Review: A Week at The Mesmerist (Part 4)

Day 4: Thursday – Live Music night “Thursday is the new Saturday don’t you know?”

My week at the Mesmerist has passed the midway point by this stage and so far I haven’t got bored – Well being in a pub... everyday... as if I’d get bored. Added to this is the fact that the last two nights are Thursday, which has been a weekend night for probably the best part of ten years now and then its Friday, shit me, that’s a bonafide weekend night everyday of the week, so to speak. So I put on weekend face and liver and hit the pub.

Thursdays – here’s the deal – Live band every week, there’s three bands on rotation to keep things different, they are all, as expected, more than suitably suited to the whole vibe of the Mesmerist (ie. Anything a bit ye-olde-swing-jazz-folksy-country sounding that’s massively upbeat, danceable, singalongtoable, preferably with a Ukele and quite probably Americana). For ‘my week’ it’s the turn of Sneaky Low Five, a five piece band with a rather attractive 1950’s American-hottie looking young lady at the front. Boy this girl can sing. They performed three sets throughout the evening moving between the dance-inducing jazz classics and some slower ones to show off the prowess of ‘the voice’ and the musicians – let’s remember its only the non-weekend weekend night so it’s not Tuacas at high-noon quite yet, but suffice to say the bar is busy.

As with the swing Ninjas on Wednesdays the area with no tables between the door and the bar soon becomes used as a dancefloor which entices even more intrigued customers in off the streets. The vibe is relaxed, sociable and friendly with people readily willing to chat with strangers and singalong to tunes they know. Whilst being relatively specific in its styling and direction The Mesmerist really doesn’t have a select clientele, except to say, quite simply, there are no goons in here. Everyone from the trendy young students to the thirties and forties rockabillies to the more senior live music fans are in here, with a nice mixture of locals and out-of-towners as well – I spoke to a really nice couple of chaps who were on holiday from Australia and were thoroughly impressed at their evening’s destination.

I can even give you a heads up on one of the other bands who play the Thursday night slot as I’d even been in here the week before. Non-review duty – you see! I genuinely love this bar, I wouldn’t lie to you would I?! I know not their name, but suffice to say there were checked shirts, dreadlocks, banjos and double bass going on and at one point in my Thursday beer warmth I remember what can only be described as the yeeeeehah-redneck version of a Dire Straits classic. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

www.sneakylowfive.co.uk

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Words by Hugo Papped

Date: Thursday 26th May 2011