When I wrote the title of this blog post, I meant it in a positive way. Last week we had SO many fantastic events and we have another great week lined up, so "What a Week" seemed appropriate. However, it seems that the cosmos and it's twisted sense of humour, interpreted the heading differently!
This week we have been inundated by Gremlins! From inexplainable issues with the sound equipment on Monday, our card payment system refusing to work yesterday and, having completed a lengthy blog post and scheduled social media posts for this week, I logged on today to find they had all disappeared! So it already feels like this has been a long week and really it is only Wednesday! The good news is that the sound system has been checked over and is all back to normal, the card payment reader finally played ball and we are able to take card (or cash) payments, although slightly more sweary and having salvaged only a scrap of sanity, I have recreated and rescheduled the social media posts and managed to get this blog post written and sent out, only a day late and despite the Gremlins, this week is indeed shaping up to be a belter!
There can be no denying that the Music, Entertainment and Hospitality industries have had a couple of immensely tough years, which hasn't been great news for us being a fledgling events bar! However as we all emerge from the rubble, it would seem that things are beginning to improve. Over the last few weeks there has been a mass of previously postponed arena gigs taking place, wedding halls are all getting booked up again, airports have been inundated with holiday goers ready to hit a flip-flop-friendly bar and seemingly every field across the country has been hosting some sort of festival! There was even a new tribute band festival that popped up in Leighton Buzzardshire last weekend and this weekend sees the return of the LB Carnival, with the Canal Festival set to take place at the end of the month. Everything is starting to feel like it's opening up, that the sun is finally shining and the world has gone back to normal (NB: it is England so the sun may be temperamental)! There is a worry that whilst everybody busies themselves catching up with missed holidays, weddings/parties, festivals and gigs, our footfall might lessen and trust us when we tell you, after the last couple of years, we have nothing in reserves to see us through another rough patch! However, anything that is encouraging people to get out of their houses, to start enjoy socialising and watching live music again, is good news for the industry and surely good news for the industry has got to be good news for us too. So onwards and upwards, as they say! This month we will be launching our #SaveFromExtinction campaign as planned. The idea behind the campaign is for us to be able to finally launch all of the events & projects that have been put on the backburner due to the pandemic. We have already launched a lot of these projects over the last couple of months, from The Pie Nest to our Café Vibes sessions, both of which have been a great success. Once all of our projects are up and running (as they should have been), The Crooked Crow Bar should be strong enough to survive and (dare we say it...?), thrive! We will be announcing our #SaveFromExtinction events at the end of this week!
We had a fantastic week last week, with stellar stand up performances from Ian Stone, Scott Bennett and Paul Revill at Wednesdays sold out Castle Comedy Night, a brilliant, intimate gig with classic rock legend Del Bronham's, Stray on Thursday, an epic gig from The Machine Rages On (UK Rage Against The Machine tribute) that finally took place, having been originally scheduled for April 2020! A fantastic night with The Corsairs, with last minute stand in, Gary Good, on saxophone as their guitar player broke his arm on the day of the gig, meaning we were treated to a brilliant night of Rockabilly Ska, souped up in true Corsairs fashion, with DJ Dimm warming us up with rockabilly vinyl classics and yet another super busy weekend for The Pie Nest!
And this week is set to be another corker!
Thursday 7th July, 8.30pm: Blues Night with Bex Marshall (+ support from Ian Siegal)
Tickets £15 (with limited tickets available on the door)
Friday 8th July, 8:30pm: Jam 69
The last time these guys were at The Crooked Crow Bar they absolutely blew us away!
Playing one set of pure classics from The Jam and another set of brilliant songs from the era (punk / mod / new wave). We highly recommend you bring your dancing shoes!
Plus it's Fiver Friday, so entry is just £5!
Advanced tickets available with no booking fee! (Plus limited tickets available on the door)
Saturday 12-6pm: BYO Vinyl (no pre-booking required, just pop down)!
Plus from 12-4pm you can grab some tasty Pie & Mash from The Pie Nest!
Over 16s only. Dogs welcome. Free Entry.
Saturday 9th July, 9pm: Fret Heads
Great news...! THEY'RE BACK!!!!
Fret Heads will be live & loud at The Crooked Crow Bar. With awesome rock covers from RATM, The Cranberries, Ugly Kid Joe, Blink 182, Weezer, Muse and more!
9pm. Free Entry
Sunday Vibes 12-4pm: Join us on Sunday for some great tunes, awesome atmosphere, fantastic beer and cocktails, locally roasted coffee and tasty pie & mash. Free Entry. Over 16s only. Dogs welcome.
We were really shocked and saddened by the news that one of our Crow regulars and dear friends, Sara Davison, passed away recently due to heart failure. Sara loved live music and would always be found (often with her beanie hat on!) dancing away to the bands. She always was friendly and kind to everyone she met and was so very young to have passed away. Sara's funeral will be held this Friday (8th) 1pm at Bierton Crematorium. After the service, we will be raising a glass in her memory (from 3pm) back at The Crooked Crow Bar and if you knew Sara and would like to attend, you would be very much welcome to do so.