A little light in the darkness!

Happy Thursday everyone, and what a happy one it is too! 

Whilst we still don’t have any news on the reopening of The Brickies (more about that in a moment) I’m sure you have all seen by now that BRICKFEST 2020 will be still rocking the city this year!

Three weeks ago the amazing guys at Pop-Up Pictures (The guys who are running the drive in cinema at The Norfolk Showground) called me to discuss a crazy idea.  After following our #saveourvenues campaign and being lovers of live music themselves they wanted to help us to put Brickfest on this year, despite having to remain closed.  This seemed like an awesome idea but we were concerned about many things, safety being the main priority. Anyway, after that phone call I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks so kind of figured it was way too off road and wasn’t going to happen. However, last week I got a call saying it was looking like it was going to happen. So, with an open mind and excited tummies, Emma and I went over to the showground to meet the team and see just how possible it was.

We met Danny who is in the man in charge of this insane notion and he guided us on a tour of the showground.  We were bowled over by how well everything was organsied. They were mid screening of Moana and things were happening.  The space was immense and Danny showed us the arena plot where he planned to put two massive stages, they already had it all planned out. The space we were looking at would easily hold 10,000 people in a normal standing gig (pre Covid) and we were talking about potentially a capacity of 1000 people in roped off areas, these ‘pods’ would seat 2,3 or 4 adults.  There would be a 2m gap between each pod and one way walkways through the pod areas.  There was more than enough ground space to operate this safely.  Danny showed us around the toilet areas, which were correctly managed with one way systems and there were plenty of hand sanitising stations around.  I have to say we felt at ease that safety was also their top priority as well as ours.  There was an ambulance on site in case of emergencies and medics close to hand at all times.

We then checked out the ‘Food Street’ – an area slightly away from the main arena that was full of different food vendors from crepes to Mexican and classic burgers – They had it all covered.  We actually began to let ourselves get excited.  But how would we successfully run the stage? there had to be ample changeover time to allow for cleaning and sanitising equipment between each band.  Danny had that covered too!  He explained by putting up two stages, when one band finishes on one stage, the next band can start on the second stage allowing time for cleaning and set up of the next band. Genius!! This actually could work.  Danny explained that he was meeting with the council and Showground organisers last Friday for the final discussions and decision whether they were happy for us to go ahead!! Yikes – needless to say we had our fingers crossed the whole weekend.  By yesterday we were a little worried however by the afternoon we had a big shiny green light to go! 

We then had a massive ‘Holy Crap’ moment!!! Usually Brickfest takes a whole year to organise, we had merely a few hours to get the line-up confirmed and then 5 weeks to sell 900 tickets.  Was that even possible?? Well we are always up for a challenge. 

 By the time you read this blog post the event will have been already announced and tickets are on sale so bookmark this and go and get your tickets now! The line up is incredible and full of headliners. See the event info for more details or head over to our webpage.  The pods are currently being sold at Earlybird prices until allocated tickets run out so get in quick for cheaper pods, It works out at a fiver off per head at Earlybird prices.  There are also VIP pods available where you get a better view of the stages and waiter service which is awesome if you don’t want to keep going to the bar.  These are a little more expensive but worth it if you fancy a bit of special treatment. The money from each ticket is split equally between the organisers and us. We then split our share (after costs) with the bands.  Each band has their own ticket link so if you want to support a particular band, please buy your tickets direct from them as they will get more money that way. It would be amazing to be able to sell it out, we know 900 tickets is a big ask, although there were over 1250 people in attendance at last year’s Brickfest so anything is possible.  Whatever happens, we get to spend a day listening to some of the regions finest bands and also help them to earn a little money.  Needless to say we are all very excited and equally crapping our pants! (excuse the phrase) So that’s our exciting news! Please come and share it with us, God knows we need some live music back in our lives.  

What about the pub?  What’s happening? I hear you all cry.  I know it’s frustrating, believe me, we too are seriously frustrated and quite frankly have all been feeling a little downhearted the last couple of weeks, Brickfest is just what we need to pick us up again. We will be opening again, but not until it is safe for us to do so in our normal capacity. It just isn’t viable for us to open while any amount of social distancing is in place. Please take heart and know that we will be back and rockin’ again as soon as we possibly can. We hope that Brickfest will give you all a little pick-me-up until we are back firing on all cylinders.  It won’t be long guys, just hang in there. 

In the mean time, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, we are uploading new videos all the time, we have a new Humdinger with the Claire Barker Band going up on Saturday which was so funny it made me cry. There are also lots of live NOT live performances up there for you to rewatch to your heart’s content. 

