# The Fridge reopening as Electric Brixton



## millets (Jun 16, 2011)

Used to love watching gigs and some of the club nights there..

Would be great if it was back again...

If they did it up... obviously! lol


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## millets (Jun 16, 2011)

*Just found this*

so i guess its true!

No longer called The Fridge though

www.electricbrixton.com


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## DJWrongspeed (Jun 16, 2011)

It was in the SLP the other day, some (brave) promoter has taken it over.  How you compete with the megacorps is anyone's guess.


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## twistedAM (Jun 20, 2011)

http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1045621&c=1


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## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

First Electric Social, now Electric Brixton? Jeez, talk about a lack of imagination.


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## twistedAM (Jun 20, 2011)

Or do you mean Electric Ballroom? One of the best old school gig venues in London town. Even if it is in shitty Camden.


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## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

That too - but what I meant was that the old Gold Coast opposite Tescos on Acre Lane is changing names to Electric Social.


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## twistedAM (Jun 20, 2011)

Oh god, I thought that was becoming an old English mansion with an urban twist.

So it'll get confused with both Electric Brixton, The Electric Ballroom and The Social in the west end?


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## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Oh god, I thought that was becoming an old English mansion with an urban twist.
> 
> So it'll get confused with both Electric Brixton, The Electric Ballroom and The Social in the west end?


 
The very same - fuck knows what _Electric Social _has to do with manordom and posh twats.


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## mwareing1 (Jun 20, 2011)

Reminds me of the old Astoria in Tottenham Court Road. Good Luck


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## Onket (Jun 20, 2011)

Aye, good luck to em.


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## TruXta (Jun 20, 2011)

I'd love it if they succeeded in doing something on the scale and ambition of the Astoria.


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## leanderman (Jun 20, 2011)

Place looks a bit forlorn now. So it's probably good news.


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## Cowley (Jun 21, 2011)

Cool


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## DJWrongspeed (Jun 21, 2011)

It's a great live venue for sure, hope they don't ruin the old features.


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## clandestino (Jun 21, 2011)

There's definitely a gap in the market now the Astoria's gone. Good luck to 'em, I hope it works out!


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## editor (Jun 21, 2011)

From Music Week:


> A new live music venue, Electric Brixton, is set to offer promoters an affordable 1,500-plus capacity room when it opens its doors in September.
> 
> The venue was previously known as The Fridge, a popular South London club venue that also hosted occasional gigs. It has been closed since March however when the premises were sold to investment group Omni Assets.
> 
> ...


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## stevebradley (Jun 22, 2011)

All sounds good to me, and they seem to have a half-decent business plan.

Though since when was Brixton central London.....? 

Good luck to them.


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## Crispy (Jun 22, 2011)

It's on a good tube line, so it should have a decent pull. Sounds promising doesn't it?


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## ddraig (Jun 22, 2011)

ai good luck to em
only went there a couple of times iirc
and once i was lying on the stage


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## twistedAM (Jun 22, 2011)

This article - http://www.whitebook.co.uk/story.aspx?storycode=6515721 - seems to give me more hope as there were a couple of things in the Music Week cut and paste job that made me think it would be the same as last time.

The previous relaunch was a bit of a farce; they just thought that SJM, Metropolis and Live Nation would flock there and they didn't. Iirc all they had was a Jack Penate show.

Meanwhile, though, the Scala has increased it's capacity to 1000 making that an even bigger competitor.


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## editor (Jun 22, 2011)

The new fella in charge has a long history of being involved with big venues and he knows his onions, by all accounts. I'm hopeful.


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## twistedAM (Jun 22, 2011)

editor said:


> The new fella in charge has a long history of being involved with big venues and he knows his onions, by all accounts. I'm hopeful.



Yeah that link I did to whitebook explains it a lot better than Music Week (no surprise there).


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## editor (Jun 22, 2011)

I'm all ready for my invite to DJ the opening party.


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## twistedAM (Jun 22, 2011)

After tonight I'm going to be the agent for El Jefe's dog disco. He has the bonus of having a Rottweiler as his assistant.


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## millets (Jun 24, 2011)

Seen loads of Builders going in and out over the past few weeks

so hopefully its looking good inside!!


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## supercity (Jun 24, 2011)

Here's the Times report of the opening of the Palladium, from March 21, 1913.


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## quimcunx (Jun 24, 2011)

Who will be the Electric Brixton chaplain?


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## TruXta (Jun 24, 2011)

I'd be willing to do some bishopry for an appropriate fee.


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## southlondoncity (Jun 25, 2011)

Do you think it's possible to get inside and take a few pictures before it gets renovated?


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## TruXta (Jun 25, 2011)

Go and ask them.


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## Dr. Furface (Jun 25, 2011)

Excellent news. It's a great space and with £600,000 being ploughed into it it should have some top spec sound and lighting gear. Let's just hope the bar prices aren't extortionate and the security aren't a bunch of meatheads. If they get it right it should be a big success.


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## editor (Jun 25, 2011)

They've invited me to take a look around, so I'll post up some photos soon.

southlondoncity: it's already been extensively refurbished by the previous owners.


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## southlondoncity (Jun 25, 2011)

Great, I look forward to seeing those pictures

This morning I saw a couple of men working on the sign outside so I imagine things must be moving along fairly quickly


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## editor (Jul 13, 2011)

I took a look around yesterday. It's looking very nice indeed!

















More: http://www.urban75.org/blog/a-look-inside-the-electric-brixton-formerly-the-brixton-fridge/


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## TruXta (Jul 13, 2011)

Wow, that looks well nice.


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## Yelkcub (Jul 13, 2011)

Did it used to have a large Aussie/Kiwi draw? I remember meeting a Kiwi girl at Turnmills on a Friday (comment here Spion if you read this!) and staying the weekend with her and ending up there on the Saturday - everyone in there was Antipodean!


