointed in Escapes approach for multiple reasons
1) It copies Face/Off, same rooms, same night, same styles of music. Surely a ’superclub’ can do better than this! The best Escape can hope to do is split the crowd and harm Swanea’s Alternative scene. Benjy commented that there is room for another alternative night in Swansea, but is there room for one on the same night as Face/Off…. No
2) What has changed at Escape? Still got the Sticky floors? The pongy Chillout room? I know… Now you have to smoke in the street. Come back when you have done the place out!
3) The launch seems more based on slagging Sin City than presenting something truly alternative.
Oh well, guess that is why our city is shitty
June 20th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I think that everyone in this discussion has made good points, unfortunately, I still think that there just isn’t room for 2 alt. rock nights in Swansea on a Friday night.
I really sympathise with Nick, who is the Godfather of good honest, fun alt. nights in Swansea. I cut my teeth in several if not all of his nights around the place and I think that Sin City was the natural progression for him and his partners - I hope it works out for him and I hope that other clubs/promoters are still gonna consider putting on nights around Swansea on other days of the week.
Time will tell.
(ding ding)
June 21st, 2007 at 7:15 am
ding ding indeed
Escape now has 5 rooms?
http://tinyurl.com/3d2xpv
Come on moon is down explain this ‘cos it’s looking like someone will not get what they pay for on the 29th..
Rgds,
Jules
June 21st, 2007 at 8:48 am
I’d just like to also add that I have always had a fun night at SinCity, I have been away from Swansea for the past 6 months but whenever I have been back and have been to SinCity I have had a good night.
But I think the major achievement that they have achieved is in attracting larger bands to the City, and I am really looking forward to taking advantage of this when I return in September.
I think in General that Swansea has now developed an amazing alternative social scene considering the size of the City, with Monkey, SinCity, various other Pubs around town and the suburbs all providing a different sound and vibe and I think that this can only go from strength to strength. Although hearing about the planned extension to Monkey has worried me slightly - It seems that they are starting to forget about what an amazing community they have created, worrying instead about how much money they can squeeze out of them.
But I am really chuffed to say that I’m from Swansea, and it’s an amazing feeling to be able to brag about the variety of nights on offer - if you’re brave enough to experiment every once in a while.
So long may it continue, Thanks everyone who created and maintains this social scene.
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Let’s face it - this is just another little group of people who think that they represent a disgruntled minority. The facts are that people always have nostalgia for the night they used to go to.
When Barons moved to The Zone, everyone slagged off The Zone. When it moved from The Zone to Escape, everyone hated Escape. From there, now people bitch about Sin City, but all it is is nostalgia.
What once existed, can’t be recreated. This new relaunch has had virtually no advertising, Escape don’t seem to be supporting it and have even double booked the venue. I won’t be holding my breath for the success of this new night.
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Hi to all you guys above,
Just wana say that I don’t really care about your politics, just feel a bit patronised by you all really. I am a 32 year old and feel I am too old to enjoy a live band.. I (and my many mates) cannot go to Sincity because the clientelle group is so very young. We are teachers, and social workers, and work with the young people who visit your club. We are made to feel excluded from seeing bands like The Thrills, or Prosperino or whoever. What about us? We have plenty of money to spend in bars and still young enough to enjoy music!!!! Thank you very much! We don’t want to go with the rest of the losers on Wind St… Use your heads guys, there’s a big market there!!
June 26th, 2007 at 10:54 am
I know what you mean Charlie, I personally feel a bit too old (24) to go to Face/off. I definitely feel there is great need for a indie night/bar in Swansea that caters for people that are a bit older than the usual Face/off crowd, but who still want to listen to good, new music.
Whats ups with the Indie Bar? It should be renamed the Townie Bar lol.
However I do feel that the crowds that turns up to the gigs (eg The Thrills / The Bees) are generally a different, more varied and older group than usual.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
yeh seems to me at least sincity are bringing touring acts to swansea,escapes night is basicaly a copy of face/off and even makes out escape is back ? didnt face/off always run fridays at escape? seems to me a night trying to make a fast buck by just copying another ,usual escape i guess
June 26th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Re: Charlie being old
A lot of people talk about feeling too old, but the truth is that the scene is the same, but you’ve gotten older. How old were you when you first started going to alternative nights? 15-17 at a guess? Same here.
