Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

The Fridge reopening as Electric Brixton

Excellent news. It's a great space and with £600,000 being ploughed into it it should have some top spec sound and lighting gear. Let's just hope the bar prices aren't extortionate and the security aren't a bunch of meatheads. If they get it right it should be a big success.
 
They've invited me to take a look around, so I'll post up some photos soon.

southlondoncity: it's already been extensively refurbished by the previous owners.
 
Great, I look forward to seeing those pictures

This morning I saw a couple of men working on the sign outside so I imagine things must be moving along fairly quickly
 
I took a look around yesterday. It's looking very nice indeed!

electric-brixton-fridge-02.jpg


electric-brixton-fridge-03.jpg


electric-brixton-fridge-08.jpg


More: http://www.urban75.org/blog/a-look-inside-the-electric-brixton-formerly-the-brixton-fridge/
 
Did it used to have a large Aussie/Kiwi draw? I remember meeting a Kiwi girl at Turnmills on a Friday (comment here Spion if you read this!) and staying the weekend with her and ending up there on the Saturday - everyone in there was Antipodean!
 
Yay for the Fridge! :)

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

Anyway, good pics, editor.

.

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

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

electric-brixton-fridge-02.jpg


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

electric-brixton-fridge-02.jpg


Although I guess they're only restoring the surviving detailing, not replacing the bits that are missing - see the missing panels in that shot?
The building has taken a fair bit of damage over the years, with some club alterations taking big chunks out of some original features. They're putting some details back in, although they're not doing a total restoration, so that top panel won't be coming back.

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

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

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

Actually, got any photos of the inside to compare?
 
But the Scala is entirely shit. Unless it's their only UK gig, even if I want to see the band, I don't go. Even if it's free, I don't go.

Yeah but it's established and promoters use it and it's a good location.
It would actually take a lot to tempt me to the Scala and as for SBE - no way.
My favourite rooms are Electric Ballroom and the Forum.
 
While searching, I found the following detail of the new soundsystem, which means NOTHING to me, but experts might be able to comment:

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



The no flying scenario presented an interesting sonic conundrum, namely ground stacking the J-Series. Careful positioning is crucial to this exercise to preserve the integrity of the line array, but it was a task dexterously achieved by the Encore team, with kick-ass results!

Per side are 3 J8 elements, one B2 and 2 J-SUBS, with a further 2 J8s a side to cover the balcony area, located approximately 10 ft above the stage level on a scaffolding gantry.

Alchemea has supplied the DigiDesign Profile console that controls FOH. This will provide the very latest in digital education to the students and also incorporate a Pro Tools HD system for recording and “Virtual Soundcheck” playback. Onstage, they really wanted a high profile analogue console, preferably a Midas XL3 – arguably “the classic” industry standard console of its era.

These are now like gold dust, but as luck would have it, Encore had extracted one from The Forum a year or so previously, which Tinline decided to fully service and keep at the warehouse “just in case” (Encore also has XL3 in constant use for the Prodigy’s monitors).

“This was totally serendipitous circumstances,” remarks Tinline, “Normally we would specify a digital console for an installation like this, but It was obviously all meant to happen!”

Outboards for the XL3 are 10 channels of Klark Teknik DN360 graphic equalisers, 4 dbx 160 compressors, 4 channels of Drawmer ds201 gates, a Yamaha SPX990 and a Lexicon PCM70 reverb – again all solid industry standard devices.”This is a very smart move to teach sound engineering students about what they will come up against in the real world, when they are doing club tours and the like,” says Tinline, “A lot of so-called ‘technical education’ overlooks facts like this!”

For the monitor system, Encore has also supplied 10 d&b Max wedges, and a full package of mics and stands, including Shure, AKG, Beyer and Sennheiser. These were chosen to offer all the options to visiting bands playing the venue and as good standards for the students to learn.

Very cool that the new venue will be used to train sound engineers :)
 
huh. saw the article talk about refurbishment and assumed it meant the current one! my bad
 
I sure hope the security is not the old crew. Very unpleasant is a bit of an understatement. then again there was the once when I met a nice guy there.
Good venue for gigs. I remember squatting the stage at the end of a RDf gig there and we actually had people dancing before the stage manager cuts the sound off.
 
The cinema equipment in the shots made me wistful. I hope they donate any cinema junk to the Cinema Museum in Kennington.
 
Did it used to have a large Aussie/Kiwi draw? I remember meeting a Kiwi girl at Turnmills on a Friday (comment here Spion if you read this!) and staying the weekend with her and ending up there on the Saturday - everyone in there was Antipodean!
Back when I used to occasionally go, in the late 90s and early 80s, there was a gay club on Saturdays there, if memory serves. It wasn't Antipodean-dominated then. On Fridays there were various themes I think; a fondly remembered one was Escape from Samsara, a really good trance club night. Good times were had in that venue :)
 
Surprised to find a Youtube video of Ozric Tentacles playing in Brixton in 1991 I think? Nice to know they were up here even if it was before I was.
 
Surprised to find a Youtube video of Ozric Tentacles playing in Brixton in 1991 I think? Nice to know they were up here even if it was before I was.

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

Wasn't Love Muscle there on a saturday, or was that just in the Piano Building / Sub Club?
 
Yeah, Love Muscle on a Saturday, Escape From Samsara on a Friday iirc.
 
Yeah, Love Muscle on a Saturday, Escape From Samsara on a Friday iirc.

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

I know one group of lads who arrived all ready to Escape from Samsara on a Saturday, only to discover they had the wrong night... To their enormous credit they decided to give Love Muscle a go - and one of them had a very surprising, and formative, encounter.
 
I ended up at a gay night there - not sure it was LM - where bizarrely the downstairs space seemed to be occupied by a mixed Italian school party. Went for a wander upstairs and was told in the friendliest terms by someone coming down the stairs that I really shouldn't...

/straight shame
 
Back
Top Bottom