Sound Advice: Review of the Year – mostly gloomy (From This Is Local London)

Sound Advice: Review of the Year – mostly gloomy

4:07pm Monday 19th December 2011

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For the local music scene, 2011 has been a pretty bad year.

It began (in the early hours of New Year's Day) with Walthamstow's Plough Inn serving up its final pint before shutting down, and ended this month with the closure of the legendary Standard, also in E17.

These two music venues were not alike, but together encapsulated the essence of the underground, unsigned, local music scene.

The Plough, in Wood Street, was best known for more gentle gatherings of folk, jazz and blues. In contrast, the Standard generally hosted young indie bands, heavy metal roarers and punk rockers, along with a parade of wig-wearing tribute acts.

But together they provided a chance, an opportunity and a space for musicians young and old, talented and rubbish alike, to perform, unwind, show-off, entertain, amuse and generally celebrate the ecstatic joy of pure being.

In recent weeks the Plough has been gutted, its interior furnished with new supermarket-esque shelves.

The Standard too is set to become a convenience store, despite once being the only dedicated music venue of its kind in the whole of north east London.

Sadly, this seems reflective of a broader trend. Pubs continue to close at an alarming rate across the country, and as they do many venues go with them.

Other notable casualties recently include the Bull and Gate not far away in Kentish Town, which once put on shows for then unknown bands like Coldplay, Keane and (supposedly) Nirvana, giving them a break before they hit the big time.

Of course, other venues continue going strong and others have embraced regular music slots for the first time. There's Walthamstow Cricket Club, which has gone some way to replacing the Plough, and the Artisan pub in Chingford Mount which must also be applauded for helping to alleviate the loss of the Standard with its own new weekly music nights.

This year also saw, in October, the first anniversary of Loughton Folk Club, which has proved highly successful, raised hundreds of pounds for charity and firmly established itself as a welcome addition to the local music scene.

More impressive still was the 20th anniversary of Walthamstow Folk Club in September. It survived the closure of the Plough by moving back to its old home of Ye Olde Rose and Crown in Hoe Street, itself another continuing source of inspiration and optimism.

And the lack of local venues is not necessarily a handicap for success. Wanstead grunge band Bleech and Woodford ska act The Skints continue to attract more and more attention despite the woeful lack of proper music venues in their corner of Redbridge.

Waltham Forest rock duo Cowbell also started making a name for themselves, gaining a fair of airplay on BBC 6 Music.

However the local music scene is not just about supporting potential stars of tomorrow.

More important still is the thrill of live music, for both audience and performers, and the sad loss of two great venues in 2011 has sadly diminished such opportunities for the immediate future.

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