The crowd remains the same, it’s just that we got older.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:48 am
It is true, the ’scene’ is and always will be young.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything available for an older person. I have always found that Crowleys Bar is a bit older, there is still some good acts that play at the Uplands Tav and there are also some good venues in Neath. There may not be a ‘nightclub’ as such to cater purely for the older market but there is still plenty going on. Thats not even to mention the excellent Jazz and folk scene in the city.
So I’m gonna agree with Benjy in saying, let’s enjoy the fact that there is another night to go to in Swansea - maybe having the 2 venues will create a niche in the market for a slightly older element, who knows? Let’s see what happens when it starts - until that moment it is impossible to know.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
The guys who called themselves sin city complain about escapes lack of originality… there is some irony in there.
June 27th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
did you guys know that when face/off moved from escape ,escape opened the following week called it face/off and no one showed up!
June 28th, 2007 at 8:45 am
idlus theres no irony there. its homage to ac/dc;my favourite band and one of my favourite songs……also very confused about all this age talk. im 42 and i dont care about how old people are around me . as long as they are like-minded then thats cool. i go to nights to listen to brilliant music ,socialise and dance(well i try to)
June 29th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Hi All… So tonight’s the night! I’ve been watching this discussion over the last week or so and am yet to weigh in. I couldn’t make up my mind. I now have.
I’ll be supporting Sin City tonight and I have a couple of reasons for that. I first got into the alternative scene about a year ago and so visited Face/Off in Escape a couple of times and liked the night but always had reservations about the venue. I work in the nightclub industry myself (Bar Manager) and was not at all impressed with how the venue was run. I felt that no effort was put into the venue and very little appreciation was shown to the clientele. I remember on one occasion watching door staff throw someone out and was disgraced in the manner it was conducted.
I then followed Face/Off when it moved to Envy where the music policy stayed fairly solid despite only having one room, therefore not being able to please the whole crowd. The venue was, as you would expect, very nicely kept but aimed more towards the R’n'B crowd for obvious reason. I also felt that the bar pricing was a little unjust.
I then, as you would expect, followed Face/Off to Sin City where everything just seemed to gel. We were back to two rooms, The door staff were exceptional and the bar prices are also very fair, really good deals in some cases. But what impresses me most about Sin City is it’s constant change. I visit probably twice maybe three times a month and there is always something new being built, and always for the better.
My second reason for not going to Escape is that they appear to have run a dirty campaign. I was sat in the Potters Wheel last Friday and was told that Face/Off was back in Escape and handed a flyer… I couldn’t believe i and so had to check it out… It was not true.
My third and final reason might be factually incorrect and if it is then I apologize but I hope Nick can clear this up for me. Sincity has so far brought some impressive bands to Swansea across all genres; I think most would agree on this. I have been to see Gwar, The Holloways, The Thrills, Killa Kela and Pendulum there. Now whilst every night was exceptional and a lot of fun I couldn’t help but notice that not every night was superbly attended. It would seem to me that some of these nights did not necessarily pay for themselves and would have had to have been supported with funds from other club nights such as Face/Off. It is this that I applaud most of all, they would seem to be using the money earnt from Face/Off to plough it back into the venue and the touring bands.
I love music and look forward to seeing many more great bands in Swansea whether they be local, national or international. So tonight I look forward to a night out in Sin City… for the love of music!!
June 30th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
nicely put
June 30th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
hmm, seems escape went well last night - not sure of the figures thou the door but I hear it was nearly at capacity. interesting.
July 1st, 2007 at 6:20 am
Whilst i have always enjoyed face/off, be it at escape or sin city, and have enjoyed many drunken nights headangin’ away in the metal room (some i remember, some are a little hazy) whenever i see any of the literature promoting Escape’s ‘new’ alternative night i remember conversations with some older friends of mine (all swansea natives). They talk about how escape was regarded as one of the best dance clubs in the COUNTRY, with people travelling from manchester, newcastle or london just to experience it, and Dave pearce ravin about it on radio 1. It just seems a little bit sad that a club with this kind of reputation is reduced to starting a very petty (and totally transparent) promo campaign against a local ‘rival’.
It seems to me that escape putting on another rock night is not borne out of love for the
genre(s) or the belief that the ’scene’ is not fully catered for, but simply as a moneymaking enterprise, a quick grab at a crowd that could potentially do more harm than good not just for escape or sin city, but for all the people who come to these nights to enjoy the music and chill out around like minded people and end up being used to merely boost the admissions numbers while the escape management figure out how the hell to become a credible dance/house venue again.
