Barfly has closed until autumn

sorry, i accidentally deleted that whilst trying to ammend the title.

looks like the Barfly has closed folks

*edited title due to Mrs Robinsons official statement

and to reiterate my condolences to all those who worked their arses off there to try and make a success of a site that has pretty consistently failed to make money due to size and location

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Where's this coming from alt?

a friend who has very close connections. Neil Jones has also been told and there is apparently a sign on the door saying it has closed with immediate effect. Can anyone confirm that?

Balls! :(

*Neil Jones of Church of noise that is

closed? as in closed down forever? that sucks...

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where's the sense in closing without warning?

Official statement* reads thus:

"As part of our on-going investment programme in our live music estate we are going to be changing the layout of the Cambridge venue. To this end we will be closing the venue with immediate effect and reopening in the autumn (date to be confirmed)."

*Released by Barfly, subject to spin.

Thank you all. Anyone got any jobs going for a 1st class honours graduate with an IQ of 139 and a

Ah crapfuck

Yeah crapfuck indeed.

where's the sense in closing without warning?

I would imagine they've tried to keep it going, but had to make a quick decision based on funds. Not nice for anyone working there though. Bah.

Shit, Matt, did you not get any warning of this? Fuckers...

So what is going to happen to all the gigs planned for that venue over the next couple of months. Please don't tell me the soul tree is back!

Similar happening to Brighton Barfly - wonder if there's a general problem, or it's totally true.

*edited title

At least it looks hopeful of a re-opening :-)

:-(

Condolences to Mrs R and others that worked there.

i'm gutted but not surprised but still extend my condolences to mrs robinson & co.
this is what happens when a private equity company tries to get instant returns from a business they know nothing about. fucking shambles all round.

Changing the layout - it's not even been open a year! Sounds like bullshit to me. It does have a terrible layout, though. Nice of them to give the staff plenty of warninbg.

Melt-Banana at the Portland? It'd be awesome!

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First things first: condolences to Matt and others and thanks for honestly one of the best experiences I've had hiring a larger venue, for Fuck Buttons.

Second things: Speaking as someone with a booking in 20 days' time: Fuck!

Yeah what is happening to the Melt-Banana / Bearsuit gig? I really hope this is not going to get cancelled.

putting the gig room downstairs and the bar upstairs? :o

Really sorry to hear about this Matt (and the rest of the crew) I hope something works out for you. Back to language schools?

Re: Melt-Banana/Bearsuit/Scotch Egg.

Just heard about this here and now. I hope there will be other options for this gig at other venues, but the likes of the Portland or the Moon are right out unfortunately just based on the tech spec -- I'm not going to give up easily on that one after 5 years don't worry.

Condolences to Mrs R...

Opens up our gig schedule quite a bit...

I still think Cambridge really needs a venue of that size, shame .

Time to start an action group on venues in Cambridge

Re: Melt banana

How about renting a scout hut or something and PA. theres one at the bottom of mill rd/perne rd. Or having the gig in my front room?! or mill rd social squat?

just a thought.

Good luck Mrs R.

To all CON-ers on WAN. We'll be doing CON Beers in the Portland on Friday instead.

hope it works out Mrs R. That's real shit news.

or the romsey labour club???

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Miss R.... we have a couple of jobs going for ok money if you're a bit computer savvy...

Gutted, was just growing on me as well and some great gigs coming up.

Mind you its a bit out of the way to attract passing trade for the bar to work that well during the week even when gigs are on when you consider the size of the venue.

Real shame :-(

Sorry to here that Mrs R, and the rest of the guys there. You were all really cool when ever we played. Real shame!

Sorry to hear that Mrs R, and the rest of the guys there. You were all really cool when ever we played. Real shame!

I did my first sound shift last night....and then this...

Gotta say that on a scale of 1 to 10 this sucks bigtime....Barfly was an ideal venue for the smaller (and not so small) bands to play in a professional environment. I can't believe they've been closed down so quickly (even if it is for a 'refurb'). Bummer !

Hmmm... I'd just like to join the chorus of people shouting "Balls!":

Balls!

We were always treated really well by the folks there so big love to you all. Here's hoping it's not just bullshit and that it really does return refurbished in Autumn. I can see no reason to believe that it will happen though. I remember when Fibbers in York suddenly closed like this with no warning at all. Weirdly it was then bailed out by Barfly... Who would bail Barfly out?

It'd pretty annoying as the potential is there for the building, but it needs so much work in regards to toilets/plumbing/ventilation and with heating and comfort downstairs could be a really good place to hang out.

... I hope it re-opens. It did nothing but postive things for local music, gig goers, promoters and the social element was huge. I met so many people over there that I probabay wouldn't have started talking to anywhere else.

I was looking forward to the UK SUBS as well...

I have to say that Matt and Corinne and the team have treated me very well and I am very disappointed at the loss of such a great team.

Now when it comes to refurb (if that is indeed what they intend) then to my mind given the bar does not take much passing trade it seems sensible to convert the downstairs to the live music venue with a vip bar upstairs or something.

Then it is actually a proper dedicated venue with no need to worry about passing trade too. There is a lot of wasted space in the Barfly so I do sincerely hope that a refurb is the genuine intention. I've always liked it as a venue... even from back in the firkin days with KLUB 90 run by K90 upstairs...

Today is a dark day for the Cambridge music scene... Indeed it's Black Wednesday

So its just shutting down for a re-furb? This is our favorite venue in Cambs. Most of the people there are lovley..Matt, Simon, Sound engineers etc and the sound is really good. Hope its not forever :-(

My personal feeling - It seems to me that the refurb story is a bit of a cover. Why close down without notice when there are plenty of gigs booked? A refurb of a major scale would be planned weeks if not months in advance due to planning regulations/architects/builder quotes etc. You wouldn't close the business and then start looking at that.

I really hope that it does re-open but won't hold my breath. As i say this is my personal feeling and not anything i have heard from others :-)

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Oh fricking hell!

Poor Barfly staff. :(

Maybe they will do it up. That would be awesome. lets keep positive here folks, I am sure this has happened before with other venues.

Neil - ahem.....CoN in back room of Portland from 11-12:30pm Friday night?!

Corrine is a real good friend of mine and i feel really devastated for her. She really loved the job there and Barfly closing down effects her more then anyone.

This sucks big time! Not just for Corrine and everyone who works there, but for cambridge music lovers also. I personally was looking forward to our two gigs there as well as seeing 36 Crazyfists.

I think Green Mind has bought it out from the barfly:

He's probably on to his bank manager right now.... surprisingly quiet! ;-)

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Yep, at a risk of negativity, I totally agree with alternation. A refurb is never going to be an unplanned event. Total cover story for deeper problems I think.

Shall we all club together and buy it?! ;)

i cycled past the Barfly about 15 minutes ago after some fruit & veg shopping and there was a sofa outside and a big green van with bottles and barrels on :(

Green Mind had a lot of future gigs planned there so this is a real kick in the marble satchel for Simon... to re-arrange these gigs is not easy...

Miss G - that'd be ace, wouldn't it. I'd TOTALLY buy a venue, and employ all my friends there, if I won the lottery. It'd have a really cool cafe / bar, smaller and larger gig rooms and a record shop. It'd RULE. Because I'd have won the lottery, it wouldn't need to worry too much about making a profit, so bands could be booked purely on the basis of quality, with no worries about them having to sell out the room. Oh - and it would also have a recording studio and offices for (my) record label.

*dreams*

Yeah exactly its going to be a bit of a let down on Simon and all the other events planned there. Ti be hones the Barly was the only real competitor to the Junction and Corn-ex for a good music venue in Cambrige, where they'd be a good range of artisits appearing there over the year. I get put off by the corn-ex just coz it wasnt initamte enough. But in the past people have been on here talking about the air conditioning situation at the Barfly and i can remember playng there an dthe toilets leaking through the roof. So if the referb rumours are true that would be great. If not we should do what they did with virgin record shops...where a group of shareholders got together, brough it and named it zavvi. Obviously without naming it Zavvi. Hmmm what could we name it?....

This really is shit news for all involved.
We always had a great relationship with Matt and all the staff. I know of many nights when stage times were ammended on both sides so punters could nip between gigs and not miss out, we would often share equipment and change, even barrels of beer, and rather than see them as competition we always saw it as bringing more people to Mitchem's corner and enhancing the profile of our little Backwater.

Lets hope they actually do the refurb and finally realise the potential that building and business has.

We don't have enough money.

I guess you can only have a business if there is a sustainable business model in place in the first place.

You can make all the promotional profit you like but if you cant afford to run a building then it's arguably somewhat fruitless.

The refurb is a cover but I was hoping to remain positive.

If it WAS the plan then architects and surveyors would have been round before now and planning permissions submitted etc...

What a sad day....

They can not be that hard up if they are paying for sofa etc to be removed. Could have just waited for Midsummer Fair week, and left it outside. And some kindly folk will remove it for nothing. Very quickly. Allegedly!
But seriously it is a big loss, just when it was looking like barfly would fill the gap left by the demise of the Boat Race, 4(?) years ago

well my model above is the way forwards for any potential buyer

it could become a 4-500 capacity venue with sufficient investment

convert downstairs and vip upstairs with a viewing platform

Jordan, depnds on what you are paying the owner for the lease tho doesnt it. Mama Group dont own the building...

what, like the Soul Tree or Astoria 2? i can imagine the Boathouse being not best pleased if queues stop anyone using their pub. cant they ditch the pub part to increase capacity, allow younger audience and people can go next door for alc?

They do (did?) allow 15+ anyway for gigs, I thought?

What ozzy said... without a business plan and a money making forecast there is little hope.

Ideally, you could spend millions on a full refurbishment and re-structure of the building but you'd never ever get it back. The last people to throw millions away are the ones with the millions.

This building has never made money. i used to work there before it became it's a scream and the overheads were unbelievable, we made a profit for the last couple of months of fresher and firkin very largely due to some serious promotion and some relatively successful club nights, but the profit was tiny as the midweek trade was tiny.

It is a MASSIVE building in the wrong location.... in a small market town.

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a regular free bus from town to mitchams corner would work wonders

I bet Wetherspoons could get it making a profit...

Knock it down and rebuild a purpose-built venue!

a regular free bus from town to mitchams corner would work wonders

I'm not sure you could justify a bus that travels less than a mile, unless it's for the infirm.

Who owns the building anyway, a brewery?

No Church of Noise??? *Cries a little inside*
Or is it still on?? *shimmering ray of hope soon to be crushed*

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I live on Mill Road and have worn a path walking from there to Mitcham's Corner in recent years! Portland, Barfly, sister's house all over there. It's not so bad a walk, really.*

*except last week for Tokyo Police Club when it was chucking it down. Coat soaked through by the time we got there, wet skin, yuck.

what, like the Soul Tree or Astoria 2? i can imagine the Boathouse being not best pleased if queues stop anyone using their pub. cant they ditch the pub part to increase capacity, allow younger audience and people can go next door for alc?

Crowd control flowing them away from the boathouse

Do'h.

i went in on the WANpilation swap night on my way home to buy a ticket for Mae Shi / Johnny Foreigner and was the only person there, and commented on the quiteness. by the sounds of it only a few people had been in, not enough to cover the staff costs let alone any others. might be okay for a small pub to have the quiet nights but i imagine they had a lot more running costs. wish i'd gone in more now than i have, although in gig terms it was growing on me. i haven't been in the MOTM in at leasr 18 months

Condolences to everyone that worked hard against implausible odds.

Another big loss was Cafe Afrika.

Overheads are stupidly high. Our rent to GK is well over a grand, a week, and that's before we have paid a single bill or bought a single barrel of beer.

God know's what the rent is like on something the size of the graduate...

Hoping to relocate CON for Friday - will post more in due course...

i think we should turn simon_b's house into a venue.... we could all start on saturday as i heard it is on midsummer common.... who's with me?

lets do it :-)

it would work really well, resident promoter and everything..... dunno why we hadn't thought of it before.

simon.... i want 10% for this idea, btw.... cheques payable to CASH will be fine

I think mitchell and butler still own the grad.

Getting money out of Simon is even less likely than him opening a venue in his house James! ;-)

IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME BAD_TIMING'S PHONE NUMBER PLEASE TEXT IT TO 07811 377979. THANKS.

BAD_T: HAVE SPENT A COUPLE OF HOURS LOOKING AT OPTIONS FOR THIS. NOT FORGOTTEN YOU. PROMISE. WE'LL FIND A NEW VENUE IF IT FUCKING KILLS ME, WHICH IT MIGHT. x

please don't die matt....

Texted you Mrs R. If you weren't sure, I know this will have been totally out of your hands and that, as with any venue, cancellation/problems/unexpected closure is always a possibility.

'please don't die matt....'
seconded. we'd never find another housemate like him at st philips towers. he's unique. a one off. the fact he's a messy bastard adds to his charm. : )

^ this too :-)

"My personal feeling - It seems to me that the refurb story is a bit of a cover. Why close down without notice when there are plenty of gigs booked? A refurb of a major scale would be planned weeks if not months in advance due to planning regulations/architects/builder quotes etc. You wouldn't close the business and then start looking at that."

that's depressingly logical

Indeed it is. Chillingly so. But I am duty bound to monotonously reiterate that the official statement, which reads thus:

"As part of our on-going investment programme in our live music estate we are going to be changing the layout of the Cambridge venue. To this end we will be closing the venue with immediate effect and reopening in the autumn (date to be confirmed)."

