Author: jimmyc1968

Preston Venue 10 Guild Hall – Part 2

Between 1978 and 1997 the Guild Hall was home to the UK Snooker championships during snookers halcyon years. I attended a few times and sat in a temporary stand watching Steve Davis take a commanding 7-0 lead against Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins in the 1983 final before Higgins recovered to win 16-15 the following day.

When we were aged about 16 prior to visiting pubs on a regular basis Rick Clegg and I used to mulch round town on a Friday night. On one such occasion we smuggled into the main hall after the snooker had finished for the day and had the place to ourselves for about 10 minutes before we departed on fear of security finding us. We were on the stage and had the rests on the match tables, thankfully they had left no snooker balls out to increase the temptation!

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Preston Guild Hall. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

My first music experience there, though not a gig was on one of those Friday night jaunts. There were further external stairs taking you to top of the venue where we once sat by the doors where you could hear but not see the bands from this spot. One time, Barbara Dickson was playing, so my first song there was ‘January February I don’t understand’….

The Guild Hall officially opened in 1973 with one of the earliest acts being Queen in November 74 who ironically finished their set with a cover of ‘God Save the Queen’. Led Zeppelin, Bowie and Jackson 5 have also graced the stage.

The most famous gig there is probably the one with the shortest duration. The Smiths chose unexpectedly to include Preston on the tour schedule in October 86. I wasn’t in attendance, but I know many who were.

They opened with ‘Queen is Dead’ during which an item was thrown and struck Morrissey on the head, the weapon of choice allegedly a 50p coin. He stormed off and the gig was cancelled generating a very disgruntled crowd. It turned out to be one of the Smiths last ever shows. Morrissey did though return to the venue for a solo concert in 2004.     

The Main Hall endeavoured to cover all genres thus it only sporadically had anything resembling anything in the way of half decent bands.

My first gig on 04/10/89 to see the Sugarcubes from Reykjavik on a Wednesday night. I had just recovered from a tonsillectomy and was my first night out after the op. I met a couple of lads in Yates before the gig.

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The Sugarcubes. Image Credit wordpress.com

At that age I was somewhat cynical of the weakness of the Preston live scene and my mood didn’t improve when upon entering the venue it was discovered the support band Ham hadn’t turned up and the venue was only a quarter full. The band came on about 9pm and had occasional moments but it all sounded somewhat disjointed to me.

It was a slightly volatile crowd with the band receiving some verbal abuse. ‘Motorcrash’ and ‘Deus’ were enjoyable, but Bjork’s voice can be a tad marmite! The NME review of the gig stated that the band were superb, and the audience were really cool, perhaps exemplifying the fact that life is full of differing opinions!

After a couple of post gig pints in the Black Bull and a pizza I managed to purloin a free taxi ride with a businessman from Cardiff who was heading to the Tickled Trout after watching Widnes rugby league team beat Canberra in a World Championship match at Old Trafford.   

Preston Venue 10 Guild Hall – Part 1

Slap bang in the centre of town lies the Preston Guild Hall. It sits within the Guild Hall shopping arcade with the main access in at ground level from Lancaster Road. Upon entering via that route, you encounter about twenty retail units and for years there used to be a newspaper kiosk at the bottom of the corridor that I frequented regularly to purchase the Lancashire Evening Post. Next to there was a chicken shop called Gabbots Farm (somewhat cruelly renamed Maggots Farm!).

Beyond there, during the 80’s and 90’s was a Morrisons store in the days when supermarkets where more regularly located in town centres. I used to visit their books and record store in the basement and Gill had a weekend job there when at college. It is now an indoor bowling alley/bar called Level.     

A side entrance takes you out to Tithebarn Street and in bygone days there were a couple of pubs, the Guild Tavern which latterly became Lionel’s which closed in 2006 and the other being the Jazz Bar, also known as Harrys Bar and Gaiety Bar at various points which closed in 2012. I regularly visited the Guild Tav back in the day.

The Guild Tavern pub in 1990. Image Credit Jim Holderness

Up the escalator takes you to the booking office area and a corridor heads off past the Guild Centre (Tower) where I worked for many years. This route continues to a pedestrian bridge over to the Bus Station and car park. The gangway is highly visible from the street below and provides an ample opportunity to do a Dustin Hoffman Graduate impersonation if you were so inclined.

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The Graduate. Image Credit pinterest.com

The bus station is a huge seven floor brutalist listed structure and I think still remains as the biggest in Europe. The car park is never full unless the graduation ceremonies are taking place.

I have spent countless hours on that bus station whether departing or disembarking. I quite often used to catch the 11.00 last bus from there where the lights would go down and about 15 buses departed at the same time. I was once 10 seconds late and had to scamper across the apron, vaulted the wall and ran down the market Usain Bolt style to catch it at the next but one stop. Somewhat breathless but content that I had avoided a three mile walk home!

The Guild Hall complex contains three separate venues, namely the Grand Hall (capacity 2034), Charter Theatre (780) and the Foyer (350).

As implied in the name, the Charter is more of a theatre venue and only sporadically had gigs and I never witnessed one there though regretfully did miss Proclaimers playing there. My abiding memory of that venue is being dragged there as a child to watch Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Across from the ticket office are banqueting suites where weddings have taken place and where I have made blood donations in the past before crunching on my custard creams!

Upon entering the actual venue there is a foyer area with a bar and steps taking you up to the Grand Hall. It is an ok venue with a decent size standing area with seats behind.

Aside from music I have attended many different events there, namely school events, one of Gill’s numerous graduations and comedians Peter Kay, Lee Hirst and Ben Elton.