Thursday, April 2, 2009

Wednesday Night - The Cellars in Portsmouth




Tonight we were in the Southsea town of Portsmouth – on the South Coast of England. It is on the English Channel and directly across the channel would be Brittany, France. We got there a few hours early so I had some time to walk around a bit. The water reminds me of the Atlantic, but the beaches are mainly shell and stone.

Portsmouth is a big port town and was a significant player during WWII, due to it being a major naval base. Robert told us that it was almost constantly being bombed. You could see the remaining breastwork defense mounds just up from the beach as well as the many naval buildings now converted to condos (flats). The streets are narrow and the buildings old – very reminiscent of Annapolis, MD and the Naval Academy there.

We played a great pub called the Cellars. I am finding pub gigs to be my absolute favorite type venue so far (more on that later). The owner (Steve) was originally worried about turnout; given this was World Cup Soccer qualifying day (Robert was excited that England won). However, we ended up with a great crowd and they were very enthusiastic. It’s funny, the crowds here tend to show up just at show time and not much before, so they always leave you wondering.

We were headlining tonight and the opening acts (called support over here) were quite good and enthusiastic themselves. Got a few CD’s to listen to down the road. They were a mix of folk, acoustic and blues – which worked well in front of us.

We took the stage at around 10:15pm – a little later than normal around here. My voice is still non-existent and my cough still teetering on Bubonic Plague. However, the night felt great – all the guitar moves were working well and Briana was singing well. The audience gave so much back to us that I decided at the end of the night to go for it and sung, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost”. It was a little on the rough and growly side, but went over well – sold a handful of CD’s off the one song.

I needed a good night, even if only being able to sing one song, the audience lifted my spirits and sent us down the road with a good $ take (or should I say £ take)! We had a short hour or so drive back to Basingstoke. It’s now 2am over here (8pm for all back home – central time anyway).

We head to Bristol tomorrow (I think) playing a place called the Prom. The time I was at the Prom I had fun. Of course I was 18 and it was 198…….yeah!

Here’s one last note about the pub culture here as well as in Scotland. What great rooms they are! Each very unique but all with the same familiar laid back, comfortable, living room atmosphere. Most of the pubs have the main bar area and then around a corner or off to one side the room lengthens with nook and cranny seating on small 2 foot stools. Usually at the end of this room lies the stage – mostly well adorn, lit and with good sound systems.

There are plenty of pubs up and down random streets and easy to stagger between. Although for me, settling into a favorite warm, rich corner and staying there all night is the way o do it. Most pubs are rich in both community congregation and of course music. The crowds are generally fairly quite if you’re have a half-way decent performer (unlike the bar scene back home). I can’t help thinking that a pub culture would go over so well in America (and does probably in parts of Boston and the like) but they are very differently paced than bars. The only thing missing I think for an American audience is availability of food. In most pubs it’s hard to get any food to speak of. There may be a rack of crisps (our chips) or possibly and handful of meat pies – but that seems about it in most pubs. People are there to drink, congregate, drink, listen to music and well, drink! I do love the rooms though – most of them are really grand old rooms!

Although I was temporarily emboldened by managing to finally get a song out, I am struggling greatly with the cough and will undoubtedly continue to for the rest of the tour. I believe we’re hitting the roads earlier tomorrow playing a BBC radio show in Bristol. If I can get the web address for the show I’ll pass it along.

Thanks again for following along.

Peace,

Mark

2 comments:

  1. Mark - This is your cousin Forrest writing. Your mom passed along your blog to me and I've read it with great interest...and a growing jealousy over what a great time you must be having. Some of the places you mention (London, of course) I've visited...but never really did the "pub tour." I hope you're taking pictures I can see on my next visit to Nashville! We're doing well here; just back from a Spring Break vacation to Southern Florida and a 3-night/2-day cruise to Nassau. Our albums are up on www.picturetrail.com (type in "tex").
    Good luck with that nasty ailment that appears to have gotten to you! I'll continue to check in and follow your progress. This is my first experience with a "blog."
    Regards, Forrest

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  2. When I was growing up in the 50's we had a lot of "neighborhood bars" in San Diego which had a bit of the charm of a pub.

    Nowdays, the popular places are all theme driven and located in malls or big hotels (San Diego at least).

    I think we would have to change our strict sense of zoning in many areas to bring back a pub-like feel to some communities.

    I vote for Harp and Jameson on every street corner!

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