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
THE BRICKIES - BLOG N' ROLL 