You have my sympathies Matt- it seemed like a crazy job from your posts on here.

Maybe its time for Cambridge to get its own version of Peterboroughs Glass Onion :-)

I wonder what the law is regarding a company lying about business plans to the public/customers... Not that I'm saying they're lying or anything, obviously... Seems pretty disingenuous when the same reason has been given for the Brighton Barfly shutting at the same time...

Noooooo!
I just this second found out about the Barfly!
My band Molloy (myspace.com/thisisfuckingbrilliant) were supposed to play there on Saturday as part of our joint mini-tour with Wendycode (myspace.com/wendycode) and were really looking forward to the gig!
Wendycode are coming over from France especially for 4 dates (now 3!).
Anyone out there got any ideas for an alternative venue?
I don't want to let our Parisian friends down...
Cheers, Jez.

Was also due to play on saturday. "Layout changes" to barfly may involve dust, and the gathering thereof.

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who's trying to draw you into the debate?? you lose out as much if not more than anyone I think peeps were saying how it sucks stresshead

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Aw :-(

*sends hugs and general non-specific supportiveness to everyone who's been potentially fucked over by Barfly closure*

what language? I'm just as stressed.... i'm being genuine..I ain't trying to drag simon into any debates... It sucks for everyone... and given simon has more booked than anyone I actually feel sorry for him.

Sorry, not thinking particularly calmly. Just tallied up the fees for all the shows i've got in and it's looking bad.

My first thought was Green mind actually... just when it all looked so good for the near future... so can we be line and and clear our throats and say... loudly and protestively (not a word prob)... or in a protestational fashion... (again)

"FUCK THE BARFLY!"

Simon - buy up the Duke of Argyle, if you can bear going into Romsey.

[/flippancy]

*decides to pass without commenting*

*inserts Dad-joke about 'putting on small off-Broadway shows'*

Wouldn't the Barfly be liable for any additional costs to promoters who had booked the venue and now can't put on there gigs?

That's something that needs investigating.

good luck simon mate, i hope everything gets sorted out for your greenmind gigs. You aswell as Matt and Corrine helped a great deal in the love music hate racism gig so i am forever in your debt.

I hope everything works out in the end and try not to stress too much.

i also really hope melt banana gets resceduled or relocated cos i cancelled an actionforce gig to see this! aarrhhh

Let's say I'm fairly hopeful about moving Melt-Banana now -- just checking all the options before announcing anything though.

I'm not sure on the legal position, but if the barfly are claiming it is purely for refurbishment, then it would only seem fair that would cover all losses made by people.

I missed your deleted post simon so have no idea what you were saying, but if you haven't already done so, I would try to speak to a lawyer about recouping any cancellation fees from barfly. If they have a contract with you for a service on a date that they are now by choice not going to stick to, then you should be compensated.

That may be too logical for an actual legal system to handle though!

We shall see what happens.

cheers by the way people. Let's get finding some good jobs for the barfly staff now!

Spotted a pub on Madingley Road paying seven and a half quid an hour for full time Bar, kitchen and wait staff! Pretty much the best paid bar work i've seen for a long time.

Wow.

excellent news bad-timing! me and my mate were just discussing the situation. we came up with:
Junction 1 or 2
My House
My Shed
My Girlfriends house
The Abbey stadium - cos...you know. it'd be well funny.

The last gig at the Abbey didn't go down too well!!

Although i did find Chico was a real decent bloke! (I was working there at the time, honest)

Have you thought about contacting any colleges to see if they have rooms available? You might find them shut due to quiet period around exams, but you may also get lucky. I'd try Kings and Clare as they both have dedicated venues.

What about ARU?

What about ARU?

I'm looking for a venue really...

What about ARU?

I'm looking for a venue really...

Claws, simon! ;-)

Looks like American Music Club is moving to Junction 2 now, so that's one that's getting sorted.

Claws, simon! ;-)

Hehe ;-)

Gutted.
Thanks to all those that have worked or put shows on there recently.
Have attended at least a couple of gigs there in the last few months where there were less than ten punters there so am not too surprised although in contrast some gigs have been rammed recently.
Best of luck to all those affected.

Sad news all round.

I've always dreamed of opening a music venue, sports park, tennis club, sports bar etc, but the reality is unless it is built in an out-of-town location, things like these struggle to survive. Especially in Cambridge where the bid-rent is so high in the centre because Cambridge University own all the surrounding land!

It would be my dream job though.

Condolences to everyone that worked hard against implausible odds.

This. Everyone worked stupidly hard there to try to keep something running that was pretty doomed from the start from a business point of view. On a personal note, the upside of this closure at least means that those involved, although will have something of a bad time in the short term, can now at least get a job that is less sanity/time/life/soul sapping for so little reward.

On a non personal note, this is pretty shit for the music scene in general, as there'd never been as much going on on a regular basis.

i feel lucky to have got out of the place 4 weeks before this all happened, not so happy that all the people i worked with are now out of work and were put that way in such a short space of time. by the way, incase anyone was wondering I did not know this was going to happen. at all.

am back down in Cambridge on the weekend so will see just what's been taken out. if they've taken my box of DVDs i accidentally left in the flat i shall not be a happy rabbit.

'nicely,' they haven't kicked Corinne and the hound of the baskervilles out of the flat.

unfortunately the electricity is being cut off otherwise i'd be chanting for guerilla gigs in the up or downstairs bar.

anyone for a squat?

rant over kthxbilolz

p.s. edited coz maybe it was a bit harsh in parts...

What happens to the Barfly promoted gigs eg Warlocks?
Am I right in guessing they will be cancelled.

I think the idea is to move as many as possible -- lots of work has been going on today on this by Mrs Robinson and others.

I think those that can be moved or rescheduled will be, and those that can't will be cancelled. I imagine Simon's in the process of finding venues for the Green Mind ones that were there, now, and Matt's doing the same for the inhouse ones. Probably an idea to check over the next few days as to what's cancelled and what's been moved.

Cheers.
Thanks loads again to those trying to salvage shows.
Hope you're duly rewarded with replacement venues and packed gigs.

condolences to those who have been screwed by the closing of the Barfly

how about condolences to those who were screwed by the opening of the Barfly? The Loft was the closest thing to the Boat Race which had such an amazing soul and feeling to it. Barfly should have left it alone. Now there's the possibility of there being no venue at all :-(

The Loft was the closest thing to the Boat Race which had such an amazing soul and feeling to it.

Sorry, but I don't agree with this. There was never (well okay - hardly ever) anything on that I wanted to go see when it was the Loft, it certainly didn't have anything *like* the atmosphere that the Boat Race had.

The problem with Cambridge is the availability of kitted out venues who will allow rock to be played on Fri / Sat nights - they want the populist dollar over the bar to pay the rent, hence the proliferation of R 'n B / Indie nights.

But as 'empty room' / bar-only venues are more freely available, what we'd need would be someone in Cambridge with full mobile DJ rig (sound, lights, decks) who is familiar with the Cambridge rock scene and the DJing thereof, and who would do it on a Friday for small £££ as they are into the whole thing themself.

That person would be me then... anyone got a free room?

I'm aslo shiffling my gigs to dates I had booked elsewhere and rearranging the priority bands... I'm looking at laternatives for the ones I had planned!

how about condolences to those who were screwed by the opening of the Barfly? The Loft was the closest thing to the Boat Race which had such an amazing soul and feeling to it. Barfly should have left it alone. Now there's the possibility of there being no venue at all :-(

I'm not sure this is really the place for such discussions, but the Barfly, whilst it existed, was very good for the music scene in general, and although often almost empty, it was often almost full, too, and many a local band has played there, and had brought lots of bands that people have wanted to see to Cambridge, that The Loft wouldn't

The problem with Cambridge is the availability of kitted out venues who will allow rock to be played on Fri / Sat nights - they want the populist dollar over the bar to pay the rent, hence the proliferation of R 'n B / Indie nights.

That's not really the problem of Cambridge, though, it's just business, and you can't really criticise business for applying business sense. They're not anti rock, more anti something that won't make them money. Although saying that, CoN downstairs was always the busiest night in the main bar, so there's something of a demand for it. It still wouldn't work in a >200 capacity venue, though, and we don't have many small ones here.

Indie nights don't necessarily do especially well, either. The nights at The Kambar wouldn't work if they were in a venue the size of The Soul Tree, and they're as populist indie as you can get.

The Loft had a policy of not paying bands which massively differentiates it from the barfly, and also massively restricted the quality/size of band playing there.

The Loft had a policy of not paying bands which massively differentiates it from the barfly, and also massively restricted the quality/size of band playing there.

They may have had rather suspect ways of treating the staff, but yeah, the bands got treated alright.

>>>That's not really the problem of Cambridge, though, it's just business, and you can't really criticise business for applying business sense. They're not anti rock, more anti something that won't make them money

So it's a business problem - in Cambridge...

Kambar have rock / alt. nights - but never on a Friday / Saturday - 'cos it's Not Good Business.

eh? Kambar don't have rock/alt. nights on a Friday or Saturday? Where have you been hiding then?

http://www.indiething.com/

So it's business problem - in Cambridge...

Kambar have rock / alt. nights - but never on a Friday / Saturday - 'cos it's Not Good Business.

In every city in the country.

Fridays and Saturdays are every club venue's cash cow nights, so they're going to have what makes them the most money because they don't make much, if anything, in the week. If you didn't have mainstream, populist nights at the weekend, you wouldn't have the venue in the first place.

Evening Taff.

eh? Kambar don't have rock/alt. nights on a Friday or Saturday? Where have you been hiding then?

http://www.indiething.com/

We all have a different definition of rock/alt., and I think Pagan Flame's thinking something closer to Church Of Noise or MASS than The Indie Thing.

Oh, I see. Indie Thing and Generator definitely count as alternative, though. Still, like you say I can't see them working anywhere bigger on a weekend, sadly :(

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So it's business problem - in Cambridge...

Kambar have rock / alt. nights - but never on a Friday / Saturday - 'cos it's Not Good Business.

In every city in the country.

Fridays and Saturdays are every club venue's cash cow nights, so they're going to have what makes them the most money because they don't make much, if anything, in the week. If you didn't have mainstream, populist nights at the weekend, you wouldn't have the venue in the first place.

At the risk of thread highjacking/allowing my inner pedant to come out to play this isn't true for 'every city in the country' - head to the midlands and you will find plenty of places which play something not 'mainstream, populist' on Fridays or Saturdays. It's a personal favourite but this is the first amongst a few which springs to mind: http://www.rock-city.co.uk/new_site/club_nights.htm

shit news to those who work there/had plans for gigs there. Hmmm to big business eh?

it is all very suspect and i do hope this 'refurbishment' turns it into something that really feeds towards giving Cambridge's scene the boost it really needs (although it sounded like it was getting somewhere with the barfly).

hmmmm

Nothing makes me feel more ashamed to work for Barfly than seeing them throw Corinne and Matt to the wolves. Leaving myself and the other engineers here nowhere decent to do sound and doing all this with absolutely NO warning.

It's not exactly surprising that they did that, though, considering their track record with staff. I can't imagine the people in the other Barflys are sitting especially comfortably after 2 closures without warning this week.

Walking into the place empty earlier was really devastating. Mostly seeing the PA I have worked on so damn hard to be the best in any small venue taken to pieces and chucked in a lorry.

It's just a refurbishment until the Autumn, though, so it'll be back. Or something.

To be fair, immediate closure sounds like very severe cashflow problems and desperation, rather than a calculated measure. Never ascibe to malice something that could be better explained by incompetence. And they're hardly big business, are they? How many venues to they have, 9? How many independent venues are there in the country that aren't supported by arts council or city council or whatever?

To be fair, immediate closure sounds like very severe cashflow problems and desperation, rather than a calculated measure. Never ascibe to malice something that could be better explained by incompetence. And they're hardly big business, are they? How many venues to they have, 9?

They're owned by Mama group, who are a lot larger than The Barfly.

And knowing how staff have been treated since it's been opened, I wouldn't put much past them. It wouldn't have been malice that's caused it, but I doubt it's severe cashflow problems either, more "this venue's costing us money, we'll close it as soon as we can, and since none of the full time staff are on permenant contracts, we can close it immediately"

I didn't realise that, in that case that sucks.

eh? Kambar don't have rock/alt. nights on a Friday or Saturday? Where have you been hiding then?

http://www.indiething.com/

If it's so rock / alternative, why is it called Indie Thing??!? ;o)))

Me? I've been hiding in the Cambridge rock scene for the last 22 years. You used to be be able to crawl from one side of the town to the other, seeing a decent band at each pub you stopped at, 7 or 8 on a good Saturday night.

Alma - Locomotive - The Rock - Haymakers - Seven Stars - Wrestlers - Cambridge Arms - Burleigh Arms - Kings Arms - Sea Cadet Hall! --- were all good for a rock band on a Saturday night. Not any more.

I saw some old band called 'Iron Maiden' at The City Limits in 1981 - it's now a Salsa bar.

