Popped along to the opening evening of [the Cheesegrater](/wiki/#cheesegrater) last night (also know as [The Quarterhouse](/wiki/#quarterhouse)), [Folkestone's](/wiki/#folkestone) new flagship venue. It's alright! It seems a bit stark inside, but then there were only a few invited guests inside (er, people who had expressed some kind of interest online, or who had just walked in off the street). When it's heaving with a crowd of 500 it will be a different matter. It has fine modern facilities for teh putting on of performances, including a MAD bed spring like safety net ceiling that the techs and lighting engineers can bound across to change lights and things. Every show will look like that Cirque de Soleil1 show I went to with the performers bouncing off the ceiling...
The venue is split into many parts, the downstairs performance space converts at the flick of a switch from banked [theatre](/wiki/#theatre) seats to an open 500 capacity "concrete box within a concrete box" so should be able to suit [comedy](/wiki/#comedy), [theatre](/wiki/#theatre) and gigs nicely. Upstairs (perhaps most importantly) is the bar. It is [Bar Vasa](/wiki/#bar/vasa) who are [running](/wiki/#running) it, all seemed quite slick, they are doing food, and there were many tables reserved. Not sure what's behind the bar, they were serving jolly nice complimentary fizz, apart from that there were standard gig venue taps for Carling, Strongbow, and some kind of actual [beer](/wiki/#beer)! Something Masterbrew like I expect but I didn't recognise it. I almost look forward to giving it a try, it will sustain me between [real ales](/wiki/#real/ale).
Other things I learned (mostly from a little speech by chief exec and creative director2 Nick Ewbank) are that the architects who designed it have not done another public building before this one (sounds like they are very nice), that the fist big event ([BBC](/wiki/#bbc) [Kent](/wiki/#kent) Introducing) did not quite fill the venue, and that there is a [comedy](/wiki/#comedy) [festival](/wiki/#festival) lined up for May. I will get more details from my contacts!
I really had to sprint round in order to be back to make dinner, so did not have time to say hello to anyone. Sorry!
UPDATE: Here is someone's video from the "bed spring like safety net ceiling" I mentioned:
This is my site The Folkestone Gerald that I set up in a fury of excitement when I first came here in approximately 2004. I'd been a frequent visitor for a while before that so I am technically one of those DFLs you get now. This site was updated more frequently with a gig calendar and voting for favourite venues + things, + I hear it was a useful resource for those who were moving to the area. Now I've moved out of Folkestone again (though just to Hythe) it doesn't get as much love as it used to. Ironic really as The town is now becoming the exciting place we always thought it was just about to. My name is not Gerald BTW, the name comes from a pretend paper in an episode of Brasseye or something, the Portsmouth Gerald, and how there is a local paper here called the Folkestone Herald. Puns like this are great aren't they? Do get in touch if you have something to offer, email anythign @ this domain, or try @folkestone or @pauly on the twitter.