retiredmartin

November 2023. Stoke Newington. London.

Last Friday was a wonderful night. Three great artists singing about dog deaths and other heartache in a London church, with suitable intervals to nip to the pub between sets.

I’d not heard of Leith Ross, but then neither had you 5 seconds ago, which is another example of just how much great music there is about, all avoiding your Spotify and Tidal “If you like this, try this” recommendations because you only listen to metalcore or prog.

There are bots on Twitter that just post her lyrics every hour, a bit like my posts.

Yet another Canadian, where do they find all this talent in a country of 35 million mooses ?

Another 25 minute gap between acts had me pondering (non-GBG) options. Pride in a Shakespeare 5 minutes away, crafty keg on Shacklewell High Street, Doom Bar on Newington Green ?

I succumbed to the undeniable charm of the first pub I saw, the Army and Navy.

It’s an Irish pub, as opposed to an “Oirish” pub.

Pubs Galore focus a bit on the Pub Heritage interior; I was just blown away by the welcome,

and the Friday night buzz,

and sort of regretted I wasn’t staying for whatever was about to happen once the Blackburn v Preston no-one was watching ended.

Only in an authentic Irish pub do you get the original version of “Lady In Red” (rather than the ill-judged techno remake),

and one Old Boy in leather jacket delightedly told his mates he’d drunk with Chris de Burgh in 1971.

“Never met such an arrogant **** “. Personally I love his work.

The Army and Navy is where the Old Boys go, but it’s where the 20 year olds who can’t fit in the Lady Mildmay go, too.

They had Gamma Ray on, but once again no-one was drinking that. Six pints of Guinness lined the bar awaiting completion, so that’s an easy choice.

But, just as in Stockton’s Sun where you’d expect Bass to dominate but Carling rules, here it’s Fosters that wins.

“Have a sip of Fosters. Take your glasses off. Have another sip” advised one bloke to his mate, the way you’d try and convert a philistine to Plum Porter.

It’s just brilliant, a bit like the Boot at King’s Cross, and as I say astonishingly unpretentious. The Guinness (a bit sweet, in truth), is only £5.10. In London !

Chris de Burgh gives way to, appropriately, “We Have All The Time In The World“, and my 15 minutes is up.

What a pub.