Cambridge Arms - used to be a rammed full rock / alt. / biker pub - not any more.

Boat Race - was an excellent live venue - now a bistro.

The Barfly has been many many things over the years - a gym, a real ale pub where you couldn't buy real ale...

I went to - and played at - gigs to raise funds for 'A Local Venue For Local Bands'. When it was built they called it 'The Junction'. Once opened, all a local band had to do to get a gig was - pay them £800.

Business, at the end of the day, rules and dictates. Part of my living is my mobile roadshow - of a Saturday night I am out paying my bills with wedding / black tie / birthday work.

Rock nights I do for the fun of it... I'm doing one later this month just outside Cambridge, with no expectation of making any money off it, even though I could make a few hundred quid off a wedding at this time of year.

If venue owners were similarly rock-friendly - and punters turned up regularly to rock nights in the city - Cambridge could have a decent rock scene. But money talks and bullsh1t walks, everywhere in the world...

[rant mode = off] ;o)))

[rant mode = off] ;o)))

It's the same with every other genre that isn't in the mainstream, though, not exclusively to rock. The Priory do very well at the Fez club running credible alternative nights (although not "alternative" in the alt.rock sense), but most non mainstream music clubs hosted in the city don't do very well. Me and some friends run a hipster electro/post punk night that's currently on hiatus, and have had venues tell us that although it's a good night, they'd make more money by running a funky house night and paying a DJ £50 for it.

the website still has gigs up from Friday onwards (as if nothing has happened today), while this isn't the case if you look at the Brighton pages

http://www.barflyclub.com/brighton/whatson/WhatsOn.aspx

The Brighton one's been closed for a couple of days now, so they've had more time to move shows and update the website. I don't know if it's Matt, Corrine or someone on high who does the Cambridge listings.

Brighton also has more suitable venues to move things to, so the cleanup is probably a little easier.

This is a real shame.

I must admit I don't care much for 'alternative rock' (I can never work out what it is) but the Barfly was putting on some really interesting bands on, at least in support. I am not a huge fan of the 'put 5 bands so at least the three local ones will play for next to nothing and bring 20 mates through the door' way of doing gigs but I was hoping it was working. Looks like it wasn't.

In Paris over the weekend there was a great little bar in the Bastille area. Every night we walked past they had some sort of gig on, mostly in the coldwave / jerky post-punk genre area (like http://www.myspace.com/_frustration). The Cafe was about as big as a large front room. The band set up squeezed in the entrance, with the punters standing out in the street drinking, chatting, dancing and enjoying the music. It was pretty busy. No cover charge. I doubt much money was changing hands either. It was fantastic. Just can't see that happening in the UK.

As far as club night goes, I get the feeling that in every genre there are a lot of dormant DJ's out there. Folks with CD and MP3 collections bulging with really interesting, creative, off beat, new music who have given up trying to play it because even in the indie / alternative / whatever scenes people just wanna hear stuff they know.

Anyway have a piccy from 82-83 ...

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Its all cock.

whole fuckign thing is just vast cock.

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I must admit I don't care much for 'alternative rock' (I can never work out what it is)

Alt. rock = rock / metal that isn't up the charts, played on mainstream radio or appearing on Now! compilation CD's - but still hugely popular and sells by the cartload. e.g. Disturbed - (anyone got the new CD yet...?)

As far as club night goes, I get the feeling that in every genre there are a lot of dormant DJ's out there. Folks with CD and MP3 collections bulging with really interesting, creative, off beat, new music who have given up trying to play it because even in the indie / alternative / whatever scenes people just wanna hear stuff they know.

Yep, damn right with that one - we did something called 'Octaine' for a couple of years with multi-genre until we ran out of money... MAS did it until they ran out of venue... we're doing it again in October! (albeit under the burlesque banner...)

I actually enjoyed data.select.party.

if i had known it was going to be my first and alst shift i would have worn a shirt.

oh well i think its my promt to move up north like i thought.

I do not for a second buy the "open in autumn" line. Promoters would run a mile. They wouldn't have torn out the PA, offices and everything in-between. Not trolling. Just being honest.

Yeah, I don't think anyone does. You'd think they'd at least be honest and say that they're pulling out, rather than make up that it's refurbishments. I guess it is technically a refurbishment, except by whoever the new leaseholders will be.

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Nope.

is matt sortin out barfly gigs and looking for other venue's to put them in?

i believe he is tryign to.

Is CON not on this friday.

See: http://www.wereallneighbours.co.uk/idlechat/message.php?id=27037&page=...

how about condolences to those who were screwed by the opening of the Barfly? The Loft was the closest thing to the Boat Race which had such an amazing soul and feeling to it. Barfly should have left it alone. Now there's the possibility of there being no venue at all :-(

I can only repeat what has been already said, but the lease had been up for sale for 3 years, way before The Loft went in, so it was going to close at some point. Having been a patron/volunteer/promoter at the Boat Race for 8 years i'd say the two were very very very different.

Something else will fill the void.

It has to be said... mediocre indie killed the Barfly. I blame the rubbernecks.

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Hah, mediocre indie tended to sell it out:

Mystery Jets 240 in
Young Knives 260 in
The Audition (ok, so mediocre emo) 260 in
Lightspeed Champion...I'd best not say how many were in for that, suffice to say Mr. A Gibbons should have stopped selling a long time before he did...

You get the idea...

I wouldn't think the lack of seating in a gig venue killed it, but location, the size of building, the rent etc. were more important factors.

I shall treasure my sweaty, dry icey memories of the Art Brut gig.

There is nowhere to sit at the Corn Exchange, in the Portland Arms back room and very limited seating at the Junction. Yet they have been putting on gigs for years and years.

^ yes - that was one of the best. That, and BFB (as someone else previously said) and the Fuzzy Lights / Beach House combo (did The Resistance play that night too?). That was ace also.

Quite.

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Corn Exchange has seating in the balcony, but how often do you buy tickets for the balcony? It's two seconds down the stairs in the barfly before you get to the main bar, so not a trek...

I never sit at gigs if I can help it.

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I sat on a random chair that was placed at the side of the Barfly, for one of the Band Comp heats I was judging. I felt like it was a judge's throne ;-) In my defence, I was still feeling weak and shitty from the flu. Normally I agree - sitting at a gig really doesn't work for me.

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OK, if it wasn't medicore indie then it must have been shite rock!

Who wants to sit down at a venue you gay hernia burger?¬!!

last time i sat at corn exchange i nearly fell asleep (steeleye span)

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It's quite interesting how many people thought the BFB gig was one of the best there. unfortunately i missed that gig but remember several people (including some of the band) being really unimpressed with that gig. People talking all the way through or something?

My personal favourites were The Veils, Ed Harcourt and The Raveonettes.

I enjoyed the first of the two Ezio gigs, but again there was a fair bit of talking.

Enjoyed Jimbob and the Winter Kings heat of rock competition too,

^^What James said... from what I gathered it (the BFB) was a terrible gig and was full of big mouthed cock gurglers with their non stop yakkety yak... I was never a huge fan of the Barfly but saw a couple of good gigs there, the band comp one I enjoyed, Frank Turner, Bear Suit, mine and ozzyfrogsdawnofdeath birthday bash, quite enjoyed a few more low-key gigs that weren't very busy at all and would have been better suited at a much smaller venue. I think the Frank Turner was my fave though.

I think the signs wer ethere for solme time, the state of facilities, the huge beer price hike, the Strongbow and Grolsch going off of tap (How can you have a live venue without Strongbow? That's like having a whorehouse with no purchaseable poon.

The change of beer was nothing to do with the state of the venue and all to do with a change of beer supplier.

To be really honest, there have been very few gigs I have really enjoyed at the Barfly, but that's more down to personal taste. The one that REALLY enthused me was the recent Frank Turner one.

oh, the disappearance of Strongbow upset me greatly. I don't like Gaymers or whatever shit they put on tap instead

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But Strongbow's a horrible cider...

I know, it's the cider equivalent of Carling, but I love it anyway

Re: BFB gig:

Anyone from the stage to half way down the room I assume had a good time.

Was very near the front, so yes! That said though, I do remember there being a very annoying quotient of loudly-talking / braying idiots there too.

Strongbow is a top seller in most bars. To take out two top selling products is business suicide. The only reason a bar removes a beer is it's a bad seller or it is taken away from them.

Strongbow drinkers are a funny bunch of fruits, I like it but I am "insane" because I prefer Dry Blackthorn... I had three Strongbows last night and they were not horrible by any stretch of the imagination.

Its def bad for the Cambridge scene that the Barfly has closed but alot of my mates who travel in from surrounding areas and go to the local Uni's have all said at some point that yes they got a few good bands in but they generally didn't enjoy the venue at all and often would not attend the shows of bands they were interested in. Reasons seem to range from poor design and inconsistant sound quality to awful toilets/heat problems and a reluctance for the crowd to engage with the bands playing (always a problem getting anyone in front of the stage, nearly always a huge gap to the crowd). I can probably count on 2 hands the really good shows I saw at The Barfly in last year (way too much style over substance for my liking) and I did a promo shoot for a band recently that said they would pick a Portland show over a Barfly show any day of the week.

Its fair to say The Boatrace it was not! If anything the plight of the Barfly has highlighted further the void that The Boatrace has left and is still to be filled with a suitable replacement.

I like Strongbow , although i drink rarely its my cider of choice

I hate to say it, but i wish in a way people would stop hanging on for the good old days of the Boat Race. I loved it, we all loved it, but it's 4 1/2 years since it shut and we should be thinking ahead rather than wallowing in a comfy nostalgia. The Boat Race shut for similar reasons to the Barfly i.e lack of punters meaning that the owners couldn't pay the bills etc.

i agree to that. we need to move on , drink to the dead friday and then push on .

I agree SB. Onwards and upwards!

*buys lottery ticket, crosses fingers*

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The Boat Race was a shithole. I loved it and saw so many great bands there but it was a horrible venue... it could have been taken out of Bradfrod and plonked on East Road. The toilet swere behind the stage so to get there you had to pass the band pretty much "Hi guys, great set so far, I'm just off for a dump and line of speed, see you in ten -don't encore without me!".

It was the quality of the gigs and the people who ran it that made it what it was. I just remember me & Jazz leaving there sharp-ish so we could go to Fezz or Life!!

Not wallowing in a comfy nostalgia, just making an observation!

Cant deny that The Boatrace had something that has yet to be replaced though.

I had some great nights down there in the last few years under Stan and Sinead. The less said about the Elliot years the better.

Yeah Stan was a dude.

'The toilet swere behind the stage so to get there you had to pass the band pretty much "Hi guys, great set so far, I'm just off for a dump and line of speed, see you in ten -don't encore without me!".'

haha thats so true. Bizarre but it made it seem like a more genuine place to play your music, not sure why but if it had brill toilets and better layout I don't think I would have been so fond of it.

Some good lock-ins were had there towards the end... skipping with an all girl American Christian pop punk band... stealing bottles of beer out of passed out drunks hands and drinking said beer and replacing said beer back in drunk's grasp. Then watching drunk being woken up to leave and being confused at the empty bottle "Did I drink this?" "Yes mate, you woofed it down then fell asleep".

Halo Friendlies??

Sounds more like The Applicators.

Bizarre but it made it seem like a more genuine place to play your music, not sure why but if it had brill toilets and better layout I don't think I would have been so fond of it.

This is nostalgia, surely, for a time and place in your life. The same thing will probably be being said, in a few years time, by kids whose first gigs were at The Barfly...

Course it's bloody nostalgia. ;-)

I feel the same about Friars in Aylesbury.

i remember my first venue gig....it was the cellar bar......im not very nostaligic about it

Halo Friendlies - on Tooth & Nail Records. Dat Be Dem

Dreadful band, but quite attractive.

ok its nostalgia but so what :-)

Halo Friendlies - I was at that gig, was pissed and managed to get a kiss outta the bassist cause I said it was my bday.......who is now in The Smashing Pumpkins my fav band!!!!

I will get my coat :-)

I know - I wasn't criticising. I was really just trying to say, let's not get all "everything was wonderful in the days of the Boatrace, and everything's totally shit now" about things. Trying to be optimistic about the gigging future in Cambridge. You know me - little bloody ray of light ;-)

You tend to forget the times at the Boat Race when you saw a band play to 10 people on a Tuesday night, the windows at the side which let the light in during summer for the first band, the wobbley bench on the side, the light machine to the right hand side of the bar and the Guiness sign next to the sound desk. Most of the time you remember the good times, because you can't go back. Here's a pic I stole from facebook of the guiness sign, with the bar behind.

haha Im not that concerned, I love The Portland anyway, seen some cracking gigs there.

It was just nice having another option. You should try living where i do, if you want to put a gig on you need to plan months in advance and get council permission lol

'the windows at the side which let the light in during summer for the first band, the wobbley bench on the side, the light machine to the right hand side of the bar and the Guiness sign next to the sound desk. Most of the time you remember the good times, because you can't go back. Here's a pic I stole from facebook of the guiness sign, with the bar behind.'

I loved all that haha :-)

I liked the fact that stage and ceiling were high and you could still see the band on stage from the back.

