The Fuel Gay Nightclub Megathread.

[t.e.a.s.e 10]

It is even more amusing when it is your first post just as they are shutting and it is not written in punter lingo, that is a manager talking.

 

I can hold my hand on my heart and say to you honestly i am not a manager of any sort connected with Fuel , simply some local "joe" with a decent education putting together a measured case in point.

[Edindave 10]

Can't be bothered to write anymore on this, bye bye Fuel and good ridence.

[Ghostrider 11]

Wel if fuel is now closed - shouldnt this thread be closed as well ?

[darren1979 10]

Blah blah blah blah etc... We should all be happy that at least it is staying in Sheffield and looking at other potential venues, even if it is attercliffe at least they are staying here and giving it another shot. We all learn by our mistakes and this will be a learning curve for them. fuel obviously didnt realise that some of the Sheffield Gay Community are fickle and are never satisfied. Canal Street had to start somewhere and I am sure they initially had the same problems, it takes time. We all forget that Alan and Angel (Planet Fame) had a a strangle hold on Sheffield and in the later stages of their domination drove Sheffield in to the ground. It takes time to rise from the ashes and create something. Lets stop being mardy, the venue has gone but it lives on and to be honest Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights, most people dont even bother clubbing on a week night!

 

Life isa not about bitching or slagging people down and if we keep doing it we may as well just all call ourselves "queens" because thats the way its going. Get out on Saturday support the venue, support the company to ensure that Fuel can provide us with bigger and better facitilities and being the leader in attracting other Gay Venues to Sheffield City Centre.

[Meaks 11]

The latest from Fuel:

 

Over the few weeks we r @ at plug we r in the neutral room (opp kebab shop)! we r looking 4 new venues/nights for a permanent home, if u know of 1 let us know!

[nick2 10]

simply some local "joe" with a decent education putting together a measured case in point.

 

LOL - "a measured case in point" ?

[SpiderPete 10]

Lets stop being mardy, the venue has gone but it lives on and to be honest Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights, most people dont even bother clubbing on a week night!

 

Well thats not true, I see quite a few in Dempseys on a Wednesday and Thursday night.

Get out on Saturday support the venue, support the company to ensure that Fuel can provide us with bigger and better facitilities and being the leader in attracting other Gay Venues to Sheffield City Centre.

 

Crikey where do I start with this one, they came to Sheffield and promised us the "bees knees" in best club in Sheffield, etc etc blah blah, it started off well, 7 days a week clubbing, they had a brilliant night on a Monday - Cabaret night which soon vanished, and where are they now with their "wow factor for gay scene in Sheffield" --> down to 2 nights and in another club Plug.

 

Not exactly providing us with something new.

 

I think I will stick to Dempseys/Xes, after all they are always going to be there no matter what comes along.

 

Rant over, back to my sandwich.

 

Oh just remembered they are open less hours now, used to be open from 9pm, then it went to 10pm so people couldnt get in free, and now in Plug its open from 10.30 :o

[t.e.a.s.e 10]

Well thats not true, I see quite a few in Dempseys on a Wednesday and Thursday night.

 

 

Crikey where do I start with this one, they came to Sheffield and promised us the "bees knees" in best club in Sheffield, etc etc blah blah, it started off well, 7 days a week clubbing, they had a brilliant night on a Monday - Cabaret night which soon vanished, and where are they now with their "wow factor for gay scene in Sheffield" --> down to 2 nights and in another club Plug.

 

Not exactly providing us with something new.

You have to look at each individual night and see wether its viable to open on that night , i suspect the caberet night wasn't working (even thought people like yourself liked it ).

 

The unit on eyre st is quite large , i can imagine it would cost a lot to run , where as in comparison dempseys /x's are a lot more smaller ,therefore their cost's will be lower.

 

A lot of clubs don't open on (poor turnout nights) because its not commercially viable , so you have to concentrate your resources

on the night's that do work .

