Since it’s establishment as a music venue from the early 80’s The Bull & Gate has played host to 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 unmask interesting and developing new and unsigned acts to the music industry and public alike. They have certainly not just made ram-shackle bookings and then sloped off to the front bar to piss the profits into the Landlords pot. An active interest has been taken and the promoters presence has been felt through the years at most Bull & gate gigs. The Timebox compilation album is a vinyl testimony to this. Released by Timebox and Carter USM legend/hanger on! 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. A CD version of this record will soon feature on the dukebox in the front bar along with the recent B&G compilation ‘The Mercy Killing Of Tarantula Pie’ which features The Courtesy Group, I, Ludicrous, Brain Of Morbius, Reverend Pike and ten others from today’s B&G brigade.

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 very day to sweep out the odd groupie after time has been called in the back bar. In more recent years greater menaces than dung mounds in the doorway were to follow. The dreaded ‘Wide Boy Music Promoter’ and the dread locked ‘Crusty Sound Engineer’ complete with endless tales of being on the road with Back To The Planet, were two shockingly wretched curses of the late 80’s. Thankfully, 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 still themselves in bands. More appreciative of the needs, woes, long journeys, constant on the road falafel diets and 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.

It has often shunned agents and music industry ticket buy outs (notorious at certain other venues for short notice cancellations of acts, known in the trade as the ‘bumping’ of bands, 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 and ultimately going nowhere but the Woolworth’s bargain bins. Whatever did happen to Silver Sun!. The Bull & Gate has always been about giving people a fair chance and welcomes all styles provided the music is original.

Often at the beginning of the week you will see a selection of new and untried acts. Hailing from Barnet, Bristol, Berlin, The Isle Of Wight, they’ll play to a lot more people than the old ‘one man and his dog’ scenario often joked about in the mid to late 80’s. More established acts that have a growing fan base and who frequent the London circuit regularly tend to make up the rest of the weeks slots. We take great care on billing bands with appropriate acts i.e. no Death Metal with Chas And Dave. Well just no Chas And Dave for that matter.