Guerrilla Gig - Development in Britain

Development in Britain

The English band The Beatles were possibly the first band to perform a Guerrilla gig in Britain, this gig was performed on top of their Apple Recording studios. In the Summer prior to this Jefferson Airplane performed across the Atlantic on top of a New York skyscraper, arguably giving the Beatles the idea for their Let It Be performance. A few British bands became known for "guerrilla gigging" in the early 2000s. The technique first developed there because the concentrated social and geographical nature of the London music scene made it possible to generate a favourable "buzz" and ensure attendance at the events. The Libertines were among the first to use internet technology to accomplish this, often announcing a gig a few hours before the show by providing cryptic instructions for fans to meet at a given place to await an escort to a flat, where the admission price would be collected and the concert would take place in a living room or basement. The Others provide another example, having performed brief shows in tube trains (subways) on the London Underground for mixed groups of fans and startled passengers. In another famous instance, singer Badly Drawn Boy earned £4.60 from passersby while busking outside London's Waterloo Station for a day in 2003, going largely unrecognized by the public. It is important to differentiate busking to Guerrilla Gigging, however for a predominantly acoustic artist such as Badly Drawn Boy the line between the two performance methods can become blurred.