31/12/2008 New Year's Eve in Barnet

Subject	New Year’s Eve in Barnet
PostedDate	12/31/2008
	I decide to stay local on New Year's Eve this year. Some friends of mine in a very good cover band called Three (betcha can't guess how many in the band?) are playing in a small New Barnet pub. A few good friends of mine are going, the beer is great, and unlike most places tonight (especially with live music) it's free to get in. Live music, friends, and beer - I could hardly ask for more!  This intimate pub is just off the beaten track and one of Barnet's best kept secrets. The atmosphere in the front bar is like that of a small pub in a remote country village - it seems like everybody knows each other. There is none of that 'attitude' you find in most town and city pubs. The Abbott Ale is expensive by Barnet standards, but tastes so much better than the Abbott Ale in the Wetherspoons pub only a few yards round the corner. The band have been going for years and are well known to local live music fans. They play a wide collection of rock covers, but avoid the obvious ones that most bands play - they play the music that they love, and they play it really well. A highlight for me is their version of 'Brand New Cadillac' - a song most people associate with The Clash these days, but which was originally a single for Vince Ray and the Playboys in 1959. It's very unusual to hear a band playing the original longer arrangement of this song with an extra verse instead of copying the Clash version.  It makes a nice change to have a relaxing New Year's Eve with friends in a pub in easy staggering distance of home instead of all the rip-off prices and hassle of getting home after going into town. Spending the night in a pub that's little known by people outside the immediate area also has the advantage of avoiding all the idiots out on 'Amateur Night'. And the lack of troublemaking morons also means the bar stays open well into the small hours.  It's a good start to the year!