a smile two bangs and a legend

Despite summer being a fleeting memory, and time to batten down the hatches for our major events, even if there’s not ‘much’ going on in Devizes at night, there’s always something….

Though tempted by gigs further afield, The Pump in one direction, George Wilding in Pewsey the other, I had had ‘one of those weeks.’ You know the sort, I’m sure; don’t ask if not! It persuaded me towards the self-indulgence of too many ciders; a rare thing for me these days, usually I’m happy to drive to a gig, but adamant I was staying in Devizes to booze, I was stuck with the ‘somethings.’ Thing was, those things turned out really rather good.

If there’s always something happening in Devizes, it’s largely down to two pubs, The Southgate and The Three Crowns. But Saturday night, The Bear Hotel was hosting a soul DJ night of Motown to disco, by long-standing Melksham based DJ, Maurice Menghini, aka Mister M, and his partner on the wheels of steel, The Original PJ, or Patrick, as I was introduced to him as. Maurice has carved a flexible DJ promotional organisation called Real Music Promotions, for all manner of function, with a personal penchant for reggae. He’s been at it for years, and is renowned locally.

My round robin, then, began at the exquisite Bear Hotel’s Ballroom, as rubbing shoulders with Maurice has been long overdue. It’s a matured affair, a blossoming crowd of Devizes disco die-hards gathered, looking for any excuse to dance, and Maurice provided that with the unsurpassed magic of Motown classics, Northern Soul rarities and spanning into later disco discs. They know what buttons to press, supplying lively banter, and request cards on the tables. While it’s a ticketed event, they only weigh in at a fiver, with free live music elsewhere it must be said, a disco is a hard sell by comparison. Nevertheless, variety is the spice of life, all events are valid here, and Maurice and Patrick are ahead of their game; the ballroom is bouncing.

Real Music promised to return for another at the Bear, on New Year’s Eve. Rest of the time you can find this double-trouble DJ duo regularly at Spencer’s Club at Melksham FC. The Sham, huh? Coming over here, guys, blessing us with soul vibes and forcing Devizes folk to shake their tail feathers, whatever next?!

Allowing the disco to simmer on low heat, I slipped off across the Market Place, to the trusty Three Crowns, black my nose there. Hugely popular with Millennials and a few older who think they are, The Three Crowns is bustling as usual. It’s ever-lively, the place to be, they’ve extended their menu and have the knack to attract a variety of the Devizes demographic.

Except, rather than a full band they usually host, more often than not Britpop or classic rock covers, a working combination, the pub hosts dynamic Devizes duo, Funked Up. Also at it for years and locally renowned for it, with a keyboard and saxophone combo the duo deliver the timeless soul-filled pop classics you simply have to dance to, and they deliver them with the gusto equal to a full band. Needless to say, with the drinks flowing, this one will go off.

For the elders, come-as-you are Devizes live music aficionados, The Southgate remains the place to head for, and rightly so. The rare thing of welcoming original music, the authenticity of pub culture of yore, and the general communal atmosphere are its benefits, and we love it for them. Though I confess I preconceived the band by their name, A Smile, Two Bangs and a Legend kinda sounds quirky and loosely thrown together, you know? As if they’re a nice, smiley conformist ensemble, attempting to break the wedding function band market! I should know better than to doubt the Southgate, as on arrival all-macho, healthy and hard rock was pumping out and A Smile, Two Bangs and a Legend were nearing the end of their first half.

The obvious question upon meeting one of those classic rock enthusiasts of the band, was who was the Smile, because they all looked equally red-blooded, who was the bangs, because as a unit they all made a noise, and who was the legend, because if there was one of those professional, ex-famous musician beatniks who occasionally played bass for some rock god and lived off the stories, it could’ve been any one of them! I stood corrected and better informed; the band name derives from a Monty Python quote, though a fan, I’d not heard of before; from the Flying Circus series I believe, trainspotters.

But it wasn’t the origins of the name, rather the expert delivery of rock classics which turned this around. Executions of ZZ Top and AC-DC and all in-between came thick, fast and accomplished. It is precisely what the regulars at the Southgate lap up, a timeless template of prog-rock to the dawn of metal, those hard-hitting powerhouses which time will not allow us to forget. A Smile, Two Bangs and a Legend exceeded my preconceptions with smiles, bangs and were, definitively, legends in their own denims.

As imagining I’m the soul man Sam & Dave sang about, I’m inclined to leave the Gate, safe in the knowledge the band had it under wraps. Next time I see smiles, bangs and legends on the roster it’s a confirmed grand night at the Southgate, but then, in six years I’ve yet to be disappointed. I am, however, curious to see how our Melksham grandmasters are getting on at the Bear ballroom. On arrival things have escalated, the party in full swing is pumping, the Motown classics have progressed to disco ones, and the crowd have had their fill at the bar, and were either shaking their stuff or chatting enthusiastically.

This ballroom should have been filled to capacity, soul men and divas of Devizes, or anyone with a penchant for disco dancing of yore should take note, keep your eye on Maurice & Patrick’s future events, we will highlight them on our event calendar, your NYE is sorted there. Such it was, that on a mild night, between seasons of Long Street Blues Club, with no Arts Festival, DOCA, Food Festival, or even a show at the Wharf, that a weekend in Devizes is always on the cards, always there is a few options of something going on, and they’re usually pretty good!