Caroline

Stayfree Showcase #18

We are back at Duffy’s Bar this month for a bit of a 90’s throwback vibe. Brand new band Spiral opened the event. You will recognise guitarist/ frontman Archie from the reception desk. He has teamed up with drummer Luke to produce a great instrumental grunge based duo. Spiral brought with them a hoard of […]

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Stayfree Showcase #17

This Showcase was always going to be a bit varied and I think multiple genres was the theme on the night. The opening band –The Jinxy Trixterz played their first gig and smashed it! The trio was accompanied ‘Chris’ the drum machine – who was front and centre.   They played a mixture of originals and

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Stayfree Showcase #16

Back at The Big Difference this month, it was great to catch up with some familiar faces I had not seen in a while. First up were Extended Probation. This young band played a very tight, well rehearse set that includes covers as well as original material. They opened up with Iggy pop followed by

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Stayfree Showcase #15

We were very excited to hold an event at brand new venue The Real Ale Classroom on Rutland Street. The venue is managed by Nuala who is a friend and staff member so we have been eagerly awaiting a chance to try it out. The downstairs venue is intermate but the PA is great. Unglam

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Stayfree Showcase #14

The first our our events this year kicked off at Duffy’s Bar. And I thought with a heavy line up with headliners Independent Trucking would mean a lot of head bobbing. I was not prepared for all the dancing The very lovely Boilermen started us off, by their own omission, they are owed by the

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What size drumstick?

In the Stayfree Spares Shop we sell Chord Maple 2B 5A 5B and 7A. So what does it all mean and which one is best for your drumming style? There are plenty of other sizes but we sell the most popular. The number of the stick indicated the thickness of the stick, the lower the

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Playing a Showcase

For the past couple of years we have been putting on Showcases at various venues around Leicester. The only criteria is that you have to rehearse here 🙂 If you would like to play at a Showcase then email or message us, it would be good if you could link us into your socials or

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Stayfree Snowcase #13

The Stayfree Christmas Party at Firebug, or as we liked to call it ‘Stayfree Snowcase’ This was a great get together of customers and bands from previous Showcases. The first band on the night was Unglamorous Band – Mental Load. These women formed just 6 months ago . Facebook – Mental Load Next up was

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Stayfree Showcase #12

First on tonight at The Big Difference was the beautiful Joyce Embers. This was her first billing as usually she plays a lot of open mic nights. Her set was fantastic, with  a range of ballads and heavier material. She is a thoughtful song writing with a great voice – Instagram –@joyce_embers Next band to

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Sound Glossary

When you first start out rehearsing and performing on stage, there’s a ton of new words to get your head round. We thought we would write a glossary to get you started. Please feel free to message us with any other words you think we should add to the list   Equipment Combo – short

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Stayfree Showcase #11

This is the first of two showcases at The Big Difference this Autumn. This months line up starts with Pretty Dirty Rats, one of the great women bands to form out of the Unglamorous Project. These guys are funky, punky and have great rat based songs with very entertaining stories Facebook  Next up was residents Dum

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Which guitar amp?

Here at Stayfree we have a wide range of amps to choose from because every band is different. But how do you know which amp is right for you? Sometimes this comes down to the types of amps available. The most commonly known is the valve amp. So called because it uses vacuum tubes to

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Stayfree Showcase #8

This Showcase was all about pedal boards and plenty of sick guitar solos! The winner of the biggest pedal board goes to Mysterious Voices. I wasn’t the only person taking photos of their pedal boards too! Mysterious Voices opened up the night with a great set. They have a very interesting sound, the bassist often

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Stayfree Showcase #7

This was our very first all women Showcase! As Stayfree is the home of Unglamorous, we have plenty of amazing women bands to choose from and Im sure there will be more women bands appear on our line ups in the not to distant future. Boilers opened the night. This brand new band played their

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Stayfree Showcase #6

We were back at The Big Difference last night with the First Showcase of the year, celebrating another set of talented young artists that rehearse with us. First off was the marvellously kooky The Societys who entertained the audience with their new up coming single ‘Keys Phone Wallet’ and my personal favourite ‘Goals’ They have

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Making a Podcast at Stayfree

You might assume that everyone booking Stayfree rooms is involved in music. But we’re now the proud host of a brand new podcast series called The Amateur MILF* Society, created by Rosie and Sinead here in our Yellow Production Room. The hour-long podcasts blend humour, wisdom and personal experiences all on the theme of being

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Stayfree Showcase #3

Pheonixshire, 11 Years Tyranny, Wollow at Duffy’s Bar This month was all about Heavy Metal – Rock. Pheonixshire               Eleven Years Tyranny The pace quickened somewhat with death metal/ metalcore Eleven Years Tyranny. There was a permanent mosh pit throughout their set, hair was flying everywhere! Alex on vocals

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Stayfree Showcase #2

Szyslak, Our Souls, First Wave at Firebug 29th July 2022 This was another great night of guitar rock with a punk edge to celebrate Stayfree’s 30th anniversary by showcasing some of the bands that rehearse or are based here. We think Firebug is a brilliant venue to see live bands and our second showcase gig

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First Wave

First Wave punk band started in 2002, their current line up; Dean Ross, Graham Warne and Tony Taylor have been together for the past 7 years. They are an old school punk rock band with flavours of rock and pop, think Ramones meets The Clash with sometimes Killing Joke,  UK Subs and Motorhead Riffs involved.

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Stayfree Showcase #1

Dum Language, The Verinos, Melonade at Duffy’s Bar 30th June 2022 It’s so brilliant to be able to go out to gigs again! These three Leicester bands were all quite different, but it made the event at Duffy’s Bar that bit more intense.  If you’re the kind of person still reluctant to go out or

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Produkty

The mighty Produkty started rehearsing at Stayfree June 2009. The same month that we opened up at Frog Island, the same day that Michael Jackson died! Produkty are Andy Sharman (front man from Sister Crow – who Ian managed in the 80’s) , Kerry Williams and Nikki Webb, they are a punk inspired rock trio

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Stayfree Open Day – 30th Anniversary 1992 – 2022

Thirty years is a long time for anyone to stay in business – especially a local independent music organisation- so it was important for Stayfree to have a big event as a centrepiece to the year’s celebrations. In that time, Stayfree has promoted events, managed and supported bands and, most importantly, converted huge old buildings

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International Womans Day

66 Days to start a band and perform a gig? Women can do anything!   Stayfree director Caroline McLavy was delighted to hear about and support a project that aims to get more women playing instruments and forming bands. Although there are quite a few women musicians already in Leicester, there aren’t very many female

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Rehearsing the gaps

When preparing for a gig, we obviously all spend as much time getting our songs to be the best we can – so what about the gaps between the songs? There’s the obvious ones that you can prepare for like swapping out or changing the tuning on your guitar for example. Some things you will

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Latest Gigs

We’ve started this new feature to the Stayfree website to show the many gigs that our bands and artists play every week. It would be great to show photos of your recent shows, as well as advertising what’s coming up soon. To be included, speak with any of our staff, or send information by email

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What kit to bring

The great thing about rehearsing at Stayfree is flexibility! You can bring ALL the kit or NONE of the kit and our friendly staff are here to help. We have 30 years experience in helping bands get started quickly, and we know how annoying it is when you’ve forgotten something. If you are complete beginners,

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Workshops

Based in the heart of the Leicester community, Stayfree aims to help non-musicians and less experienced players develop confidence and skills. With a little instruction, coaching and support, it’s possible to get started towards your dream of playing in a band, writing your own songs or getting up on stage. Our forthcoming programme of workshops

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