“As a teenage journalist, was I standing watching them in Durham University students Union in the early 80s, soaking up the atmosphere and dreaming of the band on stage having number 1 singles? Well actually I wasn’t, but I did see one of their first gigs. I was in (well I say in, more like round the back of) the Brewer’s Arms hotel in Gilesgate, Durham. I was standing on David Simon’s shoulders in the pub garden, squinting through a nicotine stained window watching four distorted shapes perform on stage. As all the windows and doors were closed we could only hear the bass and drums, but hey I was there, at the beginning.”
Yongkuk 3000 albums in 3000 days blog
“If you’ve seen any episodes of “Early Doors” then you will get some idea of the decor of the Brewers. Small tables, huge round ashtrays, padded seats around the walls of the pub and a few other chairs and bar stools dotted around. I’m fairly certain it was carpeted.
“I recall it being just one long-ish room with the toilets being somewhere at the back and the “stage”/playing area being near the bar which was in the middle of the room.
“The pub was never packed when they played. It may have been on later appearances but certainly wasn’t when I was there. However, an audience of 20-40 was about the norm. I think they played two short sets and certainly accepted requests (Paddy – “yes Ian, we WILL play Tin Can Pot in a bit!”) from the floor. Generally, the audience was very receptive. I certainly never got the impression that the band was spoiling someone’s night out! Paddy was the only one that spoke and was usually quite upbeat and witty. Every song title was announced. I remember their gear being fairly minimal and I can’t remember Paddy or Martin using expensive guitars. Being a drummer, I tend to remember more about Mick Salmon and his kit which was a basic 4 piece (bass, snare, floor tom, one mounted tom) with hi-hat, crash and ride cymbals. It may have been a Premier kit but I can’t swear to it.”
Ian James
“Great memories of the Brewers Arms Gilesgate .Paddy’s glasses sliding down his nose the more frantically he played. Happy days.”
Peter Raisbeck, Facebook
“Man, were they shite when they first started! They used to play at the Brewers’ Arms on Claypath in Durham – plus it seemed like they supported virtually every band on at the Uni.”
MarqueeMark, PoliticalBetting.Com
“Here’s a list of songs which were played very infrequently (if my memory serves me right)
“Bizarre, Goodbye Lucille #2 -featuring the classic line ‘just like a film when she won’t come back and he must die of a heart attack’, Damn Fake Cowboys (a new song in 1980 which debuted at the same time as ‘Here On The Eyrie’), Touch and Go, Geography (new in 1980 – I think) and a song whose title was possibly God Bless America.
“The gigs were at the Brewers’ Arms in Durham. Paddy played what was, I think, an old brown Gibson copy. I think Mart had a ‘White’ or Burman Bass system and they had a mixing desk and a number of speakers. It was a very pro set up!”
…
“Sound live was very similar to the early demos 1980 as on site but a bit less raw. Some very sophisticated songs perhaps some such as ‘The Mortimer Family’ and‘Victorian Settlement’ may be lost. There were at least three ‘Goodbye Lucilles’. Lucille #2 contained the immortal line ‘just like a film where she won’t come back and he must die of a heart attack’. Even rockier was #3 which contained the line ‘between the tambourines and those yellow submarines’.
“Mick Salmon was the drummer, undemonstrative but but with excellent feel for the rhythm. Martin did the backing vocals now covered with much the same harmonies by Wendy. ‘Walk on’ was known as ‘Goodbye Lucille #7′
“[They] used to play 2 sets with 20 min break from 8 to 10-30 marvellous – still miss it after almost 30 years. The Brewers’ was sufficiently small to be able to see Paddy’s chord shapes; I spent hours trying to achieve the same all to no avail.”
The Mortimor Family, Sproutnet Discussion Board
“I remember very little about the night, which was down to me both enjoying the band and the beer. The crowd was quite small, no more than 50, but very supportive. Some clearly had seen them before but not me. The atmosphere was a heady mix of live original music, beer and smoke in a quite dingy room. Something you just can’t experience now. The set, specific songs are beyond me, but I do remember thinking that either these are just another set of bloody arty students who’ll fall into obscurity or just could be a band who with the right breaks could showcase how good the music scene was in the north east.”
Ray Leonard, NE Music History Facebook Group
I went to school with Martin McAloon (great lad, sound as a pound) and Paddy was at school with my cousin. I saw them perform at the Brewers half a dozen times. 30 pence a time it cost with John Sunter (also from my school) carrying out the ‘roadying’ and the doorman roles.
The sound was unbelievable – akin to what the raw sound of the Beatles must have been like some 20 years earlier. Guitar, bass and drums. A classic combination. Martin I seem to remember was playing through an Orange amp. Orange had only been around as a company for a year or so.
What grabbed me most was the Goodbye Lucille tracks, the famous name songs i.e. Donna Summer, Faron Young. And Paddy’s chords/chord changes. One evening I was talking to Martin mid-set and asked why Paddy didn’t play more lead guitar. Martin looked at me with horror and said something along the lines of ‘lead’s shit man…its chords you want, chords’. And I immediately agreed with him.
When I hear some of the recordings from the Brewer’s days I feel like I am right there (42 years later!) with 20 or so others.
Paddy was known for having boxes of cassette demos at the (family) garage where he worked. And my cousin called in one day and knowing that I was in to the band Paddy gave him a demo tape for me which I still have. Its too risky to play it at the moment as I don’t want to damage it but and am hoping I can soon move the audio from it into the digital domain so that it can be enjoyed by everyone.