Tag: Nine Black Alps

Preston Venue 60 The Ferret – Part 3

If you walk to the back of the Preston Ferret there is a well utilised beer garden, where you can seek some quiet solace and grab some air in the gaps between bands. In a spot just before you head outside there was for a spell the traditional cramped pub pool table.

The Ferret beer garden. Image Credit visitpreston.com

In November 2012 after seeing an underwhelming Eddie and the Hot Rods gig at the Continental I witnessed Bobbie Peru for whom the driving force is Bert Genovese. He originated from Connecticut but is now based in Manchester. Next on the list was False Flag who supported Piatcions. The main band were from Domodossola in Italy and originally named Thee Piatcions, they provided some enjoyable psych infused shoegaze but sadly only ever produced one single EP.

In March 2013 I attended my mate Jez Catlow’s 50th birthday shindig where he played sets from his three bands in Strettles next door. During breaks in those sets we wandered the 20 yards to the Ferret and saw local bands The Escobars and Binary. The same month after a Nine Black Alps gig at Preston Blitz I witnessed the bruising punk of Beard of Wolves, a two-piece from Wolverhampton who wore pig masks on stage. They memorably described their sound ‘as getting beaten by a meth addled Scarlet Johansen’ and unsurprisingly imploded for ever in 2014.

Beard of Wolves. Image Credit thrashhits.com

In May 2013 I saw Dave Clark and the Stones who proceeded Orphan Boy from Grimsby. The latter combo split in 2015 but reformed in 2022 and seem to be still active on the gig circuit. The following week I saw again The Chapman Family alongside Rook and the Ravens who feature the Fay brothers in their lineup. Also on that bill were Brassic and The Laze who evolved from a sludge outfit called Doom Cow. For a three-year period, The Laze had their own Valhalla club night at Liverpool Zanzibar’s club and their sound was heavily influenced by Frank Zappa.In August 2013, I saw the Escobars for a second time alongside the Locals.

A couple of months later I saw Deadwood Dog’s first headline set across the road at 53 Degrees. After the Dog’s show I sallied over to the Ferret and continued the canine theme by catching the scuzzy grunge sounds of Cat Called Dog. They must surely or at least subconsciously derive their name from Cat Deeley’s character Cat the Dog from SMTV Live which used to salve my hangover on Saturday mornings in the late 1990’s!

My first appearance of 2014 involved local combo The Kausters who were supported by Local Girls. Also on the bill was Matthew Cogley who performed solo but also doubled as the guitarist and singer with Chorley band Failsafe. His band once appeared on an episode in the third series of the successful Inbetweeners TV series and appeared at the famous South by Southwest festival in 2010. There is however a desperately sad postscript in that he subsequently died whilst on a trip to Belfast on New Years Day 2015 at the tender age of 30.

Later that month I saw the quirky four-piece Hello Bamboo. Soon after I saw an absolute belter of a show when Massive Wagons who are a rock band from Lancaster hit the stage. They reminded me of the Darkness in a good way and were terrific fun and incited a febrile audience reaction. Since that gig they have had a steady but exponential rise with support slots with Status Quo and Ugly Kid Joe prior to two individual headline tours and a top ten UK position with their ‘House of Noise’ album released during the pandemic.

Massive Wagons. Image Credit planetradio.co.uk

Next up was some soulful folk from Bill Orrick followed by some reggae rock crossover vibes from Conscious Collective. In November 2014 it was Moon and the Beams with their self-described slightly-delic rock who supported Mothertongue who provided some prog rock sounds. The final show of 2014 was a four-piece from Leeds called Clay who revolved around the nucleus of the Harvey brothers. The main band that night was Avalanche Party who provided some gritty garage punk and they hailed from the windswept ‘Wuthering Heights’ North Yorkshire moors. 

After my first exposure to the delightful Lovely Eggs at the Continental in March 2015 we decamped to the Ferret to catch some ska punk with Honour Roots and some prog with Jagwar. Next up was Nikki and the Styx (not the Motley Crue bassist) who supported local glam rockers Dragstrip Junkies whose members had the evocative names of Adam Wired, Johnny Rocker and Paul Wasted. A double bill followed with Monster as Humans, who reminded me of Aerogramme, preceding Midas Fall. The main band being a Scottish female duo who had gothic tones.

Preston Venues 35 and 36

At the bottom end of Friargate you would find the Sun Hotel. On the opposite corner from the Sun, back in the day there was a bakery that used to sell the odd combination of a Cheese and Beetroot sandwich, which remarkably worked but I haven’t sampled that grouping for a while. Now, whilst I am thinking about it, where did I put those cocktail beetroots and Cathedral City…!

Next to the pub you can take a turning into Great Shaw St which runs into Market St West where you pass the Market St Social pub, which is linked to the Plau bar, beyond there is the Playhouse. I used to very occasionally show up there to watch theatre performances but remember it mainly for when it was the location of the Preston film club which I attended a few times, though thinking back the only film I can recall watching was Luc Besson’s Subway featuring Christopher Lambert and Jean Reno. They always rather quaintly used to play the national anthem prior to every performance.

Across the road, in the 80’s was a tiny highly disreputable club called the Cherrytree which I never actually visited, but its reputation preceded it!

Back around on Great Shaw St you would find a former nightclub which had various names over the years including Green, The Club Royale, The Millionaires Club. The club was built in 1920 as a casino but its most famous era was in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s following its name change to the Gatsby in 1970. I remarkably don’t recall ever visiting in that era. It was a recognised Northern Soul/Dance venue, but they apparently also had legendary student nights!

The Gatsby. Image Credit Flickr.

It had two bars and two dancerooms and was a live venue and bands such as Showaddywaddy, Mud and Bay City Rollers graced the stage there.

In the 2010’s it rebadged itself as Blitz, a specific live venue which is not to be confused with the current Blitz next to the bus station, which I know as The Venue which will be covered in a future blog – all still with me?!! 

I saw two gigs there, the first on 28/03/13 was Nine Black Alps, who I was watching for the fourth and most recent time. It was to a degree diminishing returns as they were not as sharp and effective as a band as they had been a decade earlier. The place was half full and they were supported by Youth Society. The venue was even less full later that year when I witnessed a rather tired set from old punks the Vibrators. The site was subsequently sold by UCLAN for student accommodation.

Back on Friargate, the Irish themed bar O’Neills opened its doors in 1996 and swiftly became a regular watering hole for Uncle George and I, quite often being the final pub of the night for a cheeky Guinness and Black. We were recognised to a degree so when they launched the Guinness Cold brand, we were asked to review a couple of free pints, and I can confirm unsurprisingly we readily agreed and the beer passed the test!

Preston O’Neills. Image Credit Trip Advisor

For a few years it also became the location for Christmas Eve gatherings and the pub in a later year also built a rooftop beer garden. The pub name changed over to Shenanigans in 2017 before being refurbished the following year into a more open plan establishment and reopened as the Northern Way.

In the 2010’s they started having live acoustic acts who played either by the front door or on the raised area at the back of the pub, I have quantified this as a single venue as the ‘stages’ were in effect in the same room.

I saw seven bands there between 2013 and 2017. They were namely The Two of Us, Balls Band, Danny Rose, Marcus and Jaidi, Kevin Harper, Eddy Bland, and Sheena Brown. The first named of those was of interest as this was Uncle George and mine’s 400th gig together!