Post by bloodandlipstick on Nov 1, 2008 10:39:01 GMT
After 18 months of toil, negotiation and nervous breakdown, we've finally been given the green light to open the place formerly known as Frames in Rhyl as a dedicated live music venue.
We've had to give the place a new name - it's now called Venue4Events - and we have been given an opening capacity of 150, although this will increase in stages to about 450 as extra work on fire escapes is undertaken.
The reasons for the length of time it's taken to get the place up to the standards demanded by the authorities are rooted in the previous tenancy - basically we have had to prove ourselves cleaner than clean to the various statutory bodies because the previous leasees operated illegally.
The result of this is that we will be under the closest of scrutiny from the police, fire and health & safety departments and licensing authorities and will receive regular unscheduled visits from them during operating hours.
Consequently we will have to run the place with strict adherence to the regulations that those statutory bodies have set down for us or we will be closed down on the spot.
To be fair to them, their attitude has been to help rather than hinder us since we changed the name of the place and most of what they are asking of us is common sense.
What this means in practise is that we have got to manage the place effectively so that there can be no grounds for complaint from the authorities and the bulk of what that entails for us will be invisible to the public.
Certain things will impact directly on the public, however, with the following two points of particular importance.
For the time being at least it will be an 18+ venue and the door staff will demand ID at all times - this isn't the doorstaff being arsey, it's one of the things that the authorities are going to be keenest on checking up on.
There is also going to be a zero tolerance attitude to drugs.
I know that this is something that should be in place in all premises but we all know that there are certain places where it remains unenforced by the owners - we have to enforce it absolutely or face closure.
I hate to sound so authoritarian myself but this place has the potential to be a really good venue and I'd hate to see it screwed up by something as avoidable as drugs or underage drinking.
The ultimate aim is to have the building operating seven nights a week, mixing live band nights with tribute acts, touring bands, comedy and anything else that we think will provide an alternative to dancing around your handbag on a Saturday night!
Most nights of the week will be fairly fluid in what's on offer but we have nailed Saturdays as the nights on which we'll be putting on the live bands.
The opening night is Saturday, November 8 and the live line up has been confirmed as Carpet + Thyrd Eye + the 4 Sticks.
The layout of the building means that we can go back to the Blu set-up of being able to have a closed soundcheck as there is a bar, complete with pool, snooker, plasma TVs and plenty of seating already open while the soundcheck is being completed.
We're still finalising what drink deals are going to be on offer but our bar manager is going to be pro-active and innovative in terms of promos, presentation etc.
We are also teaming up with The Games Exchange in Rhyl every Tuesday evening to present Xbox 360 competitions on the big screen in the lower bar, starting on Tuesday, November 11 from 7.30 pm.
Our website will be going live in the next day or so - I'll post up the details as soon as that happens - but in the meantime you can check the listings at www.myspace.com/framesofficial
We're keen to be as approachable as possible so if there's anyone (or anything) that you want to see at Venue4Events, give us a yell and we'll do our best to oblige.
www.freewebs.com/bloodandlipstick
We've had to give the place a new name - it's now called Venue4Events - and we have been given an opening capacity of 150, although this will increase in stages to about 450 as extra work on fire escapes is undertaken.
The reasons for the length of time it's taken to get the place up to the standards demanded by the authorities are rooted in the previous tenancy - basically we have had to prove ourselves cleaner than clean to the various statutory bodies because the previous leasees operated illegally.
The result of this is that we will be under the closest of scrutiny from the police, fire and health & safety departments and licensing authorities and will receive regular unscheduled visits from them during operating hours.
Consequently we will have to run the place with strict adherence to the regulations that those statutory bodies have set down for us or we will be closed down on the spot.
To be fair to them, their attitude has been to help rather than hinder us since we changed the name of the place and most of what they are asking of us is common sense.
What this means in practise is that we have got to manage the place effectively so that there can be no grounds for complaint from the authorities and the bulk of what that entails for us will be invisible to the public.
Certain things will impact directly on the public, however, with the following two points of particular importance.
For the time being at least it will be an 18+ venue and the door staff will demand ID at all times - this isn't the doorstaff being arsey, it's one of the things that the authorities are going to be keenest on checking up on.
There is also going to be a zero tolerance attitude to drugs.
I know that this is something that should be in place in all premises but we all know that there are certain places where it remains unenforced by the owners - we have to enforce it absolutely or face closure.
I hate to sound so authoritarian myself but this place has the potential to be a really good venue and I'd hate to see it screwed up by something as avoidable as drugs or underage drinking.
The ultimate aim is to have the building operating seven nights a week, mixing live band nights with tribute acts, touring bands, comedy and anything else that we think will provide an alternative to dancing around your handbag on a Saturday night!
Most nights of the week will be fairly fluid in what's on offer but we have nailed Saturdays as the nights on which we'll be putting on the live bands.
The opening night is Saturday, November 8 and the live line up has been confirmed as Carpet + Thyrd Eye + the 4 Sticks.
The layout of the building means that we can go back to the Blu set-up of being able to have a closed soundcheck as there is a bar, complete with pool, snooker, plasma TVs and plenty of seating already open while the soundcheck is being completed.
We're still finalising what drink deals are going to be on offer but our bar manager is going to be pro-active and innovative in terms of promos, presentation etc.
We are also teaming up with The Games Exchange in Rhyl every Tuesday evening to present Xbox 360 competitions on the big screen in the lower bar, starting on Tuesday, November 11 from 7.30 pm.
Our website will be going live in the next day or so - I'll post up the details as soon as that happens - but in the meantime you can check the listings at www.myspace.com/framesofficial
We're keen to be as approachable as possible so if there's anyone (or anything) that you want to see at Venue4Events, give us a yell and we'll do our best to oblige.
www.freewebs.com/bloodandlipstick