rhythm and booze Food, Booze, Bands & News - Issue 4 - November/December 2010 Over a month past its proposed opening date, The Crown is finally back in business!
Some Things Are Worth The Wait! Despite last issue’s proclamation that The Crown, Lincoln Road would re-open at the start of September – a series of delays put it back to 19 October. Speaking prior to the official opening by Mayor of Peterborough Keith Sharp, landlord Brian Gascoyne explained, “There were a few last minute glitches, but looking at the work that has been achieved I’m glad there was been a delay. “The way the builders have gone about the refurbishment is impressive and our customers will know that it’s been worth waiting for.” The sympathetic refurbishment carried out by Baxter & King, the building firm behind The Ostrich Inn, has seen the main entrance returned to the front of the building - which features wheelchair access and a smoking garden. Inside, both serving areas have been slightly reduced in size and new ladies’ toilets have been installed in the public bar, while the
Early Doors: The Crown, shortly before it re-opened. right hand bar will be used for functions. At the opening event, three real ales – JHB, Inferno and Spitfire – were available, with the Mayor pulling the first pint and raising a
toast to the pub’s future and the forthcoming regeneration of the New England area. Turn to the centre pages to read about the opening event, history and refurbishment of The Crown.
It’s a scream! Helloween The Destructors Hot on the heels of Dead Beat to White Heat and 101010, comes Helloween - a 13-track album containing the best in Horror Punk, from the most productive band Peterborough has ever seen. Out 31 October 2010
“They might not have all the answers, but the music is in your face with enough energy to power a small town and enough edge that punks will love this.” - The Trouble With Normal “Good solid punk rock.” - Mass Movement Magazine
IN-STORE, ONLINE, DOWNLOAD ON SALE IN HMV, CATHEDRAL SQUARE
BY MAIL ORDER FROM METALONROCK.TV OR AS A DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES / 7DIGITAL
Pub Scrawl
by Cardinal Cox
The annual Poet Laureate of Peterborough competition is underway and this year’s subject is Chemistry. The competition has proved to be a great opportunity for local poets, but you do need to have some gumption about what you want to do. Toby Wood - the first laureate - got a column in the ET out of it, I read at a poetry festival in Oxford, Mark Grist – co-founder of Pint of Poetry - performed at the Leicester Summer Sundae, while MC Mixy – the current laureate - went to the Edinburgh Festival for August. Some winners did so after years of trying, others on their first attempt, but no one won who didn’t enter. So go into a library and pick up an entry form to find out more. This year’s final is Monday, 6 December and if you enter, remember to check your emails as someone I know hadn’t bothered last year and didn’t know that they’d got through. The Stamford Arts Centre has a great bar downstairs, hosts a Festival of Ghosts over Halloween. This includes films on Saturday, 30 October, Hannah Gordon reading extracts from famous ghost stories on Sunday, 31, while Sarah Waters (Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith etc) talks about her latest novel The Little Stranger on Friday, 5 November. The following evening the Nunkie Theatre Company presents its adaptation of two classic MR James ghost stories in A Warning to the Curious. I’ve seen the play’s actor RM Lloyd Parry twice before and can vouch for how good he is, so book early and get a seat near the front if you dare! For full details of times, prices and information on workshops and talks held during the festival, ring 01780 763203 or go to www.stamfordartscentre.com Two crime writers will be talking about their latest novels on Tuesday, 2 November at Peterborough Central Library. Jill Paton-Walsh has penned a new Lord Peter
John Lyon, appearing at The Poetry Factory in November. Wimsey book (based on the works of Dorothy L Sayers) called The Attenbury Emeralds, while Sophie Hannah (who is also an excellent poet) will be promoting A Room Swept White. These evenings are very popular, starting at 7:30pm, I advise you to pre-book your tickets (costing £3 or £2 concessions) in advance. Writers in Peterborough are a group of volunteers who have been bringing a wide range of authors to the city since the early-80s. Their autumn/winter season continues on Wednesday, 3 November at The Great Northern Hotel (who’s bar has improved since being taken over), Judith Allnatt talks about her novel The Poet’s Wife about Patty Turner, the long-suffering spouse of John Clare. On Wednesday, 1 December there will be two local writers talking about their work. One is Lotte Kramer who is a true star of the poetry scene as she has been having collections of her verse published since 1980. All local poets should own one or two of her books at least. The other is thriller writer Thomas McCarthy, whose latest novel The Coast of Death draws on
his own Irish background to tell a tale set between the Good Friday Agreement and the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Both evenings start at 7.30pm and admission is £7 (£5 concessions). For full details about the season go to www.wip.btik.com The Poetry Factory is a new initiative designed to offer constructive criticism to local poets. They meet on the third Tuesday of the month and participants should bring two performance poems, a one-page poem, paper, pen and an open mind. On 16 November they have special guest tutor John Lyons, the Trinidad born poet who studied art at Goldsmiths College, London and the University of Newcastle-uponTyne. Since winning the Peterloo Poetry Prize he has contributed to such anthologies as the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse (2005) and had his own collections published, most recently No Apples in Eden (2009). He has also been a tutor on Arvon Courses, so knows his stuff. Admission is £5 each and to book a place, ring Pete on 01733 890537 or Keely on 07790 275382. The next Speakeasy is on Wednesday, 24 November at The Brewery Tap. It starts at 8.oopm, costs £4 an features an all-female line-up. Headlining the night is Jude Simpson who falls somewhere between Victoria Wood and Goldie Looking Chain - check out her track Let’s Make a Baby at httpwww.myspace.com/judesimpson If you’re part of a book or reading groups that meets in a pub, let me me know when you meet and what you’re reading by emailing cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk Cardinal Cox is an enthusiastic amateur drinker. He wishes all readers a merry and safe Christmas and looks forward to seeing you at Straw Bear in January.