…..But hey, i’ve been wrong before…
July 1st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Couple of Points..
Age.. The older amongst us should not feel excluded, The truth is that most of the money is in the pockets of younger people so they will always outnumber the 30 somethings..
Give you an example, when we got to Sin City our license had no 16+ variation, Band agents started refusing shows because they need 16+ for live gigs, otherwise they are poorly attended so we had to apply to the police and get the license altered; so for live bands it is 16+ and club nights 18+. I have never been at a club where age is so strictly enforced and I support the door staff on this, even when older people who have forgotten to bring ID are refused entry
Charlie really should have come to see The Thrills as it was an older crowd that showed up, Same for The Bees and even The Holloways, I can guarantee that if you come to see The Ozrics, Alabama 3 or Easy Star Allstars in the next 2 months you will meet people your own age.
Uncle Buck,
Great Post! You are right, not every show is well attended, it is getting better, for Gwar in particular we faced a real problem in that no one believed Gwar would actually play Swansea! Then afterwards they were gutted. With Napalm Death This Wednesday that doubt is mostly gone and tickets are selling well, but people in Swansea must support live music if they want us to keep bringing bands!
On that point, Face/Off has indeed subsidized some live shows, it is a sad reality that as a result of everyone at Sin City having to work to ensure Escape did not mislead people into thinking Face/Off had moved we have been too busy to answer all our mail and as a result a couple of bands who might have played Swansea this Autumn will not. I hope the folks at Escape who claim to be supporting the scene will consider this before they try any more misinformation.
Finally, I don’t want people to think that Sin City is anti-competition, what is wrong with Escape’s methods is that they try to steal our existing crowd with a Face/Off clone on the same night and that they used underhand tactics. It is reassuring to see how many people went there by mistake and then came over To Sin City, I think ultimately the methods used by escape will be their death knell. Were they, or any other club to do a different sort of night (and perhaps have the common sense to do it on a night other than Friday!) we would not carp. When the Strip was on all the Face/Off DJs and staff used to go there and enjoy it!
July 1st, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Wow, thanks everyone for taking part in this conversation.
I ended up going to Escape on fri, as I wanted to see first hand what they had to offer. I had a good night and enjoyed most of the music I heard in the indie room, however the playlist just wasn’t different enough from Face/Off.
Lets hope they can set themselves apart a bit more in the future.
See you at Napalm Death.
July 1st, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Good points, but I don’t understand how Escapes promotions have been misleading? Can anyone enlighten me?
July 1st, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Hi Rod,
Good Question, Escape’s campaign has been run around a theme of ‘we missed you, welcome back’ That might not appear deliberately misleading however many, many people were mislead and thought that Face/Off was moving back.
Sin City’s publicity has been largely to clarify this.
So it is with some dissapointment that I found the posters we put up on the night in town saying ‘Face off is still at Sin City’ were systematically ripped down (And yes we did see who did it) OK, lets be generous and put that down to an over zealous member of Escape’s flyer team, possibly acting without authorisation
However there have been posts on the Escape Facebook Wall asking if the event was Face/Off moving or not, Robin, who manages the Wall and is directly involved with the Escape promotion did not answer these posts, so I did with a deliberately neutral post noting that they were separate nights. Robin deleted that post.
Events on Facebook certainly gives the impression that Robin is willing to gain from the confusion rather than try to set up an original night, that is most dissapointing.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 am
I was deleting the posts because they were mostly about the R’n'B night being upstairs… which I had explained a thousand times, after that I just deleted everything, if you wanted to make a serious point about the branding you should have before spamming the event calender with this “they only have one room” laugh
July 8th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
So That’s it, It appears that after just 2 weeks Escape has seen the light and cancelled future Friday Nights.
Anyone involved with either night could have been under no illusion that there are not enough people in Swansea to maintain 2 almost identical promotions, both in larger clubs on the same night.
This appeared to be little more than a crude attempt to entice our regulars away with free entry and free drinks, Fortunately Face/Off regulars have shown their loyalty once again.
After 2 such attempts just 8 months I sincerely hope that Escapes management will try to forge their own identiy with original ideas.
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:22 pm
So escape have ditched their “Alt” night have they??
lol…quality !!!
August 27th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Heard a rumour that escape is to close itd doors for good in a month or two , as it cant afford the money to sort the building out as health & safety have given them a deadline…..any truth in this ?