It’s based heavily on Oxford’s Catweazle Club, which is 21 years young and with which I’ve been actively been involved for several years. I’m a Brummie at heart, though, and am trying to bring a bit of that magic back to my hometown. There’s more info on the website www.hatstand.space/#yes

Catweazle has taught me so much, and regulars will anticipate the main features: unamplified, no advance booking, performers enter for free (It’s £5/£4 for everyone else). The concept is simple: the first performers in the queue when the door opens at 7:30 get to go on stage (they get in free). I programme the night on the spot. There’s an interval in the middle. Everyone has two songs-ish. Everyone listens to everyone else. Pleasant drinks are served; people meet people they wouldn’t have otherwise.

But Hatstand is not simply a duplication of the Catweazle formula, for this city is unique and requires individual treatment. We’re going to have a pop-up art gallery for visual artists with prints to sell. We’re going to have two intervals instead of one (edgy). We’re going to be based in a garden centre intead of a community centre (super edgy). We are going, I very much hope, to have an actual hatstand (I just lost consciousness).

This is the second night I’ve set up, and I know what the big challenges are. We need a good mix of music and spoken word; a strong communuity of regulars as well as high visibility for passing traffic; and we need an amazing audience who delight in and respect a huge range of talent. Most troublesomely of all, we need all that quickly – nights like this thrive or fail in the first year, and a monthly show only has twelve chances to get it right.

I hope you can be part of those attempts! Whether you’re a Brummie or at a distance, if you find yourself free on the first Monday of the month, starting this December, we need you.