Retrolux - Appearing @ The Cellar Bar, Saturday, 27 November
NOVEMBER
04 - Pete & Josh (acoustic duo) 05 - Lateshow 06 - Siren 07 - Gig available (ring to book) 11 - Murray Hockridge (solo) 12 - Lloyd Watson Band 13 - Isiah (Richard Hall) 14 - Gig available (ring to book)
18 - James Edmonds (acoustic) 19 - Open mic 20 - Disco night 21 - Lloyd, Rex & Muzz (7pm) 25 - The Blues Agents 26 - Taking Care of Business 27 - Retrolux 28 - Gig available (ring to book)
Open Every Day from 2pm Bands 8.30pm unless otherwise stated Bottled Ales & Freshly Served Food Live Sport in HD
THE
w w w. t h e c e l l a r b a r p e t e r b o r o u g h . c o . u k
CELLAR BAR The Thorpe Lodge Hotel, Thorpe Road, Peterborough, 0777541239
A new dawn fades… ...into a PCC mess! As Posh thrive on the pitch while off it continue to be propped up by the deep pockets of Darragh McAnthony - all should be sweetness and light at London Road, writes Jamie Jones. But wait, the shadowy figure of Peterborough City Council (PCC) lurches into view, like a rabid dog holding a wrecking ball. Since PCC purchased London Road from Colin Hill, we had heard little from them other than vague rumours about what their plans were for the ‘new’ ground. Then in September details slowly but surely emerged of a half-baked plan that involves rebuilding a ground with only some of the funding in place, a tiny new stand at the Moyes End, and a lot of hopes and dreams about reaching a 19,000 capacity. Even the most optimistic estimates are that the re-built ground will be ready in 2017, leaving us with a three-sided shell to sit in for a good few years yet. PCC are currently
Expect the new Posh ground sometime in the next 10 years...at least! taking a stance that they won’t have been great at in the past. even release the detailed archiWe are watching you PCC….. tects drawings to council tax payYou can follow the ongoing ground ers/Posh fans, so everything feels redevelopment saga, as well as all a little hazy in terms of details. The other things Posh related on our club, the fans and indeed the good un-official Posh podcast – Standing people of Peterborough have little On The Glebe. choice but to trust PCC to do a Download it from:good job – not something they www.standingontheglebe.co.uk
This Is Peterborough Following the success of his 2010 calendar, Chris Porsz ‘The Paramedic Paparazzo’ returns with a collection of Peterborough’s characters and scenes from three decades ago. 2011’s Peterborough through a lens also includes the three ‘reunion’ photos that hit the nationals earlier this year. Available for £7 from the following stockists:The Barn Garden Centre - Paston Parkway, Reba Cathedral Square, Silver Fox - The Old Arcade, Colemans - Cowgate, Cancer Research - Westgate, Shrives - Westgate, Save the Children - Midgate, Salvation Army - Broadway, Destination Centre Bridge Street, Twiggs and Bows - Serpentine Green, Waterstones - Bridge Street, Museum - Priestgate and Peterborough Central Library - Broadway
CROWNIN The last 10 years have been unkind to the pubs of Lincoln Road. The Norfolk - one of Peterborough’s premier music pubs - was converted into an estate agent, while The Eight Bells suffered a similar fate by becoming an accountancy firm. The Triangle had the dubious honour of not only being the first pub in Peterborough to be closed down under the Licensing Act 2003, but of being the first one to be closed twice. The Greyhound had its heart ripped out when the interior was made into a café and supermarket, a fate that awaits The Triangle, while The Windmill was converted into flats – before suffering an arson attack. When the police closed The Crown at the start of the year - due to licensing irregularities - it looked as if it was game over for the starting point for the rapidly diminishing Crown to Town pubcrawl. In March it was announced that Brian Gascoyne, a landlord known for turning round failing pubs, would be taking over.
