Saints And Sinners – Ashby Style

Another niche musical reference in the title there….I would of course keep you on tenterhooks but I know Duncan is a big fan of the Scottish Punk scene in 1977 and he is happy to let you know that this was the title of Johnny & The Self Abusers only single.

For some bizarre reason this was on a compilation cassette I used to own (yes, they used to exist kids) but anybody under 30 just imagine I downloaded it from apple i-tunes.

This was Jim Kerr’s first band before he went on to form the marginally more successful Simple Minds with fellow members Charlie Burchill and Brian McGee.

Saints and Sinners is just under two minutes and the band were so impressed with it, although the NME weren’t, they decided to split on the day of its release….

If you read Duncan’s blog, you will find many Scottish punk references and I know that Mark, despite evidence to the contrary, often has The Skids on his playlist too.

In fact, Simple Minds were so successful they were arguably bigger than the quiz show The Chase.

(Just a reminder for any new readers that this is in fact a pub/club blog so bear with me as the preamble will finish shortly.)

Did I mention The Chase?  Often shown in pubs with a TV in the background this wins the award, by pub blog consensus, for the ‘best background quiz show in a boozer.’

With ‘celebrities such as The Beast, The Governess, The Dark Destroyer, The Vixen and The Sinnerman, as well as Bradley Walsh, what’s not to like?

However, Paul Sinha aka The Sinnerman is also a stand-up comedian. So, when a group of my pals and suggested going to the Funhouse Comedy Club in Dave Southworth’s favourite town of Ashby, how could I resist?

It took place at 516 – The Lyric Rooms LE65 1AB tucked away off the main market street and I have to say, he is remarkably funny.   Think almost as amusing as Martin and you are on the right lines.

He was the stand out performer (top of the bill) and the club is a great idea that appears to be based predominantly in the East Midlands.

I may have missed a trick here as there are plenty of venues including one in Coalville!!!  I’ll put that on my bucket list as this map shows that LE67 has almost been conquered but there are still a few standouts remaining.

(unnamed places are Hugglescote, Abbots Oak and Griffydam)

£12 for four acts isn’t bad value and it was a great venue for comedy as it was snug and the compere and founder Spiky Mike, can dish out acerbic wit to plenty of punters in close proximity.

The beer was, to be honest, average and I wish I’d stuck to the lager as the Worthington was average.  Mind you, I drank a few pints of it to check it was average but it was and the barmaid wasn’t full of the joys of spring as we kept making big orders (never understand that approach as all cash is good).

However, Funhouse Comedy Club (details here) is a winner and well worth a visit and with one in Cambridge for Martin then I fully expect a Fenland version (whatever that entails) inside the next six months!

A decent beer wouldn’t have gone amiss but that is just me being a beer bore.  We went for the comedy and Paul Sinha is a class act.