Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Blu Was The Colour

Bar Blu in Rhyl town centre closed its doors one final time last Saturday (19th Jan), not only depriving the community of a nightclub, but more importantly (in my eyes), also ending 5 years of gigs at the most unlikeliest of venues.
We all raised a collective eyebrow when local promoter, Steve Rastin announced he was to put on gigs at Bar Blu. We all raised the other eyebrow when he said it was going to be on a Wednesday night.
Gigs? In a one horse town like Rhyl! On a Wednesday night? It wouldn't last... Well it didn't, but 5 years of entertainment, good nights, average nights and poor nights was a good run. We took the rough with the smooth and enjoyed and endured whatever and whoever Bar Blu hosted.
The venue, for all its bad points (bad sound, wrong shape etc) allowed three bands a week, every week to play. That's around 750 performances from touring Canadian professionals like Zeroscape, to the barely out of school locals like The 4 Sticks. Add to the list the live debuts of Gintis, Jives Room and Der Bomber amongst others who went on to release albums and record BBC sessions and you may see how vital this place had become to the local music community.
Times have changed though over the last twenty years; Rhyl used to boast more nightclubs than Jordan's had boob jobs, and most of them were open 6 days a week (the clubs, not Jordan's err...). Things seemed to turn over the millennium, maybe by coincidence or by public conscience. Tired of being charged high admission prices, even by pubs on New Years Eve, people discovered the fun of partying at home with friends, and also the financial and safety benefits of doing so. The clubs felt the pinch and one by one they began to disappear.
On a positive note, by the time you read this Steve Rastin will have struck a new partnership to continue his tireless work in promoting new music in the area.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Money Money Money

I was listening to Roley's Dark Compass podcast, and he complained that he's skint. Too bloody right, where has all me cash gone? Have I spent that much on beer? Does taking a week off work to celebrate the birth of our (ahem) Lord Jesus Christ mean I'm gonna be brassic for the next month? Well, yes basically. Self employment means no work, no money and definitely no holiday pay! I had two grand in the bank just before the Pagan Festivities; I unlocked the safe last Wednesday and I'm five hundred quid overdrawn! Where the fuck has it all gone? Ok, ok a grand has gone on the mortgage and maintenance, but £1500 on Christmas!? One thousand five hundred English pounds..! Jesus! (him again!). Yes I bought the Crudlets and family presents, yes I had a few scoops with my friends, yes I went to a couple of gigs, I bought some merchandise, couple of t-shirts and CDs, but fifteen hundred smackeroonys? Perhaps I've been cyber-raped - I'll have to check.
Back to the mortgage - why do we do it? To own our home? It's dead money, renting, they'll tell you; and yet on the continent it's what a larger section of the population do. You can tell people you've got a £100,000 mortgage, but the reality is you have a £250,000 mortgage because that's what you'll be paying back to your fat greedy mortgage lender over the next two decades. And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul if you fall behind with your payment. Perhaps you should look into the meaning behind the word 'mortgage' -
Mort is Latin for Death, and Gage is near enough to Gauge. Yes, you've got a £100,000 deathgauge - you work hard all your life, you own your own house and then you die. Was it really worth it....