Like The Ostrich - the building firm’s other pub - The Crown is free of tie, serving a range of competitively priced real ales and has benefited from an extensive – yet sympathetic - makeover. As chairman of the Millfield and New England Regeneration Partnership (MANERP), Brian intends to create a grown-up and secure environment placing the pub at the heart of the community. Speaking in the last issue of Rhythm & Booze, Brian explained how he is offering use of the function room - free of charge - for bona fide community events and has no time for trouble makers, going on record to say “I have a zero tolerance attitude on drugs, excessive drinking and bad behaviour. I won’t let people ruin it for others, no matter how much money they put across the bar.” The official opening took place on 19 October with Keith Sharp, ward councillor and Mayor of Peterborough, presiding over the celebrations. Wishing Brian every success, the
“I have a zero tolerance attitude on drugs, excessive drinking and bad behaviour. I won’t let people ruin it for others, no matter how much money they put across the bar.” - Brian Gascoyne
Initially there were plans to turn the venue into a private member’s club, however a visit by Graham Finding - a Director of Baxter & King Constructionled to plans that would ensure The Crown remained a public house.
Mayor gave a run through of the history of the pub, which was built in 1867 to serve the community of New England – an area built by the Great Northern Railway in order to house its employees.
CHEERS: Keith Sharp, Mayor of Peter The Mayor’s wishes were echoed by his colleague Charles Swift, who has represented the ward for 56 years and has been past the pub an average of two or three times every day of his life. Following a quick speech from Graham Finding to thank those who had helped prepare the pub, the Mayor stepped behind the bar to pull the first pint.
NG GLORY
borough, serves me a pint of Spitfire. Landlord Brian Gascoyne looks on. Photograph © David Brown As a reward for the support that Rhythm & Booze has given to Brian and The Crown, I had the honour of to receive it – deciding on a pint of Spitfire, from a choice that included Oakham Ales’ Inferno and JHB. I’m pleased to say that Brian has been true to his word, keeping his cellar in good order and ensuring that his ales
are delivered at their best. After the formalities were over I had chance to congratulate Brian on such a great turnout on a wet and windy Tuesday evening. From the end of October The Crown will be offering three course Sunday dinners for under a tenner, with a weekday menu available shortly.
There are plans to reintroduce live music to the pub, with Sunday Jazz sessions in the pipeline and Brian hopes that those behind neighbouring pubs will up their game to match his and Baxter & King’s aspirations. I look forward to visiting The Crown as often as I can and with the new partnership every success.
R EVIEWS The Defence of The Realm Christopher Andrew ***** Penguin Books, £14.99 ISBN 978-0-141-02330-4
To celebrate its centenary, while spotting a perfect PR opportunity, MI5 tasked Christopher Andrew to write a definitive history of Britain’s security service. Certain details of recent operations have had to be curtailed to protect informers and surveillance - and not, as the conspiracy theorists would have it, as some kind of cover up - however Andrew has been given free reign to write about the Service. This revised and expanded version covers how Anthony Blunt gradually came to realise the extent of his betrayal. Although it is in an early chapter when Blunt, refusing to be exfiltrated to Moscow for his own safety, told his Soviet controller “I know perfectly well how your people live and I can assure you it would be very hard, almost unbearable, for me to do likewise.” It’s statements like this where you hope that the plum voiced hypocrite felt a heavy sense of guilt until the day he died. Dad’s Army @ Tolethorpe Hall, 28/07/10 ***** Playing on the open stage of To-
lethorpe Hall, The Stamford Shakespeare Company diverted from their usual fare to present an adaptation of TV classic Dad’s Army. Opening with The Deadly Attachment, the cast took to the stage and while all the better-known characters were there, some were more convincing than others. The actors playing Pike and Walker gave credible versions of the originals, while Wilson - a little too short to play the original - managed to pull off a convincing John Le Mesurier impression. The downsides were Fraser, Jones and Mainwaring, who while looking like Arthur Lowe sounded like Vic Reeves doing his ‘clubstyle’ voice. While some parts were good, the show did tend to waffle on, and rehearsing The Floral Dance is no ending at all. The fact they had to bring Private Cheeseman in, who joined the TV series after James Beck’s untimely death, to perform a single speaking part goes to show how little adapting for the stage was actually carried out.
