The Brudenell Social Club

Facebook member? Join the Brudenell group here!

After a meeting last night, the Ents Committee have decided to make some changes to the way the gig room at the Brudenell is used.

1. Only Brudenell engineers are allowed to use our PA from now on.

2. The pricing chart on the website has been removed as it was causing some confusion. Please confirm costs when you book the room.

3. When you book a sound engineer until midnight, live music is only allowed until 11. You pay the engineer for an extra hour to pack everything away after the show.

4. Archie is now taking over Stu’s job of booking sound engineers.

Please note the two new email addresses for queries:

bookings [at] brudenellsocialclub.co.uk
sound [at] brudenellsocialclub.co.uk

I created a Brudenell entry on Wikipedia tonight, which you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brudenell_Social_Club.

Please feel free to add to, and edit, the article. The information on this site was all written by me and you have my permission to copy and paste as you need to!

New limited edition Brudenell t-shirts, featuring artwork by musician and artist Jeffrey Lewis, are on sale in the Brudenell now, priced £7.50. The t-shirts are actually a lot brighter than the picture shows. They are selling fast at the club and on Ebay, and we won’t be re-printing them, so please get one quick if you want one. The Cribs wore these shirts at their recent Brudenell gig!

The Entertainments Committee have now bought almost all the new equipment we need to make a full PA (thanks Archie). We have replaced many core items and bought a new mixing desk, all new speakers, new mics, a multicore, amps and other rack equipment, and we still have a little money to spare to finish the job. Archie and Stu will be working on installation in the next month or so.

As the PA has been upgraded, a new set of hire fees will be in operation once the job is complete. You can see these on the PA hire page, which also has some info about hiring and using the equipment.

Nathan has also worked hard on the games room in the past month, which now has two pool tables, two snooker tables, table football, pinball, darts, dominoes, cards and a big-screen TV. The room is now really busy most weeknights, and we are really grateful to everyone who has supported the changes and is using the room regularly. (Pool is still 40p a game, and table football is also 40p!). There is also a brand new quiz machine in the Lounge bar. Please become a Friend of the Brudenell if you use these facilities - it only costs £3.20 when you join online via PayPal.

A massive thanks to everyone who donated and bought items from the Bring and Pie sale on Sunday. We raised close to £700 which will go in the fundraising pot, to buy PA equipment, DJ equipment and equipment for bands to use when they practice. The leftover items from the sale were donated to Potternewton Day Centre, Wheatfields Hospice and the Meanwood Community Shop.

Here are a few photos from the event! (Sorry about the blurriness, I think I had my camera on the wrong setting for a while!).

The sale just after it opened.

Rich on the electrical goods stall.

Jamie and Bob on the records.

Maeve, Gill and Garnett on the clothing stall.

Shumsky and Ellen at the amazing food stall, manned by Jeff, Alice and Katie.

Daniel and Midi auctioning the OnOffOn duvet cover.

Bob and Gozzy packing the van.

If you have any photos of the event, please add them to our Brudenell Flickr group.

The third Bring and Buy (pie) sale will take place from 2pm-6pm on 28th January.

Entry is 25p.

All proceeds from the sale will go to the Brudenell PA fund/ practice room fund etc, and any left-over items will be donated to the Meningitis Trust.

Stalls will include the usual books, clothing, records, CDs, bric-a-brac and so on, and we will also have various art and craft stalls, cakes and pies (vegan and veggie), tea, smoothies, milkshakes, soup and a booze tombola! So come for your Sunday dinner and stick around afterwards.

We will also have an auction at around 4pm, hosted by Daniel Chapman, where we will be selling the best items that are donated. These will include a custom screenprinted duvet cover set featuring the Brudenell logo (from the t-shirts)- a totally one-off item.

We need helpers to set up and sort items from noon, look after a stall for a while, and to pack everything away at 6. Just turn up early if you want to be involved. The more people there are, the more fun it is, and the less work we will all have to do! Helpers also get first pick of the donations!!

Don’t forget to donate your items before the sale. For collection, please email bring-n-pie@brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.

PS. Before the sale, there is an Olsen event at the Hyde Park cinema - after the sale, there is a free gig at the Brudenell… see poster for info.

Last night we bought Moz and Stu’s PA with the first chunk of our lottery money, meaning that it is now totally owned by the Entertainments Committee. We will be buying even more equipment in the next couple of weeks, and discussing other uses for the rest of the money.

