retiredmartin

With Simon Everitt in Saddleworth it was safe to venture up to York last night, without the risk of my shirt buttons, accent or pint grip being observed and slated on BRAPA.

York isn’t a mainstay of my gigging year, posh students preferring their performances of “Troilus and Cressida”  and “What ho !, Mr Jeeves” . Some dolt in the Spoons next to my Travelodge even tried to convince me of the worth of the new Stone Roses single !

I could have seen Laura J Martin in London or Brum, but where’s the fun in that when you can combine great music with great pubs (coming up).

The Fulford Arms is a single roomer, easily converted for it’s regular gigs. It’s similar to Cambridge’s Cornerhouse, an occasional venue and decent local that copes equally well with thoughtful artists like Laura as well as tonight’s (5 June) guests;

“Daemona – Hate fuelled death metal from the marshes of East Anglia, Daemona is a truly frightening British extreme metal band.”

Not sure what’s scarier, hate filled metal or the marshes of East Anglia. You could always save your visit ’till Tuesday (good band) of course.

The Fulford is on the southern edge of the city, 5 minutes from the walls, and a good mile from the Gastro hotbed of Fulford itself. There’s a great Sam Smiths local, the Wellington, across the road, but you can have too much of a good thing.

And the Fulford was a proper, friendly, little pub, charming both inside and out in a large beer garden.

Ignore those glasses, I reckon more than half the sales were cask, and that to a youngish crowd (20-30, not 45-49 before you ask).  I sat at the bar for the first act and must have seen 50 pints pulled. All very encouraging, and high turnover is of course a key component in quality.

Not a drop of craft, mind.  A Punch range of Landlord, Trooper, Sharp’s Atlantic, a Well’s seasonal, Nethergate Old Growler and Citra all seemed to be pulled in the course of an hour.  No tiny micros, no weird or sexist names, but all good beers.  I’d rate the first two as NBSS 3/3.5, which is Beer Guide Standard, but competition for the GBG is fierce round here.

It was a cheerful pub on a cheerful night.  Alisia Casper unaccompanied guitar and Laura’s flute/keyboards/random bangy things made a great noise, despite some minor sound problems apparent only to the bands. £7 for 3 hours of proper music.

Just a shame the Ossett Blonde wasn’t on.