Who Gives a Hoot about The Owl Sanctuary? - Well, I do for one!

This has all happened so suddenly that I keep thinking that I will pinch myself, wake up and find that it was all just a nasty lucid dream. A bit like 'Inception', but with Pork Scratchings and rock music instead of Somnacin and Parisian cafés.

Now I'm not about to bang on about how The Owl Sanctuary in Norwich's Cattle Market Street was my second home, or brag about how many great bands I saw there before they became famous because, to be quite honest, I've only been there about a dozen times. I spread myself about a bit, and even volunteer at the box office of another music venue in this fine city. Some of the bands that appear at The Owl Sanctuary are not exactly my mug of rosie lea, but when I have been I have come away full of love for the place.

So when word started to spread last night that the building itself had been sold to the same property developer who acquired planning permission in April 2014 to turn the historic Warings building next door into eight luxury flats, something started to smell quite nasty. The Owl Sanctuary owner Dan Hawcroft is claiming that he has only just been given notice to vacate the premises. Also, the building's very existence appears to be prejudicial to the successful development of the Warings site, due to certain issues over access to natural light, making it seem like the Owl Sanctuary has simply become another David standing in the way of Goliath. Or like Frank and Faye Riley in 'Batteries Not Included' in their New York apartment building.

Now it is obvious that we cannot rely on help from little creatures from outer space to sort out The Owl Sanctuary's dilemma, but we really do need to make a bit of a shit-stirring noise about this. Every time a pub in Norwich gets turned into a petrol station, a Tesco Express, or a nice set of Golden Triangular flats the Eastern Daily Press plays up merry hell, but this is so,so much more important.

According to the BBC, 40% of all small music venues in London have closed over the last ten years ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34343040/why-the-uks-small-music-venues-are-under-threat) , and the same is happening throughout the UK. Even Boris Johnson, bless his golden locks, has got involved, setting up a task force to see how small venues can be protected. If a Conservative mayor of London is worried, then there really must be a bloody problem. Not only is it essential to continue to provide small-capacity venues for local and up-and-coming bands to hone their craft, but we do not want to be left with just the big boys like the O2 Arenas and Eventim Appollo's controlling all live music in this country.

Norwich is blessed with a number of excellent independent music venues, including the Norwich Arts Centre, winner of the 2014 NME Small Venue of The Year, and the Nick Raynes LCR and Waterfront run by the UEA Students Union. But The Owl Sanctuary is something special, and something that will be sorely missed if it goes. If not, it won't be long before every fat-pike property developer for miles around will be sniffing along King Street, Sprowston Road and Cowgate looking for the next little minnow to attack and annihilate.

No doubt there will be some hot air vented over the next few days and weeks, but surely music, culture and taverns can co-exist alongside fancy flats and restaurants? There has to be a way.

For more information check out The Owl Sanctuary's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/owlsanctuarynorwich/?fref=ts and join the 'Give a Hoot' campaign at https://www.facebook.com/Give-A-Hoot-Save-The-Owl-Sanctuary-1669745373310625/
or even give some cash to the Crowdfunding campaign at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/owlsanctuary

Not just for Dan. Not just for The Owl Sanctuary. But for the future of live music.

Magoo at The Owl Sanctuary, accompanied by Post War Glamour Girls and fireworks

Last night, at The Owl Sanctuary in Norwich, I finally got to see a band that is still talked of in reverential tones by those 'in the know' when it comes to the history of rock music from this region. Magoo formed in the early nineties, and via records released firstly on local label Noisebox, and then later on Scottish 'indie' label Chemikal Underground, were on the brink of national and even international recognition. They played the CMJ Music Marathon in New York and Glastonbury Festival, and recorded a total of six sessions for John Peel on BBC Radio 1. Their albums got favourable reviews but, as has so often happened with bands from Norfolk they just managed to slip off the radar before they had built up sufficient momentum to keep domestic interest alive.

Twenty years later and the band are still active, rehearsing and recording at guitarist Owen Turner's Sickroom Studios near Kings Lynn, and so when I heard that they were back in Norwich for a headlining gig at The Owl Sanctuary I simply had to keep my diary clear. 

On a slightly drizzly yet incredibly mild  Friday night in November the centre of Norwich was packed. As well as the beginnings of the usual weekend revelry this Friday there was also the free fireworks display from the Castle grounds to draw in the crowds, and so it was a packed Owl Sanctuary to which I finally arrived just before ten o'clock. Too late to see first band up, Witchers, but not too late to catch most of the set from Post War Glamour Girls, a nice tight four-piece from Leeds headed up by charismatic singer James Smith - not afraid to leave the comfort and safety of the stage and deliver his vocals from the auditorium floor, and backed by James Thorpe on guitar, drummer Ben Clyde, and some deft bass playing from Alice Scott. I don't know if it was their first visit to Norwich, but based on tonight's show we'll definitely have them back. Definitely justified tonight's admission fee alone. Hope we were worth their petrol money down from Yorkshire.

