Behind FAB Nights are music fans Michele, Jenny, Olwyn, Michael, and David. Chris Johnson runs Shirkin Promotions and is also responsible for regular gigs at The Shed.

In 2002 Michele and Jenny were music chums, travelling round the country following The Albion Band and other great live music acts. We got hooked after seeing the Albion Band live at The Bowen West in 1997 (we think!). During one rain-soaked session at a festival we were musing on whether as our years advanced, and our ability to travel in pursuit of great music might become restricted - whether we could somehow arrange to hear our sort of music on our doorstep. What Bedford needed, we thought, - was a good live music venue where we can invite great live acts, and create a warm, friendly atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. We had been on the receiving end of cold and cliquey, or noisy and smoky venues - and knew what we liked! Michele was also at the time, a volunteer helper at The Stables and so had some experience of the cream of modern music venues.

In autumn 2002 we met up with another music fan - Chris Johnson, who was putting on a series of four music events at The ent. Shed to raise money for Autism Awareness.(Munday Turner, Emily Slade, The Bill Jones Trio and Colin Reid). We contacted Maureen and Kieron who have been running the Sun FolkClub in Hitchin for 40 years (and have just won folk club of the year award at the 2005 BBC Folk Awards)- their help and support has been invaluable.

We started putting events on from January 2003 - and it has been an exciting roller-coaster ride ever since! We have met some wonderful people, had a lot of fun and got to know more about music than we ever thought possible. Most of the feedback from musicians and audiences has been positive - and where there has been a problem within our control, we have tried to remedy it. (eg: people asked us about concessionary ticket prices, and we introduced those in September; in response to requests from audiences and artists we made the venue non-smoking).

Olwyn and Michael joined the gang after meeting Michele in the queue to see Show of Hands at Roots at Zaks in Wolverton - Show of Hands has been part of the glue that has kept us together! Michael and Olwyn organised the sell out gig with Martyn Joseph last year. This year, Michael has just celebrated his 40th birthday with a celebratory gig at The Shed with Emily Slade and Shaughnessy. He ran a Cat Stevens Tribute night in March 2005 which was the first such event in the UK for 30 years. It was packed out, and hugely appreciated by all who came.

David lives locally and comes to gigs when he can with wife Jan. He takes pictures for us - and we hope that some will appear on this site in due course.

Now Chris is running his own events under the name of Shirkin Promotions; he also runs the email list for Shirkin and FAB Nights, taking over from Jenny who ran it for nearly two years. Jenny now does lots of word of mouth publicity for us and continues to support with the raffle and in the background. Olwyn and Michael help out at FAB Nights and Shirkin gigs.

We are also supported by a hard core of dedicated regulars - you know who you are! - who can be seen at almost every gig - as well as the people who come once a year - or to see specific artists. We have been delighted to meet you all and very grateful for your continued support. The wonderful people we have met along the way continues to be one of the joys of being involved in FAB Nights.

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The worst time is at about 7-45pm.
The band has arrived and is sound checking; the email list, flyers and copies of Unicorn are out on the front desk. The candles are lit - but is anyone going to come? Even now after 122 gigs since January 2003 (not all mine!), I'm still nervous and worry until a few familiar faces come through the door - and then I know it's going to be a great night and I can relax. The best bit is when Michael leans over and says "It's OK - you can pay the band now!"

So, how did we all come to get involved in running gigs at The Shed?
Here's a bit of history for those of you who are wondering - and those of you who haven't heard the story before.

By the way, FAB Nights is not run to make money.

We are doing this for LOVE! Everyone involved gives up their time voluntarily to run the events. Funds from ticket sales pay the artists, the venue and the sound engineer, website and publicity. The raffle is run to help with these costs - occasionally we will run the raffle to support a good cause. We also promote and back benefit gigs - hence the dedicated 'benefit gig' page.