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## story (Jul 13, 2011)

Yay for the Fridge! 

Have to start practicing saying Brixton Electric... or Electric Brixton, was it?

Anyway, good pics, editor.



twistedAM said:


> .
> 
> Meanwhile, though, the Scala has increased it's capacity to 1000 making that an even bigger competitor.


 
But the Scala is entirely shit. Unless it's their only UK gig, even if I want to see the band, I don't go. Even if it's free, I don't go.


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## Crispy (Jul 13, 2011)

Looks fantastic!






Although I guess they're only restoring the surviving detailing, not replacing the bits that are missing - see the missing panels in that shot?


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## editor (Jul 13, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Looks fantastic!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The building has taken a fair bit of damage over the years, with some club alterations taking big chunks out of some original features. They're putting some details back in, although they're not doing a total restoration, so that top panel won't be coming back.

They have taken out an awful lot of the shit that had accumulated over the years and removed some of the really jarring features (like the piles of scaffolding that were either side of the stage). The end result is much better sight lines and a much nicer looking venue. 

The ceiling - parts of which were fire damaged in the 80s - will be covered by a velvet drape, and they're building an outdoor smoking area.  The blue/gold colour scheme looks lovely and I think they're doing a pretty good job of this. It's going to be great having the place open again!


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## Onket (Jul 13, 2011)

I like it. Great pics.

Was it just painted black before? I've not been there since about 2002.

Actually, got any photos of the inside to compare?


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## twistedAM (Jul 13, 2011)

story said:


> But the Scala is entirely shit. Unless it's their only UK gig, even if I want to see the band, I don't go. Even if it's free, I don't go.



Yeah but it's established and promoters use it and it's a good location. 
It would actually take a lot to tempt me to the Scala and as for SBE - no way.
My favourite rooms are Electric Ballroom and the Forum.


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## Crispy (Jul 13, 2011)

While searching, I found the following detail of the new soundsystem, which means NOTHING to me, but experts might be able to comment:



> Encore won a close run competitive tender to get the contract and then worked out how to complete the installation and get the best possible sound.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Very cool that the new venue will be used to train sound engineers


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## ajdown (Jul 13, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> Who will be the Electric Brixton chaplain?


 
Try Street Pastors.  They've made a huge difference in other parts of the country and I reckon Brixton would benefit hugely from a team.


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## DJWrongspeed (Jul 13, 2011)

Dr. Furface said:


> Let's just hope the bar prices aren't extortionate and the security aren't a bunch of meatheads. If they get it right it should be a big success.


 
I got thrown out once at an Autechre gig   The security were well heavy handed.


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## Kanda (Jul 13, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Very cool that the new venue will be used to train sound engineers


 
That's from 2009. The old Fridge website detailed it fully, they used it to train too... (or said they were on the website)

E2A: Still there: http://www.fridge.co.uk/fridge_specs.html


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## twistedAM (Jul 13, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Very cool that the new venue will be used to train sound engineers



It did in its last incarnation as well. 

....Which Kanda noticed before me.


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## Crispy (Jul 13, 2011)

huh. saw the article talk about refurbishment and assumed it meant the current one! my bad


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## colacubes (Jul 13, 2011)

Wow.  Looks like they're doing a fantastic job.


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## wemakeyousoundb (Jul 13, 2011)

I sure hope the security is not the old crew. Very unpleasant is a bit of an understatement. then again there was the once when I met a nice guy there.
Good venue for gigs. I remember squatting the stage at the end of a RDf gig there and we actually had people dancing before the stage manager cuts the sound off.


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## supercity (Jul 13, 2011)

The cinema equipment in the shots made me wistful. I hope they donate any cinema junk to the Cinema Museum in Kennington.


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## T & P (Jul 13, 2011)

Yelkcub said:


> Did it used to have a large Aussie/Kiwi draw? I remember meeting a Kiwi girl at Turnmills on a Friday (comment here Spion if you read this!) and staying the weekend with her and ending up there on the Saturday - everyone in there was Antipodean!


 Back when I used to occasionally go, in the late 90s and early 80s, there was a gay club on Saturdays there, if memory serves. It wasn't Antipodean-dominated then. On Fridays there were various themes I think; a fondly remembered one was Escape from Samsara, a really good trance club night. Good times were had in that venue


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## ajdown (Jul 13, 2011)

Surprised to find a Youtube video of Ozric Tentacles playing in Brixton in 1991 I think?    Nice to know they were up here even if it was before I was.


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## editor (Jul 13, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Very cool that the new venue will be used to train sound engineers


It's a long story but that gear was all put in, then taken out and now it's all going back in again!


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## snowy_again (Jul 13, 2011)

ajdown said:


> Surprised to find a Youtube video of Ozric Tentacles playing in Brixton in 1991 I think?    Nice to know they were up here even if it was before I was.



The concept of AJ being a prog dance fan has addled my brain! 

Wasn't Love Muscle there on a saturday, or was that just in the Piano Building / Sub Club?


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## Winot (Jul 13, 2011)

Yeah, Love Muscle on a Saturday, Escape From Samsara on a Friday iirc.


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## twistedAM (Jul 13, 2011)

OK then, who else saw Take That at the old Fridge?


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## eroom (Jul 13, 2011)

Winot said:


> Yeah, Love Muscle on a Saturday, Escape From Samsara on a Friday iirc.


 
Oh yes... they were indeed on consecutive nights...

I know one group of lads who arrived all ready to Escape from Samsara on a Saturday, only to discover they had the wrong night... To their enormous credit they decided to give Love Muscle a go - and one of them had a very surprising, and formative, encounter.