The money from New Years Eve has been split between C&R and the ents committee. £700 has been donated to Cops and Robbers, which will cover the debts and pay for another years’ printing. The Ents Committee money will be put towards one of the many things we need to work on - security for the room/ new practice room doors/ a backline/ insurance etc etc etc… to be decided.

Also, I forgot to post this yesterday, but there was a page in the Evening Post about us last night - I will scan it in and stick it on the site ASAP.

Happy New Year on behalf of the Entertainments Committee! We had an amazing party on Sunday which you can read about on the Cops and Robbers and Leeds Music Scene forums - also, have a look at Neil’s photos here. Thanks to everyone who came along, dressed up and joined in with the fun… especially the karaoke singers and the people who spent ages making their outfits… Barberella, Barry on Briggate, the Blackboard, the Beastie Boys and Bender were some of our faves.

You may have noticed that the progress meter on the right-hand-side of this page has jumped from 19% from 86%!! That’s because we have received the £10,000 Awards For All/ National Lottery funding and will be buying Moz and Stu’s PA this week. After that, we will be adding now equipment to really bring the PA up to speed with other venues in the city. The last few pounds will hopefully trickle in from our Bring and Buy sale in 28th January, and a PA launch night sometime in late Spring. Watch this space!

Release Date – 19th December 2006

CHRISTMAS CHEERS IN HYDE PARK AS SOCIAL CLUB AND MUSIC VENUE RECEIVES £10,000 LOTTO AWARD

The future of a social club in Hyde Park which acts as a vital part of the Leeds music scene looks safe after an application for £10,000 of lottery money was successful.

The Brudenell Social Club, which has hosted gigs by Leeds heroes The Kaiser Chiefs, as well as indie superstars Franz Ferdinand and hundreds of local, national and international acts, urgently needs a new £15,000 PA system, in order to compete with other local venues, while remaining independent and affordable.

The Brudenell Entertainments Committee, a volunteer organisation attached to the Social Club, have been awarded a £10,000 grant from the lottery funding organisation Awards for All. The grant will be paid to the Committee on Christmas Day.

The group will raise the remaining £5000 needed themselves, through gigs, bring and buy sales and a New Years Eve party.

Many users of the Club work on a non-profit basis and rely on the Brudenell as an affordable space to showcase left-field music and arts events in Leeds.

The Committee also plan to soundproof a back room to provide band rehearsal space. The volunteers will be offering workshops on events management and sound engineering.

The Committee has been working for 18 months on fundraising to secure the future of the Brudenell. In early 2005, noise complaints threatened the future of the Club, and the Committee raised more than £7000 in 2005 for soundproofed fire doors.

Councillor James Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley) supported the application:

“I am glad to have played a small part in the bid that will benefit the music scene in Leeds and local community organisations.

“The Brudenell Social Club Entertainments Committee have put a huge amount of work into seeing this project come to fruition and they should be praised for their efforts.”

On New Years Eve the Committee will be holding a party to celebrate the grant, with live music/ entertainment/ DJs. Tickets £5 from the Brudenell bar or Jumbo records, entry by ticket only.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Brudenell Social Club was formed in 1913 as a working men’s club, and has changed drastically over the years, adapting to the changing demographic of the area. It is now an extremely popular live music venue, but has retained its’ status as a non-profit members Club.

The Brudenell’s profile was raised in 2004 when Franz Ferdinand played a secret gig at the venue. It has also hosted gigs for the Kaiser Chiefs and The Cribs as well as hundreds of local artists. The venue still hosts more traditional cabaret nights and private parties.

After the initial fundraising for firedoors, the venue was again threatened in late 2005 when the in-house PA, owned by local sound engineers, was due to be sold. They set a £15,000 target to replace and upgrade the PA so that the Brudenell would be able to compete with other venues while continuing to be affordable and independent.

Ents Committee core members:
Claire Broadley – local resident, musician, promoter. Mature student.
Jonny Ackroyd – local resident, ex-promoter. Disability support worker.
Neil Shumsky – local resident, musician, ex- promoter. Software engineer.
Stuart Bannister – local resident, musician, sound engineer at the venue. Library assistant.

The Ents Committee are meeting tomorrow night at 6pm in the Lounge bar.

The Entertainments Committee will be running this years New Years Eve party which will be similar to the last two great parties we have had at the Club.

There is a FANCY DRESS theme - anything beginning with B! There will be a prize for the best outfit.

