It's been a while since
I had a notable beer experience.
Way back in April I
went to a gig to see this band called 'The Notwist', I enjoyed it so
much that as soon as I got back home, I ordered tickets to their next
gig which happened to be last Wednesday. I'd also arranged to have
the whole day off work... sort of.
Having several pub
related chores to get on with, I thought it best if I rose early to
give myself time to sort everything out, get the pub ready and open
up. That way I'd have the remainder of the day to myself to do with
what I chose. Things were delayed slightly when a couple of guys came
in for 'a chat'. It was all good though as I managed to make the
14.33 train and was on my way into town.
Being so busy at work
the last few days I was exhausted and felt my body and mind would
benefit from a caffeine hit so I went to the café around the corner
from Frank's. I was meeting Frank as we were going to the gig
together later on. We conversed over a cup of coffee, then stopped
off at an off-licence on the way to his to pick up some essentials.
Beer. We bought a few bottles of 'Estrella Galicia', a rather fine
Spanish lager that I am quite fond of.
We drank the beers as
we plotted our route to the venue. The gig was at a place called
'Oval Space', I think the area is probably Hackney or there abouts,
around East London somewhere. Luckily it was quite a straightforward
journey and didn't take nearly as long as we both thought it would or
should have. The only slow bit was waiting for the 55 bus by Old
Street Station.
The doors opened at
7.30 and it was only quarter past by this point so we had a while.
The Notwist were headlining of course so wouldn't be on until later.
There was enough time
to explore, find a pub and have a quick pint.
The only problem was
finding a pub. We walked past a pub that was wallpapered with flat
screen TVs and full of bald heads. Another pub or what used to be a
pub now seemed to be a museum of curiosity with taxidermy animals and
formaldehyde frogs. We carried on but were losing faith. Just as we
were about to cut our losses and go back to the venue we stumbled upon
this place. I think place describes it well. It wasn't a bar, it
wasn't a café, it wasn't a shop or workspace, it was a place. Not
'The Place' though as that is a dance academy in Bloomsbury, London.
'Look Mum No Hands' was
the place. It was a fusion of bike shop, bar, café, meeting spot and
there was even some kind of fashion workshop upstairs or down the end
of the hall or something.
All around us were
people sitting in silence, silently tapping and typing on their
various apple related touch screen devices. The place did however
have a very large selection of bottled beer and a few draught ales or
what is more commonly referred to these days as 'Craft Beers'.
We both had a pint of
'5 Points Pale Ale'. I'd had their ported a couple of months ago and
really enjoyed it. The pale ale was lovely, it went down so easily,
it didn't kick up any fuss or have anything unpleasant about it. We
were running out of time so drank up. I needed a wee so went to find
the place's office style loo along a maze of corridors. It was a
bizarre, but good find with cute knitted cycling jersey buntings
resembling the various trophy colours of the Tour De France.
If I'm ever in the area
again I will most certainly stop off for a beer, coffee or some of
the delicious smelling and looking food they serve.
It seemed like we'd
walked for ages trying to find this place but the journey back to the
venue couldn't have been longer than 10/15 minutes door to door.
There was no trouble getting in the venue and we managed it just in
time to catch the last couple of numbers from the opening act. They
seemed good duo, with catchy tunes and a funky yet dancey drum and
bass sound. Not to be confused with the heavy and drug fuelled
drum'n'bass.
The most important
thing when we walked in though was acquiring more booze. It was good
booze too. Estrella Galicia again, this time in large, pint sized
cans. At £4.50 a pop it wasn't that expensive for a music venue and
was a decent beer.
I could go on and on,
but I'll summarise it by saying that it was a fantastic gig in a
brilliant venue and an amazing live performance by one of my current
favourite bands. I will make sure I see them at their next London
show. Even though it was a swayey kind of gig rather than a jumpy up
and down gig it was still thoroughly enjoyable, complete with a horde
of IT workers.
I did find the middle
act a bit boring though.
According to their website, Oval Space is in Bethnal Green
A great place to eat, drink and be merry!
A great little East London Brewery
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