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## Winot (Jul 13, 2011)

I ended up at a gay night there - not sure it was LM - where bizarrely the downstairs space seemed to be occupied by a mixed Italian school party.  Went for a wander upstairs and was told in the friendliest terms by someone coming down the stairs that I really shouldn't...

/straight shame


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## leanderman (Jul 13, 2011)

It could have been the making of you!


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## peterkro (Jul 14, 2011)

wemakeyousoundb said:


> I sure hope the security is not the old crew. Very unpleasant is a bit of an understatement. then again there was the once when I met a nice guy there.
> Good venue for gigs. I remember squatting the stage at the end of a RDf gig there and we actually had people dancing before the stage manager cuts the sound off.



That's a bit unfair,in a industry noted for it's violence Ralph and Richard ran/run a very tight crew,nice guys if you weren't trying to sell crack to teenagers.There was of course the run in with the team at the Academy which left several of them in hospital,but that was business and in no way just gratuitous violence.


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## wemakeyousoundb (Jul 14, 2011)

peterkro said:


> That's a bit unfair,in a industry noted for it's violence Ralph and Richard ran/run a very tight crew,nice guys if you weren't trying to sell crack to teenagers.There was of course the run in with the team at the Academy which left several of them in hospital,but that was business and in no way just gratuitous violence.


 
well, no idea what the run in with the team at the academy was. I just know that I got treated not very nicely by the security there quite a few times (late 80s) as in "nope you can't get your coat out the coat check you've just been kicked out the place" and nope I wasn't selling any crack, more of a "we can't find the guy we want this one will do" type of story, and as I said, one of the security guy there was really nice to me once when I somehow ended up in a k hole on one of their fire escape staircase (only accessible to staff though, so this might have helped). I must also ad no violence was actually involved, so my ramblings might just be pissed complaints, and I had no trouble the couple of times I went there in the early 90s. 
I just use to get this bad vibe of them generally, to be fair I was a lot younger and probably a lot more trouble making than I am now without the shadow of a doubt.


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## teuchter (Jul 14, 2011)

It's looking good in the photos... so many supposed renaissances of that place over the past few years; hopefully this time it'll actually come to something. The fact they are putting the effort in to tidy up the interior suggests they are serious about it.

The tube station's going to be fun on nights where gigs here and at the academy finish at the same time!


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## peterkro (Jul 14, 2011)

wemakeyousoundb said:


> well, no idea what the run in with the team at the academy was. I just know that I got treated not very nicely by the security there quite a few times (late 80s) as in "nope you can't get your coat out the coat check you've just been kicked out the place" and nope I wasn't selling any crack, more of a "we can't find the guy we want this one will do" type of story, and as I said, one of the security guy there was really nice to me once when I somehow ended up in a k hole on one of their fire escape staircase (only accessible to staff though, so this might have helped). I must also ad no violence was actually involved, so my ramblings might just be pissed complaints, and I had no trouble the couple of times I went there in the early 90s.
> I just use to get this bad vibe of them generally, to be fair I was a lot younger and probably a lot more trouble making than I am now without the shadow of a doubt.



I worked with them and generally speaking they were fine,a tendency to homophobia but regular guys if you could get past that.I've seen them go out armed only with chains (from the fire doors) to confront someone who had just fired a sawn off shotgun at the main doors.The bust up with the Academy guys was a big deal at the time and sorted who controlled Brixton for some time.As a indication of who worked the Academy doors at the time this was one of them:
http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/life-for-hitman-who-shot-pc/DRfl-wyS1kJabpcy

(by the way the ceiling in the Fridge is a big deal I happen to know it has to be inspected each year and a brown paper bag containing readies was necessary to get a surveyor to sign off on it.About half a ton of plaster dropped off in the early nineties,fortunately it was 5am and only staff were around.I don't know if the new leaseholders have done any work on it but the "a velvet curtain draped over the ceiling" suggests not.By the way when I worked there I got a hazmat team to remove the asbestos from the big extraction ducts either side of the stage,they did not remove the asbestos that lines the ducts which go to the big extraction fan on the roof.


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## twistedAM (Aug 24, 2011)

They've announced the first 3 live gigs: Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers and New Model Army.

Not my kind of thing personally but at least it's better than the last relaunch and if they produce those shows well then others will come.

They also have a few housey nights on with Felix da Housecat doing the opening night on 24/9

http://www.electricbrixton.com/

New story here (with unfortunate "Brixton is the new Camden" quote)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14578225


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## ddraig (Aug 24, 2011)

sounds good
and ed's photo used too!


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## editor (Aug 24, 2011)

ddraig said:


> sounds good
> and ed's photo used too!


I made sure the link to urban75 went in the article


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## Dan U (Aug 24, 2011)

the website is chuffing terrible

glad to see the old place open again

you can +1 to people who went to Love Muscle by mistake. We went to try and blag our way in to The Orb at The Academy in the early 90s. Failed and just thought we'll go to The Fridge, didn't really notice the gay porn on the TV wall on paying nor register the smell of poppers for a bit (we were pretty pissed). Had a great night though! was certainly a bit of an eye opener at the time.


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## snowy_again (Aug 24, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> They've announced the first 3 live gigs: Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers and New Model Army.
> 
> Not my kind of thing personally but at least it's better than the last relaunch and if they produce those shows well then others will come.



does that mean lots of flying clogs? NMA seem a safe, sell out choice, but sham 69? Is that one gig or several?


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## twistedAM (Aug 24, 2011)

snowy_again said:


> does that mean lots of flying clogs? NMA seem a safe, sell out choice, but sham 69? Is that one gig or several?



Sham 69 is a one-off show from the 1977 line-up. From what i hear there'll be plenty of old punks paying £20 + bf + tf for that one.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 24, 2011)

> "*Brixton is the new Camden*," says Electric Brixton's owner Dominic Madden.



