5/12/2014 Guns & Smoke - a new place to go in Barnet?

I don't often write about local musical goings on - partly 'cos I don't think many people are interested, and partly because apart from cover bands playing the same old songs on a Saturday night (but never Fridays for some reason) and a handful of local festivals in the summer there isn't really a Barnet music scene any more. There are four places within around a ten minute walk from my home that my band(s) have played at in the last few years - all four of those pubs have now shut. Maybe it's my fault? Maybe I jinxed them? Maybe someone should pay me not to play anywhere else or those places will close down too? Still, in 2014 I managed to play at five different places (four of them local) and they are all still open. Just.

It's not often anywhere new of interest to live music fans opens up in Barnet, so quite a few people were keen to find out what Guns & Smoke was going to be like - me included.The place has taken a long time to open and there have been quite a few teething troubles - even before it first opened it's doors. The new owners put a wooden cladding over the building for effect - without bothering to ask for planning permission first. The council made them remove it - an expensive mistake which must have delayed the opening by quite a bit.

So finally Guns & Smoke opened it's doors to the public - with very mixed reviews. I'll leave you to do your own online research into that... The 'word of mouth' reports I heard from people who had actually been there were less than encouraging, with talk of very long waits for service and getting food for half price or even free after complaining about the service and poor quality of the overpriced food. It didn't sound like the sort of place I'd normally set foot in anyway - regardless of food quality or prices, although I've certainly got nothing against the concept of a 'Western' Bar & Grill opening locally - I welcome the extra choice of places to go. However, when I discovered the place claimed to have 'live music' every night of the week I suddenly got more interested. But what sort of 'live music'? With the 'Western' theme of the place it seemed unlikely there would be any punk or heavy metal bands playing - or even classic rock. Solo artists and duos performing middle of the road to easy listening or country music seemed far more likely - just quiet background music to soothe the diners eating their fancy burgers. So I was surprised to find out that well known local rock covers band Texas Flyers were going to be playing there - maybe they were only booked because of their name? Still, they are a good band so this was reason enough to check Guns & Smoke out for the first time...

Actually, it makes a nice change to find a band playing locally on a Friday night. The two or three places in Barnet that still put bands on regularly always put them on a Saturday night - the result being that there are three pubs in direct competition for live music fans at the same time on Saturday, but there is nothing happening anywhere in Barnet on Friday night. This is stupid! There was a time when a couple of local pubs would have bands on a Friday night as well as Saturday. Don't they realize? Lot's of people want to go and see a band on a Friday night too as it's the start of the weekend. Then they wonder why not many people turn up to see the band they booked for Saturday night - meanwhile in two other Barnet pubs they are wondering the same thing? It's not rocket science is it...

So, on a Friday night I arrive at the new local Bar & Grill to find it's actually pretty busy - in spite of the bad reviews. As I spot a lot of familiar faces it's apparent that a lot of the people present are here for the band and not the food. They certainly aren't here for the beer - it's a pint of lager or cider (neither of them very strong) or nothing. At least I can get a pint for under £4 which I wasn't expecting, but there is nothing on offer that I really want to drink, and the cider runs out after my first pint anyway. This isn't encouraging, and they won't be taking much of my money over the bar tonight. Speaking of the bar itself - it's the worst design I have had the misfortune to encounter in thirty years or so of boozing! Some bars are too low, some are too high and this one is a little on the high side even for me at 6' before I put my cowboy boots on - but it's not the height that's the problem - it's the width of the bar. It's a ridiculously long reach over the bar, and combined with the height it makes it very difficult to see what drinks are on offer in the chiller cabinets at the back - it must be even worse for people less than six feet tall. Maybe they made the bar really wide to keep the staff physically out of reach of angry customers?

The band are already playing when I arrive, but haven't been on long. They got off to rather a late start due to the 'house' PA packing up as soon as they started to play. Then 'Big' Steve the singer had to drive home and fetch his own PA as the venue's one wasn't up to the job - I think he was less than impressed by this... In spite of some technical problems caused by Guns & Smoke not really being set up to accommodate a four piece live band Texas Flyers play well. They always do. However, all is not well - after a handful of songs the venue manager runs up to the stage gesticulating at the band. They stop. There is a long discussion - maybe he thinks the band are too loud? Or they are just too rockin'? You'd think he would know what sort of band he was booking? They certainly weren't playing loudly at all, but maybe they are louder than the acts who had played at Guns & Smoke previously... The band leave the stage without themselves or the manager telling the audience what is going on - are they just taking an earlier break than planned? Or are they not coming back at all? No one seems to know. The band don't look happy, and the crowd looks confused. People start drifting away - apparently many going back to The Mitre where they know they can get a decent pint. Meanwhile chaos seems to reign in Guns & Smoke...

Eventually, the band take to the stage once more and continue playing. They seem to be playing just as loudly as before and are rocking out with songs appropriate to the venue by artists like ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Whatever the problem was before it seems to have been resolved. The punters are enjoying the music and some are dancing.

After the earlier problems the rest of the evening goes well - apart from me not being able to get a decent beer. If I come here again to see a band I'll have to leave home early enough to go to The Mitre first for a few decent pints as I won't find any good ale in Guns & Smoke. Maybe they could at least get some decent bottled ales in? - none of those stupid little bottles mind! Otherwise Guns & Smoke are unlikely to ever find me spending much money at their bar.

I guess Guns & Smoke is just intended to be a Bar & Grill and not a music venue as this aspect seems a bit of an afterthought and the place really isn't set up well for it at all regarding the stage/PA system. This is a shame as the place obviously has potential and Barnet could really use a more dedicated live music venue - there is definitely the demand, if it's done properly. However, no one at Guns & Smoke seems to have any experience of working with bands or knows what is required to make the place work as a music venue. Maybe they just aren't really interested in this side of things?

Apparently, this place is intended to be the first of a chain of American style diners. I think the concept they have is good, but the execution so far is somewhat inept - it's like they have zero experience of running a bar or diner of any sort. After a few weeks of opening they are still at the bottom of a very steep learning curve. There is a lot of room for improvement here and it seems rather amateurish at the moment with staff who seem to lack experience and don't really know what they are doing, plus some obvious flaws in the design of the place itself - the bar design is terrible and the toilets are totally inadequate when the place is busy. I can't comment of the food or diner service as I haven't felt well heeled enough to try it - it's certainly not cheap - especially bearing in mind there is a McDonalds only a few yards away. I will be keeping an eye on the place and I hope they can get things sorted out....