The Square Comes Full Circle.


I was very sad to hear the news via Twitter yesterday that one of the UK’s best small-scale music venues, The Square in Harlow, had finally been pulled down.

This had been on the cards for quite some time - I remember discussing its closure with Phill Jupitus when Glyn and I interviewed him for the More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast back in January 2014 - but that didn’t soften the blow; you mightn’t have thought what wasn’t exactly the prettiest building in the prettiest of towns would be held in such affection by so many, but it really was; in its time, The Square played host to the likes of Blur, Coldplay, Eddie Izzard and more, including a band called Big Day Out that featured me in its ranks. We played the Square numerous times and recorded the drums for our ‘Seven Heavenly Lemony Lemons from a Seven-Eleven in Devon’ CD there, with Chris’ kit set up on the stage while I played a guide guitar into his headphones; it was our second home, in a musical sense at least.

I first played there in 1998/9 when the band was still a four-piece, which worryingly was nearly twenty years ago. It was also the scene of the first and third occasion we supported The Supernaturals, the first time being the moment when things started to happen for us. It was always a gig you’d look forward to, not least because you’d always get a good sound, which is rare in those type of venues; it wasn’t until I did my first professional tour in the BIll Kenwright show Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven in 2002 that I learnt you could actually have what you wanted in your monitor, though at least at The Square, you’d come close.

It’s strange to think a place that lingers so vividly in my memory no longer exists. I don’t know why it couldn’t have been saved when so many people clearly valued it. For me, it wasn’t just the scene of so many happy musical memories; it was also where I met my wife. Perhaps that was why they condemned it.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...
Read more

Hoo-ray and up She Rises.

So much has happened since my last post in March that this blog risks sounding like an itinerary. The main news is that Hitchin Mostly Comedy will return in the summer at a new venue, the Queen Mother Theatre . The road to this decision was convoluted, though enough fell into place en route to leave me optimistic about this new start. The catalyst was a survey I ran via our mailing list a few months back, in which I asked, "If the club returned in the current climate, with tickets still around £15 (and with similar line-ups), would you still attend?"; the response to which, in simple terms, was a resounding yes. Nearly 250 mailing list subscribers responded in a single week, with around a hundred also taking the option to leave some feedback. And only two people were abusive, which counts as a win when you consider they posted their comments online anonymously. Imagine how many more insults we would have received if the comedy club was a woman. Particularly if she was Diane ...
Read more