Scary stuff


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## editor (Aug 24, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> New story here (with unfortunate "Brixton is the new Camden" quote)
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14578225


Very unfortunate indeed.


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## Onket (Aug 24, 2011)

> a hoarding covers up a giant graffiti ghetto blaster, due to be unveiled next month.


Hmmmm. I hope that looks better than it sounds.


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## snowy_again (Aug 24, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Sham 69 is a one-off show from the 1977 line-up. From what i hear there'll be plenty of old punks paying £20 + bf + tf for that one.



Ah, I see. There was a time in teh 90s when you could play drunken football with them every Friday night behind the Astoria. You might not have wanted to, but it always seemed inevitable.


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## twistedAM (Aug 24, 2011)

editor said:


> Very unfortunate indeed.



Yeah...imagine. Every night is a Britpop night. I hate that place; luckily the Electric Ballroom is a few steps away from Camden tube.


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## leanderman (Aug 24, 2011)

Onket said:


> Hmmmm. I hope that looks better than it sounds.



It sounds terrible. Can't they just have a neutral, plain facade?


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## teuchter (Aug 25, 2011)

Onket said:


> Hmmmm. I hope that looks better than it sounds.



Sounds a bit Camden to me.


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 29, 2011)

Good to see ed's photo. Nice write up from the beeb there apart from the spelling mistakes "We compliment the Academy" and "thumping base"


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## aqua (Aug 29, 2011)

I had some awesome nights there at Love Muscle  The snow inside at a Xmas one was ace  Glad to see it reopening and hope it works x


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## Mrs Magpie (Aug 30, 2011)

peterkro said:


> I worked with them and generally speaking they were fine


I beg to differ. A friend used to put on regular club nights there and I sometimes worked as a First-Aider. One time they wouldn't let us in to set up and were really aggressive and I know the club promoter thought they were a nightmare. Also there was an incident where one of the admin officers concerned with local community policing groups was in the Satay Bar and the Fridge security guys came in, got heavy with customers and told them to leave and got really heavy with the Satay Bar staff. All the customers had fled except for this particularly feisty admin officer who refused to leave and she was the one who called the police. At the time she suspected it was some sort of protection racket although it turned out to be a dispute involving one of the Fridge security's girlfriend. I know the the Borough Commander got involved with that one.


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## 19sixtysix (Aug 30, 2011)

Friends went to Brava the opening club night on saturday and apart from a spot of wet paint (signs were up) they all had good night. It was busy with good music to dance, friendly staff and drinks at reasonable prices. They said it was nice to see the old place spruced up. I'm sorry I missed it but I sort of over achieved earlier that evening


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## gabi (Aug 30, 2011)

'the new Camden'??? 

that's a slappable comment right from the off, not a good start


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## colacubes (Aug 30, 2011)

19sixtysix said:


> Friends went to Brava the opening club night on saturday and apart from a spot of wet paint (signs were up) they all had good night. It was busy with good music to dance, friendly staff and drinks at reasonable prices. They said it was nice to see the old place spruced up. I'm sorry I missed it but I sort of over achieved earlier that evening



Was that Electric Social rather than Electric Brixton (so confusing ).  I didn't think Electric Brixton was opening till 24th September?


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## Crispy (Aug 30, 2011)

nipsla said:


> Was that Electric Social rather than Electric Brixton (so confusing ). I didn't think Electric Brixton was opening till 24th September?


A quick google says definitely the electric brixton


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

The Electric Social is a new bar on Acre Lane. It's not open yet.
http://www.electricsocial.com/

And they actually use the word 'cyberspace' on their home page.


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## TitanSound (Aug 30, 2011)

aqua said:


> I had some awesome nights there at Love Muscle  The snow inside at a Xmas one was ace  Glad to see it reopening and hope it works x



My only night at love muscle was ruined by someone who had never had pills before. They had been told to double drop as it was "awesome". About an hour later they were freaking out big time and I had to take them home


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## TitanSound (Aug 30, 2011)

Crispy said:


> A quick google says definitely the electric brixton



Are they any connection? Or just adding confusion?


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> Are they any connection? Or just adding confusion?


Not connected at all.


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## colacubes (Aug 30, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> Are they any connection? Or just adding confusion?



Just adding confusion I think   I'm clearly very confused and they're not even both open yet


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

i think it's quite useful for a newspaper to call brixton the new camden, considering the article's about a new music venue. why the facepalms?


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i think it's quite useful for a newspaper to call brixton the new camden, considering the article's about a new music venue. why the facepalms?


Have you been to Camden recently?


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

earlier this year, yeah. brixton getting a new medium-sized music venue makes it much more comparable to camden, in a newspaper selling kind of way.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

it's also quite like it in another way - street dealers


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## TitanSound (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> Not connected at all.





nipsla said:


> Just adding confusion I think  I'm clearly very confused and they're not even both open yet



It does seem counter productive.

"You going to Electric later?"

"Yes"

*later*

"Where are you?"

"The Electric"

"So am I.."

etc etc etc.


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## colacubes (Aug 30, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> It does seem counter productive.
> 
> "You going to Electric later?"
> 
> ...



Doesn't help that I live on Electric Avenue either.  Triple confusion ftw


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> earlier this year, yeah. brixton getting a new medium-sized music venue makes it much more comparable to camden, in a newspaper selling kind of way.


Not really sure what a 'newspaper selling kind of way' means.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> Not really sure what a 'newspaper selling kind of way' means.


they like comparing places and saying something is the new something else. it's kind of lazy but it's often how people think of things, so i can see why they do it.