acoustic guitars. While Monica falls into the second category, she’s still got a pair bigger than Coldplay, Keane and U2 put together. If you mix fast strummed guitars with Nouvelle Vague and Lou Read you start to get an idea of Monica’s sound. Tonight her backing band was one short, with drummer Rob Baylis unable to attend, leaving bassist Paul Slack doing an admiral job of keeping things together. While their performance was second to none, it seems that Baylis wasn’t the only Peterborian who had something else on. It says something about a city, when a band who play to hundreds people elsewhere can’t even command a double figure audience just because “it’s Sunday night, I’ve got work tomorrow!” East @ Charters Lunchtime, 31/07/10 *****
Monica and the Explosion @ The Cellar Bar, Thorpe Road, 01/08/10 *****
The thought of a female singer songwriter usually fills me with dread, mainly because they lack balls and have a fondness for
Not fancying anything off the bar menu or wanting to move seats, we were pleased to hear that the restaurant’s lunchtime menu could be brought down to us. At a cost of £6.95 for a main course, plus £2 for a starter, we chose Duck Spring Rolls and Mixed Tempura – the chef’s recommendation, comprising prawns, squid, sweet potato, carrot and broccoli – for our starters. For the main course we had Massaman Beef Curry – large pieces of beef and potato cooked in a rich coconut milk curry – and Spicy King Prawns. Both dishes came with steamed jasmine fragrant rice, which was responsible for the slight
downside to our meal. The mains were brought over at the same time as our starters and we assumed that the rice would follow shortly. By the time we were ready to eat the main courses the rice still hadn’t arrived. I explained the situation to the staff who were apologetic, swiftly resolving the matter, and within minutes we were enjoying a top-class meal. One further criticism, if the king prawns which were marked on the menu as being mild had such a kick, then how hot would something stronger have been? Rockers and Rollers Brian Johnson ***** Penguin Books, £9.99 ISBN 978-0-141-04351-7
With the exception of releases from Penguin and Rowdy Farrago, everything on these pages are paid for from my own pocket. Therefore I jumped at the chance of an invite to celebrate the opening of The Rose’s restaurant. The email told me that things would kick off at 5pm and there would be a buffet at 6.30pm, so imagine my dismay when I got there at 5.10pm and the place was still closed. The group of us congregating outside were eventually let in and I noticed the signs advertising the buffet for £6 or £5, depending on which wall you looked at. By 7.15 my stomach was rumbling and I decided it was time to leave. Still the chippy on Dogsthorpe Road does a mean battered sausage and chips! The Destructors Dead Beat to White Heat ***** (RFA03) Rowdy Farrago Records (Reviewed by Cardinal Cox)
Taking the phrase autobiography a little too literally, Brian Johnson ‘AC/DC’s legendary front man’ (a title I’m sure Bon Scott fans would dispute) tells his life story by writing about the cars that he’s driven, raced and coveted. In the right hands this could have been a very interesting book. Unfortunately it zips around with little regard for chronology and the humour leaves a lot to be desired. With too few references to his music and why he was chosen as Scott’s replacement, Johnson has missed a trick by making this a book for rollers not rockers. The Rose, Burghley Road Restaurant Opening 04/09/10 (zero stars!)
After a shoebox full of split-singles and EPs as Destructors 666 and reverting to their original name The Destructirs, Peterborough Punk’s naughty older brothers (will but you a drink but nick your lunch money) release an eighteen track album. Some of those tracks, Blood, Ultraviolence and Demolition Derby Crash maintain the hard-driving reportage of mindless violence that harks back to the releases of their 1980s line-up. Others, like Free Speech, PC Gone Mad and Like Watching a Carcrash, strike a libertarian stance of personal freedom. Then there are 255 and Born to Kill that condemn the current cycle of war, though the second has lyrics reminiscent of The Fugs Kill for
Peace. This brings me to the theory that true art contains its’ own origins within it – thus preliminary sketches are hidden beneath the paint of masterpieces. The roots of this album are explored through the cover versions TV Eye and Get Me to the World on Time, late-’sixties garage rock. Then the bands own numbers; Kent State Reprobate and Headshot Deadshot 1963 also look back to that decade’s Anti-Vietnam demonstrations and the assassination of JFK. With Ghost of ’76 the band tackles the irony that when Punk came along they sneered at Teddy Boys as being twenty years behind the times. Now it is thirty-five years since Punks’ difficult breach birth and they’d be as anachronistic if it wasn’t for the fact that society deserves the righteous anger bands like this aim at their targets. Armed with their single-minded bile The Destructors release what is probably their best work to date complemented by sharp artwork throughout the accompanying booklet. Dalek I Loved You Nick Griffiths Orion Books, £7.99 ISBN 978-0-575-0-8219 ***** Every so often a book comes along that seems so familiar. Most of the time it’s down to plagiarism, or homage as we writers like to call it. However in the case of Dalek I Loved You – the autobiography of a Doctor Who fan turned journalist, via a spell in electronic engineering – a couple of changes to dates and names and it could easily be my own autobiography. While I’m not an avid collector of memorabilia as Griffiths, I too have experienced ridicule while attempting to show a classic episode to loved ones. Not only does the author share my hatred of Adric, the bowl headed know-it-all of the early 80s, several of my favourite episodes appear in his top ten. Considering there are 12 or so years between us, goes to show how dire the programme got during the 80s.
