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With around half of all the UK’s music venues predicted to close as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the thrill of attending a sweat-filled gig above a pub seems a long way off.
The Crown and Cushion on Mealhouse Lane was one of Bolton’s oldest pubs by the time it became a thriving music venue in the late 1980s.
In the decade previous to this it had been known as Spencer’s Club and Bar opened by former World Snooker champion John Spencer, of Radcliffe.
But by 1988, the new venue was in an ideal position to cash in on the growing indie music scene in Manchester, with appearances from the likes of Primal Scream, Frank Sidebottom and New Fast Automatic Daffodils.
One of the Crown and Cushions most famous shows happened when The Charlatans played there on February 20, 1990.
The band had just released their debut single, Indian Rope, and by the end of the year would score huge hit with The Only One I Know and a number one album with Some Friendly.
“It was our first glimpse of how berserk things were going to be,” said frontman Tim Burgess.
“We didn’t have that many songs so we just played The Only One I Know twice. Everyone went just as crazy the second time around.”
Music fan and Bolton News reporter Chris Gee said: “I saw Primal Scream and The Charlatans at the Crown and Cushion in the town centre.
“My main memories were how packed the upstairs room was and that there was great excitement that the The Charlatans were playing a pub in Bolton.
“It was right at the start of their career and my memory is of the sound of the Hammond organ that was played by Rob Collins. It really boomed around the small venue. I think everyone there new that they were seeing a band at the start of a great career. The gigs were absolutely visceral, sweaty and loud, bands in their utter prime.
“It makes me feel genuinely sorry for kids today who have no chance of an experience like that.” The venue became less popular and a name change to Bar Retro failed to drag in the punters. It closed around 2002.
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