I have really fond memories of the Boat Race, but only due to it being first gigs territory I think. Also CRS* played their debut there, which is obviously a bit of a personal landmark. However I also remember the last days, with great bands playing to about 4 people (I seem to remember a really embarrassing Aereogramme one specifically) and it does make me wonder if there just aren't enough people who want to see live music in this little town. How d'you solve that problem?

I also remember half the PA not working at the Aereogramme gig. Bear in mind Aereogramme just aint that popular and Cambridge isn't London

Those Spread shows were sometimes so dreadful... I'd take some friends there and then after two awful screamo/heavy emo bands I'd say "Right, I'm off to the Run" and walk out the door... leaving them standing there making up a third of the audience and self-conscious about all leaving at once... I wasn't very popular... I'm still not very popular.

Yea thats kinda an issue and i think it may be down in part to the student populations being slightly different from other Uni cities.

When I was at uni in Sheffield there were 5 venues all of a similar size to the Boatrace, all with gigs everynite and they were hugely popular and all are still open now.

I wonder if the usual Cambridge Uni student is interested in going to a punk gig at The Portland on a tuesday nite?

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Yes and that. Students are the main consumer of live music in any city or town it has to be argued.

Students are the main consumer of live music in any city or town it has to be argued.

In my experience (both from when I went to uni, and living here) most students just want to dance at cheese nights and get hammered on cheap beer. If they want a more expensive night out then they will generally go to a club with dance music. There are some students who go to gigs, join indie / metal societies and show an interest but this is a minority and most aren't bothered. The 1980's stereotype of the anorack-wearing student obsessed with the Smiths and going to gigs at the student union ernestly talking about left wing politics hasn't existed for decades.

Although, I admit, this might be just where I've lived. It might be different in a larger town.

The 1980's stereotype of the anorack-wearing student obsessed with the Smiths and going to gigs at the student union ernestly talking about left wing politics hasn't existed for decades.

Ahem, were you spying on me in the 80s, SR? ;-)

... hugely popular and sells by the cartload. e.g. Disturbed - (anyone got the new CD yet...?)

Ahhh "Teenage Boy without Girlfriend music". Round these parts we call that the Alternative to Rock! Now I understand! :-)

I'm kidding honest! Don't want to start a scene war. :-p But The Deep Eynde > Disturbed IMHO.

Yep, damn right with that one - we did something called 'Octaine' for a couple of years with multi-genre until we ran out of money... MAS did it until they ran out of venue... we're doing it again in October! (albeit under the burlesque banner...)

Then you know exactly how disheartening it is. Octaine I attended once and liked but it was very quiet.

First MAS seemed alright apart from the Metal. The Punk set was pretty good. I really find it hard to share a room with Metal so it was never going to be my thing. It was a bit blokey too. But I guess Metal is not known for its Androgyny. :-) Still the crowd were really friendly.

Not sure how I feel about Burlesque. I guess as long as the evening has a balance of performers of both genders its okay, otherwise it seems a bit like an excuse for guys to oggle women. If it is about a celebration of sexuality as a man I want to celebrate my sexuality too actively rather than just looking at women. Still having looked at the website it looks like you are on the right side of things. Especially with the dress code.

I don't know what it is about Cambridge. There seems to be a real lack of musical elitism going on in the general club/gig going public. Being into music is supposed to be about finding new interesting bands, making discoveries live, and just being, er into music.

Instead you got to Indie clubs, and instead of Ipso Facto, Violet Violet and Shrag they play pop-rawk-shmindie. You go to a Goth club and instead of Cinema Strange, Black Ice and Deadchovsky you hear cheesy-industrial-metoll. You can't blame the promoters and DJ's - it's what the punters want - I am not sure why that is. When I was 18 we were always trying to keep on the edge of things. My memory of Indie socs was that you got an education not Dadrock.

The Barfly seemed to be bucking the trend quite a bit with great DJ's (esp the BTF sound system). Even the recent "Fire and Forget / Corrosion / Screaming Banshee Aircrew" gig had Goth on the sound system between sets (grin) although there were more rock-soc folks there than 'Goth' folks.

There was a bit of a sense that maybe things were changing and we might get something different going on in Cambridge. I was even mulling with a few other folks that now might be the time for some thing Glam / Post-Punk / Art-Rock in the spirit of the Batcave Club - playing some of the best stuff from the Deathrock, Batcave, Art-Rock and Sleaze scenes. Feeling a bit more nervous about that now.

Some interesting points Evilpoppy.

Instead you got to Indie clubs, and instead of Ipso Facto, Violet Violet and Shrag they play pop-rawk-shmindie.

Violet Violet and Shrag have both played Cambridge pretty recently, which is good!

You can't blame the promoters and DJ's - it's what the punters want - I am not sure why that is. When I was 18 we were always trying to keep on the edge of things. My memory of Indie socs was that you got an education not Dadrock.

I think this might have as much to do with the move of "indie" much much more into the mainstream in recent years - the rise of "flipchart" indie bands like Fratellis, Kooks etc etc. I would imagine that this is *not* just particular to Cambridge, but applies all over.

Violet Violet and Shrag have both played Cambridge pretty recently, which is good!

Violet Violet seem to play here every month. Junction 2, Barfly, and Viva le Punk coming up I think. Shrag were awesome. Although the best part of the evening was banging the pan ... ;-)

I think this might have as much to do with the move of "indie" much much more into the mainstream in recent years - the rise of "flipchart" indie bands like Fratellis, Kooks etc etc. I would imagine that this is *not* just particular to Cambridge, but applies all over.

Maybe. I can't really tell. I only have London to compare Cambridge to. And that is a very different place. Back in Canterbury in the early 90's I remember squeezing into a tiny venue with folks desperate to hear a very rough sounding Mambo Taxi. Sigh.

Are you a facebook friend of mine, evilpoppy?

Mas never seemed to be anything except metal any time I went :[

You go to a Goth club and instead of Cinema Strange, Black Ice and Deadchovsky you hear cheesy-industrial-metoll.

God this makes me feel old, i expected to see Sisters Of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Bauhaus (though i'd argue they aren't goth), Play Dead, Rosetta Stone, etc on the goth club list.

Goth went horrendously wrong when Marilyn Manson appeared in my opinion (MM is nothing near goth and never will be)

Hilariously I have just been sent an automated email from the Barfly reminding me that I am playing there this Friday as Church of Noise.

errr.......

how about a squat rock gig!

Let's squat the fucking place!! Someone must know the alarm system code... once in without a sign of forced entry... let the pigs come and then crucify them above the front door and spike them with sharpened sticks and hear them squeal... or get some backline in there, have a few gigs, don't trash the place... don't write So and so is a C*** on the wall. AWesome building to squat but I assume the live in staff are still there as surely they can't get kicked out onto the street legally?

They did this to the Boathouse back in it;s Rob Roy days... got into the upstairs and partied... 1985, I know cuz I had the CULT "Rain" 12" on me and had to hide it in a bush near the homobogs.

They did this to the Boathouse back in it;s Rob Roy days... got into the upstairs and partied... 1985, I know cuz I had the CULT "Rain" 12" on me and had to hide it in a bush near the homobogs
I was at one of the squat partys at the Rob Roy. Halfway through the evening was feeling a bit peckish left and went to Tommy Tuckers, came back and half of Cambridge Rozzers were there stopping anyone getting in. Was asked by a Superintendant to leave and get off the pavement, I said no and was promtly arrested for obstruction and thrown in a mobile cell lorry. Had to wait a couple of hours till lorry filled up with partygoers busted when Police went in. Did get a concession from Copper/Driver of lorry who left door open for me in mobile cell, it was only 2ft x 2ft. Felt like i should lay an egg seeing how I was in a battery hen cage. Had a laugh in Parkside with shared inmates from Rob Roy. Got bound over to keep the peace when it came to Court. Should have contested it really, arrested for not getting off the pavement, 80`s SPG lol.

Once you are inside a building (and don't force your way in) then you cannot be made to leave without a warrant (which takes some time to arrange).

However I presume that the current live music premesis licence is now void, or is not transferrable between owners, so police will have the power to enter and confiscate any PA equipment and force people to disperse should anyone try to run a gig, assuming they get a complaint about noise. You will also need to find a generator for the PA.

If anyone is still living there then they will need 2 months notice before they have to leave although if they don't have a living contract then it is impossible to prove and they can be evicted as soon as people arrange a warrent.

fuck the barfly .... that's what happens when share holders want there bucks! ...so i say fuck em all ...go do it yourself!!! find a pa and a back room of a pub ..diy ..that's where it's at ...forget all the sponsership and corperation bollocks ....rot in hell barfly !!!!!!!!!!! long live the gig ! ....and besides there's plenty more happening elsewhere in this god forsaken town we call home! ....feel sorry for the people who had stuff booked there ...we did too ! .....it's happened before and it will happen again! .....

Yes lets have some squat party gigs like the Rob Roy and the great ones at N.J. Thakes (ex cycle shop). CEN headlines then at N.J. Thakes when Police turned up: "300 people riot in Cambridge". Did lead to a cambridge venue group being formed and the Junction being created.

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hey yeah let's start a riot ..a riot of our own ....burn the fucker down!!!!

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Thank you Daggg - I've been trying to remember the name of that bike ship for ages. I was in the Elm Tree and we came out to watch the "riot".

Anarchy!!

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Are you a facebook friend of mine, evilpoppy?

Yes. Next Question. :-)

God this makes me feel old, i expected to see Sisters Of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Bauhaus (though i'd argue they aren't goth), Play Dead, Rosetta Stone, etc on the goth club list.

Well that is a bit like expecting CuD, Kingmaker, The Wonder Stuff, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, PWEI & The Stone Roses to be on an Indie playlist now ... although that would be good. Pre-Britpop 90's night anyone?

http://www.myspace.com/cinemastrange ; http://www.myspace.com/blackblackice ; http://www.myspace.com/deadchovsky are probably more influenced by the era of stuff before Sisters of Mercy - so more in that Post-Punk / Art-Punk neck of the woods. Think Sex Gang Children, Specimen, Alien Sex Fiend, Birthday Party, Virgin Prunes, early Killing Joke, and yes Bauhaus.

It's all sort of Art-Punk/Rock really anyway in modern parlance. Some of the stuff The Scare, the Violets, Ipso Facto and of course The darling Horrors is more in that neck of the woods.

Goth is really screwed up at the moment with bad Industrial and Metal. It's a bit like going to an Indie club and hearing funky house and commercial hip-hop. Pity when there are still great Gothic (post) Punk bands out there (IMHO of course) which hardly anyone in the Goth scene actually listens to.

Goth went horrendously wrong when Marilyn Manson appeared in my opinion (MM is nothing near goth and never will be)

I would argue that Goth went horribly wrong in about 1984 with the Sisters of Mercy heading off into Stadium Rock - although the 'Some Girls Wander by Mistake' stuff is great. But my POV may be the minority. :-)

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Wayne Hussey leaving the Sisters was a very sad day for that band (and of course Craig Adams). Though it did yield the hasty but rather amazing Sisterhood album in a (successful) attempt by Eldritch (Ely boy)to prevent Hussey using the name The sisterhood for The Mission.

Thanks for those links, i'll check them out, used to love Alien Sex Fiend, Killing Joke and Virgin Prunes. Specimen and Sex Gang Children never quite cut it for me, i leant more in the Danse Society direction of that era i think.

There's no knocking the Neph though (until anything after Elizium)

Did you know that ex Stupids bassist is currently in Lords of the New Church... his name was Stevie Snax. I didn't realise LOTNC were still going...

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Did you know that ex Stupids bassist is currently in Lords of the New Church... his name was Stevie Snax. I didn't realise LOTNC were still going...

Theatre of Hate are back in the studio too. http://www.myspace.com/theatreofhate2008

And UK Decay are playing a couple of gigs this year (including one in Luton this Saturday with Rubella Ballet), and I think they are off to Spain at some point for the Drop Dead festival.

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Once you are inside a building (and don't force your way in) then you cannot be made to leave without a warrant (which takes some time to arrange).

However I presume that the current live music premesis licence is now void, or is not transferrable between owners, so police will have the power to enter and confiscate any PA equipment and force people to disperse should anyone try to run a gig, assuming they get a complaint about noise. You will also need to find a generator for the PA....

...If anyone needs the alarm code.

I know it

And I have: a full mobile rig AND my own Public Performance Licence (i.e. I can DJ anywhere legally). And as I drove past this evening, the lights were on out front, which means the power is still live... and who's going to complain about the noise?

haha..hats off to you for the idea. Kinda like giving the Barfly a final send-off.

Probably best to remember there's still people working there for the time being, though.

... not to mention LIVING there...

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"How Clean is Your House Music"

(stolen from Errors, who did an EP "How Clean is Your Acid House"...)

I'm now singing 'how clean is your house' to the tune of 'how deep is your love'. Thanks Jude. ;)

I kind of like my music venues to be a little shabby. And not too big. Anything more than 200 people is a waste of time.

Clean toilets that work are important. And a mirror in the mens.

Clean toilets that work, have locks on the doors and loo roll. Rather than having to choose between loo roll but no lock, or lock but no loo roll, or both but no light, or seat, etc etc. Is it really that difficult?!

