1 Brook St, Bury Road, Rawtenstall BB4 6AA - venue review
Set back off the roundabout near the big Tesco in Rawtenstall, first impressions were 'bistroie, upmarketie'. The building itself is a plain, cream coloured square, with decking and a seating area out front and just double doors in (no windows).
Parking is simplicity itself; we just parked on the pavement outside while we offloaded, then put our cars down the side of the building.
The business is a cafe by day, and venue by night, so when we first went in, the not overly huge bar area was populated with tables (and punters!), which made it look smaller than it is, but as we finished getting the gear in and started setting up, the tables were whipped away to open up the floor for people and dancing.
This venue also has a gallery with seating for around 20 people on a mezzanine level (it's also where the toilets are).
The stage area is to the immediate right of the door, and while not the largest space i have seen, it easily accomodated Kingpin (and i haven't got the smallest drumkit in the world!), with room to move around aswell.
Loads of power points, and (best of all) inhouse PA and lights.
Our hosts were the very helpful and enthusiastic Tim and Nicola - Tim mikes you up and sound checks you and generally looks after the sound side of things, while Nicola makes sure you have a drink and are happy! Tim himself is a 'resting' bass player, so knows how to get a decent sound out of a band, and likes to have a bit of banter aswell.
Because of the gallery and high ceiling, the back line sound is a bit 'spacey', but good enough, and we were assured by Tim and our friends that the sound out front was excellent.
After a quiet first set, we had a pretty good crowd in for the second, and they seemed to enjoy themselves.
Once the job was done, all the gear went out of the fire escape to the left of the stage, which is where our cars were parked!
A great little venue - capacity is 120 - and respect to Tim who puts on acts from comedians and duos, to tribute bands and Kingpin!
Alyerlookingforwardstogoingbackpal