389 KENTISH TOWN ROAD LONDON NW5 2TJ UK
| The Bull and Gate has come on a bit over the years since the days when Neil Young used to ride in on his horse and entertain the locals in the front bar with a few acoustic numbers. It’s development into one of London’s top showcase venues has been a colorful and varied one. Through many years, from Georgian to Victorian to Club Panda times the Bull and Gate has always served a brimming Carling Premier. That has remained, but the room that is now the music venue though has been many different things including a launderette, a snooker hall and a small theatre. |
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(picture below) A band actually arrives for a sound check on time,
we assume because in 1703 you could travel by horse rather than
the Northern Line!
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| Since establishing itself as a music venue from the early 80’s The Bull & Gate has hosted many different promoters and bands. From Timebox to Interspace from Nirvana to Anal Beard, the Bull& Gate has played a major and historical role as part of the London underground music circuit. |
| Bull and Gate promoters through the years have been renown for their enthusiasm and encouragement in helping to break interesting and developing new and unsigned acts. They have not just simply booked bands into the venue and sloped off to the front bar to piss the profits into the Landlords pot. An active interest is taken and the promoters presence has been felt through the years at the gigs. The Timebox compilation album is a vinyl testimony to this. Released by Timebox and Carter USM legend Jon ‘Fat’ Beast in 1984 it gave many Bull and Gate performers of the time there first exposure on vinyl. Some acts included were Stump, Blyth Power, Stitched Back Foot Airman and We Are Going To Eat You to name a few. |
| More recently the Full strength label surfaced from the Interspace promoters. This label tended to deal with the more leftfield acts featured at the venue and received acclaim for split vinyl releases by cult circuit bands like Brain Of Morbius, Diary, Ovahead, and Ricky Spontane. |
| There have been darker days it has to be said when chaos and evil interrupted the promising evolution of the Bull and Gate as a music venue. Horses dumping in the doorway back in the 1700’s was obviously a problem. This menace was soon snuffed out thanks to Tommy the pot man and his incredibly large broom. This is still used to this day to sweep out the odd groupie after time has been called in the back bar. In more recent years greater menaces were to follow. The ‘Wide Boy Music Promoter’ and the ‘Crusty Sound Engineer’ with endless tales of being on the road with Back To The Planet, were two shockingly wretched curses of the late 80’s. |
| Thankfully though dishonest scum bag promoters, who’d vanish with the nights takings accompanied by their gormless doped up # and rude sound engineer cohorts are now a thing of the past. This is largely thanks to the venue warming to promoters who have been or are themselves in bands. Therefore they are more appreciative of the needs, woes, Prima Donna tantrums (that’s not an excuse for one!) of singers etc… than the wide boy pay to play w#nkers of old ever were. |
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Bull and Gate 1904,(pic below) pop your laundry in for a speedy hour service wash and then sink a few yards of ale while you wait, Brilliant idea, who says Britain was a miserable place to be in Victorian times! |
| One of the main features and important qualities of The Bull and Gate as a music venue over the years has been it’s attitude towards new unsigned and first time acts. It has often shunned agents and music industry ticket buy outs (notorious at certain venues for short notice cancellations of acts to make way for industry fodder. i.e Crap indie boy bands with no tunes and nothing to say, but very tight and very polished. (Pah!!) |
| The Bull Gate has always been about giving people a fair chance and welcomes all styles provided the music is original. Often the beginning of the week will see a selection of new and untried talent. From Barnet to Bristol, from Berlin to Boston they’ll play to a lot more people than the old ‘one man and his dog’ scenario often joked about at such musical haunts in the mid to late 80’s these days. |
| More established acts that have a growing fan base and who tread the London circuit regularly tend to make up the rest of the weeks slots, usually from about Wednesday onwards. Label nights, signed bands, concept nights etc will usually appear midweek to weekends. A lot of care is taken by the current promoters to ensure you wont find an Acid Jazz Combo following a Death Metal band followed by Chas and Dave. |
| Though I rather like the sound of that come to mention it, a new concept is possibly born, ‘Sicko’s Night’ or ‘Promoter Gets Chased Down High Street By Pissed Off Bands Night’. Anyway enough of the ‘History Lesson’ see ‘Gigs’ section for current action or ‘Want To Play’ section if you do. |
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