The garden of The Cricketers on Fishmarket Road has become the place to be on Sunday afternoons this summer. The combination of a succession of sunny afternoons and outstanding live music has proved to be irresistible for the locals and visitors who have packed into the cleverly designed outside space week after week.
Georgia and Kevin Gillespie own and run The Cricketers, and Kevin is the architect of this venture. He acknowledges that the good weather has been a factor in its success, but he has also ensured that the bands and artists he has booked are of the best quality and most likely to get people dancing.
“We only have bands in the summer, as I want them to be outside,” said Kevin. “Having the garden extending out to the cricket pitch makes it an ideal place to have live music, but the place isn’t big enough to have it on Friday or Saturday evenings and I don’t want to upset the neighbours, so we have it from 5pm to 7pm on Sundays. A lot of the bands I’ve booked I’ve used for years such as Heroes and Stoned – my personal favourites – and then there are new bands coming along such as The Mighty Zircons which I predict will only go from strength to strength.”
Some of the other bands to get the audience rocking so far have been Rock of Aged, Freak Flag and Reptillion, all of whom have clearly enjoyed the experience as much as the audience. There is plenty more to look forward to, including The Apple Fins and M3 and Kevin foresees the good times stretching through the summer.
“I’ve booked bands through till early September, as having music outside is obviously weather dependent. Some of them will be making a second appearance, as I find that good bands always bring back the crowds, but I’ve also got bands from Folkestone and Hastings making an appearance.”
So if you enjoy live music, a cool drink (alcoholic or otherwise) and a great atmosphere, why not join the many people who have made Sunday afternoons from 5pm to 7pm at The Cricketers the must-have entry in their social diaries this summer? Even if dancing in the heat is not your thing, it’s great fun watching those for whom it is.
Image Credits: Julie McLaren .