Don’t forget to tune into Brickmakers Live On Air too, Claire Barker presents her ‘Life In Lockdown Show’ tomorrow morning at 10.30am, she will be chatting to Claire Brooks from The Walnut Tree Shades about her reopening and how she’s getting on. Of course, there’s the usual hilarious chatter and triangle twanging with Josie Tate too! (That sounds so wrong but I’m leaving it in as it made me giggle).
We also have a new presenter in the Brickies Radio team who started last week – DJ Bumpy from the ROCK FAMILY facebook group has took over the Friday Night Rock Show from 9pm – 11pm. Hop on, request a song and give him some support. 

Right that’s it for tonight guys, I’ll sign off before I wander into excessive waffling territory! Have an awesome weekend and don’t forget to go and get your Brickfest tickets!!

 Lots of love Charley & The team xxx

What day is it anyway?!?

Well let me tell you about our week so far – yes I know, it’s only Wednesday but so much has happened already.  So, this time last week we were approached by the Music Venue Trust about joining their campaign called #SaveOurVenues.  The Music Venue Trust were so helpful to us last year when we were threatened with closure over our lease renewal.  Their new campaign was to help the venues involved with the MVT to get them through the Lockdown and still have a business to come back to.  They wanted each venue to agree to be named as a venue that artists can fundraise for on the #SaveOurVenues website and then set up a Crowdfunder campaign with a target agreed with our MVT coordinator. Any funds received in excess of this target would be swept into the central Crisis Fund which would be used to offer grants to venues under immediate threat of closure.  When initially asked, we dismissed it – we knew we weren’t the only ones struggling for money, everyone is struggling and asking our customers and bands for money didn’t sit right with us.

Anyway, after that we sat down and went over our financial situation, we worked out that we had enough money to pay the bills until the end of June, which didn’t seem so far away any more. All of a sudden reality hit us in the face.  So very reluctantly we agreed to take part in the #SaveOurVenues campaign because we believe in the cause so very much, it’s something we’re passionate about and know our bands, staff and customers are too, especially since our scare in 2018.  It still doesn’t sit right with us, and we absolutely hate asking for money and I feel I should apologise for doing it. But if we don’t, it will almost certainly mean the end for our beloved Brickies.  We set our target at £8000 as that gives us two extra months to manage with the doors closed. That takes us to then end of August, fingers crossed by then we should be preparing to open (touch a lot of wood here). *

The MVT want to encourage artists and bands to visit the site at www.saveourvenues.co.uk and adopt a venue from the“Save a Venue” map and organise an ‘at home’ performance for their fans to raise money for their chosen venue. We know that many local acts are already raising money doing this for the NHS which is vital, please don’t stop doing that! We do have some ideas though, currently we’re throwing the idea around about having a massive weekend marathon festival of livestreams on our facebook page, I just need to work out the logistics and delve into the world of live-streaming video, is it possible for bands/artists to stream to our facebook page? If any of you guys know if this is possible then hit me up on fb and educate me. I’ve only just learnt to stream the radio station hahaha. My brain hasn’t recovered from that one yet.  We’re thinking about an online bank holiday bash… at least that way we’d get to at least have one this year!

So that’s how we ended up here today! I have to say, yet again you guys have totally knocked us for six. There have been so many heart warming comments and some crazy donations. We cant find the words to express how much we appreciate it and how much it means to us. We know times are just as hard for you all as they are for us and the words thank you just don’t seem big enough. It means so much more to us than thank you. All I can promise you all is that when we get through this, we pledge to have a very big party just for you guys, and we will strive to keep the music live and rockin’ here at The Brickies and B2 – as soon as they let us, we’ll power up that PA system and blow the bloody roof off! That’s a promise.

Anyway, now I’ve waffled on and filled you in on the how, where and why we ended up here, I’ll leave you to your day.  If you fancy a giggle this afternoon – I’ll be chatting to local guitar legend ‘Terry Bunting’ ( Small Talk, Worlds Apart, Boys Will Be Boys, The Veil) on my radio show at 4pm.  Tune in and fire some questions at us, he’s a great guy and having played at The Brickies for over 40 years has one or two stories to share.

THANK YOU ALL for your endless love and support, YOU are THE BRICKIES!!! 

Stay safe everyone  – We love you all.

Charley (Pam & Em too)

Xxxxx

#SaveOurVenues

www.saveourvenues.co.uk

* Our crowdfunder page currently says our target is £10,000, this is an error and we are waiting for them to change it to £8,000.

FEELING HOT HOT HOT!!!

OMG! How hot is it??