On a slightly more legal note - a couple of steps across the road is the Legends Bar @ City. Anyone be interested in attending DJ nights over there if it could be facilitated...?

(To be discussed over much ale this evening @ Portland - but I may have a wander over there to enquire about price - Green Mind are doing gigs there and they have Trance nights in there as well.)

I'm not doing gigs at Legends. Acoustic Stage (who used to run the Loft nights @ The Grad) are though.

I'm not doing gigs at Legends. Acoustic Stage (who used to run the Loft nights @ The Grad) are though.

This website sez you are... http://www.drownedinsound.com/venue/view/1206

Anyhow, a bit more research reveals lots of DJ nights there, inc. one this evening. I'm certainly going to go over there for a chat later before too much beer in the Portland...

That's about 4 - 5 years out of date.

Cambridge and any other town for that matter are far better served without a Barfly. When they're not shutting venues they're trying to close others down.

Cambridge Barfly was professionally and beautifully run with love by all the staff who deserved a whole lot better than what they got. The future of small venues does not lie with big companies like Barfly. Never has done and never will.

i walked past a couple of times to/from bike shop and there is nothing in/on the Barfly doors/wall to confirm the place is shut. i hope no one has bought advance tickets, are out of town and don't read WAN cos they'll be completely in the dark about the closure

Online ticket people will presumably get email about it. I don't know what's happening about tickets bought over-the-bar, although I will soon I expect as this affects Melt-Banana for a couple of people.

I need to find out about tickets that have already been sold through the Barfly too, as i've transferred a few shows now.

What's happening with Melt Banana?

Matt has sorted out an alternative venue but I'm waiting for confirmation on the tech before announcing it. So we're pretty confident it is staying in Cambridge on that date.

I've assumed the Barfly email addresses are still working (since the whole chain still exists) and have been using them -- anyone know different? It's be good to know my stuff got through (just got an Out of Office reply).

I hope Matt can sort me an alternate venue for Roddy Woomble and Kris Drever and co. That show's going to cost me big if i can't move it.

I think he said he's got about 72 inhouse shows to move, although some have now been cancelled.

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http://www.barflyclub.com/cambridge/whatson/listings/full.aspx

Keep checking here, will update it as and when. Some shows moved, some pulled. Fairly mammoth task (the ones listed are only half the story)... Please be patient.

The Roddy Woomble show isn't til september though? Hopefully time enough to put alternate arrangements in place, cross fingers.

That's actually one of the few upcoming barfly shows I was planning on hitting. In typical me fashion I hadn't yet got round to sorting out tickets. On reflection I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing...

I guess there's no chance Barfly will cover your back on this, Simon? I guess it's not enough to only fuxx0r the staff >:-(

The swines.

I've actually had someone mention that they know a lawyer who specialises in this sort of thing, but hopefully i'll just be able to move it. I'd rather do the show. I'm listening to 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild at the moment actually :-)

what percentage of shows have you managed to move now mate? I mentioned the whole barfly thing on my show and said about hoping GM gets everything sorted out

Sorry to hear about this, but as has been said a business model has to work. The Junction started out as a smaller venue when first built. I think that a 100% commercial model may never work in Cambridge for a mid size venue, the rent and business rates are too high, now if some of the taxes could be reduced using some sort of members society or arts development / educational charity it may improve the margin.

The problem for venues is occupancy level, how to get the space earning for more than a few hours a night.

It is hard to make a living out of the music trade in a small town, it is not just venues look at studios, bands and pa or lighting hire, it is tough so you need to be in it because you care not because you want to make a packet.

I have always found I have to leave for the summer to make any sort of normal wage, so good luck I hope Cambridge has some sort of medium size venue open after the Summer will see when I get back - wonder if I can upload wan postcards from the other side of the world?

Someone please start another chain of small venues and do it right this time. Try not to populate the "upper" management with inept, unprofessional, buck-passing, blame-dodging ingrates and you'll do OK.

*decides not to pass comment*

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regardless of what everyone things re/barfly/loft/ etc etc we have still lost another venue . as a band memeber all we want to do is play gigs and as a soundman all i wanna do is get some paid work. now a lot of us have neither and some of us have no job what so ever. its not a great thing for the music in cambridge.

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God damn her.... **bites lip so as not to let rip into a torrent of abuse**

Who is it? The blog is friends only.

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Oh. I can imagine what it's going to say, then. Blood on their hands and all that.

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Well The Loft was my favourite place to play when they were running it- not everyone hated it! It had a proper community spirit and I would go down there loads. We played it lots of times as well. I loved it.

Well The Loft was my favourite place to play when they were running it- not everyone hated it! It had a proper community spirit and I would go down there loads. We played it lots of times as well. I loved it.

Did you ever get paid for playing there, though?

there's still no sign up saying they're closed (temporary or otherwise) unless its in such small print i haven't noticed. i cycled past about 30 minutes ago. i can see posters up for gigs such as UK Subs in July.

i don't think i ever went to a Loft gig but had nothing to do with any politics or personalities. in fact it took a while after the Barfly opened before i went to a gig there on account of what a truly awful place i thought the Fresher & Firkin (or whatever it was called) was, so yes bad reputations stick

i don't think i ever went to a Loft gig but had nothing to do with any politics or personalities.

Yeah, I never really went there either. Not anything to do with a bad reputation or music scene politics, but because there was never anything worthwhile on there whilst it was The Loft. Mainly because they had a policy of not paying bands. Non local, worthwhile bands are going to quite rightfully expect to be paid.

Nope I never got paid for playing there, but we never got paid by most promoters in Cambridge (except the odd rider and few quid). We generally made enough to pay ourselves if we put our own gigs on (at the moon usually), and we got paid for other gigs at the moon but most people in Cambridge don't pay local bands as far as I can work out. We made more money busking and flogging cds in the street. The Barfly was different apparently (you'll know than me on this- I never played there or went there at all since the last year has seen me in Cambridge far less than previously) but I doubt it was as good as Cornwall for money. Cambridge has too many gigs and too few punters so you don't make enough money to pay 3 bands much, or 4 bands at all.

We did get to go to any gig for free though, which we didn't get from other promoters. Not getting paid at the loft was fine because the spirit down there was so good. The engineers were all lovely and I've heard that some people had run ins with the staff but it never hapened to me.

The Loft was a different sort of thing to the barfly- you shouldn't compare them. THey were never gunning for bands in the NME this week, or the official ranks of non-NME bands de jour amongst the indie police. They were a community-based showcase for unsigned acts primarily, and I went to loads of really cool gigs there.

I heard that one of the loft crew, after dealing with one all-female band who wanted to use their own microphone, shoved their microphone into his groin (like, in his trousers, not outside) when they weren't looking cos he was annoyed with them.

Are Waterson:Carthy a de jour indie band? Shooglenifty? Martin Stephenson? Thomas Dolby? Matt booked absolutely tons of local bands (he now probably has a more in depth knowledge of local bands than anyone else in Cambridge apart from Steve who used to run the moon!) and did some very successful all local bills where the bands got paid well too.

i like your latest remix for SMD by the way :)
http://www.juno.co.uk/products/313029-01.htm

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hehe

:)

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leprous toast

I have heard on many occasion that "The Barfly is hotter than The Loft ever was" This is because Matt Biss, Tom Perrin and Corrine Brown worked tirelessly to make sure people actually came to their venue. As with all venues this was not always successful.

Oi, i worked there too once ;-)

cheese on toast

Mitchams ghost?

that wasn't meant to antagonise anyone! I was just searching for a phrase to differentiate relatively known artists from relatively unknown ones and chosen the wrong one. I should have just said relatively known- blame my SF induced hangover.

The fact is that we have two failed business models on the table. The first (Loft) is easier to see why it failed- they frequently had equipment you knew they couldn't afford, they didn't pay bands but not enough people came to gigs. At the Barfly they had more clout presumably, they had better known bands but not enough people came to gigs.

You can try and put the blame in lots of places- did the promoters book the wrong shows? If they'd booked Abba tribute bands on a Friday night would it still be there? No. By all accounts they worked incredibly hard in shit conditions and the sort of people who would see an Abba tribute band would never see them in a barfly anyway. I reckon that Cambridge just can't support that kind of venue when the overheads are that high. There are too many gigs and not enough demand. If it was a smaller building with some way of using the space when bands weren't on it would make more money. I don't think anyone disagrees on this- its been said often enough above.

I really liked the loft as a community project though. ANd it was a proper community project- they were very open to suggestions, and a lot of people volunteered down there and had a great time. I was puzzled at the time why more people didn't get behind it- there seems to be a lot of support for community activity on here (its one of the aims of the site!). I never clashed with Jo and Roy and found them easy to get on with and funto be around, as I did Dale, GL and others who used ot hang round there. If others did then I can see why they didn't like it.

I always had really good dealings wth Barfly to be fair. The gigs i went to do there were always well organised and the staff very approachable and friendly (robbie you were outside the moon alst night werent ya? we did exchange glaces quickly haha ;) )

The loft was a good place to get a gig for a starting out band but you were never goling to get the likes of 36Crazyfists etc to the loft, the Barflyw as a good stop off between place like teh portland and the Junction a good midway.

Shame it is gone, but im guessing everyone will move on in time :D

anyone heard Cellar Bar 8 rumour?

The place could be a community venture again if a committe was formed and funds raised to continue the lease

What's the Cellar Bar rumour? I noticed they're only doing gigs on Fridays and Saturdays because of noise complaints.

its allegedly closing too. not that that's any great loss, noone over 18 really ever went there anyway

To be honest Jordan, with the cost of the lease, the business rates and the size of the downstairs bar are all factors that mean it would be hard to make it work. If it had just been the gig space the chances of it making money/breaking even were much higher, but that downstairs bar was impossible to fill and added massively to the overheads.

I think the loft would have been better if it retained the community side but put more nights out to other promoters who could have brought bigger bands in. Would that be the best of both worlds? I reckon so, but people who know more about the business (simon, matt abysmal, etc) will have more to say I suspect.

they could gastro pub up the downstairs and have the top as a gig space. That would be a disaster though :-)

I would want the downstairs turned into the venue tbh... and have it as a dedicated venue only... with the ability to lease out the space during the day to community groups who need rehearsal spaces etc.

EDIT: this would then create the option to retain bar features upstairs as a vip area etc on gig nights but it could double the amount of hireable space and the upstairs could be very much the community room by priority!

I think the loft would have been better if it retained the community side but put more nights out to other promoters who could have brought bigger bands in. Would that be the best of both worlds? I reckon so, but people who know more about the business (simon, matt abysmal, etc) will have more to say I suspect.

Published by mwhite at 1:33pm on Sun 8th June 2008.

I think that would have helped with overheads definitely. The problem was when it was The Scream boozer downstairs that again they only did well on Mondays when it was pound a pint. On pound a pint night they still didn't make any money either, as they discounted too heavily. That pub was still deserted most of the time.

The loft was a good place to get a gig for a starting out band but you were never goling to get the likes of 36Crazyfists etc to the loft, the Barflyw as a good stop off between place like teh portland and the Junction a good midway.

It would have been fine in a venue the size of The Portland and smaller, but when they were there it was a waste of a 200 capacity venue. As they were effectively squatting, and their only overheads were paying off loans for the PA, if they'd have run it more like The Barfly it would have been a fantastic venue. But they didn't, and if you run a 200 capacity venue as if it were a 50 capacity venue, people aren't necessarily going to think it's a good thing, they're going to think it's a complete waste of a venue in a town that doesn't have that many venues

As for The Loft being a community project, bands don't necessarily want to play a glorified practice to their mates just to get a gig. Far better for the music scene is to have local bands play support to larger touring bands, so you've got quality bands come to Cambridge (and not just NME indie) for the people who aren't in bands, and for the people who are in bands, support slots for those more popular bands so that the local bands can start to build a fanbase that is more than just a small clique of people.

its never going to work as pub.

if its going to be a licenced premises then it needs to be so as a dedicated venue with no need to worry about the bar downstairs as the bar will only be open when there are gigs on.

its never going to work as pub.

Blatantly. The Portland or the Boat House look ok on a Tuesday night with 20 people in, but a bar as big as that just looks ridiculous with the same number.

its allegedly closing too. not that that's any great loss, noone over 18 really ever went there anyway

It's a shame, because as a space, it could be a really nice venue. I liked being in there when we did Ban This Filth nights.

if its going to be a licenced premises then it needs to be so as a dedicated venue with no need to worry about the bar downstairs as the bar will only be open when there are gigs on.

I'm not sure even that will work. Cambridge is geographically small, but to a lot of people, Mitchams Corner is too far away, and The Graduate has never got much passing trade. If you were able to uproot the whole of the venue and plonk it in the middle of town, it would have been a successful venue in the form The Barfly had it, and also would have got a late license.

Or you buy a cheap minibus and ferry people from drummer st to the venue and back.

pay a polish driver minimum wage and you're laughing.

I think thats right- with so many other better pubs for beer and food near it, the only going for it is the pool tables and that doesn't pull enough in. Maybe they should have a snooker club downstairs and gigs upstairs? :-)

I see your point about the loft Robadob, but why didn't you go down there and help, or hire it out and put something on with a big band? Why not see that venue as a great opportunity that you could be involved in? It was perfectly possible to do that- it was a great opportunity.