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## gabi (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i think it's quite useful for a newspaper to call brixton the new camden, considering the article's about a new music venue. why the facepalms?



how is it useful? they're totally different, there's no similarity in any way - and camden is hardly a place to aspire to be like anyway. its fucking hideous up there.


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> they like comparing places and saying something is the new something else. it's kind of lazy but it's often how people think of things, so i can see why they do it.


I'm struggling to find too many meaningful comparisons between the two places, to be honest.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

they're both out of the way (from central london) areas that have a high concentration of bars and music venues. whatever you think of their patrons, they're quite similar.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

the





editor said:


> I'm struggling to find too many meaningful comparisons between the two places, to be honest.


what? don't be daft! they're eminently comparable.


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## twistedAM (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> i think it's quite useful for a newspaper to call brixton the new camden, considering the article's about a new music venue. why the facepalms?



Camden is dated. Why aim to be like somewhere that has gone well past it's sell-by date some time ago?


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Camden is dated. Why aim to be like somewhere that has gone well past it's sell-by date some time ago?


Indeed. It's a place that is primarily associated with a music scene that is loooong past its sell by date.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> I'm struggling to find too many meaningful comparisons between the two places, to be honest.


loads of bars, loads of music venues, loads of young people hanging about looking strange, loads of dealers ripping off said young people, loads of dodgy takeaways. both pains in the arse to get home from on public transport if you live on the other side of london.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Camden is dated. Why aim to be like somewhere that has gone well past it's sell-by date some time ago?


which is why they're saying that Brixton is the NEW Camden. why are people so bothered with the comparison?


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> Indeed. It's a place that is primarily associated with a music scene that is loooong past its sell by date.


time for Brixton to take over then


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> which is why they're saying that Brixton is the NEW Camden. why are people so bothered with the comparison?


Because Brixton shares very little with Camden's musical heritage?


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> Because Brixton shares very little with Camden's musical heritage?


so what?
they still have many things in common which would be worth comparing in a newspaper article.


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## twistedAM (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> which is why they're saying that Brixton is the NEW Camden. why are people so bothered with the comparison?



Why would anywhere want to be the NEW Camden? It's a place that had it's time. It's a step backwards.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Why would anywhere want to be the NEW Camden? It's a place that had it's time. It's a step backwards.


it's just a newspaper article. no-one's gonna build a huge neon sign declaring it to be the new Camden!


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## quimcunx (Aug 30, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> My only night at love muscle was ruined by someone who had never had pills before. They had been told to double drop as it was "awesome". About an hour later they were freaking out big time and I had to take them home



To be fair it was ruined by whatever arsehole told someone who hadn't had pills before to double drop.


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## twistedAM (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> it's just a newspaper article. no-one's gonna build a huge neon sign declaring it to be the new Camden!



yeah but this is a messageboard and it is our wont to moan about stuff like that


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## TitanSound (Aug 30, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> To be fair it was ruined by whatever arsehole told someone who hadn't had pills before to double drop.



This is true. I'll hunt them down and slap them assertively in the face whilst giving them a stern look.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> yeah but this is a messageboard and it is our wont to moan about stuff like that


just as long as you realise that while Brixton is certainly a special and unique place, this does not preclude it from being compared with anywhere else, especially if it shares a number of characteristics with that place. Brixton will not suffer from these kinds of comparisons, so need to get hot under the collar about it


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## gabi (Aug 30, 2011)

the only thing they have in common is that they're in london. they're totally different.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

gabi said:


> the only thing they have in common is that they're in london. they're totally different.


and all the other things that they have in common that i mentioned


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## gabi (Aug 30, 2011)

manhattan has takeaway shops, venues and drug dealers - do you think that's a similar place to brixton?


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## Crispy (Aug 30, 2011)

I'm with OU on this, the comparison is a good one, in general.


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## killer b (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> it's just a newspaper article. no-one's gonna build a huge neon sign declaring it to be the new Camden!


maybe you could get banksy to come and do a big stencil though?


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

gabi said:


> manhattan has takeaway shops, venues and drug dealers - do you think that's a similar place to brixton?


yeah, in many ways


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## twistedAM (Aug 30, 2011)

Crispy said:


> I'm with OU on this, the comparison is a good one, in general.



Actually it's quite clever from Electric Brixton's perspective as Camden has two similar-sized venue (Electric Ballroom and Koko) that it'll be competing with and want to take bookings away from.
The Electric Ballroom is the only thing I like about Camden.


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## editor (Aug 30, 2011)

Crispy said:


> I'm with OU on this, the comparison is a good one, in general.


Yes. We've just got to completely change the character of the High Street, change the demographics of the people who frequent the place and it'll almost be identical!


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## aqua (Aug 30, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> My only night at love muscle was ruined by someone who had never had pills before. They had been told to double drop as it was "awesome". About an hour later they were freaking out big time and I had to take them home


oh god  I never had a bad time in there tbh, although I was always absolutely twatted  God thinking about it is bringing back awesome memories  *wistful*


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## Crispy (Aug 30, 2011)

editor said:


> Yes. We've just got to completely change the character of the High Street, change the demographics of the people who frequent the place and it'll almost be identical!


Totally what I meant. Thanks for clarifying for me.


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## teuchter (Aug 30, 2011)

Brixton is the new Inverness. They both have a Hootenanny, and it's a useful comparison in a newspaper selling kind of way.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

camden is just like brixton though, unlike inverness


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## Greebo (Aug 30, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> camden is just like brixton though, unlike inverness


labyrinthine market - check
gentrification - check
some outsiders thinking they're really brave to go there - check
parking problems - check
lack of adequate public loos - check
tube station - check
bits which even a local person might not find - check
live music venue - check
That's where the similarity ends.  I don't remember finding a canal in Brixton, and the 2 markets are aimed at completely different people.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

so what did the romans do for us?