I don’t know about you lot but although it looks pretty and happy when it’s sunny it doesn’t half make me grumpy when its this humid and sticky.  Luckily its nice and cool in here due to the wonders of modern technology and our lovely air conditioning.  As I cast my mind back to 13 years ago when we moved in, it seems a distant memory. I recall the packed nights full of hot and sticky bodies all rocking as one with the band and the old Par64 cans shoving out 1000W of energy per bulb. We had 12 of them on that stage at that point.  That is 12,000 Watts of heat created from stage lighting alone. Then the body heat emitted from at least 200 music revellers. That made one hell of a hot and smelly venue, and to top it all off at least 50% of them were smokers so hot sticky, smoky and smelly. Wow – how far we have come!  Since then obviously the biggest thing is the smoking ban, although I do not have anything against anyone smoking, It’s nice to not be forced to smoke alongside them. Before the smoking ban I suffered with illness after illness, mostly respiratory related. Being an asthmatic, the change was totally amazing after the ban.  Touching a lot of wood here, my health drastically improved afterwards.  Then we swapped all the par cans for LED cans. This was huge, it took our wattage output down from 12,000Watts for the whole rig to just 36Watts  (3 Watts per can).  That topped off with the installation of Air Con has made such a lovely comfortable environment not only to watch a gig in but to work in.  So as I sit here and keep moaning that it’s bloody hot, Im reminding myself that it could be a hell of a lot worse, it was, it has been and luckily now its damn good.  So here I go – Im sucking it up and getting on with it lol. There’s so much worse things in life than a beautiful day right?

Anyway, we’ve had a brilliant spring, two great charity days and Brickfest is looming once more. Its getting hectic with organising but its all exciting stuff. We have some amazing acts playing this year.  The line-up is mouth watering and we can’t wait.  It’s the 10th Anniversary of Brickfest this year and to celebrate we are releasing some exciting merch. Included in that is the 10th Anniversary Tee which will feature every band/act that has played Brickfest over the last 10 years.  Lucky for us that means we get to put the awesome Ed Sheeran’s name on our t-shirt along with over 170 other amazing bands. We want to get as many people in them as we can for the day so keep your eyes open for pre-order details.  It’s going to be an awesome day so mark Monday 29ths August in your diaries asap. (You might want to plan the Tuesday off to recover too!)

The second half of the year sees some new acts on our stage, In August alone we have four new acts playing The Brickies for the first time.  We hope you’ll come along and support new music on the scene. Check them out.

EXIT ATARI – Friday 12th August   “Handsome men playing handsome tunes that range from the down right classic to your guilty pleasures through the medium of stringed wooden shapes and things you hit”  Well, thats what they say anyway lol.   These guys will look familiar to you as they all hail from other local bands.  Rest assured, they won’t disappoint you.

MARK ANTHONY & THE FUNK STUFF BAND – Friday 19th August .
Mark Anthony is one of the city’s finest vocalists and his Funky Stuff band is a tribute to all the greatest soul, Motown and disco legends; such as, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, The Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson.  A great night for a good old fashioned boogie!!!

ADDICTIVE MIX – Thursday 25th August
Another 5-piece band with members that you will recognise. With toes that are regularly tipped in the waters of The Lee Vasey Band, these guys have a wealth of experience of getting you on that dance floor, yes folks – even on a Thursday!! We’re looking forward to seeing this band, they are going to be providing a unique twist on floor-filling songs from the 80s to today. Sounds brilliant!

BLOODSHAKE CHORUS – Friday 26th August
Now here’s somethings more than a little bit different!  The Bloodshake Chorus combine B-movie theatrics with early rock n roll, give it a metaphorical slap around the back of the head, then add fake blood for good measure. Equal parts fun, silly and visceral, the band have been gaining notoriety in venues throughout the region for their noisy live shows, ghost train costumes and their punk edged reconstructions of 50s and 60s rock n roll classics. Definitely not to be missed!!!

So there you have it. Four new acts on our stage and all very diverse and exciting. Around all that we have gigs with Claire Barker, Pure Passion, Black Dogs, Bootleg Boss, Cover Story and so many more. Then of course the big one at the end of the month. How lucky we are in Norwich to have such a thriving music scene. Believe me, there are cities and towns across the land of the United Kingdom full of minds immeasurably superior to ours that regard this Norwich music scene with envious eyes and slowly and surely they drew….(STOP) sorry shouldn’t listen to Jeff Wayne whilst blogging!!!   Anyway, you know what I’m saying, we have the best bands, the best venues a city could want. Make sure you go out there and support them all.

Its so good to see the scene thriving again.  Lucky lucky us!!!!!

Happy Sunday everyone keep cool!

