A post about posters - Get your free Duncan Reid and the Big Heads, Heavy Drapes and 3 Minute Heroes poster here.

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Promoting is a tough game. A very tough game.

That fact sometimes gets lost in all of the debates surrounding how to get people to engage with the hard hit club level music scene.

It is especially tough for the amateur promoter who does it for the love of music rather than any financial gain.

The reason for this is because the amateur promoter doesn't have the deep pockets that a major tour operator has.
Everything that is done in a promotional sense is very tightly budgeted.
It has to be.
And even with it all being done on this eye watering budget there is still no guarantee that an event will be a success.

It's great when it is, but if it isn't then the reality behind a poorly attended event can be that the amateur promoter is eating toast and savers spaghetti for a few weeks.

I know this to be true as I am that man.

And yet even with it all being such an uphill struggle that demands blood sweat and tears - and cash - I keep doing it.
I think Einstein was talking about amateur promoters when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, because like so many others I always just lick my wounds and return to the fray no matter how hard the hit was that I took.

It is insanity.

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There's no doubt about it, but at heart we do it because we consider it to be a positive thing.
We don't try and bring the bands to the public to make money from them, but instead are wanting to share our love of the music they create with more people.
In so many ways we are just the super fans going that extra mile.

So it is particularly hard to take when the efforts of an amateur promoter are sabotaged.

Sabotaged as in some individual taking down the posters distributed in Glasgow for the forthcoming Duncan Reid and the Big Heads to sell on ebay.

I was aware of this person selling posters of events that I have promoted in the past, and to be honest it wasn't an issue.
Far be it for me to stand in the way of their entrepreneurial endeavours.
The gigs were in the rear view mirror and my opinion was fill your boots mate.
Now I am less than impressed with their street smarts.
Removing the posters months before the event is factually hampering my attempts to get the word out on the streets.

As this is the case I would urge people not to buy these posters.
Post event then go ahead, but before it has taken place?
Well that's a different story.

I will quote another famous scientist now.
Newton said that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
And with that being the case here is my reaction.
If anyone wants a poster you can message me and I will email the image back and you can print it off on nice shiny gloss paper at a fraction of the cost of buying one from ebay.
Or if you want to wait until the night of the gig then I will have plenty with me that can be taken for free, although a donation to Westgap for each one would be appreciated, or swap a tin of food for one as part of their food drive.

Basically if you want one you can have one.

Please don't buy posters by independent amateur promoters before the event from this seller.

Duncan Reid and the Big Heads, Heavy Drapes, 3 Minute Heroes gig information.

Thank you to Heavy Drapes for drawing this to my attention.

Update: The seller has responded to a message sent apologizing and has withdrawn the sale.

Apparently he was unaware the event was in the future.

I have responded to his reply 'and yet it has still been removed from where it was located defeating the purpose of it advertising the event. and of course you are selling others pre gig. You are making independent promoters jobs harder and impacting on the success of acts at the club level.