Not a thing.Our Events.

Bold as Brass @ Hyde Park Book Club

Bold as Brass @ Hyde Park Book Club

Overview

Bold as Brass is an upbeat night of jazz/funk/soul/afrobeat/psych/dub/balkans/whatever

The night features a mix of new and established bands - three from Leeds, one from out of town.

We have 4 slots every 2 months and play mostly brand new music in between to fit the line up.

The night generally runs from 8pm-10pm, with a hard curfew at 11pm.

About Not a thing.

Not a thing. CIC is a non-profit promotion run by Dan Akers, based in Huddersfield, working mostly in at venues the Leeds area.

Our model is that generally we pay for the spaces, and most promotion activities, so that bands can split door takings equally. We take (and make) no money from what we do, £0. In fact... minus up to £1,000 a month.

Our goal is to provide spaces for (mostly) new and upcoming bands across a number of 'alt' genres - alt-jazz and soul, alt-rock and all its many variants, plus electronic, afrobeat, latin etc.

Check out our Instagram or YouTube to see what we do.

Not a thing. CIC is a Community Interest Company, company number 15685867.

Venue Details

Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Ln., Headingley, Leeds LS6 1BL

Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Ln., Headingley, Leeds LS6 1BL

Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Ln., Headingley, Leeds LS6 1BL

Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Ln., Headingley, Leeds LS6 1BL

https://www.hydeparkbookclub.co.uk/

Hyde Park Book Club is a popular local venue near the student areas of Leeds.

The basement space (where most Not a thing. gigs are held) is a 150 capacity room with a good sound system and (usually) a separate bar. Lighting is good, and there's a smoke machine.

There's a good sized green room, with plenty of space to store kit and some people.

The basement venue is accessible, but not from the main upstairs area due to a tight staircase. Contact the venue in advance to get access via the flat rear entrance which is otherwise kept locked for security.

Fees

Not a thing. pays for the space directly with the venue, which covers space costs and the sound engineer from 3pm until 11pm - as well as general promotion costs. The venue provides the sound engineer and staff for the bar, plus PA and kit. Not a thing. brings the DJ equipment, as well as audio and video recording equipment.

All performer fees come from the door takings, which are currently £7 advance, or £9 on the door - via this website. We take cash or cards on the night.

All door takings are split equally between all bands, regardless of size, distance travelled or experience - we find that new local bands have often brought as many people as larger out of town touring bands - so this keeps it all fair and easy.

Because Not a thing. are paying out of pocket for the venue and promotion - and we keep the door price accessibly cheap - there are no riders or 'guest list'. We don't currently have any deals in place with the venue either for cheap drinks or food - sorry!

Equipment & Tech

Hyde Park Book Club provides no backline - that's no drum kit, amps, keyboard stands or anything else. You (we) therefore need to source all backline between the bands who are playing.

Everything else - cables, mics etc - are provided by HPBC.

We mic up or DI everything on the stage, even if that mic is never being added into the room mix, because we multi-channel record and video record all nights. These nights are made available on the Not a thing. YouTube channel at some point after the gig, and the audio & video recordings are available for performers to do what they want with.

We don't have any 'in ears' kit of our own, or specific instrument mics - though we're happy to work with these if you let us know what you'll be bringing.

Load In, Soundcheck & Stage Times

Hyde Park Book Club is usually open from mid morning on gig days, but this doesn't necessarily mean access to the space apart from by prior arrangement.

The sound engineer arrives at 15:00 to begin setting up the space - we tend to arrive around the same time.

Soundchecks take place between 15:45 and 19:00, in a kind of drop in fashion... though the engineers always prefer the band who is playing first to check last (and ideally the band playing last to check first as well... though this isn't always possible.

19:00 to 19:30 is the engineer's break before doors at 19:30 and music from 20:00.

ALL bands needs to therefore arrive within the 15:45 to 19:00 as early as possible in order to sound check. Please communicate with Not a thing. about your ETA both in advance and on the day, it's super appreciated.

Soundchecks need to be as quick, focused (and tidy) as we can all make it, as it's never quite enough time.

When arriving, please bring your equipment into the area in front of the stage - but not straight onto the stage. We have a specific layout of the stage that we try to stick to, to help speed things up.

After soundcheck, we'll need to clear the bar area of instruments and bags. There's plenty of space in the green room. 

Sets are 30 minutes long, starting at 8pm with a 15 minute changeover between each.

We have a hard stop for bands at 23:00 - we tend to just play tunes until the room empties out anyway.

Bold as Brass @ Hyde Park Book Club

Before you complete the form below, PLEASE READ what is above.

Please tick ALL dates you are available to play *

What we will do

Not a thing. CIC is a non-profit promotion, run by 1 person and a number of helpful volunteers. We pay for spaces out of our own pocket, and make no money from the nights we run.

This means we can only work with bands/performers who put in the same effort as we do, and who are willing to 'do the work' required to make a good night.

Here's what Not a thing. CIC agree to do for any night you play:

  • Always do our best to be nice, respectful and not rude - to treat everyone like humans.
  • Promote the gig on our own website, via our socials, posters at the venue (whenever possible!) and via paid adverts on at least Facebook/Instagram.
  • Create and share promotion assets for the gig with you, for you to share.
  • Be clear about timings, kit and what you need to bring (see above) with as much advance warning as we can give you.
  • Be transparent about money taken, and pay you as soon as all moneys have been paid out from the ticket platform/card provider.
  • Do everything we can to create a welcoming, safe space, take any concerns you raise seriously, and be clear about what we are doing to address them.
  • Do what we can to produce a video/audio recording of the night, and share it both on our socials, YouTube and with you directly.

What we expect from you

The following is a list of things we expect YOU to do, as part of our shared agreement. This is the minimum 'work' we think you need to do to contribute to making a good night.

If you don't think you can commit to doing one of the items on the list, please let us know separately and we can discuss it.

  • Always do your best to be nice, respectful and not rude - to Not a thing. and to all other people working on the night.
  • Understand that Not a thing. is a non-profit voluntary promotion, and not a paid day job - we can't always respond immediately.
  • Take part in the shared job of 'promotion' by sharing the provided assets in as many places as possible.
  • Turn up on or before the agreed time - or communicate as far in advance as you can if this isn't possible.
  • Provide a clear tech spec, agree what you are/aren't bringing, and then bring it on the night.
  • Watch as much of the other bands on the line up as you can, and ask others to do the same.
  • Do your best on the night to make it a good night.
Not a thing. CIC. Company No: 15685867