Charley xx

 

The Tsunami of August craziness…..

Yes folks, it’s August and things are going mental, all totally in a good way of course but there’s much to plan and even more to plan to plan, if that makes sense.  We are on the countdown to BRICKFEST 2015 now (there is officially 24 days to go) and we are all busy little bees getting things done.  We have ordered new T-shirts for Brickfest 2015, this year they are Printed in a very saucy red. We also have Childrens sizes available this year as so many of you requested them for your Brickies kids last year. So you can now kit out your whole family in true Brickfest style!  We also have some very exciting Brickfest mugs and of course some vintage Brickfest merchandise for all you avid Brickfesters…  The Brochures/  event guide have been printed in glorious technicolor and are here already. or you to check out our line up nice and early so you can plan your day well in advance,  feel free to pop in and pick one up – you don’t need to wait until the day.  Its a running joke with Mum, Em and I that we have to leave the printed material til as late as possible as we always get at least one act pull out on us.  Well this year I was running very late on my deadlines so thought we were safe, home and dry. Alas,  we had an act pull out this morning… however, all is not lost, we are lucky to have a long waiting list of bands waiting to get on The Brickfest line-up so we filled the gap quickly. Another sigh of relief 🙂 and then there’s the marquee – we put it up earlier in the year for an all day event and it was the same weekend as all those crazy storms and winds.  A few of the poles had bent beyond salvage so we have been on a treasure hunt searching for spare poles to fit our “very rare size” (of course!!!) marquee!!.  We manage to find the one place in the whole UK that make them, however they only do them in white so now we have a silver and white marquee hahaha…   Anyway, niggles aside, we are actually almost ready, tombola prizes are awesome this year including a very sexy Jagermeister machine (same as we have on our bar) among many others, wristbands printed, event guides printed, awaiting delivery of T-shirts and mugs, massive – ‘ I didn’t realise how big I had ordered it’ banner printed (note to self: go out on the roundabout and plaster banner for all of Sprowston to marvel at), Em made sure the bands are booked, cookie stall booked, BBQ booked, Bouncy thingies booked, Face painter booked…. Mum is sorting out the tombola. bar and the stock….. errrrr…errrrr…cant think of anything else…I think all we need now is you guys to come and enjoy it all and of course maybe a little splatter of sunshine. 🙂

When Brickfest is peeking over the horizon it is sometimes difficult to focus on anything else but lets not forget that around this awesome festival are another 364 awesome days jam packed with great music for you all.  Our diary is chockablock and already we have people wanting bookings for for next year.. something Im happy to say we’re not even going to contemplate doing until at least mid September.. The days, weeks, months just seem to fly by..  I look at my little blog here and can’t believe its taken me five hours to write these few lines but in fairness I have soundchecked and gigged two fab bands in the midst so its not so bad after all.

We spent the night with ‘The Super Action Heroes’, four fun chappies who generally have fun on stage, its a pleasure to see actually, It amazes me sometimes how so many bands look unhappy when they gig, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not pointing any fingers.  Its just, well – you see people having a good time and it’s infectious, a smile catches on just as quickly as a yawn but makes you feel so much better.  It makes me happy when I see a band really loving what they do and really having fun….that’s what music is all about, provoking a response, in this case a happy one.  When I gig I can’t help but smile, it makes me very happy and I have so much fun with my fellow band mates, I feel like it spreads out over the crowd, be it 10 people or 300 people. Whats the point of doing it if it makes you frown.  Ohhhh speaking of me gigging,  just in case any of you want to come and watch us having fun and maybe even join us in fun having – Pure Passion are on tomorrow ( ooops today now)  that is Saturday 8th August for those of you that I may be really confusing hahaha. Maybe I need a coffee… excuse the shameless plug there, oh well why not.

It seems that it is now the time of night where I’m going to waffle on an exceptional amount and say hardly anything so its probably a really good idea to say my goodnights and wish you an exceptionally awesome weekend.  Hope to see some of you this Sat (that’s tonight).

Keep Rockin’ people and see ya at a gig sometime 🙂

Cx

PS:  Emma is bringing you lots of Brickfest previews on our facebook site, but here’s one of my own… an acoustic act that are playing The Acoustic Tent at BRICKFEST this year.  They are on at 5.30pm and I for one can’t wait to check out MORGANWAY in The Brickies garden!  Watch and see for yourself …

bad timing…….

