TONIGHT (Thursday)
There’s live music at the Alexandra, as ever this Thursday and true to form my information is sketchy at best about it. The band are called the Blueflies and that is basically all I know about it. I know it’s free to get in and the Alex has good beer and nice people. I like the Alex and don’t go there as often as I’d like, so maybe you can go and tell me what it was like?
YOLO is on at The Viper Rooms, but my mum always said “if you can’t say anything nice about a Student R’n’B night with Champagne, VIP booths and false eyelash orange girls wearing high heels they can’t walk in” don’t say anything at all.
I know there’s a night on at Revolution, and I THIIIINK John Crayford is Djing, but it seems to change weekly. Entry is free though so there’s no harm in looking is there?
It’s also free entry to my night at Rehab but then, that’s not cos we’re nice, it’s just no one would pay to hear me dj. I play really good stuff like Sum 41, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis…. And I also play Kenny Loggins. Tex is upstairs, and he plays worse music than me, but is much better at it than I am. Between us we get through the night and have not been fired yet.
FRIDAY
Friday the 19th has an Acoustic night at the Den which features Angeline Biergarrd, Jeremy Grove (who is very good, I’ve not seen the others, but on his day Jez is worth the trip alone), Rod Birchill and Adam Graham . Now it’s an acoustic night and DJ Monkey is playing afterwards, so hopefully he’ll do an acoustic DJ set, which basically just involves someone standing in a corner, occasionally pressing a button, sometimes nodding in time to the music and talking to girls.
Electro Circus is on at Rehab on Fridays, but I asked Jack Crowley who’s one of the DJ’s to send me a description, like, AGES ago, and he still hasn’t, so I’m not going to list it. Forget I mentioned it. Move on.
There’s nothing in particular on that’s an event, but as the weather turns nicer, I’d suggest a visit to The Swan on The Stray, its got a great beer garden at the back and most importantly has great beer to drink in it. They clearly know what they are doing with the cellar as their pints are always spot on and they have a very good range of guest beers and that. I think they do food too, but that’s not what I go to pubs for, you’d have to ask a fat lad. Whereas I am merely a drunk lad. World of difference.
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SATURDAY
David Julien is live at Christies on Saturday, he was in the first season of The Voice on BBC 1. Dunno if that means he’s any good, I avoid watching talent shows on TV, as they generally make me want to burn all the cities of europe. But as I always point out, Christies is a good pub and a nice spot for live music.
Every week the Jed Thomans Blues band are at the Blues Bar, Jed’s a very charismatic face around town, and The Blues is an ideal setting for what he does. Regrettably I’ve no idea what time he starts, as I wrote this down as I was wandering around town actually researching this column. I know, I research it, and its STILL this bad. But Jed is good, go watch him, the worst that can happen is you get there waaay before he comes on, and you have to spend the day drinking. Which, lets face it, would be AWESOME. Remember however, I’m no doctor.
My top tip for Saturday is not something in the town centre, it’s at The Empress Pub on the Stray. They’ve got a fiddling duo of called “2 Bob”. Now I tend to like folkey nights but they can be a bit worthy and beardy and full on CAMERA “drinking is not about such purile things as having a laugh”, but I’m led to believe these guys are really good fun and do some upbeat stuff too, I don’t really know what to say you should expect, but it looks different and a decent night. The Empress certainly does a good pint, whilst usually their bands are more upfront Rock, this looks like a nice change of pace.
I mentioned it last week, but I’ll reiterate, Revolution is free to get in on Saturdays now. I’m mainly mentioning this because their manager Jez plays footy for my six a side team, and hasn’t turned up the last two weeks, and I’m greatly afeared that he hates me. And he’s REALLY GOOD. And my team isn’t (no offence lads (“none taken Trev, we’re crap. We’ve got YOU in goal for the lords sake”))
SUNDAY
During the day on Sunday There is an official St. Georges Day Parade on in Harrogate, a little bit annoying that it’s not actually on St. Georges day – is it much of a wonder people don’t know when St. Georges day is, when the St. Georges Day parade is actually on international kindergarten day? – (if you want to do something St. Georgey on the actual day check out my coveted “top tip” on Tuesday). I can’t unfortunately give you much more information about the official parade on Sunday, as I’ve seen a sum total of one sign up saying about road closures, and I was driving past at high speed as I had the feds on my tails for an unfortunate crocodile incident to which I will alluded later in this “article”… Nevertheless, what I did manage to pick up was that it’s on at 2pm Starting at Beech Grove with flags flying and the Sea Scout band
playing. It finishes at Christchurch with various patriotic renewals of promises and whathaveyou, and at some stage the mayor will take a salute. I think I did pretty well picking all that up from an A4 laminated sign on a lampost at 88mph.