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## paolo (Aug 30, 2011)

Biggest music scenes:

North of the river: Camden
South of the river: Brixton

On that level they can be compared. And that level is enough for a newspaper article. There isn't some unwritten obligation to go through a detailed comparative analysis.


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## twistedAM (Aug 30, 2011)

paolo999 said:


> Biggest music scenes:
> 
> North of the river: Camden
> South of the river: Brixton
> ...



Which side of the river is Shoreditch on?


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## teuchter (Aug 30, 2011)

I think a lot of people would say the biggest music scene north of the river was in the east end. Camden has a few large venues that provincial teenagers and tourists go to, and a market that provincial teenagers and tourists go to. It doesn't really have a "music scene" of very much consequence.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

twistedAM said:


> Which side of the river is Shoreditch on?


that's clubs not bands. brixton and camden are shit for clubs. another thing they have in common!


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

teuchter said:


> I think a lot of people would say the biggest music scene north of the river was in the east end. Camden has a few large venues that provincial teenagers and tourists go to, and a market that provincial teenagers and tourists go to. It doesn't really have a "music scene" of very much consequence.


it's still where many young bands aim to get gigs. getting a gig at barfly is their goal in life. they are shit bands mind.


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## paolo (Aug 30, 2011)

teuchter said:


> I think a lot of people would say the biggest music scene north of the river was in the east end. Camden has a few large venues that provincial teenagers and tourists go to, and a market that provincial teenagers and tourists go to. It doesn't really have a "music scene" of very much consequence.



The general notion is good enough.

Birmingham has more miles of canals than venice, and yet when a place is described as 'The Venice of the North' - such as St Petersburg - people understand the meaning without quibbling over size of the canal networks of various cities.


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## Orang Utan (Aug 30, 2011)

teuchter said:


> I think a lot of people would say the biggest music scene north of the river was in the east end. Camden has a few large venues that provincial teenagers and tourists go to, and a market that provincial teenagers and tourists go to. It doesn't really have a "music scene" of very much consequence.


which is why it's just like brixton in many ways


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## Onket (Sep 1, 2011)

killer b said:


> maybe you could get banksy to come and do a big stencil though?



http://www.urban75.org/blog/brixtons-lost-banksy-graffiti/


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## leanderman (Sep 20, 2011)

The new murals (giant speakers) on the Electric are not as bad as feared.

They are made from a poster-like material though, so may look tatty quite quickly


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## editor (Sep 20, 2011)

Who's coming to the opening party tonight then?


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## colacubes (Sep 20, 2011)

editor said:


> Who's coming to the opening party tonight then?



Me, but you already know that


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## Badgers (Sep 21, 2011)

leanderman said:


> The new murals (giant speakers) on the Electric are not as bad as feared.
> 
> They are made from a poster-like material though, so may look tatty quite quickly



I think they look good too. Would imagine they are easy enough to change too?


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## gabi (Sep 21, 2011)

um. what the fuck. hard-fi were one of the best bands ive seen all year. tight as fuck. hard-fi. maybe i need to get out more.

sound at the new venue was a bit shonky. and possibly employing more than 5 bar staff for the huge main bar, and also people who have previous bar experience (and not more interested in talking about their new nailpolish than serving punters) might be one improvement


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## wemakeyousoundb (Sep 21, 2011)

crap website they have


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## Onket (Sep 21, 2011)

leanderman said:


> The new murals (giant speakers) on the Electric are not as bad as feared.




This^



Badgers said:


> I think they look good too.



I wouldn't go that far^


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## Badgers (Sep 21, 2011)

Onket said:


> I wouldn't go that far^



I would


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## editor (Sep 21, 2011)

The stage lighting was fantastic last night. The venue's off to a good start, IMO.

Photos soon!


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## colacubes (Sep 21, 2011)

I think they've done a really good job with the venue.  The interior's lovely, lighting was ace, and I thought the sound was actually pretty good.

Gabi's point about the bar is entirely true.  I guess that's why they've done 2 soft launches but I can't see how they're going to improve much by the weekend.  It was nearly as bad in the upstairs bar, and considering that was largely free, it should have been a lot quicker.

They've done a canny thing building the little smoking area upstairs.  Should prevent loads of people spilling onto the street to have a fag in the middle of the night and causing a load of noise.

Overall, a win I'd say


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## gabi (Sep 21, 2011)

Another weird thing about the bar - first time we ordered it was £2.50 a pint, the next time it had jumped to £4 and the last time I went up it had gone up to $4.10. wtf is that all about?


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## paolo (Sep 21, 2011)

gabi said:


> Another weird thing about the bar - first time we ordered it was £2.50 a pint, the next time it had jumped to £4 and the last time I went up it had gone up to $4.10. wtf is that all about?



Customer specific pricing


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## Biddlybee (Sep 21, 2011)

Like, the more you moan the more you pay?


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## gabi (Sep 21, 2011)

that could be the case 

i wasn't exactly over the moon at waiting over half an hour for a drink so im sure my face reflected that by the time i got served. altho nowhere near as pissed off as others. i thought there might be a riot at one point.


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## TitanSound (Sep 21, 2011)

It's a trend I've noticed more and more in London in the last couple of years. It's fucking irritating having to wait for more than ten minutes to get served in a venue.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 21, 2011)

gabi said:


> Another weird thing about the bar - first time we ordered it was £2.50 a pint, the next time it had jumped to £4 and the last time I went up it had gone up to $4.10. wtf is that all about?



Good job you didn't stay to the end, by then it was in Tunisian Dollars and there was a riot.


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## editor (Sep 21, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> It's a trend I've noticed more and more in London in the last couple of years. It's fucking irritating having to wait for more than ten minutes to get served in a venue.