Well if ever there WASN’T a good time to fall down the stairs and break my wrist it is now right???? just days before our biggest event of the year and what the Hell I’ll go and do it anyway.  So, on Tuesday I took a flight down my stairs, broke my wrist and gashed my head open. EPIC FAIL!!!! So now trying to do everything one handed is proving a challenge as I discovered this morning, even putting up a mic stand became a labored effort and resulted in many swear words, then there were the cables which, less face it – get tangled up enough with two hands. By the time my staff arrived for their shift I was very red faced and in need of much coffee. So, the band are ready to go and I thought I needed another challenge – the one handed blog. It’s doable, here I am typing quite happily.  Things are just about in place for Tomorrow, all we need now is for the sun to shine and for all you guys to come.  We have a huge line up this year,  it’s going to be fab.  I wont be playing though, obviously. We have an awesome dep who is standing in for me in PP so I will be singing and showing off my moves hah hah….that will be worth the entrance fee alone!!!!  Anyway, this was only a little blog to shake and wake you all about tomorrow. Its starts at 12 noon so I look forward to seeing you all then. For more in depth BRICKFEST info read the previous blog and click the link to the brochure. Im gonna go have more caffeine.

Happy Sunday folks.

Cxxx

I’m back, I’m Blogging and ARGHHHHHH!!!!! It’s BRICKFEST IN 2 WEEKS!!!!

A massive hello to you all from me, and everyone here at The Brickies, mainly me though (Charley) as I’m the one writing this… funny that!  I know a lot of you enjoy my blog and I can only apologise for the lack of attendance on here for the last few months.  I’ll be totally honest with you, I’ve been totally crap!  There it is, plain and simple.  I am human after all, had a couple of months where I wasn’t on form at all for reasons i wont bore you with, but I’m here now and here is the blog! Woooop Woooop.

So whats been happening; OMG! so much!!

Firstly we have won the regional award for ‘BEST ENTERTAINMENT PUB IN EAST ANGLIA 2013’ which is a huge achievement for us with the amount of fantastic venues around the region. We are so chuffed.  Its a credit to all the awesome bands that grace our stages everynight, and of course to you guys who keep coming to support them and us.  We now have to dust our frocks off and head to London next month to see if we are in with a chance to scope the National Award, its a tough one as the competition is very hot this year, watch this space guys!

Secondly….  The Choir!  I’m sure you all remember me chatting on here about my idea to form A Brickies choir back at the start of the year? If you haven’t heard about it  – where have you been?  It began as a very small thought that grew into an idea, then a vision and now its a 40 member strong reality..  We had our very first rehearsal in March and now, almost 6 months on we have a 20 minute set and have already been out gigging festivals, fetes and charity functions. To start with we called ourselves Brickies Rock Voices but after much discussion, the choir themselves chose a new name. ‘Charley’s Rock Angels’.  We are having a blast!  the choir isn’t like any other choir I have known.  The members are friendly and supportive of each other, almost like an extended family, it isn’t made up of egos,  yes there are a few members who play in bands but the majority of choir members are just people who love to sing. We take popular rock/pop songs and sprinkle them with a little Brickies magic. We’ve got a few appearances coming up if you fancy a look, most importantly you can catch us at BRICKFEST in the Acoustic Tent at 3.30pm. If you can hold a tune and are interested in joining, we rehearse every Tuesday night at 7.30pm in B2, come and have a listen if you like…. you can also find us on facebook here…

Lastly…. BRICKFEST 2013!!!    It’s totally crazy how one second you think there is ages to go and plenty of time to organise and then all of a sudden there is two weeks to go and we’re all panicking that things are gonna be ready, praying that everything will go to plan, bands will turn up, people will come, will it rain? have we got enough beer?  staff? OH and fancy dress costumes!!! Arghhhhhhh!!!!!    BY THE WAY!!!!  This year BRICKFEST is themed 70’s GLAM so make sure you join in with us and get all sparkly and groovy in a glam way. Dig out those platforms and psychedelic shirts! We’ve got some awesome prizes in the Tombola, ranging from a Kindle Fire through to A Mini Fridge, its huge! There is also our usual attractions including Face Painting for the kids with Emma Hart, Bouncy castle, Giant Inflatable Slide, BBQ, Outside Bar, Mister-Barista Coffee, Ice Cream Van,  The Jager Girls and of course 37 awesome bands that have given up their bank holiday to come and help us raise some money for Sprowston Junior School!   The full line up for BRICKFEST 2013 can be found here BRICKFEST 2013 PROGRAMME, download away and start planning your very own BRICKFEST DAY!  It’s going to be huge! It’s on Monday 26th August 2013 and starts at 12pm.  It’s only £2 to get in all day and kids under 12 get in FREE!!!!

