My new venue Riff Factory in Stoke

[cheddatom]

I've been very quiet on here recently, for various reasons, but the main one is that I've been building, and learning to run a music venue! I run a recording studio, and my mate runs rehearsal rooms, all from one building in Stoke. We've built up a decent reputation over the years. There was one bit of the building we didn't have, and that was a garage, but last year the mechanic upped and left, and the landlord offered it to us. We spent countless hours turning a dirty old garage into a spanking new venue and I'm super proud of it. Please check it out if you're looking for live music in Stoke or The Midlands, and obviously get in touch if you'd like to play!

 

www.rifffactory.co.uk

 

https://www.instagram.com/rifffactoryuk/

 

The bar:

 

 

Opening week:

 

 

The garage:

 

 

[Burns-bass]

Absolutely 100% fantastic!

[Lozz196]

Excellent, looks really good 

[MichaelDean]

That looks great! We need more venues, so it's great to hear of one opening!

[madshadows]

That looks amazing, I hope it's a huge success, good luck  

 

John 😎 

[BigRedX]

That looks brilliant! Good luck!

[Leonard Smalls]

great looking place!

 

[Mykesbass]

Brilliant work Tom. 

[Cato]

Best of luck with it, great to see a new venue opening.

[Jackroadkill]

Mate, that's fantastic!  Really good news to hear of a dedicated live music venue getting going.

[neepheid]

Bit far away for me, but you never know!  Best of luck with it!

[Len_derby]

That’s great news Tom. Well done and good luck!

[uk_lefty]

Excellent work, good luck!

[dudewheresmybass]

Cracking job there - looks awesome. 

The very best of luck to you guys

 

[EJWW]

Looks fantastic, wishing you massive success 👍👍👍

[Beedster]

11 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Absolutely 100% fantastic!

 

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Excellent, looks really good 

 

11 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

That looks great! We need more venues, so it's great to hear of one opening!

 

10 hours ago, madshadows said:

That looks amazing, I hope it's a huge success, good luck  

 

John 😎 

 

10 hours ago, BigRedX said:

That looks brilliant! Good luck!

 

9 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

great looking place!

 

 

9 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Brilliant work Tom. 

 

9 hours ago, Cato said:

Best of luck with it, great to see a new venue opening.

 

8 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

Mate, that's fantastic!  Really good news to hear of a dedicated live music venue getting going.

 

7 hours ago, neepheid said:

Bit far away for me, but you never know!  Best of luck with it!

 

7 hours ago, Len_derby said:

That’s great news Tom. Well done and good luck!

 

7 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Excellent work, good luck!

 

3 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

Cracking job there - looks awesome. 

The very best of luck to you guys

 

 

15 minutes ago, EJWW said:

Looks fantastic, wishing you massive success 👍👍👍

Plus 1 to all of these 👍

[Len_derby]

I know that you’re going to be even busier than before Tom, but it’d be great to hear how things go.

We get lots of comments about venues on Basschat, but from the band’s point of view. It will be interesting to hear the story from the other side of the fence.

[snorkie635]

Brightened my whole day you have Tom. Very best wishes in your venture.

[Merton]

Fantastic! Best of luck with this

[Bolo]

That looks awesome and great fun to play!

[Bass Novice]

Looks great, and your tuck shop is cheap!

[Hellzero]

23 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus 1 to all of these 👍

And 1 more, guys. 👍🏻

[karlfer]

Brilliant Tom, well done to you guys.

Enjoy the future 👋

[casapete]

Looks ace! All the very best for your new venture.

[cheddatom]

Thanks everyone! 

 

The opening week was wild. We're limited to 70 capacity but the first night was probably slightly over that. We had Static Dress play as their drummer is our best mate. There was only one unforeseen problem. The condensation and spilled beer made a mockery of our consumer grade garage floor paint. People were slip-sliding all over the place. The first job the next day was to mix balsam in with a new tin of paint, and get that down in time for the gig the following night. It did the trick!

 

We had 5 gigs on the opening week, staffed by mates, played by mates, and attended by all and sundry. Loads of people travelled in to Stoke for these gigs and it really felt like the centre of a scene for a moment. And we made money!

 

Then we realised we'd not booked any more gigs, and we have overheads to pay, and big bills to pay, and loads of debt... So now we start the long slog of learning how to make money out of a venue. At 70 capacity it's difficult to appeal to bigger touring bands. The other side of that is an other-worldly PA system that out-classes any venue of this size (that I've seen). Proper lighting, green room, potential for live recording etc. so we hope to tempt some names in for "secret" or "super intimate" shows. Otherwise we're perfectly suited to local multi-band line-ups, and the "toilet circuit" in general.

 

Any advice on promoting gigs would be gratefully received, and if any of you are promoters that would like to put on a gig at Riff Factory, please get in touch