The Fat Badger runs a pub quiz on Sundays, I’ve never been but my bird works there and says it is good, and generally she is a good judge of good things, after all, she’s going out with me, and I’m ace.
Speaking of me, I play at Rehab on Sundays and it’s generally a good night, though last week I got punched by someone who said I was playing “swear word bad swear word music” and was a “really bad swearword”. I was playing Bob Marley and the Specials at the time, so I thought it was a little harsh. Don’t come down expecting me to play loads of Bob Marley and the Specials by the way, expect me to play all sorts…. But more importantly, don’t come down if you are planning on trying to hit me. I once killed a really rare crocodile with a one inch punch. Up a mountain. Grrrrr.
MONDAY
Tom Kellet runs an open mic night at Zoso on Mondays, and I’m told that sometimes it’s really good. Which kind of sounds a bit like Tom Kellet, because sometimes he’s a really nice, funny person. And sometimes he stands shouting at me to play Pearl Jam, whilst being dressed up as a court jester, with pointy shoes and everything. Still, it’s free to get in and Zoso is a nice little bar with a pool table and stuff, so go have a look. Why not ask, no, better yet, shout at him, to play something by rihanna. Or Chris Brown. Or any of that lot of over performers.
Whilst on the subject of over performing songs, Moko has Mokioki, or however they spell it… It’s a Karaoki night and can be a decent laugh and a really good night out, so long as the DJ doesn’t tell you there’s no time for you to sing, before he goes on to do 3 Robbie Williams numbers on his own. That only happened to me once though, and he does always let me do my murdering of “California dreaming”, even if he does check his watch throughout my entire performance. Philistine.
TUESDAY
Tuesday 23rd is actually St. Georges Day, and here’s a first: TWO “top tips” (out of a total of two) in one week for one venue… the Empress Pub always organizes a pub crawl round town, in various states of fancy dress. I think most people dress up as St. George, but any kind of English Icon is encouraged… Equally you don’t have to dress up, it’s a free country, that’s what we’re celebrating innit? It starts there at 12 noon with traditional bacon butties then heads into town for an unspecified amount of time. I have no idea what this will be like, but sounds like a right laugh, I’m like, totally there. I will be dressing up as a famous British amateur sleuth. Not Lovejoy. Or Boon.
Also on Tuesday, last week I went up to the Tap n’ Spile pub for their Folk night. It is a really nice night, with a group of musician playing in one side of the pub, but in the other side you can hear them, without feeling bad about talking or playing darts or whatever. A really traditional pub with very friendly bar staff.
Moko lounge Nightclub on Tuesday has a night with two rooms, one playing dance and the other playing rock music and also in that neck of the woods, around the corner Zoso has their Electro Jam night where anyone can rock up with some tunes and play a DJ set. Both are good options for a night out on one of the quieter nights, as quiet doesn’t have to mean crap.
Try having a listen to some of my radio shows on www.mixcloud.com/djtrevuk or better yet listen to them as they go out “live”(Ish) on Harrogatealternativeradio.co.uk on Saturdays at 10pm or Thursdays at 2 in the afternoon. They really do contain some horrid foul language which is, like me, neither big nor clever. I am also stupid at facebook.com/djtrev please be my friend.
Thanks for reading, drink responsibly and don’t be loose with your affections.
Trev x x x
I forgot to mention that on Monday Dj Pieman runs a pub quiz at The Alexandra. I wrote a glowing review of it last week, so a simple mention of it this week will do!