This weekend is going to be fun, we are presenting the awesome BON GIOVI tomorrow night (FRIDAY 16th) if you like a lotta bit of 80’s rock then you better get down here as these guys are so near the real think you’ll find yourself doing a triple-take. It’s only a fiver to get in and it’s going to be packed!   Saturday night we have a date with FOURPLAY for a night of hendrix inspired rhythm and blues, a great local band picking up a last minute cancellation for us. A real treat in store!

Thanks for reading folks, I wont leave it so long next time…

See you all at BRICKFEST if not before… have a fab weekend

Charley x

10 YEARS!!! Time to celebrate our decade!!!!

Well it is the eve of the big party! we hit our decade tomorrow – 10 fantastic years. We have been privileged to share each one of them with you all. We’ve made some amazing friends along the way, some wonderful customers and of course an array of talented bands and musicians that have graced our stages for the last 3,652 days. Yes, that really is the number of days Mum, Em and I have been here at ‘The Brickies! Putting our time in. It’s been an amazing journey and we’ve come so far since we pulled that first pint back in April 2003. We had so much to learn, most of which we learnt the hard way, but that’s the way it goes and it made us a stronger unit. Together with our amazing staff team, we are riding the crest of The Brickies wave! our staff ROCK! And they are constantly being praised by customers and bands. WE couldn’t function without our awesome team, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts for all their hard work and loyalty. We love you all. I’m true Brickmakers style, we have booked a night of great music for you to enjoy. Its a FREE ENTRY night so make sure you are in nice and early or you will be forced to queue. Everyone has been pestering us trying to find the secret name of the band…. Well never fear guys, the wait is almost over…. Just a few more hours. Hang in there. We promise you a lot of giggles and much dancing…. So guys and gals… We’ ll see you down the front! Ready to boogie all night long….? Hell YES!!!! We just want to say a massive thank you to all of you who have kept the faith and have believed in us. You keep us going on a regular basis… We love you all..Happy birthday to you all! enjoy your night, you all deserve it xxxxx oh and PS: the band are……. Dun dun dah!!! NOPE! I can’t tell you…..sorry. You’re just gonna have to come along xxx

More Meat in yer Loaf? Don’t mind if I do!!!!

Oh. Yes, this month is very very very exciting… Did you get that??? I mean OMG exciting!!!! I am like….sooooooo excited!!! Ok, shut up Charley I hear you shout, you get what I mean thought right? Hope you are all well and geared up for tonight…. Yes! It’s the one that we have all been waiting for, while I have anyway, and I know at least 50 of you will be at the door early… Yes folks its our annual date with MAETLOAF! They,re back and firing on all cylinders. I can’t wait, I have the night off (birthday treat) so will be down the front partying with you all. These guys are so good, the best we,ve ever seen. In fact, having seen the real thing before , I would rather see these guys if given the choice – they are everything you expect Meatloaf to be, even Craig is more Meaty than the man himself! Seriously folks, do yourselves a favour and come and see them, you won’t be disappointed – I promise! So all excited for that…

Another cause of my excitement this week is the first meeting of the Brickies Rock voices! If you’ve had your Internet eyes closed then you will have missed the fact that we now have a Brickies choir! How? Why? What? Where? I hear you cry… We’ll it started as an idea that drifted through the window on a breeze….. Lol not quite but, it was a crazy notion, I put some feelers out on facebook and BANG! Next thing I know, we have a name, a Facebook group, a website, songs recorded and OMG we have a choir!!! So 20+ people have signed up, downloaded parts and we meet for the first time this Tuesday. I’m 75% excited – the rest is made up of nerves and terror! Let’s face it, I’m just little old me, play guitar in a band and sing a bit, do a few bits and bobs at The Brickies but do I know how to run and conduct a choir????? Lol lol lol loooooollllllll NO! It’s going to be one hell of a fast learning curve for us all I think, but we are sure going to have a giggle. If any of you are reading this thinking ‘mmmmmm I’d like to give that a shot’ then please don’t delay, get over to our website, have a listen to the parts of the first song (Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way) pick the part yo want to sing and come along on Tuesday night at 7.30pm… We’re all new to it, so we are all in the same boat here… Important thing is to have fun and enjoy it! Can’t wait! Oh yes, the website is here!!!! I shall report back next week with an update of how it went 🙂

Well, it’s kinda late and I should get my sleep ready for the big party tomorrow… Hope to see you all there!

Cxx

Another fine mess….

