20/2/2015 Bermondsey Joyriders @ the (new) 12 Bar Club

I've been looking forward to checking out the new 12 Bar Club since it was kicked out of it's historic Denmark Street location last month by greedy property developers. The new venue is in a slightly odd location on Holloway Road, but only a few minutes walk from stations on three different lines. Most regular London gig goers will be familiar with the nearby Holloway Road and Highbury & Islington tube stations, but Drayton Park is actually closer than either at seven or eight minutes walk away. This is excellent for me as I live in North London, but understandably people coming from central or south London are less happy with the new Location. However, the Holloway/Highbury area is somewhere many are used to going to for live music and I suspect the club had very limited options available for finding a new venue at a good location and an affordable price.

So what's the new place like then? Well it's a lot bigger than the much loved Denmark Street venue and is now spread over two floors. There is a balcony - much larger than the old place. Also toilets and bars on two floors. The bogs are bigger and better - not smelly but the floor in the gents was awash and one of the hand driers was broken - still a 'rock 'n' roll toilet' then! Nothing will ever be able to match the intimacy and atmosphere of the tiny Denmark Street venue, but this new place is more comfortable and has a character of it's own - it already feels like an established club. It's easier to get a decent view of the band if the place is busy compared to the old place, although like many music venues there are some inconveniently placed pillars. Overall, I really like this new venue - but I was less than pleased to be charged £4.10 for a bottle of Hobgoblin ale when I can get similar at the nearby Unicorn for around £3.25. The old 12 Bar Club used to be reasonably priced for it's bottled ales so it's a shame this seems to have changed. Consequently my overdraft dictates I only have one drink tonight - many music venues in the area have hiked their bar prices by around 20-30% in the last two or three years while my wages have only increased by 1% in more than 5 years so somethings got to give... That's my only gripe about the new 12 Bar Club though and the door price of only £6 is very reasonable in the 12 Bar tradition.

Anyway, I didn't come here for a night on the piss - I came here to see a band. Tonight's show is the launch party for 12 Bar Records and tonight's headliners have as new vinyl single available on the merch stand to celebrate this. Unfortunately I don't arrive early enough to see punk stalwarts and 12 Bar regulars The Phobics, and I only catch the last part of the set by new band The London Sewage Company.

12 Bar regulars will probably recognise the singer - yes it's 'Barnet Mark' who also sings with punk 'n' roll Elvis covers band Viva Las Vegas. This new band play really well and sound rather like The Clash.

And so on to the headliners. I haven't been able to see the Bermondsey Joyriders for a while but they have lost none of their rough edged charm. Although they look very much like a proper rock & roll band (which they are) this band's punk rock credentials are impeccable as they feature former members of Cock Sparrer and Chelsea plus a drummer who played with Johnny Thunders in his later days. As with the previous bands on tonight's bill the late New York Dolls and Heartbreakers guitarist is an influence - the Bermondsey Joyriders song 'Part Of My Problem' is actually about him.

The Bermondsey Joyriders are an usual mixture of punk rock lyrics and attitude mixed with slide guitar (not in the punk rock rulebook) a very strong and distinctive old school rock 'n' roll image, and proper showmanship.

It's not just about image and attitude with this band - they have loads of great songs too. They have recently released their third album and tonight are promoting their first release on the new '12 Bar Records' label - the song '12 Bar Beat' is available tonight on limited edition 7" orange vinyl. Tonight's setlist is a good mixture of songs from the band's three albums - with some songs from the first album like 'All That Darkness', 'Football', and crowd pleaser/audience participation number 'Who Are Ya'  making a welcome return after all the shows promoting the previous 'Noise & Revolution' album. It makes a nice change to see a proper rock 'n' roll band.

It's been an enjoyable night at the new 12 Bar Club and I look forward to making many more visits over the years - although I doubt I'll be spending much money at the bar...