Post War Glamour Girls

As soon as the stage is cleared of Post War amps and instruments Magoo are up and sound-checking. Their air is one of relaxed familiarity - it would appear that most of the audience either knows them, or is with someone that knows them, reinforcing what I had been told about their local following, even twenty years on. Drummer Stacy Gow comfortably positions himself behind his kit before realising that he has nothing to drink. A quick SOS and an audience member dutifully returns with a glass. Dappily dressed vocalist Andrew Rayner assumes a position right of stage leaving Owen Turner on bass to front up the band tonight, whilst Dave Lake carefully arranges his array of guitar pedals to the left 

Whilst Rayner's characteristic vocals and rapid guitar work take us through the setlist, including songs going right back to 1996, guitarist Dave Lake is extracting an amazing array of sounds from his guitar pedals whilst throwing in some cheese-grater action for good measure. Gow is relaxed and smiling, but keeps everyone together with steady drumming as they rattle through a series of short but schnazzy post-punk numbers with just a hint of BritPop swagger. The pace is certainly quick enough for sweat to be visibly dripping off Turner's tousled locks by the time the set ends, even though he comments that they 'still have another seven songs to play'. Beaten by the clock, perhaps, but not by the passage of time. These guys still enjoy playing, and the audience still loves listening.

 

Magoo's music and gigs can be followed via The Sickroom Studio's website at http://www.thesickroom.co.uk/magoo/

Post War Glamour Girls can be found at http://postwarglamourgirls.com/

Super Luxury at The Owl Sanctuary

Saturday April 18th - UK Record Store Day! A chance for all the vinyl junkies to snap up exclusive product released only through independent retailers. Here in Norfolk we still have the classical specialist Prelude Records as well as SoundClash on St Benedicts Street representing Norwich, as well as Lewks in Downham Market. Out of these, it was only Lewks that had organised any live bands to play throughout the day, so it was left to The Owl Sanctuary in Norwich to lay on an evening gig for Norwich audiophiles.

Two local favourites, Maria Uzor performing with a full band as 'Girl in a Thunderbolt', and guitar and drum duo 'BK and Dad', were supporting Leeds noisy boys 'Super Luxury'. A whole evening's entertainment for the princely sum of £4 seemed like an offer too good to miss.

Now I have to admit that this was my first visit to the Owl Sanctuary, even though it has now been open for just over twelve months. Situated in Cattle Market Street, next door to the fancy glass-fronted furniture and wallpaper emporium that is Warings, some of you will still remember it as the Marquee. It is now managed by Dan Hawcroft, who certainly knows his music, and likes it loud. He was a roadie for sixteen years with the likes of Biffy Clyro, The Subways and Motorhead. There is a friendly welcome even if you just pop in for a quick drink, and on the Saturday night that I called in it was already busy with a wide selection of weekend revellers. The live music takes place in the back room, so after grabbing myself a pint of Lacons bitter, I made my way through.

Following on from the preview at Norwich Arts Centre supporting Trash Kit earlier this month, 'Girl in a Thunderbolt' is back, and the band is shaping up well with the addition of  guitarist, Gemma, to consolidate support for Maria on guitar and vocals. Having first seen her play solo at the Joan as Police Woman gig and having been mesmerised by her vocal style and post-psychedelia folk songwriting, it is intriguing to now experience the recently enriched sound, matured with the addition of keyboards, drums and vocal harmonies.

Girl in a Thunderbolt

'BK and Dad' are another local act with a growing reputation. I last saw them deliver a blistering set at a Gravy night at Norwich Arts Centre, where they were largely silhouetted against a mind-blowing display of projected visuals. Tonight at the Owl Sanctuary would be a chance to see what they actually look like, and see the whites of their eyes.

Originally from Aberystwyth, and with a name allegedly purloined via a local firm of scrap merchants, Pip (drums) and Leo (guitar) claim Black Sabbath as an inspiration, although Led Zeppelin chimes with an old timer like myself. Either way, their enduring association and evolution certainly pre-dates the current spate of Royal Blood / Drenge band-waggoneers that have emerged of late.

Once again, their set is mesmerising, with Pip hunched over his kit whilst Leo's use of the loop pedals defies belief whilst still continuing to drive the momentum like a steam train. If you likes your ears bleeding by the end of a set, BK and Dad are your men.

Pip (of BK and Dad)

And so to our headliners from the land of the white rose, 'Super Luxury', and nothing defines the cultural divide between Yorkshire and Norfolk more than a drummer who chooses to perform the entire set in his pants. These are definitely the cheeky boys of the class, defiantly mixing their noise rock sound with phrenetic activity that includes confetti cannons (probably one of those big party poppers from Clinton Cards, but hey, that's show business!), and an ADHD inability to stay on the stage for more than two minutes by front man Adam Nodwell. His frequent departures from the stage take him to virtually every corner of the room, including a scaling of the walls and a visit to behind the sound-desk. Yet there is something quite endearing about a bunch of reprobates that have erected a shrine to Daryl Hall and John Oates atop their Marshall amp, and draped a Stars and Stripes flag across another. This is Northern irony at its best.

Super Luxury

So, quite an impressive, yet intimate, venue, The Owl Sanctuary. Lovingly conceived, and a real asset to the Norwich live music scene, I will certainly return. They may fly by night, but they certainly know how to rock.

Check out information on future events at The Owl Sanctuary HERE