blues at the golden lion last friday

[parklife]

I popped down the golden lion last friday and saw a wonderful blues band.
Did anyone else see them?
Errol Linton Blues Vibe.
Apparently they were playing at a club at Wardour street the night before until 3 am.
Can't make the next couple of fridays due to family commitments, but any feedback on standards of other bands,would be appreciated.

[pip]

Hi Parklife, I was at the Errol Linton night the other friday and yes I have to agree it was a fantastic performance,so much soul. I spoke to the landlord who said he couldnt get them back till January as they are fully booked not only here but also abroad so we will have to wait I am afraid.
Theres a band called Giles Hedley and the aviators playing the Lion on Friday 31st October. I saw them a few years back and I think you would be mad to miss them. Even the Times Gave them a very good revue apparently So not just me.
Hope this helps Parklife.

[Greg Whitehead]

I popped down the golden lion last friday and saw a wonderful blues band.
Did anyone else see them?
Errol Linton Blues Vibe.
Apparently they were playing at a club at Wardour street the night before until 3 am.
Can't make the next couple of fridays due to family commitments, but any feedback on standards of other bands,would be appreciated.

Were you the Gent I got chatting with at the bar on the Saturday night? We covered the band (you had seen them, I had not) and the Ska element. We then moved onto The Specials and other expected avenues? I was there with the STF get-together and you were at the bar admiring the lady playing pool? Although I don't overly frequent the Golden Lion I might need to reinvestigate it (I'm a tad loyal to The Dolphin I'm afraid)

I had a grey cardigan and shorts on.

[sally]

Well actually I was at the Blues on that Friday night and would agree with Pip and Parklife that Errol Linton was fabulous ! I am slightly fascinated as to who the ' Gent ' was lusting after a girl playing pool. Maybe she was trying to have an effect on you in your shorts, Greg !!! Having gallantly conceded in your last message to me that maybe you are not as noble and perfect as you think with your Forces family background I was a little shocked to see that you can't let it drop when criticising the language and grammar of the younger generation. I also hate the use of text lingo but I don't really believe that the locals who use it for fun on a local forum should necessarily be condemned as fat, uneducated, promiscuous low-lifes. I shall anticipate a suitably provocative reply
oh dear you probably hate the use of silly Emoticons too ??!!

[Greg Whitehead]

He was a tall chap Sally. Full head of grey hair, slim and was camped at the bar. We just struck up a conversation whilst I was waiting to be served and he mentioned how great the night before was (No tittering at the back thank you ). According to this chap Errol Linton had been at a club on Wardour St. packing them in on the Wednesday and Thursday so he thought they were big news and the Golden Lion had done well to get them to play in Sydders. As to why he was watching her playing pool there seemed to be two things he was paying closest attention to.

Her hair and her intellect methinks!


As you can see Emoticons are fine with me Sally.

[Greg Whitehead]

He was a tall chap Sally. Full head of grey hair, slim and was camped at the bar. We just struck up a conversation whilst I was waiting to be served and he mentioned how great the night before was (No tittering at the back thank you ). According to this chap Errol Linton had been at a club on Wardour St. packing them in on the Wednesday and Thursday so he thought they were big news and the Golden Lion had done well to get them to play in Sydders. As to why he was watching her playing pool there seemed to be two things he was paying closest attention to.

Her hair and her intellect methinks!


As you can see Emoticons are fine with me Sally.

[parklife]

Hi Greg

No not me, am not grey yet !
Glad other people liked it though.

I also saw Midsummers Nights Dream down the Dolphin a while back which was really good.

I know there are aspects of the high street that everyone seems to dislike, but it's great to have some great entertainment locally and be able to walk home.

[Greg Whitehead]

Sorry if I inadvertently cast aspersions on your good name parklife. It's just that this chap was so blown away by how good the live band was I did wonder if it was your good self.

I agree we could do with some more places to 'go'. I remember going to Coldplay at CPP stadium a few years ago and whilst it was a terrible night weather-wise the location made it somehow magical! It was so great to walk home also. I go each time to the London Grand Prix and each year as well as Lewes Bonfire (where my partner Katherine hails from) I go to the CPP display [in preference might I add to the Blackheath show]. That written, last years 'wind problems' made it something of a damp squib. I'll always support local, as and where applicable. I've been to some of the Dolphin performances also.