I certainly never felt that gigs there were a glorified rehearsal- we played with some excellent bands from round the country and played mostly to people who hadn't seen us before. Thats why it became my favourite place to play fairly quickly.

I think The Noble Art went up for new leaseholders at the same time as The Graduate, which would have been a great space and location for a local Barfly.

Is the lease up for sale? is it going to be put up for sale?

Problem was with somewhere like the Nobel Art is that it's tied to Greene King. Barfly would never have touched it cos of their ties to beer sponsorship. GK would have made them stock their beer.

honestly, when thinking about all the surrounding areas of cambridge and the amount of people in the catchment area.... how many people do u think even knew the loft existed?
from what i saw it was all in hosue promotion... infact i dont think there were even posters up in the pub downstairs... the loft could of worked definitely.

you could have the bes invention in the world but unless people know about it, it will never be successful.
when bands i worked with played there we got asked many a time where it was?

^ a perfect central location but is it big enough. shame about ARU, the reputation is enough that i've never been to the Academy

ARU's Academy should have been amazing. Gutted that didn't work out.

Same for me about ARU.

thing is though what makes more money , a central located 200cap venue , or a central located meat market/chav kennel?

It'd need to be a 200 cap venue with a bar attached, Portland style, that people will go to even if they're not going to a gig. The Boat Race proved a 200 cap venue on it's own won't work.

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I see your point about the loft Robadob, but why didn't you go down there and help, or hire it out and put something on with a big band? Why not see that venue as a great opportunity that you could be involved in? It was perfectly possible to do that- it was a great opportunity.

It was too expensive to hire out (despite The Loft's incredibly low overheads. Their bills were essentially just the loan for the PA), and I don't have the money or contacts to get the bigger bands in. When Simon hired the venue out for Green Mind shows, though, it often did well. If the inhouse promoters, with their incredibly low overheads, ran the place like a 200 capacity venue, it could have been the best of both worlds of a venue that pulls in bigger bands and a community project. Much like The Junction does, except with The Junction's arts council funding being replaced by the fact that The Loft were basically squatting. That's the biggest shame in The Loft, that something that cheap to run was priced out of most of the community's reach, and run like a 50 capacity venue rather than a 200 capacity one. The Barfly failed because they were leasing the whole venue, and if Simon and Matt were booking bands in the same situations The Loft had, it would have flourished.

I actually think that's a grand idea (grabsplatter's), although i think the building would need to be bought outright, rather than paying for a massively overpriced lease.

Grabsplatter you are on my wavelength... is the lease available to buy? I've just come off the phone from possible investors!

Grabsplatter you are on my wavelength... is the lease available to buy? I've just come off the phone from possible investors!

The problem with that is that you'd still be paying the same amount of lease on the same amount of space, and would get in the same amount of paying punters in per month. You'd have the same amount of unused space that you're paying for, but it'd be spread throughout a 300-400 capacity venue, rather than an occasionally full 200 capacity venue and an empty downstairs.

I think the only way to do it, as Simon suggests, is to buy the place outright. I'm not quite sure as to how much you'd save on business loan vs lease, and what the deal is with licensing in that kind of thing, though.

hence proper management and utilisation of the space as community space during the daytimes.

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I think the loft would have been better if it retained the community side but put more nights out to other promoters who could have brought bigger bands in
I see your point about the loft Robadob, but why didn't you go down there and help, or hire it out and put something on with a big band?

Matt Abysmal and I hired out the Loft as independent promoters. We were quoted a (very high, considering the size and state of the venue and PA, but not completely unreasonable) hire fee which we agreed to pay. At the end of the night it turned out that the hire fee had mysteriously increased by £100. When we attempted to query this, one of the Loft crew removed our cashbox and took our agreed hire fee PLUS the extra £100 from it. As a result of this Matt had to take around £80 from his own bank account to pay bands - we have ALWAYS had a strict policy of paying ALL bands we book, whether the door take covers it or not. When Matt attempted to speak to Jo and Roy about the increased hire fee they both became incredibly rude, aggressive and threatening, accusing him of stealing from their venue, trying to fuck over local "community projects" and generally being evil. I personally encountered very similar behaviour from one of the above people when I attempted to become involved in another "community project" more recently. Our experience is that the Loft "management" only wanted people to get involved if those people would do exactly as they were told and quietly accept being taken advantage of. Anyone having the audacity to have ideas of their own or demand truthful fair treatment is threatened and treated like shit.

Matt is officially not involved in this discussion for professional reasons. He gave me permission to include our experiences here and will be able to comment at the end of the month when he is no longer professionally implicated. Thanks.

And here was me trying to be vague and diplomatic about it all ;)

its a wonder anyone ever takes the risk to put gigs on!

its a wonder anyone ever takes the risk to put gigs on!

It's pretty rewarding, and providing you do the work and don't overreach yourself by booking expensive bands and large venues, and do it as a group, you'll generally break even or only lose about the same amount of money as you'd spend on the night if you went as a punter and bought drinks, when divided up between everyone. Doing the BTF nights, we had a regular 60-70 people in throughout the night, paid everyone, often the bands a bit more than the going rate and what they asked for (the idea being that if we'd made £40 on the show after all expenses, it's probably best to give that to the band rather than make a fairly pointless £10 each out of it), and managed to not lose anything more than a tenner or so each after everything had been taken into account. Doing it as independant hobbyists is a lot different to doing it as a business that needs to pay the rent like Simon does, or working for a professional company like Matt has been, though.

On the shows I've had proper involvement in, I've always enjoyed doing it in a completely different way than I do just attending as a punter. I've never properly enjoyed the things I've been involved in as a night out, because you're always busy, and have the worries of feeling responsible for everybody having a good time or not, worrying whether the venue owners will be happy and worrying about whether you're going to lose lots of money, but they've always been really really worthwhile and enjoyable in a sense of achievement type way. I guess when you've done it lots, and losing money isn't such a problem because you've got some banker gigs coming up, it's a little easier to relax and enjoy the night.

Our experience is that the Loft "management" only wanted people to get involved if those people would do exactly as they were told and quietly accept being taken advantage of. Anyone having the audacity to have ideas of their own or demand truthful fair treatment is threatened and treated like shit.

edited in soberness... I meant what I said though.

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Interesting reading/timeline:

Released: 27 July 2007:
http://www.mamagroup.co.uk/18/section.aspx/download/66

Released 24th April 2008:
http://www.mamagroup.co.uk/18/section.aspx/download/88

Barfly closes: 2 June 2008.

I had a gig on the 3rd of June. They came and closed it on the 4th.

/Pedant

Interesting seeing the Mama Group spins on what happened. Anybody want to see pics of all the Barfly upper management at a paid-for company beano the same weekend ... ? Two less venues to worry about so let's spend the money we saved on lots of beer and lots of food. The sacked employees of Brighton and Cambridge weren't there.

I hate people who write vitriolic posts and then delete them before I get home from work! I wanna read the Jordan ranting ;)

:) it was basically in support of you and matt and corinne and anyone who really tried to make the scene work... I was quite abusive about the fact Jo is in fact crap and should put her money where her mouth is and buy the barfly to prove us all wrong instead of putting on gigs in crumbly hell holes noone wants to go to!!

I had a choice word to say about a certain myspace blog and the fact that I wont stand for hard working members of the scene being belittled when they can actually demonstarte solid hardcore investment in Cambridges scene!

Oh and how the loft was always doomed...

but I deleted all that cos I was a bit drunk and rather strong worded!!

I’ve sat and read this thread with sadness. I’m not going to fight any sides or condone any public character bashing from any side but I do want to say a few positive things.

I’ve had really good experiences in both the Loft and the Barfly. I never got to make friends with the Barfly bunch like I did with the Loft bunch but one thing that stood out for me at the Barfly was one EXCEPTIONALLY good sound engineer!! I was gutted and extremely sad about the circumstances in which the Loft finished but am happy they’ve gone on to do well on the scene. I’m gutted to hear how everyone that was working at the Barfly has now been unceremoniously turfed out with no notice.

Many artists appreciated being able to play in a space such as the Loft…people that wouldn’t be considered by the Barfly.

Acoustic Stage are very good at what they do. I’ve been to several very well attended gigs over the last few weeks at The Boat House, The Loco and The Bakers where Jo and her team have worked tirelessly to organise the evenings and still manage a chat. I’m not saying the success is recent – I just don’t get out to see bands as much as I’d like to.

I’m glad to see that most of the gigs are been moved around and wish luck and success to everyone that’s been caught up in this business.

In my original post I did say how some would have had good expoeriences but most didnt... dramatic rent hikes etc... never gonna do you favours!

I am more concerned with my mate Corinne having to up and move and get a new job again, rather than the Barfly closing. I mean, it's not a surprise to me tbh, but i think she was just getting settled. It sucks. I think the building is cursed.

I haven't read all of the above, as i am lazy. I don't think 'deleting posts' should be allowed. I vote for more drunken posts! At least we get some honesty and amusement at the same time :)

I hope something good comes up for your friend. There's a lot of demons collecting up in that building:-/

Corrines also got to find somewhere she can take the dog!

I’m gutted to hear how everyone that was working at the Barfly has now been unceremoniously turfed out with no notice.

Being fair to The Barfly, I don't know the situation with Corrine (I think she's at least not been kicked out of the flat), but Matt at least has been given full notice and unused holiday and is thus still employed by them to move shows and run them at the new venues, and has some time to apply for other jobs. I'm pretty sure the rest of the staff were just employed as casual staff, so wouldn't have any kind of notice period. It's harsh to be made redundant, but The Barfly aren't being too bad to their staff about it.

I was thinking of making a comment earlier in this thread about jumping to conclusions without knowing the whole story...there was my contribution!

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Yep, all people should hold a month of mourning when other people in their company are made redundant. Even, nay, especially, if they are not anything to do with the decision, but assistants.

Fuck these young cunts and their 'have fun' attitudes.

Bit of a pointless dig isn't it? Or is there just a huge anti-barfly agenda there, Royalty?

Well, whatever the reason for posting that pic, it's been deleted now.

I do wish people weren't allowed to delete posts. If you are going to post something, at least have the confidence to stick with your opinion and leave it up. I admit I have deleted a post in the past (on the These New Puritans gig) and this make me hypocritical but I'm pretty sure that that's about it. Makes me cross these people who seem to delete nearly every other thing they put or the delete very things that stimulate discussion, making many threads nonsensical afterwards.

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i totally agree SR.

the picture was apparently of an auditor and 2 assistants to managers of barfly out 'on the night the cambridge barfly closed down'.... it was a picture of 3 early-mid 20's people laughing and having a good time in a club (from what i remember). t
People work for companies and then leave an office.... quite a lot of people like to go and try to forget about the day if it has been a bad one with a few drinks... maybe i missed the point.

i only zoomed past a few minutes ago and some gig posters may no longer be there, but it was warm and hazy and i was in a hurry to get to trinity road post office

St.John's/Trinity Street post office is a splendid store and is such a tourist trap. I love that street... I try and walk down there every day.

it was full of young german girls. that's not why i was there, one discogs order and one amazon order. however, there were lots of workmen in yellow jackets and safety hats sitting outsite trinity and st johns

There is always workmen down there... I cycled that way to work this morning and was a little sickened to see see three old guys (over 50) ogling and leering at a 12-14 year old girl on her bike in school uniform... most of these workmen don't need to wear a high vis vest to stand out as complete sexist retard fuckwits...

I was going to say something but I was too busy watching her little ass jig up and down on that well sprung saddle... That is a joke BTW.

Being fair to The Barfly, I don't know the situation with Corrine (I think she's at least not been kicked out of the flat)
Corrine has Eddie Moon`s old boat on the Cam.

She's living in the flat at the moment.

Firstly: condolences to everyone who was affected by the barfly's sudden closure...
Help!
Hello kind people...
I'm new to posting on we're all neighbours, though, at such times, one can really see the benefits of local online forums...
Our band (you can hear us here: http://www.myspace.com/urbantramper) urbantramper & 10K T G was booked to play Barfly this Friday...I was planning on going to diediedie last friday & only found out ours was cancelled on that day...
Basically I am hoping someone can help us out with somewhere to move the show...Man of the moon is out, as is Portland arms...I'm still hoping we can get on the bill of the Portland show, but failing that...Any ideas?
If anyone's up for a house party we'd be totally keen for that...Our funds are limited but we have enough gear to have a show somewhere and keep people entertained (we're not ridiculously loud)...We could just pass around a hat to cover costs & give something to the hosts...
It was to be our last show in Cambridge for ages and our single release, we have a trumpetist especially for the show...

If anyone knows anyone, or can help in any way we would really appreciate it.

our email is: urbantramper@gmail.com

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Being fair to The Barfly, I don't know the situation with Corrine (I think she's at least not been kicked out of the flat)
Corrine has Eddie Moon`s old boat on the Cam.

I meant as in how long she'll be allowed to stay in the flat in the venue, and whether she has full notice period, as she's been full time for not very long, and I can't imagine has the kind of clearing up (bookings wise) that Matt does so may not be needed in the same way.

