It’s an average Saturday night in Devizes, a day before Christmas eve and there’s no grand event at the Corn Exchange, no Long Street Blues night, nothing spectacular to highlight. There’s a festive buzz in town, but it’s slight. Some choose to stay home, only a scattering adorned with tinsel, and fairy lights hats, out on the lash. To say anything is out of the ordinary is pushing the boat out….
It falls, therefore, upon two pubs which have in recent years become the stalwarts of live music in town, to provide us with free entertainment, and two acts who though I’ve seen and mentioned many times before, I never tire of hearing. The bustling and lively Three Crowns has John and Joylen, aka the quality end of the scale for acoustic cover duos, Illingworth, and the ever dependable Southgate has Marlborough’s finest blues ensemble, Barrelhouse. It’s a dilemma to see me hopping to and fro rather than devoting myself to one.
You might require a neon flashing purpose built roller-disco with scantily clad twenty-somethings flashing iPhone torches at a superstar DJ, twiddling knobs like vinyl was never invented, to warrant a good night. Me, I’m content with a conical of cider in a welcoming pub and a live band on a circuit for the love of it. And these two Devizes taverns provide this on such a regular basis, they’ve made it the standard benchmark. Not forgoing, both acts booked for tonight are proficiently entertaining, ergo, when I say it’s an average night in Devizes it’s far from a complaint, rather it equates to a bloody good night as far as I’m concerned!
Geography selected my initial pitstop as The Three Crowns, John and Joylen squashed in a corner to allow for a dancefloor, already underway with duo guitars, familiar classic pub singalong covers apt for the establishment. Del Amitri, then, cool as cucumbers slipping an original in goes unnoticed by a crowd expectant of covers; it’s early, there’s a lot of chatting, it’s Christmas, an engaging topic for discussion.
The guys shine through distractions, such is the impeccable and nonpareil distinctive fashion Illingworth rolls these songs out. To the point I’m intrigued by the excited reaction of some in the pub when John kicks into the Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry, for though clearly born generations after this nugget of eighties goth was released, familiarity has them wiggling and mouthing lyrics. My theory, such songs were timeless blueprints and as more accumulate the more challenging is the objective of creating one, also explains why the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl have, apparently, the most modern song on the Christmas streaming chart this week.
If Illingworth knows which buttons to press to retain classic songs in the forefront, and pay homage even, Barrelhouse, who’ve rocked up at the Southgate extend this with some songs few of us were alive to recall the release of the originals, of Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, et al. This is naturally welcomed by punters at the Gate, and isn’t unusual here. But while there’s a few bands on various west country circuits doing this, like those Junkyard Dogs or Mark Green, it’s normally to older blues aficionados, whereas to see Barrelhouse play their hometown of Marlborough, Mantonfest being the ideal location, is to note, they’ve a colossal following many of which are teenage.
It’s something to behold, youth dancing to songs created sixty to eighty years ago, but while Barrelhouse excel in this, throwing originals in or reworking rock classics like Motorhead’s Ace of Spades to fit the agenda equally goes down a storm. Okay, so youths rarely invade the Gate here, save a few weekends ago when Nothing Rhymes With Orange enticed their younger fanbase, but that’s the beauty of Barrelhouse, it’s universally acceptable, and Devizes folk are warming to this notion I picked up on at a Mantonfest of yore. Their grand performance last night confirmed they’ve crossed over these odd local boundaries and rightfully now get the recognition here they’ve had on their turf for donkeys.
Zero doubt this Christmas jumper wearing five-piece, great to see extended to a sixth temporary member when frontman Martin Hand’s girlfriend sporadically joined for backing vocals in the absence of the infamous ‘Barrellettes’ would polish up here at the Southgate, I pulled anchor and set sail in the drizzle to check on Illingworth.
Across the carpark John chanted Hey Jude, so I hotfooted it inside to join the easiest drunken chorus ever. The Three Crowns is heaving as ever. Saturday night in Devizes can be ordinary, but thanks to these two boozers the benchmark for ordinary is punching above its weight for a market town this size.
This leaves me ticking both the going out on the lash box and the hangover one too, now onwards with the family celebrations, the gorging of turkey and Quality Street, and paying my gratitude for new socks and Lynx Afrika, but in turn, wishing you all a merry Christmas!
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