An opening date and first performance line-up has been confirmed for a new Nottingham music venue and recording studio centre which aims to become one of the region’s leading cultural focal points.
Metronome, inside the Marco Island building on the corner of Beck Street and Huntingdon Street, will open on October 1.
The centre is already home to six state-of-the-art recording studios and fourteen fully equipped rehearsal rooms, some of which are already in use.
The rest of the complex will have a 400-capacity venue with a licensed bar, where a public programme of music, film and TV, videogames and other live performances will be held.
The first acts have been announced online this week. They include South African band BCUC, Japanese Psychedelica act Acid Mothers Temple, award-winning spoken word artists and videogame icons.
Video: Animated fly-through of how the inside of the completed building will look.
Built by Nottingham’s Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, Metronome will also aim to help develop the next generation of creative, performing and technical talent.
Confetti students will work alongside professional technicians and learn directly from visiting artists as part of their academic courses in creative industry subjects.
Craig Chettle, Founder and Chief Executive of Confetti, said: “We’re bringing something new to the city and the region with Metronome. And it’s only been possible because of our 25 years’ experience running Confetti; the special relationship with our parent company Nottingham Trent University, and our ability to quickly respond to the ever-changing world of creative technologies.
“Metronome will deliver one of the most ambitious and diverse programmes in the UK – live music of all kinds, moving image, e-sports and videogames, talkers and thinkers – they’re all going to find a unique new home here.
“It’s tempting to just talk about it in terms of being an amazing building with amazing facilities and, of course, it is all of those things, but it’s what happens inside that really matters. Metronome is more than just a place, it’s an ecosystem.”
Metronome will also become part of Nottingham Trent University’s ‘Creative Quarter Campus’, which also includes the current Confetti building on Convent Street, and a new £9.1 million ‘media hub’ for students being built next door facing Lower Parliament Street. This is also due to open in time for the start of the new academic year.
Barbara Matthews, Pro Vice-Chancellor Culture at Nottingham Trent University, added: “At Nottingham Trent University, we believe in inspiring people to discover their creative and professional potential and I am sure that Metronome will make a significant contribution to finding and developing the next generation of talent. It’s an exciting moment.