More live shows in Sydders I say!

[dickp]

Hi Greg...now, I know I've been moaning about you on the CP thread, but I have a question about the lewes bonfire night thing.

I've got a mate who lives in newhaven, so am planning to go down to newhaven by car that afternoon and train it up to lewes for the festival.

In terms of getting in and out of lewes at night, how mad is it? the website basically tells non-locals not to come, but I fancy taking a punt. Is it worth seeing? And what time do they normally wrap things up? I want to stay for the pope burning!

ta in advance

[Greg Whitehead]

Hi Greg...now, I know I've been moaning about you on the CP thread, but I have a question about the lewes bonfire night thing.

Had you? I've re-read the thread again and certainly didn't see it as personal. Think nothing of it, you're entitled to your view, it's a forum for debate, however forcibly you may or may not put your view across. Anyway, Lewes...

You're doing the right thing by not driving in. There is quite a queue for the trains out but they're not as severe as say the queue after a match at Twickers. As for the non-local thing I'd pay it no heed.

It does get very busy but so long as you can get there early you can usually bag a good vantage spot on School Hill (in my opinion the best place to watch). Cliffe are the most hard-line and usually have the best fireworks but we tend to favour Waterloo, if memory serves and go to this bonfire site [back down School Hill, left at Boot's, past the bus station, right at the junction...basically you should go over the bridge keeping Harvey's brewery on your right] and they have one of the bonfires on the open land beside Tesco.

Do ensure you have some money in the form of change for the many collections that go round (to pay for the fireworks as I think they even make them themselves - I could be wrong as that Fireworks factory that blew up a few years back was very close by).

Anyway, enjoy dickp.

I'm not sure if you've visited this site before?

http://www.lewesbonfirecouncil.org.uk/s ... index.html

[boon]

We were at Waterloo a few years ago when the giant flaming effigy of the pope fell over and started firing rockets into the crowd. A few people got hit, ambulances turned up, newspapers, etc.. Exciting times, although Lewes tends to be so insane on fireworks night that incidents like that are a bit par for the course.

Haven't decided where we're going this year. We normally do Lewes, but went to Rye last year and were pleasantly surprised - it was similar to Lewes, but not nearly as crowded. So much of the time in Lewes is spent pushing through solid masses of people, but on the other hand, when you get to where you're going it tends to be really good.

[bensonby]

Ah, Lewes.... An incitement to religious hatred if ever I saw one....

Imagine if we foiled an "islamic" terrorist plot and then celebrated the anniversary burning effigies of Mohammed.

The Lewes thing doesn't really bother me (I'm not uptight about that sort of thing on the whole) but I find it incredible how it is allowed to go ahead in this day and age....

[Greg Whitehead]

Ah Bensonby. I wondered if it would the Harvey's reference or the anti-papist slant to the proceedings that would get you posting. I understand where you are coming from. As a roman catholic [by indoctrination since birth through to 'confirmation'] the sight of the Pope having fireworks thrown at him from all angles is still slightly unsettling. I have not been a religious Man for quite some years however and am quite the atheist so I do not and cannot have the right to object.

Bizarrely enough Bensonby it is incidents such as boon describes that may sound the death knell for Lewes. The whole affair has been increasingly sanitised down the years but it is the H&S lot who are mostly keen to shut it down and not the ‘god squad’. Burning tar barrels rolled down a steep hill, fireworks and massed crowds shoe-horned into the various twittens and narrow streets mean it's likely that the Police and HSE will shut Lewes down before any religious lobby.

It seems it is OK to throw bangers/rockets at a real human dressed up as the Pope as long as he is wearing a face-mask...I kid you not. I take it in good fun but I can see where upset may be caused. Not to me, might I add.

[bensonby]

you know I can be relied on Greg

It's just curious that the hand-wringers and the offended brigade havn't wheeled out the bandwagon on this.....

