To Hull and back again, and thence on to Hackney for the Martha gig at Moth Club. Words that will mean little to most of you.
I’ve written about Martha and Moth before, and it was helpful of my favourite Durham punksters to arrange a gig in London on super off-peak rail day, or Sunday as it’s known by working folk.
No new pubs in Hackney, but you’ll always find something interesting.
What’s particularly striking is just how far the gentrification (well, posh pizza) is encroaching into the tower blocks off Paragon Road. But Mare Street is still rough and ready compared to Shoreditch, which of course contains some of the worst pubs in Christendom (no, not Brew Dog).
Hackney feels like Proper London to me, and on a Sunday evening in March has more visitors on the streets than in the whole of Cambridgeshire.
Anyway, a chance to revisit the star turn. The Cock Tavern is Hackney’s own Southampton Arms, the Proper Pub with craft credentials.
As always seems the case, it’s packed, so I nab the stool holding the door open. I’ve no idea why there’s a stool holding the door open in winter, but London has different rules.
Despite the heavy keg leanings, the darkness and the incence ( I think), there’s a low hipster quotient. It feels like a chatty pub, even if you can’t hear yourself think.
In fact, most folk seem to be going for the cask from breweries you’ve heard of ; Moor, Fyne, Gipsy Hill. It’s got to be Jarl though, hasn’t it ?
And it tastes like a Jarl that’s turning over nicely, cool and fruity (NBSS 4). Some of the best beer in That London, again.
Some blokes my age at the bar are taking photos of themselves. They either write a beer blog or they’re up from Hatfield on a rare trip to the Smoke (obscure Tracey Thorn reference there).
“Quality bar snacks” says What Pub, quite fairly. I resist, this time.
There’s time for a second pint (I drink quicker than these soft Southerners), and only Five Points keg in plastic glasses at the gig. So I decide to see how that very Five Points are getting on with taking over the Pembury Tavern, lately run by my neighbours at Milton Brewery.
It’s looking a little dishevelled, but then it always did. If anything, there’s more folk in than I’ve seen before.
I’m a bit surprised to see Milton still taking up most of the bar, though I read that arrangement will last a while yet.
The Sparta isn’t quite as good as you’d get in the Cambridge estate, but cool and tasty and well clear of NBSS 3, so there’s a good cellar here for Five Points to build on.
Whether the Pembury will go from bare boards boozer to crafty gastropub is hard to tell.
At the Moth I’m subjected to the sort of ID checks I last saw in Havana. The security man asks the 20 year old girl in front if she’s with me and she nearly faints with shock.
But I’m far from the oldest old codger down the front, new music audiences seeming to divide 2/3rds 18-25 and 1/3rd 50-65 these days.
A euphoric Martha play so loud my ears are still ringing now; I should really get some of those ear defenders. Being old, I’d have like to have heard a few more new songs. As always, the 3rd album is the difficult one.
You’ll be pleased to see my gig photography gets no better.
retiredmartin 
Authentic though, I’ve seen pics of club gigs from 35-40 years ago that look pretty similar. Has Martha lost her Muffins these days?
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There’s a joke there, but you’re not getting it from me.
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Ringing ears, its probably an echo…life’s a beach.
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Clever.
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Wonder if Dick, Dave or Russ get that (weren’t they Canadian ?.
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One of us does not😄
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No connection with the Martha I saw !
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Not sure I even would have found that one.
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“Wonder if Dick, Dave or Russ get that (weren’t they Canadian ?.”
Yep, and that was there only big hit. Bloody missed that. (blush)
Well done Mr Wick! (doffs hat) 🙂
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They were Canadian ! Probably your neighbours.
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“They were Canadian ! Probably your neighbours.”
Oh no doubt. After all, Canada is a very small country (rolls eyes). 🙂
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Being small is nothing to be ashamed of. You invented maple syrup. Never forget.
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I needed the explanation, too.
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With Kiwi Sour on there is no need to call the beer out as craft!
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“Words that will mean little to most of you.”
(raises hand) Yup. 🙂
“there’s a low hipster quotient. ”
Judging by the photos, I would tend to agree.
“Whether the Pembury will go from bare boards boozer to crafty gastropub is hard to tell.”
Looks like a tossup to me. 🙂
“As always, the 3rd album is the difficult one.”
I hope the gig wasn’t too *cough* ‘hackneyed’. (LOL)
Cheers
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That last one is very good, Russ. For you.
Actually, glad you picked up the low hipster quotient bit. I know “hipster” is lazy shorthand, but you know what I mean.
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“I know “hipster” is lazy shorthand, but you know what I mean.”
Your use of hipster “sufficiently sufficed”. 🙂
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I don’t get to nearly as many gigs as you do, but I’ve noticed there’s a similar thing here in Michigan, with as many as half the people in the audience being pretty well on in years. I’ve heard that the whole idea of going to concerts is more firmly established among baby boomers than among the later generations, and that many musicians depend on this older population buying tickets to make a concert tour work.
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Always good to see a gig post 🍺👍
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Cock Tavern is a terrific pub, with a great mix of drinkers, but always seems to have those (well not necessarily those particular) guys encamped on the bar stools blocking off the cask pumps all day and evening.
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That’s very true, a feature of many North London pubs (not the Islington gastros). But they parted for me to get to the bar at least.
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That “WENLOCK BOTTLED BEERS” sign suggests that much of the wood paneled interior dates from before 1953.
If new music audiences seem to divide 2/3rds 18-25 and 1/3rd 50-65 these days what do the 25 to 50 year olds get up to ? Maybe working.
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Working, and drinking bottles of Meantime in their underpants in front of the TV.
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Yes, they wouldn’t even get in the roughest ‘high street barns’ “in their underpants” !
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