That'll be all the hipsters and trendies with their _hoity toity_ drinks and cocktails. And fucking Guinness. That shit takes an eternity to pour.


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## TitanSound (Sep 21, 2011)

editor said:


> That'll be all the hipsters and trendies with their _hoity toity_ drinks and cocktails. And fucking Guinness. That shit takes an eternity to pour.



I've always thought if a busy bar serves cocktails, they should have a dedicated part of the bar for it. Say you have 4 staff on and 3 are making cocktails, it takes them out of the serving loop for far too long. And then if number 4 gets a cocktail order, everyone's fucked


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## editor (Sep 21, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> I've always thought if a busy bar serves cocktails, they should have a dedicated part of the bar for it. Say you have 4 staff on and 3 are making cocktails, it takes them out of the serving loop for far too long. And then if number 4 gets a cocktail order, everyone's fucked


 Definitely. Let the cocktail poshos queue up for their fiddly little drinks while the serious business of beer dispensing is attended to by the majority of the bar workforce.


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## TitanSound (Sep 21, 2011)

editor said:


> Definitely. Let the cocktail poshos queue up for their fiddly little drinks while the serious business of beer dispensing is attended to by the majority of the bar workforce.



I think it comes down to training as well. My friend runs a pub right next to a big London venue and his staff are like a crack team of bar ninjas. They will happily take 3 orders at a time whilst pouring and remember them all. The bar gets very busy, but no one is left waiting for more than five minutes. They don't make cocktails though.

I suppose that's a mixture of enthusiasm and my friends ethos when it comes to good customer service.


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## editor (Sep 21, 2011)

Photos from the show:

















http://www.urban75.org/blog/hard-fi-headline-the-electric-brixton-reopening-party-20th-sept-2011/


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## Badgers (Sep 21, 2011)

TitanSound said:


> I've always thought if a busy bar serves cocktails, they should have a dedicated part of the bar for it. Say you have 4 staff on and 3 are making cocktails, it takes them out of the serving loop for far too long. And then if number 4 gets a cocktail order, everyone's fucked



Can we have a thread dedicated to this sort of thing please


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## TitanSound (Sep 21, 2011)

Badgers said:


> Can we have a thread dedicated to this sort of thing please



Certainly


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## snowy_again (Sep 21, 2011)

No amount of beer would make Hard Fi palatable for me!  The venue looks good though.

I've got tickets for the Brixton Pound thing out of curiosity and I'm still tempted by the Feliz da Housecat / deFreq weekend thing.


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## Rushy (Sep 21, 2011)

Photos of the inside look pretty impressive. Although the outside is an improvement upon the sad derilection of the Fridge it is pretty disappointing - really cheap build (badly mounted stickers on ply and visible bare studwork) which will almost certainly degrade quickly. Horribly drab IMO (I like grey - but battleship grey?). Hopefully it's just a temporary fix until they get a better idea of whether they can make a go of the place. Good luck to them though.


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## editor (Sep 21, 2011)

Rushy said:


> Photos of the inside look pretty impressive. Although the outside is an improvement upon the sad derilection of the Fridge it is pretty disappointing - really cheap build (badly mounted stickers on ply and visible bare studwork) which will almost certainly degrade quickly. Horribly drab IMO (I like grey - but battleship grey?). Hopefully it's just a temporary fix until they get a better idea of whether they can make a go of the place. Good luck to them though.


I'd imagine they've had to stretch their budget very thinly indeed to attend to all the work needed to get the venue open again.  The front doesn't look great but it's better than how it looked recently.


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## Rushy (Sep 21, 2011)

editor said:


> I'd imagine they've had to stretch their budget very thinly indeed to attend to all the work needed to get the venue open again. The front doesn't look great but it's better than how it looked recently.


I imagine the budget to get that place sorted to it's current condition would make most people's eyes water!


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## DJWrongspeed (Sep 21, 2011)

gabi said:


> Another weird thing about the bar - first time we ordered it was £2.50 a pint, the next time it had jumped to £4 and the last time I went up it had gone up to $4.10. wtf is that all about?



Useful for not getting drunk I guess.  If the 4th pint was £5.50 you might think again


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## leanderman (Sep 22, 2011)

Rushy said:


> Photos of the inside look pretty impressive. Although the outside is an improvement upon the sad derilection of the Fridge it is pretty disappointing - really cheap build (badly mounted stickers on ply and visible bare studwork) which will almost certainly degrade quickly. Horribly drab IMO (I like grey - but battleship grey?). Hopefully it's just a temporary fix until they get a better idea of whether they can make a go of the place. Good luck to them though.



I think it is princess grey! The poster mosaics look very vulnerable


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## Rushy (Sep 24, 2011)

leanderman said:


> I think it is princess grey! The poster mosaics look very vulnerable



The latest additions make it look like a teenagers bedroom. It is a fun for a single event but a is going to become very tiresome as a permanent installation IMO.


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## stevebradley (Sep 27, 2011)

Rushy said:


> Photos of the inside look pretty impressive. Although the outside is an improvement upon the sad derilection of the Fridge it is pretty disappointing - really cheap build (badly mounted stickers on ply and visible bare studwork) which will almost certainly degrade quickly. Horribly drab IMO (I like grey - but battleship grey?). *Hopefully it's just a temporary fix until they get a better idea of whether they can make a go of the place*. Good luck to them though.



They've invested a serious amount of money in the place, so any suggestion that they're taking a 'suck it and see' approach to potential success is way off the mark in fairness. Their either going to make a success of the venue, or go down trying.

They did have a very tight timeline for works prior to opening though, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the finishing touches were patch-ups for opening night with a view to addressing them properly afterwards.


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## editor (Sep 27, 2011)

Indeed. They must have already spent a small fortune on the place.