LISTINGS
November
4th Open Mic (H&H) 5th Children of The Revolution (TOI) Kickback (TCT)
27th Burlesque (TCT) Storm (TOI) 28th Ian & Kat (TCT) December
6th Porky Pig (PWF) The Influence (TOI) The Returns (TCT) 7th Feet to the Fire (TOI) – 7pm Rex, Lloyd & Murray (TCT) 12th Daffy & The Alien (TPM) Retrolux (TOI) Tunnel (TCT) 13th Cold Sweat (TCT) Daffy & The Alien (PWF) Doug McLeod (SDB) Electric Warriors (TOI) The Returns (3HS) 14th Open Mic (TCT) 19th Porky Pig (TOI) The R’n’B Band (TCT) 20th 101 Proof (TOI) Black Rose (TCT) Les Woods Band (TPM) Paul Hebden (TNI) The Malingerers (PWF) 21st Bride of the Atom (TCT) 25th Open Mic (TCT) 26th 101 Proof (TCT) Electric Warriors (TPM) The Les Woods Band (TOI)
2nd Open Mic (H&H) 3rd Citizen Smith (TCT) Glass Heart (BBI) One Eyed Cats (TPM) 4th Porky Pig (TCT) 5th Rex, Lloyd & Murray (TCT) 10th Hooker (TCT) 11th Cheryl Renee Christmas Party (SDB) Retrolux (3HS) Riff Raff (TCT) 16th Open Mic (TCT) 17th Children of the Revolution (PWF) Pandora’s Box (TCT) 18th Undercover (TPM) 24th Electric Warriors (TPM) 27th The Nuggets (TPM) 31st Retrolux (TCT) Key/Contacts (3HS) - The Three Horseshoes,
Church St, Werrington, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE4 6QE 01733 571768
(BBI) Blue Bell Inn, Welland Road, Peterborough PE1 3SA 01733 554890 (H&H) Hand & Heart, Highbury Street, Peterborough PE1 3BE 01733 564653 (PWF) Prince of Wales Feathers, 38, Peterborough Rd, Castor, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE5 7AL 01733 380222 (SDB) ShakeDown Blues @ Castor Village Hall. Peterborough Road Castor Peterborough PE5 7AX. 01733 380 249 * Advance tickets available from www.shakedownblues.co.uk (TCB) The Cellar Bar, Thorpe Road, Peterborough PE3 6JQ 07775 841239 (TCT) The Cherry Tree Oundle Road Peterborough PE2 9PB 01733 703495 (TOI) The Ostrich Inn, 17 North Street, Peterborough PE1 2RA 01733 752255 (TPM) The Ploughman, Staniland Way, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6NA 01733 573594 (TNI) Northfields Inn, 199 St. Paul’s Road, Peterborough PE1 3ED 01733 565464 * All gigs start between 8.30pm9.30pm unless otherwise stated. All listings given in good faith, Rhythm & Booze can not be held responsible for any discrepancy.
Rhythm & Booze, Issue 4 – Nov/Dec 2010. All written material, unless otherwise stated, © Simon Stabler. Send letters, submissions, material for review or gig listings to simonstabler@aol.com by 15 December.
The Crown Inn 749 Lincoln Road Peterborough PE1 3HD 07516395905 Open: 10:00 - 00:00 Sunday - Wednesday Open: 10:00 - 01:00 Thursday - Saturday
Back In Business - A Pub At The Heart Of Its Community! nServing quality real ales nDedicated Smoking Patio nWheelchair access at the front nKaraoke (Friday) nDisco (Saturday) nSunday Roast (served 12:00-16:00) ÂŁ9.90 for three courses nFunction room available for hire