FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Monday, July 17, 2006
A Salute to Maguires, Bradford
As TFF's next major gig approaches (on Sat July 22nd at The Gasworks) I got to thinking that it is rare these days to go to Bradford city centre to watch a good gig by a live band, mostly because many of the great venues that once were have pretty much shut up shop, presumably due to a lack of passing trade since a lot of 'high-street shopping' has moved out to major centres in the suburbs. There are one or two places left in Bradford that strive to bring the people of West Yorkshire a really new and interesting musical experience, The Gasworks being one, but they are getting to be something of a rare breed.
Of course, we played for the closing night of The Melborn not so long ago - I believe that that venue is now to become some kind of retail outlet - and it was a real shame for the place to shut down after so long, especially with such characters at the helm as 'Brother Eamon' and their dedication to open-mic type events. But another music bar that I think has been sorely missed since it closed some years ago now is Maguire's, that used to be on City Road (just near the junction with Thornton Road). This was a place I spent many years during my mid-late teens visiting to see some of the best in music of celtic folk origin. Maguire's actually became so well known that it attracted many major, internationally recognised artists including the likes of Ralph McTell, The Bothy Band and Blyth Power, as well as being happy to put on stage many more local talents of the genre such as The Seven Little Sisters.
I suppose the place has a kind of personal value to me aswell : some of the happiest times of my life thus far have taken place in that venue, from the odd early romantic interlude to simply sitting chatting the evening away with my brother (who was also a regular visitor to Maguire's) over a couple of pints of cold Guinness with The Pogues or Christy Moore blasting out of the jukebox - it was certainly the ideal venue for such an occasion. I only hope that with the current economic boom in Northern England, a new generation of music-loving entrepreneurs will consider opening more venues of this ilk. Hey, I would even consider it myself!!
Of course, we played for the closing night of The Melborn not so long ago - I believe that that venue is now to become some kind of retail outlet - and it was a real shame for the place to shut down after so long, especially with such characters at the helm as 'Brother Eamon' and their dedication to open-mic type events. But another music bar that I think has been sorely missed since it closed some years ago now is Maguire's, that used to be on City Road (just near the junction with Thornton Road). This was a place I spent many years during my mid-late teens visiting to see some of the best in music of celtic folk origin. Maguire's actually became so well known that it attracted many major, internationally recognised artists including the likes of Ralph McTell, The Bothy Band and Blyth Power, as well as being happy to put on stage many more local talents of the genre such as The Seven Little Sisters.
I suppose the place has a kind of personal value to me aswell : some of the happiest times of my life thus far have taken place in that venue, from the odd early romantic interlude to simply sitting chatting the evening away with my brother (who was also a regular visitor to Maguire's) over a couple of pints of cold Guinness with The Pogues or Christy Moore blasting out of the jukebox - it was certainly the ideal venue for such an occasion. I only hope that with the current economic boom in Northern England, a new generation of music-loving entrepreneurs will consider opening more venues of this ilk. Hey, I would even consider it myself!!
