Patches 2025 @ The Fox & Newt
Table of Contents
Overview
Patches is an ‘Open Genre’ night, sometimes with loose themes for each night but often a deliberately eclectic mix.
The night features mostly new bands and performers. It takes place monthly on random Thursdays.
We have 2.5 slots (2 bands and solo/simple setup act), and play mostly brand new music in between to fit the line up.
The night generally runs from 7.30pm-11pm, with a hard curfew at 11pm.
About Not a thing.
Not a thing. 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.
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. is a t/a of Startling LTD.
Venue Details
The Fox and Newt Pub, 9 Burley St, Leeds LS3 1LD
https://www.facebook.com/thefoxandnewt/
The Fox and Newt has been a music venue for a long time. Pre-covid, it had built up a good number of regular promoters, but it lost a number of these during lockdown. Not a thing. and others are currently working as a ‘promoter collective’ to fill the calendar with regular nights and to build it up.
The venue is a unique layout, close to L shaped but with the stage on an angle. This means that there is excellent visibility from any location in the room. In spite of this, it is an oddly intimate with an excellent vibe – almost a ‘working men’s club’ feel, but in a good way.
It has a relatively low ceiling, and fans but no air-conditioning, so it can get quite warm on summer nights. The room can be laid out full seated, or completely open – we tend to do a combination for the Patches nights. Capacity is 90-120.
The PA – and the sound generally – is excellent, thanks mainly to a single dedicated sound engineer (James) who tends to run most of the nights, or subs to another regular engineer (Iz.) There is plenty of all the tech you need, though the sound is usually kept relatively low for reasons of quality. Lighting is simple but effective.
We have a small green room for storing kit and hanging out, with its own door in and out.
Unfortunately, The Fox and Newt is not an accessible venue – access is via a narrow staircase, or via the fire exit from the beer garden which itself has steps to navigate.
Note: The Fox and Newt has a (generally unpopular) minimum spend on a card of £10… so either start a tab or bring cash!
Fees
Not a thing. pays for the space directly with the venue, which covers space costs and the sound engineer 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 £6 advance, or £8 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
The equipment available on the night is a mixture of what we bring, and what The Fox and Newt provide.
We have a Bass Amp and house Drum Kit. Performers need to bring breakables and all other equipment. We have no guitar amp.
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 within 7 days, 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
The Fox and Newt is usually open from lunchtime on gig days. The sound engineer arrives at 17:00 to begin setting up the space – we tend to arrive around 6-6.30.
Because of the proximity to local houses, the ‘noisy’ part of soundcheck can only begin at 6.30. With the doors opening at 7.30, this means we need to be setup and ready to begin soundcheck at exactly 6.30.
To make this happen, headliners need to arrive – and all equipment be on site – by 5.30, with other bands on site from 6. This is the reason we have a maximum of 2 full bands, because there wouldn’t be enough time to check 3!
Sound check is from 18:30 until 19:30, with a hard stop at 19:30 when we open doors and begin playing music. 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.
First performer set starts at 20:00 (ish – we have some flexibility here, if the room is still filling up for example) – and can play for 30-45 minutes. So we have about a 15-30 minute changeover.
Second performer set starts at 21:00 (ish) – their set can be 30-45 minutes.
Third performer set starts at 22:00 (ish) – their set can be 30-45 minutes.
Sign Up Form
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