Happy New Year to you all. It seems the whole world and their friend are still recovering from the aftermath of Christmas and New Years Eve. We had a blast though, some fantastic gigs and it was nice to share the festive period with such lovely people. We wish you all the best for the coming year. On a pub note, its jam packed of awesome bands and music so make sure you fill your diaries. Our website is now up to date until the end of march so get planning! Just as the craziness from Christmas dies down I went and did it. Yes folks, another crazy idea (my last one ended up in us building B2) it was over the Christmas period whilst supping wine, chatting with friends and my other half that we come up with the notion of putting on a Christmas concert next year…. Then it all gets a bit blurry. I thought I would throw it out into the realms of cyberspace and catch some ideas. So there I was asking the world about what everyone thought about forming a Brickmakers Rock Choir? OMG! Why did I do that? Within an hour we had over 50 potential choir members. The phone started ringing, texts were flowing. I had started one hell of a snowball. I called Emma last night in a panic – I mean, I have been in bands, gigging since I was just 14, I’m no stranger to the stage or performing….but to teach 50+ people to sing together and also to listen to each other – how the hell does one do that? Sometimes it’s hard to pin my five band members down for a rehearsal let alone something of that magnitude. I began to silently panic. Emma was like ‘ you’re gonna have to do it now you’ve said it – people want this….’ Well clearly I have a lot to learn and I needed to learn it quick. I emailed a few musician friends for advice, one in particular who has calmed me with her tips and advice on how to run a choir (thanks so much Lauren – I owe you a pint or three). Her first tip was to pick songs at first that I know inside out. I need to know all the parts myself before I can teach them to others. Then there is the very small matter of recording the parts and making them available to members. After looking into choral music and arrangements I have discovered you can buy packs with the parts already arranged and recorded – only problem is they start at about £25 a song. We want to keep the choir a free activity for all so purchasing is not an option. So this afternoon, I sat and created a Facebook group for ‘The Brickmakers Rock Voices’. I’m not certain the name will stay but it will do for now. By tea time tonight we had 52 people signed up to the group and its still increasing! Talk about viral explosion! The next thing I did was to create an online poll. I’ve given all potential choir member five songs to choose from. They need to vote on just one song. After a couple of days I will access the results and the winning song will be the one we learn first. Then all I need to do is take a day off and record the parts… That will be fun I reckon… A whole new leading curve for me – I normally open my mouth and sing a harmony line, I don’t normally have to think about it. So – as soon as the parts are done, I’ll upload them onto the Facebook group and members can choose and download their part and learn it. The magic will hopefully happen when we meet up and make some noise. I reckon we shall have the first meeting within a month. We’ll see what happens from there. I’m sure I’ll cock it up many times along the journey but were all in it together. I’m not adverse to making a pratt of myself, in fact there are times i’ve truly excelled at it… Why the choir? Well I joined a choir temporarily last year for a Christmas concert and I loved every minute. Singing makes you feel good – whether you’re brilliant at it or naff at it. It releases endorphins in the brain which makes us all just as happy just as a bar of chocolate or a good roll in the hay does. Who wouldn’t want a bit of that???? When I looked into the choirs around the city, they all charge upwards of £6 a week. Well I think 24 quid a month is a lot of your hard earned money. I know that these choirs have to hire halls and stuff but we have an advantage in the fact that we have a venue already and because its ours – it’s free! so our choir will be free to attend. However we do expect members to commit their time and dedication in learning their parts at home. Most of the choirs in the city are singing all the same songs, we think we could spice it up a bit with a little more rock! Make it a bit less Glee and a bit more Queen. I love songs like ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘Lean On Me’, ‘ Higher and Higher’ and ‘ Something Inside So Strong’ – they are all great classic tracks but every choir in the nation is singing them – let’s break the mould!!!! So I picked Fleetwood Mac, Status Quo, Survivor, Anastasia and Janis Joplin. I reckon there’s enough spice there to turn up the heat!!! When the choice is made I will record the parts and it shall begin! I feel a huge mixture of excited, nervous and absolutely petrified! What did I do??? Oh well, whatever happens I’m sure we’ll have fun- lets face it, if it goes tits-up we can all head to the bar!

So that’s about it for my news at the minute. here are a whole mixed bag of awesome bands on in the next month or so. One in particular for the diaries is Saturday 2nd March when the amazing ‘MAETLOAF & The Never Neverland Express’ return to our stage for their annual visit. If you like Meatloaf then you are gonna love these guys. I’ ve seen Meatloaf in concert and for me, these guys blew him away. This guy does Meatloaf better than Meatloaf does! it’s the most exciting night of my year….I suggest you all come down and party with us, you won’t be disappointed.

Right folks – it’s getting on a bit and I have music dots to dream of. If it’s anything like last night I think my nights of uninterrupted sleep are heading into very stormy seas. No Pain No Gain right? Don’t forget – if any of you want to take part in the choir – everyone is welcome – being able to sing a little is a help though. Go over to The Brickmakers Rock Voices facebook group and get involved now!!

