London Synth Expo- Sat 18th March 2023- anyone going?

CCMP · 2023-03-09T12:28:46.685Z

Anyone heading to this show?
It’s a Synth and Pedal show (being dual billed as a Synth Expo and a Pedal Expo)… and the line up looks interesting… and yours truly will be there.

Eventbrite

FREE! | London Synth Expo 2023

The London Synth Expo is a free for all interactive marketplace of synthesizers and Eurorack

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T08:13:48.687Z

Curious to know if you managed to get in. I’ve never experienced anything quite so unpleasant at such an event. Giving away 1000 tickets to an event for entry into a space that can only comfortably handle about 80 people was just ridiculous.

I queued up for 30 mins and gave up and most people I know queued for an hour to gain entry, only to leave after 10 mins as it was so unbearable.

Such a pity. Could have been such a positive event but talking to people outside the sense of disappointment was strong.

tdmusic · 2023-03-19T08:35:11.801Z

Yeah we waited in line for maybe 40 mins at around 3:30… it was pretty packed inside (we went to the synth bit) but with some persistence you could get to play with stuff and it quietened down towards the end.

Would have been better to let fewer people in but enjoyed it anyway, was fun to get to play with some stuff I never thought I would (OBX8, Prophet etc.). I suspect it was just more popular than they expected, hopefully they can do it again in a larger venue

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T08:47:19.082Z

Glad you made it in then. I was there was round 14.00 and it was just impossible. Lots of disheartened people wandering off which was sad to witness.

Shame they had that one queue for both events too as I lots of people with guitars clearly lined up for the pedal expo.

Most certainly needed a larger venue though, that was absurd!

tdmusic · 2023-03-19T09:00:25.417Z

Yeah the single queue was a bit strange. Sorry to hear you didn’t make it. I think they maybe just underestimated the popularity as it seemed well organised otherwise so hopefully it’ll be back.

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T09:14:59.129Z

Well, they were actually boasting about expecting 1000 people so were clearly aware that this amount of people might not fit into such a tiny space, even with the usual amount of ‘no shows.’

I’ve been so many synth fairs like this and never experienced anything like this kind of thing, so hopefully they will return understanding the value of actually getting people inside!

CCMP · 2023-03-19T09:25:05.144Z

Interesting to read this, I had no idea that was the situation as I was inside the venue all day.
I knew it was busy by the fact I was working non-stop from 11.30-5.30.
I’m sure the organisers will take stock of any issues like this and address them for future shows.

waftlord · 2023-03-19T09:37:17.345Z

Maybe a staggered timing system with tickets allocated for hourly blocks would be better if they use the same venue next time.

tdmusic · 2023-03-19T09:50:21.528Z

Ahh I see, didn’t know they said that!

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T10:01:19.445Z

Exactly my point! It was so silly

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T10:03:19.485Z

Looking at photographs people shared it looked quite unbearable in terms of overcrowding indoors too. This image sums up what it felt like for one visitor in the afternoon then

IMG_16971290×1394 469 KB

CCMP · 2023-03-19T10:09:36.462Z

Yeah, I didn’t really see this, I was in the pedal room and only went into the synth room before the doors opened and towards the end.

I look at that image and I just hope no one in there had covid… it seems bizarre in a post-lockdown world that scenes like this are normal again… maybe that’s just me.

tdmusic · 2023-03-19T10:45:07.113Z

From their Facebook - I guess it’s hard to predict how many people will show to a free event so it sounds like they’ve learned something from it hopefully

image818×876 167 KB

robinrimbaud · 2023-03-19T13:15:40.592Z

Covid Central is how one guy described it to me outside!

dokev · 2023-03-19T14:02:26.689Z

I got there a bit earlier (probably about 12?) and had no problem getting in… but a big problem once I was inside: it was so packed it was basically impossible to check anything out! Spent about 10 minutes deciding if I could tolerate the squeeze for however long it’d take me to try the demo Perkons, realised I couldn’t and bailed. Saving grace was that I live in the area so it didn’t take out a particularly big chunk of my day in the end, but fairly pointless in the end.

Riuozami · 2023-03-19T14:11:31.344Z

I was in the queue like you and i was worried it would have taken an hour - but thankfully only 30 minutes of wait
I agree the place was very small to contain all the people

I had to wait 20 min to try a Pulsar23 and a Lyra8

I think they should do more events like this in biggger spaces going fwd