Live Sound Course Historic Venue Revealed
The management of The Fridge in Brixton has been taken back into the safe hands of owners Andrew Czezowski and Susan Carrington, and is currently being dusted down and spruced up as a major live music venue once again. With the demise of the Astoria following Transport for London's Crossrail development, The Fridge in Brixton is one of only a handful of decent mid-size venues left in the capital and one of only two fully independent operations (NOT part of any major chain of venues!) Equidistant to Brixton's Tube station with the O2 Academy (turn left out of the tube instead of right!), the 1,100 capacity Fridge boasts fantastic acoustics and perfect sightlines for all 1,100 customers – as old cinemas always do – and an 80 capacity VIP bar that can double as an after-show / album launch / acoustic room.
We are installing a world class PA system consisting of a d&b audiotechnik J-series PA system, Digidesign Venue Profile HD64 front of house console and a Midas XL3 Monitor desk. This system is going to rock big time!. Students will gain a unique 'hands on' experience of concert production in a working venue as it happens; all the good, the bad and sometimes the down right ugly......perfect training.
The Fridge's History
Having begun their careers as seminal live rock gig promoters Andrew Czezowski, [ex-manager of the Damned, Generation X with Billy Idol, Adam Ant etc.] and Susan Carrington then opened the Fridge in Brixton in 1981. Andrew & Susan had previously established "The Roxy", the world’s first punk club in Covent Garden London in 1976/77.
The Fridge hosted the first gigs of acts such as the Pet Shop Boys, Jimmy Sommerville & Bronski Beat, Sade, Nick Cave with The Bad Seeds and Marc Almond, and later promoted everyone from The Sun Ra Arkestra (their last ever gig in the UK), to Eartha Kitt, Grace Jones, St Etienne, Roy Ayers, Gil Scott-Herron, Nico, (unfortunately also her last gig ever) and Take That. With Robbie.
The Fridge additionally won a reputation for world famous club nights such as Talkin' Loud and Soul II Soul, and then drove the explosion of rave in the 90’s by becoming the home for long-running trance nights Escape from Samsara, Return to the Source, Pendragon and Logic.
Gay night Love Muscle pushed buttons and boundaries to such an extent it changed the direction of Gay night clubbing. Andrew and Susan also created the most successful Lesbian club in the World, first with Eves Revenge, followed by Venus Rising, regularly attracting 1100 lesbian clubbers every month.
In January of 2004 Andrew and Susan let out the Fridge and took a long deserved break until November 3rd 2008, when they took back full management and ownership of the best club in London, located in Brixton, the capital of live music in South London. Andrew & Susan's collaboration with Alchemea heralds a new and exiting chapter in Fridge's colourful story.