[Plethora 10]

You have to look at each individual night and see wether its viable to open on that night , i suspect the caberet night wasn't working (even thought people like yourself liked it ).

 

The unit on eyre st is quite large , i can imagine it would cost a lot to run , where as in comparison dempseys /x's are a lot more smaller ,therefore their cost's will be lower.

 

A lot of clubs don't open on (poor turnout nights) because its not commercially viable , so you have to concentrate your resources

on the night's that do work .

 

Spoken like a true manager...

[SimonS 10]

Whenever I went to Fuel I found myself wading in ankle deep empty glasses while the bar staff danced on an alcohol soaked bar waving sparklers about. If you are paying over the odds to go in a club there are standards people expect to keep them coming back.

 

Sheffield's gay scene needs Fuel, but personally paying over the odds to dance on glass to the same songs every week isn't for me.

 

Climax is just the same - I went recently and it was still playing the same songs as the time I went two years previously....

 

Any nightclub only gets regulars by making sure it's presentation, music, prices and atmosphere are second to none....

[horneyguy 10]

I've been going to fuel Sheffield since it first opened.

 

Fuel did get worse as time went on. I still went to Fuel right up to last weekend. Since I herd about what happened on Thursday I got an email from a friend directing me to the forum. I read peoples comments about what they thought about fuels time at the last premises. And thought I would try to add some constructive comments.

 

I’ve been thinking back to what changes had occurred over the 2 years that could have well contributed to the downfall of that venue.

 

I noticed that after about 6 months after fuel started there was a general thinning of dancers. Dancers always were good for adding atmosphere to the club. I think the first to go was a guy called Bobby. Then they did away with things such as the drink dispenser thing, where they would strap it to a staff member, & get them to pump drink into unsuspecting punters.

 

I know that these few points seem quite small at this point. But now I’m going to mention the one & biggest mistakes fuel made THE REFERB

 

I’m not slating the look of the job. It’s just that the new layout didn’t work. I work as an interior designer.

 

I’ve worked on many nightclubs over the past 10 years.

First mistake was to do a re-feb whilst your club is partially open.

Also why get rid of the dance pods?

I thought that the stage area worked great as a layout.

 

Instead now all that dancers were given in place of the pods was a small white box about 1 x 2 meters. Then the only pod they had left [to the right hand side of main bar] didn’t even have access by the public. Let alone any dancers working on the thing.

 

I don’t think the other side was re-done too bad. But then again not much changed other than a curtain & extra sound system. I do understand that with any project money comes into it. But if I had had my chance I would have just simply re-decorated. The cheesy pop was ok up to 12pm. The only thing with segregating the building is that you will ultimately find one side that more people will migrate to. This will put the other out of bounds. Personally I preferred the main area. But as time went on I had to move permanently into the cheesy pop side. This was because the other side was empty.

 

I must say that I was upset to here the news about the shutdown, and hope that Fuel will continue to thrive in Plug.

 

These comments I hope have been seen as constructive criticism. Fuel needs its atmosphere back. We need to see a Gayam. We need to see more dancers. I think that Niel ought to contact all these people & get them back in position for 10:30pm Saturday 11th.

Fuel runs on a happy carefree attitude. If all the staff are bighting there nails, thinking they could get sacked for any small reason, then this is going to rub off on the people clubbing there

 

I will personally be there on Saturday to support the club. And Baywatch is still on.

Good luck Fuel.Xxx

[SpiderPete 10]

You have to look at each individual night and see wether its viable to open on that night , i suspect the caberet night wasn't working (even thought people like yourself liked it ).

 

The unit on eyre st is quite large , i can imagine it would cost a lot to run , where as in comparison dempseys /x's are a lot more smaller ,therefore their cost's will be lower.

 

A lot of clubs don't open on (poor turnout nights) because its not commercially viable , so you have to concentrate your resources

on the night's that do work .

 

Must say words you expect form a Manager of a club, but can see your point as well, Xes did the same, they close now during the week on some nights and opened late, which is what Fuel did, I hope Xes doesnt go down the same route.