It would be unthinkable if it was an effigy of Mohammed being burned wouldn't it?



(just to reiterate, I don't really care that much...its just rather curious)

[natbeuk]

Hmmmmmm..... do I count as part of the "offended brigade" Bensonby? I do seem to take people to task over things more often than your average person....

On the off-chance that I would fit into said category, just thought I'd state for the record that I have no idea what goes on in Lewes, I've never heard anything about it in the time I've been in the UK, and so this is the first I've heard about fireworks being thrown at a Pope effigy. I don't like to roll out a bandwagon unless I know at least one or two relevant facts

[Greg Whitehead]

Here's a potted history for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes#Lewes_bonfire

You may note the Samhain link natbeuk?

The Osama Bin Laden effigy did generate quite a few newspaper inches for the Lewes Bonfire Society.

[Savvy]

I had a boss once who was Catholic. He was absolutely adamant that his in-laws would not take his children to a firework display and that a gift of fireworks would NOT be welcomed. I suggested that he 'turn it around' in his head and CELEBRATE Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up parliament rather than celebrating his demise.
I think you are so right tho Bensonboy - there would be uproar if it were Mohammed we were burning.
Its a good job 'us' Catholics have a sense of humour. (I'm so not but like GW was brought up with it).

[fishcox]

This thread seems to have veered dramatically away from The Golden Lion.

However, may I add to the latter stages of it, by saying that my grandma - god rest her soul - always told me that Guy Fawkes was the only person who ever entered the Houses of Parilament with the right intentions.

[natbeuk]

Thanks Greg.

I'm not sure about any link to Samhain... there's a tenuous link in terms of bonfires, although Samhain is not the only festival to have used bonfires and there is a stronger association with Beltane in May, but I'm not convinced that this bonfire night thing was really intended to echo the old ways.

So from what I understand, the Pope in question is Paul V. Paul V was considered by many in England to be part of the gunpowder plot I believe (bearing in mind I have very minimal knowledge of this - it's not on the curriculum in Australia!), hence his connection to the whole bonfire night thing. Thus, the effigy is not intended to be an attack on the Catholic church per se, or on the current Pope. Unless of course the originator just took this as a chance to attack the Catholic church using the gunpowder plot as an excuse.

If it was an effigy of Jesus, then yes I think it would be completely out of order and comparable to burning an effigy of Mohammed which would also be out of order, IMHO. However, if the Pope was actually involved in the plot then the case in favour of the effigy becomes much more arguable.

But without sufficient knowledge of the gunpowder plot, and the motives behind whoever decided to create an effigy of Paul V (and to carry it on in the modern day) I can see this from both points of view really.....

[bensonby]

*puts on loony catholic hat*

Paul V is a saint, as such is one of the major characters of the Catholic Church, he was also a pope, and thus God's representative on earth and part of the line of apostolic succession (i.e descended from Jesus and part of the trunk that leads to the modern churhc).

*takes off hat*

As that is the "official" status of Paul V then he, and by extension, the institution is a central part of the church today. Therfore attacks on him, theoretically, are attacks on the institution.

Moreover, the historical evidence that papal agents, or he specifically, were involved in the plot, is tenuous at best. Indeed, Paul V wrote a letter to James I decrying the plot and asking James to not punish catholics for "the crimes of a few" - he also exhorted catholics to be loyal to their own crown.

Also, whilst the effigy is ostensibly Paul V, much of the tradition (and the heckling of the effigy &c.) are brazenly anti-catholic.

As for a comparison with Mohammed, I think it is fair - although not strictly accurate in all respects. Mohammed is seen as sacred, and he is the most respected human in Islamic tradition. Perhaps it would be more accurate to compare the pope with a caliph
- however, the idea of the caliphate wasn't really adopted throughout islamic tradition. The pope, however, is seen as God's representative and to have a direct liniage back to Jesus Christ.

as I said before, I'm not really bothered. I just find it rather strange that it still carries on. I assume most people just go for a nice evening out with lots of things that "go bang" - which is fair enough. I enjoy fireworks too. And I'm sure few think about the historical background and go with hatred of the papacy and catholics in their heart.