TWIL Visits... Nottingham!

Each issue we will feature a different city and tell you all about the 60's and Beatlescene there. First off is Nottingham, home of Robin Hood, Nottingham Forest and Notts County football clubs, Goose Fair, Mushy Peas with Mint Sauce …and The Word is Love!!

Nottingham is a buzzing city where on many nights you can hear the songs of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and their contemporaries from the 60's played live by some of the many cover bands in the East Midlands. Yates features tribute bands every Monday night, and once a month The Fab 4 pay homage to our heroes. The Fab 4 are one of the most successful Beatles Tribute Bands in the area, and have a large following. They always get the crowd singing and dancing along, and unlike many bands they are more than happy to take requests!

The Monastery and The Maze are always packed out on a Friday night, and often feature the local cover bands. The Rolling Clones, The Finelines, Performance and also the Fab 4. The Rolling Clones, obviously, are a Stones cover band… their 'Mick Jagger', Darren, is a very animated performer, and the band always put on a good show! Performance play a range of 'classics' including songs by The La's, Dusty Springfield, Smokey Robinson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Radiohead, and some Beatles numbers too!

Performance's guitarist, Jason, is also half of an unplugged Beatles duo called 'Strawberry Fields Together'. They play in the Limelight bar, and at Benton's Brasserie. They have a good repertoire and play all the Beatles classics, along with a few of the more unusual songs - all played on two acoustic guitars…

The other half of the duo, Mark, also has his own covers band. Very much 'plugged', The Finelines are a 3-piece who cover the 'Mod' style bands such as The Who, The Jam, The Kinks, The Small Faces and, of course, The Beatles!! The Mod Scene is finally growing in Nottingham, and there are regular club nights for the hippest chicks and the coolest cats! The Mouseroom's 'Psychedelic Shack' night is good as is The Britannia's Nottingham Scooter Club organised evenings. If you prefer more commercial 60's acts, the Cookie Club and Rock City both have 60's nights, (Thursday at the Cookie Club and downstairs at Rock City on a Friday!)

Every autumn the Nottingham Beatles Day takes place at the George Hotel. Organised by Phil Matthew and Chris Raisin, the convention is a good place to pick up Christmas presents for your Beatley friends! There's always a live band too, providing entertainment, and for the last few years the job has been done excellently by Birthday.

There are plans for a Hard Rock Café in the city in the near future, so soon you'll have the perfect place to eat before you rock and roll the night away in Nottingham!!

Nina & Helen Douglas
TWIL Issue Seven February 2002