Just wondered if anyone used to go to Fuzz Club when it first started up? Was it always at the union? When did it start? And bascially was it always as successful as it is now?

No, it was initially very quiet (I'd guess say 300 people a week), but in those days dance music was king (e.g. I think The Tuesday Club sold out every week in advance)

In fact before Fuzz, there were a couple of terms in which the SU didn't even have it's own indie/bands night!

Then The Strokes happened, indie became fashionable again, there were some good bands popping up and Penny at SU Ents (who runs Fuzz) booked a lot of them, more people attended, more money to book bigger bands, etc, etc

I think I missed out on the surge in numbers. I used to go lots in the days when you'd buy ticket number 50 at 9pm on a Thursday and spend the rest of the evening hoping loads of people would show up last minute.

I've been once or twice recently though- packed out every week it seems. :)

It was pretty quiet four years ago, not many people on the dancefloor each night, but nearly all regulars and you got to recognise them etc :)
Then rock turned fashionable, followed by waves of NME Indie, and now there's no room to dance :confused:

Originally posted by ChrisOffbeat
Then The Strokes happened, indie became fashionable again, there were some good bands popping up and Penny at SU Ents (who runs Fuzz) booked a lot of them, more people attended, more money to book bigger bands, etc, etc

Fuzz was booking good bands a long time before Penny became employed at the SU.

I led the product team for fuzz/bleach back when it first started, the SU had tried a couple of different club nights before fuzz arrived but none really took off. Infact I am correct in saying that the suggestion for a Steve Lamacq DJ session was an intial idea of mine who Matt the employed entertainments manager at the time implemented.

I can remember some thursday nights we would leave fuzz an hour early with matt to walk down to Republic and flyer the people at kicking out time. The product team used to literally flyer everywhere.

Another ideas of ours were stickers, everywhere got plastered with Fuzz Club and Bleach stickers at the time, so much so the ents department at a phonecall from residents complaining. Still got quite a few stickers, wonder how much they will fetch if I place them on ebay? ;)

Ah - you've baited me into further detail.

Depends what you call a long time but Penny started as Matt's assistant less than a year after Fuzz started.

As regards previous events in the mid-90's the SU had the 'Stomp' / 'Star' night which was basically an externally-run mainstream indie / britpop night that also died the rounds of other Northern Uni's (certainly Leeds, and Lancaster appeared on their posters). This was just a disco - no bands. (The dire blandness of this McIndie night is partially why Offbeat exists.)

'Star' finished in June 1998, dieing a death along with britpop - at which point the Uni gave up on official SU indie nights for a couple of terms, instead putting on a monumentally unsuccesful night called 'Toaster' which claimed to play a bit of everything but was attended by less than 100 on several occasions!

They then tried 'Shuffle' for a term or two, which went the other way a bit in that it was quite obscure - fondly remembered by a few of our Offbeat crowd, but not populist enough for a night in such a large venue - attendances stayed low.

My best guess would be that Fuzz started in May 99 or Sept 99, and has almost always put on bands as well as a club night afterwards. Despite your noble flyering attempts, like Herbaliser I remember the first year or two being very empty at times; they used to move the stage forward to make it seem bigger.

I also remember the stickers - great idea (if aping what we'd been doing at Offbeat for years before ;-) ) but I personally disliked the sticking them all over public places - it's just that sort of poor citizenship that gives the Uni' a bad name amongst Broomhill residents. Given that you can make them by buying sheets of stickers thru' the internet and runing them thru your printer I'd personally be loathe to pay more than the cost price on ebay ;-) , but given the nature of the beast I'm sure there's some mug out there willing to shell out more than that.

Mid week indie/alt band + disco for cheap entry is nothing new and has been a staple of virtually every SU subject to the ever fickle whims of student fashion (which are remarkably conservative & un-cutting edge!)

Many moons ago (mid/late 80s) I used to regularly go on a thurs night to shef uni to see bands for a £1 - most of whom have faded into obscurity (bogshed anyone??) but did see the Shamen for a £1 and foolishly passed on the chance to see the Happy Mondays for a £1. Shef Poly (as was) used to run a similar event (Shef2) where I once saw Blur for £1 (they, like modern life, were rubbish)...

Anyway - enough "when I were a lad..." type tales...

Around 1995 the Union ran an indie/alternative/rock night called THUMPER which was on Thursdays.......remember it well..it lasted 1 or 2 terms I think and then folded. It was the creation of the then ents Manager, STeve Homer, who was there prior to Matt.

Originally posted by ChrisOffbeat
Ah - you've baited me into further detail.

