Tolerable Music presents:
Rock & Robots
Rock & Robots is a monthly hybrid gig/robot combat night at The Others in Stoke Newington, London. Taking place on the second Sunday of each month, each night has a slightly different musical vibe but the same core theme of "watch the pros, then have a go yourself" - cheer on professional roboteers and then drive their robots in the arena, then witness some indie talent and have some stage time in the post-gig open mic/jam.
At a glance
Venue:
Dates:
Times:
Admission:
Ticket link:
Clips:
Also at the venue:
The Others, 6 Manor Road,
Stoke Newington, London N16 5SA
Second Sunday of each month
Doors open 17:30
Robot fighting 18:45
Live music 19:50 (3 acts)
Open mic/jam 22:00
£4 advance, £5 at venue, free after 21:45
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Cash bar
Free table football
Second hand vinyl shop
Handmade jewellery stall from ToHellWithHalos
Beginnings
Back in 2022, I hadn't done a gig or seen several of my friends in a while so I decided to arrange a birthday party which acted as an open mic night where I played a set at the end.
I contacted a few venues in London to find that most of them were outside my price range. Paper Dress in Hackney, for example, would have charged £230 and mandated a minimum bar spend of £800, which with my estimated turnout of 20-30 people would be impossible to fulfill. My saviour was The Others in Stoke Newington who, at the time, charged £150 for hire of the venue and its equipment on a Sunday with no minimum bar spend.
After my party finished, the owner, Simon, said he had a spare date each month which, if I liked, I could arrange a night for, as long as it included some open mic/jam session time. I decided to make that night one of robot fighting (my other hobby), myself, some guests and then free stage time for anyone who signs up.
I never thought I would be a promoter but here we are.
Rock!
To keep things manageable in terms of sound engineering, the 3 acts performing at each night will be me, a soloist/duo/small acoustic group and a full band headlining. We realised this in February 2024 after the sound checks took ages for 2 relatively complicated bands, then also realised that March had a band with up to 12 members booked.
The first set will generally be 20 minutes, followed by 2 sets of 30 minutes, but these are flexible depending on who's playing. I also generally do a 20 minute set so I can make my sets varied from month to month and so I can select songs which match the vibe of the other 2 acts more closely.
Despite the name, this event isn't limited to rock music - it just sounded more catchy that way.
Lineups from previous and future events and clips, where available, can be checked out here.
Robots!
I'm proud to host London's only regular robot fighting event, potentially the first since Robot Wars was filmed on a site now occupied by the O2 in 1997-98. The robots here are antweights, which have a weight limit of 150g compared to the 110kg/250lb machines you'll see on modern TV competitions like Battlebots.
Each event so far has featured at least 6 robots and you can expect to see around 20 fights in the 45 minutes allocated to the tournament, including a rumble, which is a single last-bot-standing fight between all robots present. The winner of the main tournament receives a gold medal and the winner of the rumble receives a silver medal
This event is also the UK's only regular sportsman antweight event, which has allowed a completely different metagame of robot designs from the rest of the circuit. Our other USPs are the live commentary, interviews, quick changeovers due to the roofless arena and the live fight soundtracks provided by a drummer. In addition, the arena stays in place all night and anyone can approach a roboteer and have a go on their robot any time there isn't an act on stage.
Check out a summary of results from previous events and videos of all the fights here.
Post-gig open mic/jam
I've experimented with a few formats of including open mic/jam time but settled on the following: the gig officially ends when the last band's set finishes, usually around 21:45, after which the velvet rope across the door is put away, the door staff stops paying attention to the door and anyone can come in for free.
The jam time begins with some members of the 3 booked acts performing a song together karaoke-style, much like the group performances on The X Factor. Jam/open mic slots are 2 songs or 8 minutes each and this time can be taken up with karaoke, songs with an instrument, dance, comedy, poetry, short video game speedruns or anything else you've wanted to do on stage. Signups are first come, first served, so attending the gig gives you the best chance to secure one.
The venue provides a number of house instruments - a drum kit, a bass, a guitar, bongos, vibraphone, there may be more - for anyone to join in a jam. One time the fire alarm was activated during a jam and it sounded quite nice.
Even more!
All night, we have a number of other things to check out around the venue:
To Hell With Halos jewellery stall
My friend Hayley makes upcycled handmade jewellery pieces from things like discarded toys and animal bones - they're cute, they're gothic, they're spooky, and the jewellery is nice too. Hayley brings a selection of these kidcore/decora/spooky pieces for you to peruse and purchase, and also accepts cards.
Vinylly Found second hand vinyl store
Like something you hear on the decks? Buy it on vinyl! Flick through the record collection like a teen in the '70s or a young urban professional today (cash only)
Cash bar
A selection of alcoholic and soft drinks (cash only)
Free table football
Another way of challenging your friends without risk of injury.
Free SNES gaming
It's one of those SNES emulator consoles with some games pre-loaded, I've always been too busy to see for myself
The Venue
6 Manor Road, Stoke Newington, London, N16 5SA
Situated a short walk from Stoke Newington station on the Overground (soon to be known as the Weaver line) and upstairs from Manor Snooker Club, whose signs cover the building, The Others is a venue which, by definition, hosts "otherly events" which you aren't likely to see elsewhere.
The venue is kitted out with some good-quality live sound equipment, a projector and you can watch the bands from a selection of mismatched seats - choose from armchairs, sofas, benches or seats which were likely salvaged from a minivan, complete with seatbelts.
The Others hosts events most nights of the week - check out their calendar on their homepage.
Money
My arrangement with the venue means that I get to keep 100% of the door takings, splitting it with the people who make the night, while the venue keeps all the money taken at the bar. Also, I don't have to pay venue hire fees so, aside from the small promotional budget, all takings are profits.
I really don't like pay-to-play as a business model so all acts booked for Rock & Robots get paid a pre-defined split of the total door takings - no ticket quota, no tracking of who's here to see who, just focus on the entertainment (but do also get your friends and fans to come if you're booked to play because it's a fun night). If you want to sell merch and CDs, go ahead! Those are your products and I have no right to tax you on them - that's HMRC's job.
The roboteers also get offered either an appearance fee or prize money but generally no one takes it so I redistribute it to the drummer who soundtracks the fights.
Get involved!
If you've been sent this page or have read this far, you can definitely get involved! The e-mail address that opens that door is this one here:
If you're a musician, in a band or if you know a musician/band who you'd like to see at one of these nights, send me some music, either studio or live, and some contact details, preferably on this form.
If you're a roboteer, send me a photo of your antweight or sign up on Rampage. If you'd like to get involved in roboteering, check the Bristol Bot Builders guides and let me know if there's anything they don't answer.
If you'd like to play the open mic, get in touch and send me any backing tracks you'd like to perform with if you need one. You can also sign up on the night.
Or if you'd like to just come along for the ride, tickets are always available right below this text, at bit.ly/rockandrobots or, for £1 more, on the door.