Tag: Wannadies

Preston Venue 23 – The Mill Part 1

There used to be a plethora of pubs in the Plungington/Brook Street area of the city, many such as the Royal Oak, the Tanners, Plungington Tavern, General Havelock, The Cottage and the Brookhouse have all now bitten the dust.

Around the corner from there is Aqueduct Street where there used to be a couple of further boozers, Prince Consort a Whitbread house run by an ex-wrestler which closed in the 90’s. The other being the Lime Kiln, a small, homely pub that subsequently turned into a slightly chaotic Chinese restaurant. Located between those two hostelries was a landmark Preston venue called the Mill.  

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The Lime Kiln pub. Image Credit Flickr.

For about three years around 2003-2005 this venue burned very brightly and attracted some big indie names to an unprepossessing back street venue. It is located near a West Coastline railway bridge and opposite a dance club I cannot recall the name of but subsequently become a LGBTQ venue called the Boiler House in 2019.

It was originally a venue between 1993 and 1996 called the Mill where Oasis and Pulp played early gigs, annoyingly I have also just discovered Buffalo Tom played there in 1993, which I was wholly unaware of at the time. It then had different signage under Club Sugar and the Marquee before closing in 2002. A year later the owners of Leeds Cockpit were looking to open a gig site in the North West and chose this location under its original name. The opening of a bigger rival venue called 53 Degrees precipitated its subsequent downfall in about 2007 as Preston was not big enough to justify two main venues, I believe it is still operational as a recording studio.

There were steps leading up to the entrance which brought you into the centre of the venue with a large dance floor, stage to the right and a long bar facing opposite. Somewhat bizarrely in about 2005 they launched a split room approach to try and create a separate bar and gig area which personally did not work for me. On non-gig nights they opened as a nightclub which I frequented a few times, and this was where Paddy Finch and I used to pogo around the dancefloor.  

This former cotton mill in Aqueduct Street has undergone a number of changes as a venue and has recent incarnations, featuring a Shisha bar and the newest addition the Escape Room Preston, where players take part in prison-break type experience. The Mill opened as a nightclub/music club focusing on alternative music in 1998
Preston Mill venue. Image Credit Lancashire Evening Post.

I saw 15 gigs there in totality which places it 8th on the all-time visited venue list and joint 2nd in the Preston venues list. I attended there twice in its original incarnation. The first in 1995 to see Cement, which was a band formed by lead vocalist Chuck Mosley who was previously in Faith No More and the legendary and influential Bad Brains. I recall them creating a rambunctious slab of noisy garage rock.  

My second appearance was the following year was to see a Battle of the Bands event and we witnessed Wunjo Station, Tripitaka, King Mambo and Fervid.

There was a seven-year hiatus before my next visit in 2003 at which point it was becoming increasingly evident that the venue was beginning to attract a decent calibre of bands to play there. I missed an early performance by Snow Patrol as I was attending an alternate gig that night, doubly regretful as I was a big fan of the material produced by their spin off band Reindeer Section, especially their terrific second album Son of Evil Reindeer.

On 23/09/03 the Swedish band Wannadies were in town and they produced an excellent set with their quirky lead singer Par Wiksten in full flow. It was a poignant gig for me as I was still recovering from a particularly unpleasant sustained bout of shingles and some noisy poppy guitars only served to aid my recovery!

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Many of the pre-gig drinks meets for this venue were located in Jabez Clegg situated on the other side of Oxford Road however that pub closed around 10 years ago. It was swiftly replaced by the nearby Big Hands which is a slightly grubby, fabulously noisy venue with a fine jukebox where there is a tradition to play ‘Hells Bells’ prior to departing to the gig.

In 1995, Buffalo Tom hit town and I do find their soothing Americana is like putting an old pair of slippers on. A great live act.

The following year, we encountered a band who I thought were the best live band on the circuit at that point in time, namely Rocket From the Crypt. The first sight of them was then they roared onto stage and their effervescent lead singer Speedo uttered the bracing opening phrase ‘This is Motherfuckers God’s music’. They then lived up to that claim by producing a thunderous set. I saw them twice there that year and the second had about 10 of us in attendance.

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Rocket from the Crypt live on stage. Image Credit mrteeth.reviews.com

This high was followed by a crushing disappointment when we went to see Screaming Trees. The main reason was the fact that lead singer Mark Lanegan had a damaged throat and only completed 4 songs before stomping off. The gig should have been cancelled and I recall Paul Bruzzese being understandingly vocal in his consternation. What made it worse was it was my one and only chance to witness them. I still treasure their ‘Dust’ album.

Screaming Trees ‘Dust’ Album cover. Image Credit norman.records.com

I have seen Billy Bragg there twice, one of those a couple of weeks ago when he played selected songs from his first three albums. I have also seen Wannadies, 3 Colours Red, And They Shall Know us by the Trail of the Dead, Mark Lanegan, Nine Black Alps, Ash and Yo La Tengo.

Mercury Rev in 1999 was an outstanding gig where their swirling sound was unique. When they left the stage the lights didn’t come in and there was no piped music for 10 minutes, despite that half the audience left leaving us stalwarts to enjoy an intimate encore. I saw them there again 9 years later.

I saw Bob Mould there twice and also captured Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Children of Bodom, And So I Watch From Afar, Dinosaur Jr and most recently Pup, a Canadian punk band.

Also, in 1999 Death in Vegas played and they had the noisiest bass I have ever encountered. I recall we were leaning on the side walls and they were literally vibrating! I saw them again 3 years later. Teenage Fanclub were also really enjoyable. I also have tickets for DIIV there next year. 

Now I have found that as I have got older, that it takes a lot more to impress me until Hold Steady stopped me in my tracks. The first gig in February 2007 was bloody brilliant as their intelligent sing along evangelical performance was utterly life affirming. Their subsequent performances in 2010 and 2014 were equally as impressive. Lead singer Craig Finn is a modern day bard and I like them a lot.