Mann, Edgar & Pleasance/Venue Stories, 5. The Bull and Gate, Kentish Town, London 1987-1989

Smaller independent venues are often referred to as ‘the toilet circuit’ – which is weird. I never came across a single one that boasted a good toilet. I suppose they could have just as easily been called the ‘dog asleep on the stage circuit’ or the ‘soundman is so short sighted he stashes an actual telescope under the sound-desk to see the bands circuit’, or even ‘the neighbouring taxi firm’s radio comes over the PA system circuit’. Playing gigs around the UK in the early 1990s was a game of venue roulette. Sometimes damp, always dark, and often staffed by those who might possibly consider themselves unemployable in any other circumstances. In a world before arts admin degrees or health and safety standards, we were all just making it up. And there was no “in-crowd” by the way. Independent venues were not just heaving with limitless audiences on their own. Unless the venue or promoter had put as much energy into attracting people over the threshold as might be expected of the bands then, quite often, there w