<plug>
Oh, and don't forget, I'm DJing the Brixton Pound launch party at the venue in Thursday - and it's free (but get in quick to bag your tickets!
http://www.urban75.org/offline/index.html#29092011
</plug>


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## Rushy (Sep 27, 2011)

stevebradley said:


> They've invested a serious amount of money in the place, so any suggestion that they're taking a 'suck it and see' approach to potential success is way off the mark in fairness. Their either going to make a success of the venue, or go down trying.
> 
> They did have a very tight timeline for works prior to opening though, so *I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the finishing touches were patch-ups for opening night with a view to addressing them properly afterwards.*



Sounds like you know way more about the project than I do.  I hope you are right that the front is a just temporary patch up just for opening night. It certainly does not have an air of permanence.


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## ska invita (Dec 22, 2011)

Whats the verdict on the Electric? most importantly, what's the soundsystem like? The Fridge rig in its last days was excellent I thought - I fear it was ripped and replaced with tinny tat..

BTW: looking at their forthcoming events there's just one thing in Jan and one in Feb...doesn't sound too sustainable


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## colacubes (Dec 22, 2011)

ska invita said:


> Whats the verdict on the Electric? most importantly, what's the soundsystem like? The Fridge rig in its last days was excellent I thought - I fear it was ripped and replaced with tinny tat..



I think it's pretty good.  Have been to 3 things there (1 live band, 1 club night and another event I DJed at ), and the sound quality was pretty good for all of them.  Nice size venue too.  Probably not the best but I'm just glad it's up and running and the new owners seem to be having a good go of it


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## ska invita (Dec 22, 2011)

Pic looks good, but just to be grumpy a minute, the sound in the old fridge was in the round, you had big cabs in a circle under where the balcony starts - its sounded brilliant - seems like thats gone to make the floor space bigger, and those boxes on either side of the stage don't look too exciting or up to the size of the room. Anyhow, there's only one way to really find out... looking forward to going to something in 2012


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## Brixton Hatter (Dec 22, 2011)

yeah, it looks like it's been set up for bands rather than DJs - with all the action at the front on the stage, rather than having a round dancefloor with sound coming from all around....

I dont imagine it's still the same rig, despite the fact there was a fairly new rig put in there not long before it closed....


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## DJWrongspeed (Dec 22, 2011)

I overheard on the bus that the council asked them to take down the big speaker cab drapes, is this true ?

Does look a bit drab now and the events board always seems blank.


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## Brixton Hatter (Dec 23, 2011)

DJWrongspeed said:


> I overheard on the bus that the council asked them to take down the big speaker cab drapes, is this true ?


they got damaged in the wind and then taken down shortly afterwards


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## Rushy (Dec 23, 2011)

Someone at the council told me it was a planning issue.


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## Onket (Dec 28, 2011)

There was an article in the SLP a while back that was reporting on a 'tweet' made by Steve Reed-

http://mobile.twitter.com/cllrstevereed/status/126686466096119808

I can't find the actual story though.

They definitely got damaged in the wind though, as the Hatter says.


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## Brixton Hatter (Dec 29, 2011)

Onket said:


> There was an article in the SLP a while back that was reporting on a 'tweet' made by Steve Reed-
> 
> http://mobile.twitter.com/cllrstevereed/status/126686466096119808


So basically Lambeth doesn't follow planning law, it just operates on the personal whim of Steve Reed. I notice he never complained about the various illegal advertisements put up on the Prince of Wales and on top of Iceland over the past few years.

Not to metion the dodgy sign on CHL opposite Ed's place and the awful facade on Living/that short lived butchers.


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## Onket (Dec 30, 2011)

I think it actually got taken down cos it was damaged in the wind, but I posted about the story in the SLP as it might have fuelled what people had heard & posted about.


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## Brix69 (Dec 30, 2011)

Brixton Hatter said:


> So basically Lambeth doesn't follow planning law, it just operates on the personal whim of Steve Reed. I notice he never complained about the various illegal advertisements put up on the Prince of Wales and on top of Iceland over the past few years.
> 
> Not to metion the dodgy sign on CHL opposite Ed's place and the awful facade on Living/that short lived butchers.



Given their failures over the Tesco fiasco and the market situation, it does seem rather muppety to ask planning to intervene over a well designed facade. Maybe he's trying to get it turned into a supermarket. I gather they've allowed the Duke of Welly on Acre Lane to be flattened as well


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## Onket (Jan 3, 2012)

.


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## teuchter (Jan 4, 2012)

Brix69 said:


> Given their failures over the Tesco fiasco and the market situation, it does seem rather muppety to ask planning to intervene over a well designed facade. Maybe he's trying to get it turned into a supermarket. I gather they've allowed the Duke of Welly on Acre Lane to be flattened as well



I've no desire to defend Lambeth Planning dept, but it was hardly a "well designed facade".


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## paolo (Jan 4, 2012)

teuchter said:


> I've no desire to defend Lambeth Planning dept, but it was hardly a "well designed facade".



Interesting idea, terribly executed.

The tarpaulin bits looked, intrinsically, like a temporary lash up. The vinyl overlays for the speaker cut-outs were undersized, so there were embarrassing 'short falls' where they didn't quite cover.

It was amateur. I doubt that's a specific planning regs issue, but my local pride insists they do better than that - given it's scale and prominence.


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## Rushy (Jan 4, 2012)

This ^^.


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## teuchter (Apr 29, 2012)

I paid my first visit to the refurbed fridge last night. It was a techno night so in some ways it felt like nothing much had changed... but I reckon they've done a pretty good job. Feels like they've invested in it properly.

I was pretty impressed with the sound set-up actually - it sounded good to me.

It was lacking in lasers, though.


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