We also have a live ‘Stars In Your Pies’ competition hosted by Daniel Chapman, backed by a live LS6 supergroup covers band (members of Cowtown, Tigers, the Noon Charter and Printed Circuit), where various contestants will compete for your clapometer vote.

D’astro featuring D Millard will also be playing, see their Myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/thedastro.

We will also have a Blockbusters B quiz, Bingo with Pat, musical chairs, musical statues, a spelling B, and a disco/DJs till late.

Tickets are £5 from the Brudenell bar, or £5 plus booking fee from Jumbo records. This event ALWAYS sells out, so please buy your tickets early. There will be NO admittance without a ticket, no exceptions. Doors at 7pm, fun starts 7.30pm.

Today I received a letter from Awards for All, the lottery funding group, confirming that our grant application had been successful and we would be receiving the full £10,000 grant for the Brudenell PA fund.

The Lottery application was a real stress for us, especially for myself and Jonny who spent several afternoons writing and re-writing the details in the form until we got them exactly right. We, Shumsky, Stu and Drew spent several long meetings agonising over the details and we are all really amazed and overwhelmed that our hard work paid off.

On behalf of the Ents Committee I’d like to thank Cllr James Monaghan for the wonderful reference, Heather from HP Source for application advice, and Jamie and Duncan from Oblong for putting us onto the idea in the first place.

The money will be paid into the Ents Committee account on Christmas Day, at which point we will buy Moz and Stu’s PA and go shopping for additional equipment.

There will be an emergency celebratory meeting tonight at 6pm in the Lounge bar!

On Sunday 28th January, there will be a Bring and Buy sale to raise money for the installation and upkeep of a new, permanent PA in the Brudenell Social Club.

Please consider this advance warning!

We want all donations, no matter how small - books, clothes, records, CDs, videos, DVDs, bric-a-brac, home made crafts, electrical goods, etc etc etc. Start making a pile of things you want rid of!!

If any local artists or zine writers would like to showcase their work, please contact us to arrange selling your stuff at the sale in exchange for a small donation from your profits.

We will also have a booze tombola, giant chess and some kind of evening entertainment - bands or maybe another gameshow, after the success of the ‘Mr and Mrs’ game at the last Bring and Buy. Ideas for this part of the evening are welcome.

Bob and Rich will be printing a Brudenell tea towel, and you’ll be able to draw your own portrait (or have Ian Seven Inches draw it for you), to appear on the tea towel, in return for a small donation.

What we need

An event like this is a big job so we need volunteers to lighten the load a bit. Can you help with any of this?

Donations: Including your unwanted Christmas gifts! Claire and Neil can arrange to pick up large items. There is storage at the Brudenell, in the old committee room, so if you want to take any donations early, you can do so.

Circulation of flyers: Giving them out at gigs, local events, putting them in shops, putting them through doors on your street…

Helpers on the day: To run a stall, set things out, and most importantly, pack away the remaining donations afterwards. Helpers usually get first pick of the donations and we would like everyone to do about an hour on a stall.

Chefs: People willing to make vegetarian and vegan cakes, buns, pies and snacks, and people to make and sell cups of tea on the day.

Publicity: If you have any ideas for people we can tell about the sale, let us know. We would like to try get a small piece in the Evening Post, the Leeds Student paper, Leeds Met paper, Metro and other local free papers - can you help? We want to try reach people outside the local gig and music scene, and get a big crossover of different communities. Any help with sticking up posters in places like the Cardigan Centre, local post offices and local shops would be handy.

If you have ideas, comments or help to offer, please come along to a Brudenell meeting (there’s one tonight at 6pm in the lounge bar), post on this thread on the Cops and Robbers forum, or contact Shumsky via private message and sort it out direct.

I forgot to announce the meeting last week, sorry about that. I believe there is a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday November 15th - I’m writing this in the early hours of the day!) at 6pm in the bar. If you are interested in the bring and buy sale, pop in for a pint around that time.

Also, from now on, orders for t-shirts, badges and Friends of the Brudenell memberships will be dealt with at meetings. In general, they will be posted out once a week - occasionally once a fortnight. If you need your order sooner, let us know.

Would you be interested in attending a third Brudenell bring and buy sale, or donating items, or manning a stall? Monies raised would go towards the PA fund. Discuss it on the Cops and Robbers messageboard.