I'm not really sure the anti-Barfly sentiment of some people is necessarily justified. Close friends have been affected by this, and they have my sympathies and support, but of all the things you can criticise the Barfly about (and there are many), acting like a business and closing down something that is losing them money isn't one of them, even if that does mean that a close friend has been made redundant and other friends get less work because of it, and despite the fact that everyone effected gave way more than they possibly should have done in order to try to stop the place losing money. It's not really the same kind of thing as making people redundant to "restructure" a business and save money, it's closing down a part of a business that wasn't working, despite every effort from everyone who worked there. It's sad and shitty, but it's difficult to get upset with Barfly about it, there's only so much money any company is willing to throw at something before they cut their losses.

That's friday the 13th...

ut> If anyone's up for a house party we'd be totally keen for that...

Oh if only our little house was 5 times the size and detached!... Good luck finding somewhere. Is the European tour a full band thing or just you and eli?

full band on tour...

Gigs gigs gigs.

So am I the only one that bothered at all about the fact that - once again - if you want to hear rock / metal DJ's in Cambridge then you are stuck with every other Tuesday at The Kambar? And nothing whatsoever of a weekend?

Then put a club on.... or wait until Neil J sorts something out (assuming he is).

Though if that is all there is for rock, do you think the market is sustainably there?

When we started doing clubs, our nights were much more 'alternative' than they ended up (for example, I think we gave Neil Jones his first club DJing slot in Cambridge amongst many others 'monsters' of all things heavy). Unfortunately there wasn't a sustainable market for that. Just not enough people in Cambridge who wanted to come out week after week to go to a club playing that. So, with regret, we adapted.... to survive...

I haven't really paid enough attention at the church of noise (normally too pissed) to remember how busy it was, so my question is genuine :-)

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I was one of those who used to really enjoy the old format Alternation, much more than I ever did the mainstreamed up version. Was good to hear The Revolting Cocks' version of Do Ya Think I'm Sexy and Death In Vegas on a Friday night (I think it was Fridays they were on)

There's something of a lack of very small venues with late licenses to put on successful clubs that don't follow The Kambar's model, though. downstairs at The Cow would be great if it wasn't for the design of the entrance to the downstairs/toilets, and lack of late license. A space like that, you can sustain a clubnight and make it good with only 50-70 people in there.

I know Neil wasn't keen on doing it every week, so as not to water down the audience. Once a month though and you had one of the biggest bar spends at the Barfly.

I know Neil wasn't keen on doing it every week, so as not to water down the audience. Once a month though and you had one of the biggest bar spends at the Barfly.

It was something of a weird combination of a clubnight and a pub that plays relatively loud metal music, though, and I'm wondering how the attendance would change (up or down) if it was run in a nightclub venue, with louder music and less space to sit down/more space dedicated to somewhere to dance.

Eh? Neil ran a rock/metal night, so i'm not quite sure i see your point.

Sorry, actually i do. What defines a club night really? I've been to club nights where there are pool tables etc and there's a variety of stuff to do, not just dance. I'd call CoN a club night, as people definitely went specifically for the music and the vibe.

I'd call CoN a club night, as people definitely went specifically for the music and the vibe.

Yeah, I'd agree, but because of the location and setup of it, it was fairly peculiar as a clubnight, and would have a completely different feel to it if it was, say, in the upstairs part of the venue, which I thought would have made a fantastic club space but was only really successful a few times.

But you're missing my point. I think you're thinking in a very narrow definition of what a club should be. What's wrong with a club where you can play pool, or sit and have a natter before legging it back to the dancefloor? The Kambar is kinda like this over multiple levels if you think about it.

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What's wrong with a club where you can play pool, or sit and have a natter before legging it back to the dancefloor?

Nothing, I think clubs are better when there's other things to do (hence us having art tables and computers to type things to people at BTF nights), it's more that most places that can host clubnights, especially small ones, don't have a great deal of space/tables/etc dedicated to this kind of thing.

I completely agree. Seems i misunderstood your earlier points.

for info, CON is having a summer holiday (as Alt etc will know, it's the worst time for clubnighhts anyway)...once it's tan has faded it will be weighing up the various options that have already made themselves available....as they say, watch this space for details.

Summer's over now. Yesterday was the last day.

Summer's over now. Yesterday was the last day.

Stop this crazy talk!

It's going to be summer ALL OVER MY FACE in Sicily next week :-) :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0067

It's going to be summer ALL OVER MY FACE in Sicily next week :-) :-)

I'm not sure why, but this sounds incredibly rude.

I'm a bit slow on the uptake here but Royalty you need to wind it in. I met up with the ex-barfly staff on the eve of the shut-down and despite their best efforts, you could tell they were all absolutely gutted. So what if they were given a bit of cash to attempt to have some fun and drown their sorrows at no longer being able to work with a group of people they get on so well with? How is that any worse than a company funding a staff jolly to boost morale?

So what if they were given a bit of cash to attempt to have some fun and drown their sorrows at no longer being able to work with a group of people they get on so well with?

To be fair i don't think you'll find the party in London will have been anything to do with Cambridge and Brighton shutting.

Bloody post deleters leaving things so ambiguous. I thought he was talking about the Cambs people.

Sorry I didn't pop by yesterday Simon btw, had to go to London. I can come around 6.15 today if that's okay?

Yep, that's fine to pop round later.

I think the point was with the party was that, when lots of people are being made redundant, it's a bit tasteless to have a fucking great, expenses paid party in London and not even invite the staff from the venues you've closed. A leaving party might sweeten the pill a bit.

Yes, on reflection, it does sound a little smutty.

Bad Auntie Jude.

Who is this Summer girl and does Mr. Jude know?

Well, when you've been married as long as us, you need to have some kinds of diversions to keep things interesting....

I know her. Messy

Well, when you've been married as long as us, you need to have some kinds of diversions to keep things interesting....

THREAD SYNERGY!

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn%5Fnews%5Fhome/DisplayArticle.asp?ID...

Ahem.

Whoops reposted. Having a plop day and it's fuddling my brain. Fair point Simon but I think they must've had that party planned for a long time. Why pull/change it at the last minute to appease disgruntled staff here? If there were redundancies at a Barclays in Cambridge, I doubt a London branch's bash would be affected.

It was something of a weird combination of a clubnight and a pub that plays relatively loud metal music, though, and I'm wondering how the attendance would change (up or down) if it was run in a nightclub venue, with louder music and less space to sit down/more space dedicated to somewhere to dance.

Before it was at The Barfly, Con was pitched up at The Junction, upstairs on Club Goo nights. Always rammed full, always lots of dancing. Also that venue let 16 / 17-ers in as well, which boosted the numbers very nicely.

Then put a club on....

OK then, I will. Venue will be the main problem, but I already have all gear and a few fellow conspirators to help me out...

And I already have Saturday 28th June sorted for a rock night at The Albert pub, just outside Cambridge at Quy. Website: http://www.slingshot.uk.com/rbrn

There'll be another on Sat 2nd August, same place... free camping and breakfast in the morning!

Will hunt for a venue for the winter - Legends @ Camb City ground looks favourite.

"Loud metal music"... I like quiet metal music, all the way to OFF.

My club nights (coming later in the year) will be more upbeat poppy/classic/punky/ska affairs... Smiths, Cure, Jam, Madness, Small Faces, Who, Dance Hall reggae, ska punk, Houesmartins, Duran Duran, A-Ha, Undertones, Clash, Buzzcocks, Tom Petty, Chris Isaak, Elvis, Elvis Costello, XTC and lots of old poppy and tuneful sounds from 1956 - present.

Admittedly it will be just like one of our house parties, but you know what? I've seen more people dance at our house than I ever did at the Barfly or The Portland. Let's get some fun going on.

I love dancing!

I like the sound of this, Aba.

^^YES!!

The Prince Albert pub is miles in the middle of nowhere.....i think they did used to put a mini bus on mind.....do they still have the python in the glass tank and goats out the back?

Loch Ness monster in the pond?

Taff, just so I know...are you setting up a rival night to CON?

I was wondering that too.

yep, don't blame you for taking the summer off Neil, We were always busy in the summer still but often with cunts, certainly not our regular crowd who would have been off at various festivals, etc.

Robadob - glad you enjoyed those early alternations, we did too, it was just us playing whatever we liked rather than pandering to market tastes. Maybe our error was to change but i'm pretty sure we'd have been moved out for a more profitable night if we didn't. On that basis it seemed wise to play 75% of what we wanted rather than nothing.

>>I love dancing!

:)

Taff, just so I know...are you setting up a rival night to CON?

If CoN is continuing on Fri / Saturday then no. Take on Neil The Great? Not me Sir. ;o)))

I've got info on Legends, though - definitely a goer if booked soon enough. Check yer email...

The Prince Albert pub is miles in the middle of nowhere.....i think they did used to put a mini bus on mind.....do they still have the python in the glass tank and goats out the back?

1 mile from the main A14 Quy junction is not miles (plural) - but it is of course way too far for lazy-arsed students whose universe ends when they get 1/2 a mile away from Great St Mary's Church.

A mini-bus could be arranged if enough people committed to it.

Python is still there...

It is not only "lazy-arsed students whose universe ends when they get 1/2 a mile away from Great St Mary's Church" that would be unlikely to go to a club in the back room of a pub a couple of miles outside the city, as i'm sure you will find.

It would be equally easy for most people to jump on a train and go to a club in London wouldn't it? Which, with due respect, would be a much better night out in probability?

Equally, if a pub several miles outside teh city centre is the only place people are gonna get metal in a "club" environment this summer, with 'legends' being seen as the grail then the scene must have issues.

Not trying to start an argument or anything, but it seems the wrong way round of promotion to suggest that anyone who doesn't get a lift on a fixed time mini-bus/pay for a taxi/drive/want to travel to an arse end village pub is lazy.

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Equally, if a pub several miles outside teh city centre is the only place people are gonna get metal in a "club" environment this summer, with 'legends' being seen as the grail then the scene must have issues.

Although they're really not that far from each other at all, I also think there's quite a psychological difference in location between The Graduate/Portland and Legends Bar, despite being only a 100 metres or so seperating them

James is absolutely right. With succesfully marketing any kind of entertainment or night out you need to remove as many barriers to attendance as possible...location is one of such potential barrier for something like this - i.e. whilst some people will make an effort for a rock night in the city coz they are heavily into the music, what you potentially miss with the wrong location is the passing trade who fall into the place coz it's simply there, is open and generally appeals.

No 'issues' for the scene tho at all, it's more a question of the right venue availability - e.g. a rock night at the kambar once a month on a Friday would make a killing. Having bumped into Richard yesterday and chatting about the the subject I completely respect his decision as to why he gives them all to Daz (ex APU who now lives 200 miles away and 'runs' the nights). Not for going into here, but he has his (valid) reasons. Frustrating though.

Anyway, like Ive said before...no decision from me for at least a month - got a busy summer, gonna weigh up options available, talk to a few people and see the lie of the land in a month or so's time.

Ps Taff - no email mate - wanna re-send...?

Having bumped into Richard yesterday and chatting about the the subject I completely respect his decision as to why he gives them all to Daz (ex APU who now lives 200 miles away and 'runs' the nights). Not for going into here, but he has his (valid) reasons. Frustrating though.

I thought it was Neil who ran them, rather than just DJ them. Evidently not.

Yeah, this has always been my biggest frustration, I think the Cambridge alternative club scene would be much better if there was a rotation of nights on at The Kambar at weekends, rather than 2 very similar nights on every Friday and Saturday. But it's also true that the people who run the venue do it to make the most money they can, and you can't really fault them for not really being that concerned about stifling more interesting nights that could flourish there. The expectation of the regulars is also another issue, and people enjoy it there because they know what they're going to get, and that coherence would break down if it ran 3 or 4 rotating clubnights.

The expectation of the regulars is also another issue, and people enjoy it there because they know what they're going to get, and that coherence would break down if it ran 3 or 4 rotating clubnights.

That is one of the key factors with the kambar, the owners are very aware that people know it is indie on a friday and saturday night, and that changing that may have a negative impact on all their nights.

I'm glad it didn't seem as if I was being as argumentative as i feared i may have come across :-)

Personally i really don't like legends as a venue, and think it would be difficult to attract a regular crowd there, though i don't know the scene as well as many others here.

Venue availability here is a bit of a nightmare. We were considering doing a one-off alternation night towards the end of last year and have now decided not to, as we couldn't find the right venue.... we didn't even approach any, just couldn't think of one that we thought would do justice to what we had in mind and would be financially viable (sorry to bring it down to money, but it has to be a factor - no-one wants to lose lots of money!)

Ps Taff - no email mate - wanna re-send...?

I sent it to requests @ CoN .com... if that's a dud, can ya send a mail to mine so I can reply?

Issues - What Scene? Where can you find rock / metal DJ's of a weekend in Cambridge now?

Y'all sit in the pub and tell each other how much better this is than a decent rock roadshow five miles away. We already have bikers coming from 50+ miles away...

ooooooooo, these ABA club nights sound awesome

Y'all sit in the pub and tell each other how much better this is than a decent rock roadshow five miles away. We already have bikers coming from 50+ miles away...

