The Return Of Pub Rock?

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Callum Crumlish hopes that rock music’s Back-to-Basics is on its way back to East London.

In the 1970s Pub Rock (live bands in dodgy pubs) was precursor to Punk. In the 1980s Pub Rock paved the way for soon-to-be big names such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and The Smiths, and spawned a plethora of sub-genres in Punk and Metal.  The Pub Rock scene meant Back-to-Basics and Music First – the landlord could close the bar but no one was going to tell the band when to end their set.

It was probably on its last legs anyway, but the coup de grace came nearly a decade ago with loud music curfews and a police-council crackdown on venue capacities.

After the lamentable death of Pub Rock, however, we may now be witnessing its resurrection – especially in East London.

Earlier this month Gothic-rock band The Horrors, a Southend outfit known for their cameos in BBC Three’s The Mighty Boosh, kick-started their autumn tour at the Troxy in Limehouse. The East End pub gig was the first live outing for the band’s fourth studio album, Luminous – it made for a memorable night of music.

Back in June, Ohio-based metal band Beartooth performed in a tightly packed pub in Dalston. During the summer, Sheffield’s Dead Harts and Lincoln’s Climates followed suit.

With little or no security at these pubs, the bands and their audience are allowed to get much closer together. Also, the musicians can sell their stuff direct to the public, without so many middlemen lining up to take a cut.

Has this been but a brief flurry of activity, or are these the first signs of the regeneration of East London’s pub music scene?

Let’s hope it’s the latter.

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