This weekend – Friday we will be dancing to The Collective whilst Saturday see’s the city’s favourite contemporary rock band ‘Floating Greyhounds’ on our stage for the first time in 2013!

We look forward to seeing you….

Charley x

Tis the season to be……..

Yes peeps… It really is that time again and I have no idea where the time has gone this year. One day has rolled into the next for nearly 12 months solid and here we are – it’s Christmas! The last few month have been crazy here at ‘The Brickies’. We have seen some awesome bands grace our stage this year and as always we are astounded by the amount of talent we have in our beautiful city. The Norwich music scene is thriving and more venues are embracing the idea of putting on bands. This is brilliant news for everyone involved in local music. The more venues we have, the bigger and healthier the music scene is – its the way it used to be and the way it should be. In theory it isn’t always as easy as that though, even though the government have brought in new legislation to enable more venues to present live music without a licence, they haven’t made it very clear as venues still need to have a PRS licence in place. Our PRS licence costs us several thousand pounds each year. This basically, again in theory, pays royalties to those artistes whose songs get covered by local bands in The Brickies. In practice I would imagine a lot of the monies collected in licence fees goes towards admin and wages BUT I’m not out to slate the PRS, they do a great job – even I myself have once benefitted from royalties they collected on my behalf… In fact I think I may have been paid the grand total of a couple of quid at one time lol. I’m not sure what my point is or if I even have one, I m doing what I do best and rambling on about everything and nothing. Live music is awesome and it’s what we live and breathe every day. But it isn’t as easy as everyone thinks. there are hidden costs, licenses and the most important one – keeping your community happy. We work hard to do our best to fit into our community. Our neighbours are important to us and we like to make sure we don’t disturb their daily lives whilst living ours. Thats is why you will see Mum, Em and I regularly patrolling the car park at night and annoyingly asking you to all talk quietly out the back. It’s not because we want to be a pain, we just want to ensure that our neighbouring community isn’t disturbed by us in the early hours. Anyway, back to Christmas, I hope you aren’t all too skint, if you’re anything like me you spent out in the first week of December lol but then I do have six nieces and nephews to buy for… Don’t get me wrong, love them all like mad but a tangerine really doesn’t cut the mustard these days! So we’ve got loads going on leading up to Christmas, parties left right and centre and also we say a very sad farewell to an awesome band who are, to everyone’s dismay parting ways after their gig on Friday 21st Dec. I am of course talking about ska/reggae faves ‘MONKEY SPANNER’. We are going to be very sad to see them disband but we promised them a good send off so make sure you get down here that night and help us to say a big thank you and goodbye… We then have a pre – Christmas party on Sat 22nd with Emma Hall and then of course or big Bash on Christmas Eve with the brilliant FIREWIRE! Complete with fake snow, shiny disco ball and lasers these guys will party Santa like never before. On Christmas Day we are opening from 12pm til 3pm. Mum and I will be here sharing a mince pie or two, some Christmas cheer, carols on the juke box and maybe even some crackers!!! actually, we both love working on Christmas Day, it’s a happy time and its always good to catch up with friends, so don’t forget to come down and share the festive feeling with us while the turkey is cooking… Boxing Day is always funny too – We have Pot luck Karaoke, basically you pull a song out of a hat and you don’t know what you are going to sing until you get up there… We all take part, staff too!!! It’s a real giggle and all in the name of Christmas. In the midst of the Christmas mayhem, the Glamtastics cheer us up on Friday 28th with a night of the best in Glam Rock.

If you haven’t got your tickets for New Year’s Eve yet I suggest you get a shifty on. As usual, they’re are selling fast and we are over the 200 mark already. This is our tenth NYE party and we are celebrating with two fantastic bands – POUT AT THE DEVIL & PURE PASSION. It’s going to be awesome and I can’t wait.

As always Mum, Em and I would like to express our love and sincere thanks to all our customers and bands that have supported us over not only the last year but the last 9 years. Every year the Pub trade gets a little tougher and we feel blessed to have such wonderful customers and talented bands that are always there beside us, supporting what we do. Without you all we wouldn’t be here and life would be pretty miserable so thank you all from the bottom of our rockin’ hearts.

We wish you all a very safe, and Merry Christmas and a totally awesome 2013! ( that is if we don’t all die on 21st Dec, in which case I am gonna be soooo annoyed as I could have saved the money that I spent on presents and had one hell of a party!!! Oh well – so-long and thanks for all the fish!)

With love

Charley, Pam and Em
Xxx