Five bands are playing in aid of the Brudenell PA fund on Friday: Shut Your Eyes And You’ll Burst Into Flames, That Fucking Tank, Downdime, Napoleon IIIrd and Benjamin Wetherill. Doors are at 7pm, entry is £5.

Thanks very much to Suck My Left One for raising £300 for the PA last Friday!

The Ents Committee won’t be meeting tonight. Our next meeting will probably be on Wednesday 8th November.

You can read the latest Brudenell meeting minutes here, and it may be worth noting that our fundraising progress bar (on the right-hand side of this page) has been updated and is now at £1687 - past the 10% mark. There is still a long way to go, but we have lots of ideas and we are hoping that the forthcoming fundraising gigs, the merchandise and the support of local residents, bands and promoters will help us along.

Out next meeting is at 6pm in the Lounge bar on Wednesday 23rd October.

The Entertainments Committee are really grateful to any promoters who organise a fundraising event, or donate proceeds from their event to the PA Fund. Hopefully everyone will have noticed the new Allen & Heath mixing desk in the gig room, which has been funded by recent benefit events and t-shirt sales.

After tonight’s Milky Wimpshake, Bilge Pump and D’astro gig at the Brudenell (info here), there are three more fundraising events coming up. Hopefully after these gigs we’ll be able to replace some mics! Your support and attendance will really help.

Monday 16th October - Erase Errata, Bilge Pump, Brown Owl and Twattrottrala at the Brudenell. Entry £5.

Friday 27th October: Suck My Left One with Manifesta and PartyParty DJs at Soul Circus. Entry £3.

Friday 3rd November - Shut Your Eyes, That Fucking Tank, C, Downdime, Napoleon IIIrd, Benjamin Wetherill at the Brudenell. Entry £5.

Bilge Pump, D’Astro and Milky Wimpshake will be playing tomorrow night at the Brudenell with all profits going to the PA fund. Entry is only £3 and there will be dancing till midnight. More info on the Cops and Robbers site.

Just to let everyone know that the meeting tonight will be postponed until next Wednesday.

We’re having a week off from Entertainments Committee meetings this week, and will meet up again at about 6pm in the lounge bar on Thursday 12th October.

The two new amps, bass bins, multicore and enormous new mixing desk should all now be installed (or nearly finished) in the Brudenell events room. The money for this equipment has come from benefit gigs and events, t-shirt and badge sales, and our Friends of the Brudenell scheme. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way.

Due to the new equipment being installed, we are able to have new sound engineers joining Moz and Stu at the Club: Matt Robson, Ben Eyes, Ben Gardner and Michael Ward. This will allow Stu and Moz to concentrate on being in the very wonderful Quack Quack!

We have three events coming up to keep the cash coming in!
Saturday 14th October - Bilge Pump, Milky Wimpshake and PartyParty DJs at the Brudenell. Only £3 in.
Friday 27th October: Suck My Left One with Manifesta and PartyParty DJs at Soul Circus. Only £3 in.
Friday 3rd November - Shut Your Eyes, That Fucking Tank, C, Downdime, Napoleon IIIrd, Benjamin Wetherill at the Brudenell. Only £5!

The next Brudenell meeting is Thursday from 6pm-7.30 in the Lounge bar.

The Friends of the Brudenell scheme has been launched. Join at one of our benefit gigs for £2.50, or online for £3.20 (the extra covers postage and paypal fees).

Jonny and myself are stationed up at Leeds Met’s Headingley Campus today, selling Brudenell merchandise. Come along and pick up a t-shirt for six pounds.

The minutes from the Brudenell Entertainments Committee meeting on Wednesday will be posted to our Yahoo! discussion group tomorrow. The next meeting is next Thursday, 28th September, at 6pm.

The first few parts of the new PA are being installed in the next couple of weeks. You will notice the large purple bass bins we bought last year are now being used, thanks to a new amp. We have a second amp to install, a new multicore, and a new mixing desk is on its’ way. Thanks to everyone who is helping/ donating!

There is a meeting in the Lounge Bar tonight at 6pm - can you organise a benefit gig/ hand out some flyers/ etc? Anyone who would like to attend is welcome.

And… we now have new stock of all sizes of the t-shirts.

We’ve just launched a new membership scheme called Friends of the Brudenell, which costs £2.50. Members receive membership to the Club until December 2007, a badge, a card and other benefits. We’ll post a special page on the site about this soon.
The next meeting about the PA fund is this Wednesday. We’d like to alert anyone who wants to do sound at the Club to this - we’ll be discussing it then.