And another

Another week, another gig. I’ve not been to many in recent times; Covid, then the bar, got in the way. In the last year, I’ve even felt the need to miss a couple of gigs because I was too busy.

Now that the bar’s stable, and I’m working less hours, there’s more time to fit things in.

The other day, I saw the Beat at the Boilershop. Of course, there are two versions of the band. I did see the Ranking Roger-led version a decade or so ago. They were pretty good, but lacked the original lead vocal sound.

This time, Dave Wakeling led this version of the band. While he was the only original band member this time around, and his Birmingham accent is no more, the band worked really well.

One of my favourite bands of the early 80s, I never actually got to see them at the time. And their time together was relatively short.

A good night though, with Bow Wow Wow, another 80s band that disappeared a long time ago.

Three weeks

So, I’ve been to three gigs in three weeks; something I’ve not done in a long time. Only because I don’t get a lot of time away from the bar right now.

Anyway, all three were great. There’s nothing more to say really.

CMAT, the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham.

Kip Moore, the Sage, Gateshead.

Interpol, O2 Academy, Edinburgh.

A wire fell off

So, a few days ago, we set off for Nottingham in the van.

Needless to say, it broke down. Maybe that’s a little harsh. It wasn’t exactly a breakdown. We stopped at Wetherby services for coffee.

And then the van wouldn’t start.

After 20 minutes, a twelve year old RAC guy turned up. And fixed it in five minutes. A wire had fallen off. We both made the obvious judgement that someone so young wouldn’t have a clue.

And we were so wrong.

And we made it to Nottingham and back.

While we were there, we visited (among a couple of other places) the Partizan Tavern; a lovely micropub. We’ll, they’d been to our bar a few months ago. If you ever find yourself in Nottingham, it’s worth a visit.

And Neon Raptor’s just around the corner.

Weirdly, a cool T3/25 (depending on which bit of the world you’re from) drove pass when we were there.

Oh yes, CMAT was brilliant.

Demolition

Right next door to a new hotel; remnants of something not so old.

Unexpected

So, our little bar has somehow been voted CAMRA Gateshead pub of the year.

We’d not expected this; there’d been a hope of coming in as runner up, but we couldn’t have imagined coming so far in our first year.

Our only real target was to make the 2024 Good Beer Guide; pub of the year wan’t really on our radar.

The bar

You know, while I’m only in this for the short term, I do love this place. We made this.

Time off with the dog

Due to a Network Rail arch inspection, the bar is closed and we’ve some time off.

Quality time with the dog.

Christmas camping

Christmas, the perfect time of year for camping.

Think about it; Boxing Day bus services end pretty early in the day. And it can be a real pain to get a cab late at night.

Fortunately, when faced with a long, cold walk home last night, there was an alternative.

Scaffolding in the snow

While waiting for a bus after work last night, I noticed that the scaffolding (which has been there for months) around the railway bridge was being taken down.

It all looked good in the snow.