Secret gigs place the next big thing right into your front room

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/apr/27/secret-gigs-pop-music-prince-batille

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Watching a gig in London a few years ago, Rafe Offer could not believe how many people were talking over the music. The Mercury prize-nominated band Friendly Fires were on stage, but the crowd were chatting, or gazing into their smartphones: "I turned to my friends and said, 'There has got to be a better way'."

Four years on, Sofar Sounds, his company, is part of a new movement bringing big-name musicians into people's living rooms. The concept of "private gigs" turns out to be as popular with bands as it is with fans and business is booming in London, Los Angeles and New York.

Sofar – Songs From A Room – sets up free, intimate and unplugged gigs by emerging artists. A key added element of secrecy comes from the fact that the venue is revealed only a couple of hours before the show. Invitations are sent out to those who sign up to a mailing list.

"It's growing faster than we ever imagined. In just three years we've grown to over 60 gigs a month across 70 cities," said Offer. "We pick acts from every genre, so you never know if you'll get an indie band, a beat boxer or even an opera singer." For the guests the aim is to catch a band early in its career. "Bastille have played a couple of times, the National played at an event in Washington DC and the Staves played in Belsize Park a couple of years ago."

Sofar Sounds now hosts shows from Amsterdam to Mumbai. Even small domestic spaces fit the bill and anyone keen to host a show can nominate their own lounge. On Friday night, the indie trio and Island Records signing We Were Evergreen played to 75 people in an arty flat in Paris. Another 350 people applied for a ticket but could not make it in.

The London craze for homely gigs has started an international "pop-up wave of events", now encompassing, cinema, music and food. Operating on a similar basis is the company Secret Concerts, which works in collaboration with the recording label UntiedArtists. Like Sofar, they ask for donations from their guests and went into business, they say, because: "The most satisfying gigs are those where an intimate environment, a committed audience and a great performance combine to create a charged atmosphere."

In London, Sofar gets an average of 2,000 requests for each gig. "We only let about 50 or 60 in so we have a questionnaire and that helps us decide. It's very exclusive – but only because the room's small," explained Offer. "We like an intimate environment. The person sitting next to you on the floor could be the person singing. We try and make sure everybody gets to come, but we do try to have a creative audience."

Kaye Godleman, a television director and producer from London, offered up her home for a gig after seeing a direct request on a mailing list from a favourite artist, Canadian singer-songwriter Jane Siberry. People paid £10 for Siberry, and Godleman provided food and drink. "I'd been to a couple before and I really liked the concept of it. It's very intimate, you can talk to the artist afterwards and it is kind of like throwing a party where you get to meet people who like that band too," she said.

"It was amazing, it was one of the most exciting things having her in my front room, with a guitar and a keyboard, and my mates and a few people who were fans of hers too. It felt more like a party than a gig." The 'secret' movement thrives on novelty and the eternal quest to be ahead of the trend. Prince recently treated British fans to a series of surprise, intimate gigs, with fans paying up to £75 for the privilege.

In London, the "secret warehouse location" tag has become an established feature of clubland. "Over the past five years or so, it became trendy for promoters to use the mystique of a secret warehouse location," said Adam Saville, music editor at DJmag. "However, clubbers have become increasingly disenchanted by substandard facilities – bad toilets and poor sound systems – and so the novelty has worn off."

He said it did not take long for clubbers to realise that the same "secret" venues were getting used time and time again, especially in London. "The veil of exclusivity was gradually lifted and the tag has lost its worth," he said.

Some festival organisers are looking at new, odd locations and one , Freerotation, is already invite-only. Others, including Farr festival and Gottwood, are now advertised as 'hidden in the woods'.

Edinburgh played host for the first time to The Black Bottle Wee Jaunt, a series of seven secret gigs in unusual locations featuring the Mercury-nominated King Creosote. Described as "a cloak and dagger musical adventure through the streets of the capital", it involved the musician playing from the rooftops above Princes Street. Other performers took to the hills around the city and even to the back of a truck. On Tuesday, Sofar promises a gig in Manchester. But the venue and the bands are still a secret.