Month: June 2023

Preston Venues 47 to 48

As you follow the No 23 bus route through the suburb of Plungington and then onto Adelphi Street you reach a batch of retail units just prior to the dramatically improved large roundabout outside the University complex. Contained within these establishments are a batch of takeaways and also the Equator Café. My old pal Rick Clegg is an aspiring comedian, and the café was the site of his first ever stand-up performance, so time will tell if I attended a moment of history!  

Opposite the café there has always been a public house. It first opened around 1850 as the Hearts of Oak and like many of these vintage pubs with a long history, it has its own tragic tale. In the 1860’s Elizabeth Taylor, wife of the then resident landlord committed suicide by throwing herself out of the bedroom window into the back yard. In 1909 it was owned briefly by George Bruce Todd, who was an ex-Preston North End footballer.

Equator Cafe with reflection of the pub in the windows. Image Credit sailornattiecrafts.wordpress.com

When I first started visiting pubs in the mid 1980’s it was still named the Hearts of Oak but was not a place I visited regularly as pubs were quite often tied to breweries in those days. The owning brewery at this point was Bass, same as the nearby Adelphi pub, and their house beer was the abysmal Stones Bitter!

In 2013 it became the Preston Variety, before after a brief name change back to the Hearts of Oak in 2017, it then morphed a year later into its current guise as Vinyl Tap. The current version of the establishment doubles up as a café bar and a record store/vinyl style jukebox where you can choose which record you want to play, and they also have live bands on their schedule. On their opening night they had a local funk soul band The Templeblys performing.

The owner of the Moorbrook and the Running Pump in Catforth, Richard Fisher Goodwin was behind the project and is thankfully a keen advocate of serving cask ales.

The pub in the Heart of Oak phase. Image Credit Flickr.

When on a pub crawl with some friends on Easter Sunday 2013 we were walking past and decided to make a visit. The place was unexpectedly packed with the emphasis on the younger brethren. The reason for this ‘friends and family’ gathering became abundantly clear as a band called Rock & Public sprung into life on the little stage in the corner, and I recall they were young, enthusiastic, and good fun. However, I can find no evidence of their ongoing so they must have had a short-lived existence as a band.       

Near to the famous Preston bus station on the corner of Lord Street and Tithebarn Street was the Tithebarn pub. It was originally called the Wagon and Horses and located next to Cardwell’s Brewery in the 1950’s before in 1961 changing its name to the Tithebarn. It was always a battered old boozer and not a regular haunt and last I heard I think it is still just clinging on as a working pub.

The Tithebarn with the Brewery behind pictured in 1960. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

There is an area of green space behind the pub by the side of the Guild Hall which I will call Preston Tithebarn Park and I happened to be passing there one night in 2015 when somewhat bizarrely they had set up a temporary stage. I still have no idea what the festival or reason was but there was a band called Druid Rock playing and their sound was heavily indebted to Hawkwind!    

Gigs from Abroad Part 10 – Puerto Del Carmen

As cited previously in my Gigs from Abroad Part 4 blog I have undertaken several trips to the Canarian Island of Lanzarote and mainly visited the Puerto Del Carmen resort, which lies about five miles from Arrecife airport.

On the island In September/October each year they hold the Arrecife En Vivo over four weekends over four stages in the capital and the person who guides you to the next stage is an Elvis impersonator with a large foam hand! I have not yet managed to time a visit to coincide with this event but hope to rectify that in a future year.

Many of the gigs that follow below are generally low-key cover acts but adopting a completist mode I must document every single event that I have attended, otherwise my story would be unfinished!

We had one separate holiday in the other resort of Costa Teguise in 2012 and whilst in residence we visited Costa Teguise La Vida where we saw Dale Sullivan play.

There is a coastal path/cycle route that runs from Costa Teguise, through Arrecife town, past the airport and Matagorda to reach Playa de los Pocillos. This is a sleepy resort and I witnessed here a chap called Joshua play in the Lanzarote Chill Out Bar and Pedro perform in Lanzarote Rocos Blancos.

We walked back one evening from the resort to Puerto Del Carmen and there was a late set on from River Mills in a restaurant called Lanzarote La Avenida. Between the resorts is the Lanzarote Plaza de Nationale, which has a mini amphitheatre where on one occasion there was a local festival taking place and on a temporary stage the Desi Jockeys were performing.  

After walking past the excellent yet challenging crazy golf course you enter the mile long strip at Puerto Del Carmen and at the Lanzarote California Bar, I saw Hazel White play. Beyond there you reach the casino and Lanzarote Café De Ola which sits behind it, and you can watch the sea and the sunset. We have twice seen Storming Thunder who were half decent, but their stage banter was distinctly lacking in charisma, I have also seen a saxophonist called Jake Hanson play there.    

Cafe de Ola. Image Credit tripadvisor.com.sg

Next to the casino resides the first ever bar we entered on our inaugural trip to the island called Lanzarote Golden Corner, where I have seen Mark Spulzenberger and Pete Edwards play. Across the road is the Lanzarote Goofy Burger, outside of which they have a regular singer called Carlos. He may be in his elder years but has a terrific voice and I recall him doing an excellent cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Rave On’.

Five minutes’ walk away, opposite the Tourist Information resides Dos Mil, an unprepossessing supermarket café, but they serve the most wonderful pastries and cakes. Just beyond is a fantastic oriental restaurant called Asia Delicious where we have frequented many times, and that is where we sampled the local liquor Caramello for the first time!

A doorway next to there takes you down into the dingy den of Lanzarote Mulligans where I have seen Brian Duke, Los Handos and Nigel Hardacre perform. Back on upper street level brings you to one of my favourite bars Lanzarote Africa Bar, where you can play pool, sit on beer barrels facing the sea or watch the pretty good bands on stage. I have seen the Usual Suspects, Aftershock and Africa United there.   

Africa Bar. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

Continuing down the strip and you arrive at Lanzarote Tequila Bar where I saw a ‘Spinal Tap’ inspired band called Question play. Beyond there is the Lanzarote American Indian Café which is a restaurant by day and then converts into an enjoyable music spot in the evening. We have spent a few nights suppling ice-cold Mahou’s and munching on Frutos Secos, I have witnessed Perfect Circus and Alanis Band perform there. I recall once our waiter suddenly scampering off and the reason for this action then became abundantly clear as he walked up to the microphone and undertook the guest vocals on the next track!   

The end of the strip is signified by the famous Linekers’s bar, though in reality it is bit of an uninspiring establishment. Shortly after you locate Lanzarote Lava Bar. When we were in residence there was some fine-looking tucker arriving from the kitchen and Gerry and Gina were tinkling away on the piano.

Subsequently, you then arrive in the old town and harbour where there are restaurants where you can watch locals playing some very high-quality boules in the adjoining sand pits. You can also undertake the hour long walk across a very dusty and warm cliff top path to the resort of Puerta Calero.

In the old town there is a more traditional music venue called Lanzarote Electric Island which is a fun place to visit. We have attended there twice watching the Electric Island house band and supping their Malagan beer which for some undiscernible reason makes us sway on the walk back!   

Electric Island Bar. Image Credit tripadvisor.ca

Finally, some steps take you up one of the resorts best fish restaurants, namely Lanzarote Mardeleva. It is constantly booked up but one night we managed to fortuitously grab a walk-in table and it was worth the effort. In the doorway there was a highly traditional artist called Monty Montana playing and we were hoping but ultimately without success that he would play ‘Quando Quando’!