That's the thing, you'd get bikers go for a one off event, but to sustain a regular clubnight in a location 5 miles out of town would be difficult. It's difficult enough to sustain a clubnight at the best of times right now, with the smoking ban and late pub opening times, so doing one that people would have to drive to (and therefore not be able to drink) or walk for an hour to, people just aren't going to bother. You're obviously enthusiastic, and I wouldn't want to put a downer on that, but I can't imagine a venue a few miles out of town would work at all for a regular, once monthly clubnight. You'd struggle to get a regular audience for a clubnight even within the outer suburbs of Cambridge, let alone a junction on from the A14. People generally don't commit to going to clubnights, so a minibus would be difficult, and people aren't going to want to walk back pissed at 2am after a night out.

The monthly Rock Nights at Meldreth seem to be still popular... and that really is a few miles from anywhere !

That is one of the key factors with the kambar, the owners are very aware that people know it is indie on a friday and saturday night, and that changing that may have a negative impact on all their nights.

It is frustrating, though, because I think The Kambar and the nights that go on there are the single biggest obstacle to having an interesting alternative clubbing scene at weekends(not just alternative rock and metal). It's the perfect size, layout and location, but for perfectly understandable reasons, it has something of a stranglehold on that kind of clubbing.

When we starting the promo stuff for BTF back in October/November 2006, I was tempted to do some "Bomb The Kambar" type statements, just voicing those very frustrations, that although I've had some great nights there, it does seem that its existence and what it does at weekends does seem to stifle the possibility of successfully running a slightly more left field night at weekends.

There is an answer.... buy the kambar ;-)

(i have no idea if teh owners would be interested in selling btw, but everything is available for a price!)

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That's the thing, you'd get bikers go for a one off event, but to sustain a regular clubnight in a location 5 miles out of town would be difficult. It's difficult enough to sustain a clubnight at the best of times right now, with the smoking ban and late pub opening times, so doing one that people would have to drive to (and therefore not be able to drink) or walk for an hour to, people just aren't going to bother. You're obviously enthusiastic, and I wouldn't want to put a downer on that, but I can't imagine a venue a few miles out of town would work at all for a regular, once monthly clubnight. You'd struggle to get a regular audience for a clubnight even within the outer suburbs of Cambridge, let alone a junction on from the A14. People generally don't commit to going to clubnights, so a minibus would be difficult, and people aren't going to want to walk back pissed at 2am after a night out.

...which is exactly why (a) we have put on camping for people (free of charge) and (b) we haven't spent any money on the venue.

BTW it's not a pub back room - it's the whole pub. You know, like that pub in Cambridge that used to have rock music of an evening...what was it called... oh yeah, The Barfly. (Cambridge Arms... Alma... Seven Stars...)

Getting a night going in the city either requires a venue which will permit it on a Friday / Saturday - we seem to be all out of those just now; or a room-only venue which can be hired for £££, the promoter (not the venue) taking the hit if no-one turns up.

Legends seems to be the most viable so far... it's actually cheaper than the Cellar Bar! But if no-one is going to bother turning up then there's no point in doing it, I'll stick to free out-of-town venues... I already am putting one night on this year in the city that I'll have to find a few hundred quid for if it bombs.

Neil has proved that it can be made to work with the right venue - I'm sure he'll come up with something.

The monthly Rock Nights at Meldreth seem to be still popular... and that really is a few miles from anywhere !

That'll be The Melbourn Rock Club. Which has been going since the 80's. And isn't in Melbourn. And is a fair old walk from the Meldreth rail station, I promise you - on unlit roads with no pavements!

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but that's why we ask nicely & camp overnight...

Legends seems a good bet... maybe not in the same league as some of the venues mentioned but it's warm, dry, has beers, bogs, and plenty of parking ! (bit of a bonus in Cambridge).

We've also run one or two events at the British Legion hall in Histon... nice place with even nicer beer !

knockdownginger I'm confused. I was under the impression that the Cambridge Barfly staff were told on the day of the closure, not told the previous night?

Correct, Royalty. They were told when management and a lorry arrived about 10am on the day of closure.

" I think The Kambar and the nights that go on there are the single biggest obstacle to having an interesting alternative clubbing scene at weekends"

I think that is utter bollocks. I think the biggest obstacle in Cambridge is the lack of an appreciative audience for that kind of thing. There simply aren't enough people here to go every week and make it viable because the population is too small. Thats why the kambar does what it does.

Sorry I meant to type evening...

So is Generator and the Indie thing an off-shoot of Fatpoppadaddys? Taht Daz has his hand in many a pie in many a town the scamp...

Daz and FP parted company many moons ago

No, Fatpoppadaddys is run by Christian, Daz runs the Indie thing and Generator with Neil working for him or possibly being a partner.
I always found it peculiar (and at times frustrating) that Daz could run 2 clubs a week from Southampton too, but i guess it is income for him and from what i can tell he doesn't have to do anything.

I think mwhite is probably spot on too, i don't think the kambar are the problem at all.... how many 'interesting alternative' nights have survived competitive market forces here? None that i can think of (and i include several attempts by myself including the incredibly ill-fated fake nights at the junction).
The kambar having fairly generic indie nights on a friday and saturday is a symptom of a small city rather than the disease itself.

Pagan_flame..... i'm confused, you seem convinced that there are loads of people who want a rock night in the city centre in cambridge but you are too worried about taking a financial hit if no-one comes along?
To be honest that is at the root of promoting, there are very few times as a promoter where you won't potentially be out of pocket if nobody comes along. That is why you do promotion and weigh up the pro's and con's before going for anything. But the suggestion that you have concern about it makes me think that there isn't as big a market as you suggest (for a non-camping, 'traditional' style club in a 'club' venue).
It sounds like you are primarily aiming at the biker market, rather than the rock scene as a whole, which i think are 2 entirely different markets (though they may crossover in places). I would be convinced that the biker scene would have people who are much more centred around a 'community' than a bunch of students who love rock.... therefore getting bikers to a pub where thay can camp over is a lot easier than getting people to come out once a month to a venue in a city centre, and keep it financially viable for promoter and venue.

The kambar having fairly generic indie nights on a friday and saturday is a symptom of a small city rather than the disease itself.

Nail. Head. Hit.

I still want to pick up the Waterfront in Norwich with a big crane and bring it over here

I'm not impressed by the waterfront. I've been there several times and the sound has always been awful. The layout is all wrong, IMHO.

do you mean for live gigs? I was thinking about the club nights - they work really well I think.

Just don't bring Chains on Velvet with you!

aawww, the goff nights are fun :D

Aww, it's finishing anyway!: http://www.chainsonvelvet.co.uk/

what a shame. oh well, there's still Wraith

Pagan_flame..... i'm confused, you seem convinced that there are loads of people who want a rock night in the city centre in cambridge but you are too worried about taking a financial hit if no-one comes along?

To be honest that is at the root of promoting, there are very few times as a promoter where you won't potentially be out of pocket if nobody comes along. That is why you do promotion and weigh up the pro's and con's before going for anything.

It sounds like you are primarily aiming at the biker market, rather than the rock scene as a whole, which i think are 2 entirely different markets (though they may crossover in places). I would be convinced that the biker scene would have people who are much more centred around a 'community' than a bunch of students who love rock.... therefore getting bikers to a pub where thay can camp over is a lot easier than getting people to come out once a month to a venue in a city centre, and keep it financially viable for promoter and venue.

Well what convinces me is the packed out Barfly once a month at Church of Noise. Now if Neil finds a new venue and keeps it running - as I'm sure he will - there is no point (or money to be made) in putting on a second one to compete - CoN worked well as only once a month so as to keep 'em coming back for more.

Now I am already putting on a burlesque night this year, as no-one else in the city is doing it. If it bombs, it will stand me and my co-conspirator at around 500 quid loss between us.

My nights outside the city are biker nights - and if only bikers come then that's great. But if no-one comes, I haven't lost too much as the venue is free of charge.

Any night in the city will stand me at a few hundred quid, and will NOT be aimed at the biker market - and if CoN is running then it's financial suicide to try starting another the same. | have no expectation of making £££'s on these ventures, and am in the position of having all gear that I need for putting on a DJ night - but there's only so much money at once that you can sensibly risk on the offchance of success.

Enthusiastic I certainly am, but not TOTALLY stupid.

*Enthusiastic I certainly am, but not TOTALLY stupid.*

do you have a letter to prove it ?

There are a few things going in the villages it seems.......the Rumble In Wratting anyone?

So...
The barfly cancelled our gig for tomorrow night...

But!

We are now playing next door!

@ the Boat house...from 8pm.

If anyone's interested...
this is our band: http://myspace.com/urbantramper

do you have a letter to prove it ?

Certainly, more than one. I have a good selection of four-letter combos to preface the word 'Off'... would you like to choose one? ;o)))

Now I am already putting on a burlesque night this year, as no-one else in the city is doing it.

I believe there's a burlesque night happening in the Junction 2 soon.

The barfly cancelled our gig for tomorrow night...

Well to be fair, they didn't have much choice...

Did that Burlesque night ever happen at the University Arms?

So knockdownginger says he was drinking with ex-Barfly staff the night before it was closed and they were all "gutted" - even though they didn't know until the next day? That doesn't make sense so what actually appears to have happened is the Barfly upper management got a bit of cash to drown their sorrows after closing down Cambridge, not the venue staff themselves - is that correct?

I'm a laaaady. And I said above that I meant to type evening, not eve - like Simon says (Simon Says rub your head), they found out about 10am that morning and I met up with them later on that day.

*rubs head*

I do agree with the point that, when they're having to tighten their belts, it smacks of being a bit tactless to then go and throw an all expenses paid party and not invite the staff they're making redundant...

Can't be arsed to read all of this at the mo. Will do so in due course and respond accordingly but forgive me for keeping schtum until then.

Basic point: Cambridge isn't owed anything by anyone. The music scene in Cambridge has always had an unusually high proportion of altruists to business people. The latter don't pretend to be the former and sometimes get harshly criticised for making sensible decisions, but of course the former should be encouraged and celebrated.

I am absolutely, completely gutted, however.

well one and all on the cambridge scene thanks you for all the hard work you and the other guys did...

**applauds with standing ovation all the barfly team**

**stands up **

(and not just because he hates tottenhem * football joke*)

aawww, the goff nights are fun :D

I went once and they played just one song that was recognisably Goth by any musical definition and that was Temple of Love.

It was like going to an indie night and hearing Drum and Bass all night!

Some of the people who have posted on this thread (particularly promoters etc) may like to have a look at a new thread I am starting called Venue Issues.

Shit fuck. I just read all that. Overiding thing is a 200 cap venue within the ring road. anyway hats off Matt yr a champ. Simon i hope you get it all sorted for your shows.

They have gigs at the Frank Lee Centre every now and again... Hexagon Centre Room. Might be worth trying to see if they are up for hosting nights. As far as I can tell it is criminally under-used.

People complain the Portland is too far out. I think the Frank Lee would possibly put them off.

the portland might be far but its connected... and its not THAT far from town. Add in the C1 and its fine!

The C1 goes to the Frank Lee too.

The Portland, too far out? Why it's the centre of the Universe didn't you know!

Those people better not live in a big city anytime soon!

**Melt Banana venue update**

Found this earlier - Moved to the Soul Tree
http://www.ents24.com/web/event/1488831/Melt-Banana.html

Sucks for me now, as i can't go due to working glastonbury. So i have 2 tickets going.
Email me at sjrf99@yahoo.com if interested.

how on earth did corrine manage to get hold of eddies boat?

she stole it while he wasn't looking. made a very very slow getaway.

Is it the autumn yet *looks out window*?

That long, eh? damn.

That makes me very...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0W_WgQl_8c

I love this song

I think vampires live in there now.

It's actually a top-secret test facility. I picked up some piece of paper outside there the other day outlining experiments for something called 'Subject Q'. It included instructions such as 'release the penguins' and 'caress container tenderly'. I ran as fast as I could.

I'll be walking past there in a few minutes, do you want me to pass on your regards?

Just be prepared for the penguins.

I drifted past with my galaxy ice cream but they must have been out. That first window on the first floor still looks just a teensy bit open. Would be a good spot to practice when I get a guitar

I'm gonna squat it then have the most amazing loft parties....who wants to come?

ice creams on me!

Sure-bert

Moody, when it was open the alarm once went off and police were there within about 10 mins. You'd have to be fair speedy on securing the doors if you wanted to squat it.

for some reason the Barfly was fully boarded up earlier today, wonder if it has been bought or there was a squat? doesn't really add to the ambience of Chesterton Road i have to say. would seem very quick if it was entered, don't they need court orders or something?

Yeah, I saw some workmen putting up the grills the other day...maybe something will finally be happening with the place....

I would'nt be surprised if it's been bought by the comedy club chain Jongleurs. They've been buying up venues in various cities and want to move into Cambridge and they've got £8.5million in their back pocket.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/03/11/10670/jongleurs_reveals_its_n...

If there's the possibility of redevelopment, I'd get the marshmallows ready.

Marshmallows?

Be prepared to get up at 4am to toast them :)

hehe

should be a godd view from my pad, and i have a lot of respect for burly firemen :)

there are people around there now (possibly from the same company as TigerChris say the other day). one of the doors is open now, i was tempted to pop my head in and ask what was happening, maybe i will on the way past again in a few minutes