A little bit of Bohemia in Botley, Oxford!! Friday 21 April

The Tap Social craft brewery are the hosts tonight for what are becoming regular Friday/Saturday night music events in one of Oxfords newest and quirkiest of venue spaces. On a pokey little trading estate at the arse end of the Botley Road, butted up next to the likes of a plumbing centre and a car repair workshop, the brewery is located in a 1970’s industrial building adjacent to the noisy A34. This seems on first impression to be a rather odd place to go hear a band.

Playing tonight however are quirky Oxford favourites, the culturally diverse and charming as ever Brickwork Lizards. On a stage consisting solely of a Persian rug, performing for their ‘ever so slightly’ Bohemian following, who were out in force tonight, the band seemed entirely at home here.

Brickwork Lizards tuning up for their set

Having seen Brickwork Lizards previously over a number of years in such diverse venues as the chapel of Worcester College, the basement of Modern Art Oxford and the tiny cramped bar of the James Street Tavern off the Cowley Road has proved they are no strangers to venues slightly out of the normal. Tonight they appeared to be comfortably at home and amongst friends. They seem particularly to thrive on interaction and contact with their audience, so much so that it is sometimes hard to see the line between band and audience. Are the spontaneous dancers for instance, part of the band or just one of us? Describing the band and their music to someone who has never seen them play before is always a challenge as they don't really fit any particular bag - I usually just go for the all encompassing Turkabilly - which usually gets the message across.

Tonight they played stuff mostly from their latest album Haneen and a couple from Zaman, their first. Called back for an encore they agreed on condition that we all got up and joined in. The audience readily agreed and we were treated to a rousing version of Wonderous Nights which had everyone on their feet and clapping along.

These guys do what they do for the love of it, and it shows.

Entry to the event was completely free, hence the reason I was unable to locate tickets beforehand on-line. The catch, if it can be called one is that the beer is decidedly pricey, but considering as I was driving this really didn't have much impact on me. The other great thing about these Tap Social <link> evenings is the food concessions that they bring along. Tonight it was a very reasonably priced plateful of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine by Lula Kinnaird.