So I did go to the pub last night after all.
Sale, where I live, has a pretty rubbish town centre- poundshops, chicken shops, phoneshops, charity shops, several pubs which should be better than they are and threats of violence are everpresent, and some Slug & Lettuce style bars. Grim most of the time. A new bar, The Steamhouse, opened a few months ago and while wandering up the pedestrian precinct we realised we'd never been in. The site of The Steamhouse has housed several dodgy nightclubs and at one point was rumoured to be turning into a lapdancing bar. Walking in was a surprise- nice bar, good beer and what looked like not the normal Sale crowd. We ventured downstairs where a band were setting up, a three piece with stand-up double bass and a Gretsch guitar. In the cultural desert of Sale.
They opened with the words, 'We're going to play some rock 'n' roll, some blues and some country'. And they did- some Elvis, Summertime Blues, Cut Across Shorty, a great version of Brand New Cadillac, and Your Cheating Heart among others, and on request from your Bagging Area scribe Wayne Walker's All I Can Do Is Cry (posted here before and as a guest over at The Vinyl Villain), which rocked. They were good and like an idiot I didn't ask them what they were called. Sorry about that.
Several pints in I also started talking to the manager and raised the possibility of 'doing a night'. Nothing confirmed yet, but there's a possibility of Bagging Area going 'real' as well as 'virtual'. This is Hank Williams with Long Gone Lonesome Blues.
long-gone-lonesome-blues.mp3
Sale, where I live, has a pretty rubbish town centre- poundshops, chicken shops, phoneshops, charity shops, several pubs which should be better than they are and threats of violence are everpresent, and some Slug & Lettuce style bars. Grim most of the time. A new bar, The Steamhouse, opened a few months ago and while wandering up the pedestrian precinct we realised we'd never been in. The site of The Steamhouse has housed several dodgy nightclubs and at one point was rumoured to be turning into a lapdancing bar. Walking in was a surprise- nice bar, good beer and what looked like not the normal Sale crowd. We ventured downstairs where a band were setting up, a three piece with stand-up double bass and a Gretsch guitar. In the cultural desert of Sale.
They opened with the words, 'We're going to play some rock 'n' roll, some blues and some country'. And they did- some Elvis, Summertime Blues, Cut Across Shorty, a great version of Brand New Cadillac, and Your Cheating Heart among others, and on request from your Bagging Area scribe Wayne Walker's All I Can Do Is Cry (posted here before and as a guest over at The Vinyl Villain), which rocked. They were good and like an idiot I didn't ask them what they were called. Sorry about that.
Several pints in I also started talking to the manager and raised the possibility of 'doing a night'. Nothing confirmed yet, but there's a possibility of Bagging Area going 'real' as well as 'virtual'. This is Hank Williams with Long Gone Lonesome Blues.
long-gone-lonesome-blues.mp3