Depends what you call a long time but Penny started as Matt's assistant less than a year after Fuzz started.

My best guess would be that Fuzz started in May 99 or Sept 99, and has almost always put on bands as well as a club night afterwards. Despite your noble flyering attempts, like Herbaliser I remember the first year or two being very empty at times; they used to move the stage forward to make it seem bigger.

I also remember the stickers - great idea (if aping what we'd been doing at Offbeat for years before ;-) ) but I personally disliked the sticking them all over public places - it's just that sort of poor citizenship that gives the Uni' a bad name amongst Broomhill residents. Given that you can make them by buying sheets of stickers thru' the internet and runing them thru your printer I'd personally be loathe to pay more than the cost price on ebay ;-) , but given the nature of the beast I'm sure there's some mug out there willing to shell out more than that.


I think Penny started around October/November 2001 from memory, along with another lady (whose name escapes me at present) that used to run ents down at hallam and had just graduated, by that time Matt had left to do promotions down in London and Graham from Inspiral carpets filled Matts place. Which was a shame I used to get on with Matt really well. For my second year I was chair of ents and worked with the department and we organised an even more sucessful easy tiger than the previous year. I am not sure if the entertainments committee even exist nowadays as I never see any club nights advertised from them or anything? With Matt leaving it sparked a period of change really for the entertainments committee, less guest list places were provided and students no longer had the opportunity to train as house manager for events.

Fuzz Club was really a new night from Sept 99, which is when I first joined the University and being young with a passion for music and in particular up n coming bands I fitted right in. Bleach was more my sorta thing though, and it used to be very busy unlike as you say the fuzz side of was always fairly quiet.

It was never quiet right though, when they refurbished the park and moved away from the lovely black and dingy look to the more modern bright look.

Damn it you don't think my stickers are ebayable then :| , oh well it was worth a try ;) How about a period Pop Tarts mug? :heyhey:

Originally posted by Skatiechik
I think Penny started around October/November 2001 from memory, along with another lady (whose name escapes me at present) that used to run ents down at hallam and had just graduated,

Without getting too bogged down in detail - the only two *female* Ents manager at hallam in recent times was was a scottish goth girl who went to work for her father selling cars in the late 90s and Alice who has just left to work at the City hall..

Anyway.. this thread seem reasonably pointless as there has been indie/alt nights of differing names but same format on a thursday for at least 20 years at Shef Uni and probably more... so nobody discovered the "magic" formula - just some worked harder than others and some were luckier with the fashion of the times...

For my second year I was chair of ents and worked with the department and we organised an even more sucessful easy tiger than the previous year. I am not sure if the entertainments committee even exist nowadays as I never see any club nights advertised from them or anything? With Matt leaving it sparked a period of change really for the entertainments committee, less guest list places were provided and students no longer had the opportunity to train as house manager for events. How about a period Pop Tarts mug? :heyhey: [/B]

I dont remember you Skatiechick, what is your real name? I used to work for SU Ents from 93 to around 2001, used to DJ all the major nights from Pop Tarts, Loveshack, Fahrenheit, dreadful society party nights in that dreaded 'Raynor lounge'....and Bar One DJ 2 nights a week 2000/2001. From my time working for the Union (they employed me as DJ I was not a student) the ents Managers changed between Steve Homer, Matthew Wooliscroft and Graham from Inspiral Carpets. ALso remember Lisa BUckley was in ents and marketing at the time, Jayme DUcker, ents asistant, a lady named SUe who was also in the ents office for a few years.....

When I set up the short lived 'Friday Rock night' in September 2001 graham was ents Manager then, and Penny was ents assistant.

Originally posted by JohnM
Anyway.. this thread seem reasonably pointless...


Nah it isn't, it means I get to remincse about my time at Sheffield University and the time I spent in the Entertainments Committee :) Something which I really enjoyed doing and look back on with happy memories.


Originally posted by goldenfleece
I dont remember you Skatiechick, what is your real name?

I have sent you a PM, doubt you will remember me though I knew the security more.

Originally posted by Skatiechik
Nah it isn't, it means I get to remincse about my time at Sheffield University and the time I spent in the Entertainments Committee :) Something which I really enjoyed doing and look back on with happy memories.


Fair point - I was a bit harsh in saying it was pointless!

I think main point I was making was that there isnt much difference in format between all the thurs nights there's been over the years at the Uni.. but if you cannot reminiss on a board like this - where can you?!

:)

Thanks guys, that's exactly what i wanted to know. Basically i was talking about the success of Hallam's new night Plan B, or lack of it, and just wondered if it just needed time to get going. Although I'm not too sure if that's all it needs!