A pilgrimage to the Song Writer’s Circle at The Alleycat Bar
If the fabled Denmark Street is- or at least was – London’s Mecca of music creation then the site on which the Alleycat Bar sits is the Kaaba, the absolute sacred house. Why then was there nobody here? Only a handful of players and even fewer punters populated the place. We were sitting in a basement where Black Sabbath recorded Paranoid for crying out loud. It used to be home to Regent Sound Studios – now a specialist guitar shop on street level – and was frequented by the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Kinks.
There was a laid back and unpretentious vibe as we stepped inside for the Songwriters Circle open mic night and we felt confident that we’d be treated to some interesting new artists as well as some exciting, new material, even if it may be a little rough around the edges.
Most Londoners into live music will likely agree that open mic nights can be crap but they have the potential to be great too. These nights are like shopping in an old second hand store: in amongst things you may consider junk you can discover a gem. That’s the beauty of it. Yet, on the night of Monday the 28th July, it wasn’t to be. Instead, we endured musicians that could often not keep in time, in key or engage the handful of people in the audience in any way.
Thankfully, master custom guitar maker, Philippe Dubreuille, popped in for a 10-minute jam and played sublimely. If he can take time out from making guitars for the likes of Mark Ronson and Robert Smith of The Cure, then surely other musicians can come over too. However, sadly the Songwriters Circle Night at The Alleycat Bar, our time is up. The night has now been stopped and we can probably all have a guess at why this is.
It’s not all bad news though; maybe something can be learned from this. Although this night has been cancelled indefinitely, it is likely that something similar will crop up again soon and it will be another great opportunity for music lovers to take advantage of. If more musicians come, more ideas can be shared, standards can increase and more people will come to watch. At the very least, it would be worth coming along just to watch Philippe play some more, on a beautiful guitar, which he made himself. One thing is for sure: venues as historic as these aren’t necessarily going to be around forever and the success of these nights depends on who shows up. If people show up, great things will happen and London’s beautiful and diverse music scene will continue thrive.
-Nick Vaughan
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