Bristol: Behind the Music - Chris Sharp
Posted on: 06 Dec 2016The first segment of our new series, Bristol: Behind the Music, contains a chat with Chris Sharp, the manager of The Fleece. He takes us through the ins and outs, and the ups and the downs of running the revered Redcliffe venue.
Hi Chris. Can you tell us a bit about The Fleece and give us a brief history of the venue?
The Fleece is on the ground floor of The Wool Hall which was built in the 1830 and was originally a sheep market (hence the name). It was turned into a pub / live music venue in 1982 and has hosted touring circuit gigs ever since. I took over the venue in May 2010
What sort of bands do you try to book? Do you have a particular ethos which informs this?
Anyone who runs a music venue will tell you it’s a constant battle just to survive let alone make any profit. This is why so many venues have closed down over the years. We need to make sure we are open 7 nights a week. To do this we have to be open to any genre of music so we book whatever we can. We even recently branched out to include film nights and burlesque shows.
Who are your favourite bands that have played at The Fleece?
Ever? Oasis, Radiohead, Muse
Since 2010? Dub Pistols (below), The Psychedelic Furs, Terrorvision, Cast, Space, Dodgy (as you can probably tell I love Britpop!)
You’ve encountered difficulties with attempts to close the venue - could you tell us a bit about these and how you overcame them?
In 2013 there was an application to convert the offices next to The Fleece into private flats under permitted development rights. We appealed against this and as a result the local council attached stringent conditions to the development which meant they had to be well soundproofed with fixed shut windows. The developer managed to successfully overturn the particular condition relating to fixed shut windows on appeal. The flats are currently under construction and we expect the first residents to move in next September. We have no idea what will happen next. If people start to complain about the noise we could be in serious trouble. Fingers crossed, eh?
The Bristol music scene seems to be thriving at the moment - what are your thoughts on this? Who are your favourite local bands?
Until this year the only local act to sell out The Fleece was Gaz Brookfield. He’s been doing it regularly for a couple of years now. This month we actually had two local bands sell out the venue two nights in a row - The Shimmer Band and then The Ten Pound Suit Band. We’re also expecting the Cut Capers gig in March to sell out too. Locally, things are definitely on the up!
Which other venues do you like in Bristol?
I’m here almost all of the time so I very rarely get out to any other venues. The Louisiana, The Exchange, The Bierkeller and The Trinity Centre are all great places to see bands. Bristolians are really spoilt for choice!
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When you’re not listening to music or organising shows, what do you like to do in Bristol? Where are your favourite spots?
My girlfriend breeds and trains Belgian Malinois protection dogs. We have four of our own. We prefer to walk them in remote places where there are few people and other dogs around. Rowberrow near Cheddar is a particular favourite place for a nice long two hour dog walk!
What do you make of the proposed plans for the arena by Temple Meads?
I’m actually really positive about it. Bristol has needed an arena sized venue for years and years. From what I’ve read it doesn’t look like the parking situation has been thought through very well though. I used to live in Totterdown and all of the locals were very worried about that as it’s going to be a 5 minute walk away.
For more information about the Fleece, or for a comprehensive list of their shows, go to their website.
Article by:
An ardent Geordie minus the accent, Sam seemingly strove to get as far away from the Toon as possible, as soon as university beckoned. Three undergraduate years at UoB were more than ample time for Bristol (as it inevitably does) to get under his skin, and so here he remains: reporting, as Assistant Editor, on the cultural happenings which so infatuated him with the city. Catch him at sam@365bristol.com.
