800 not out + the Soul Searchers

This is my 800th post on this blog which, as it happens, I began exactly four years ago today on Monday 16 March 2009. I intended it to be a way of telling people about live music in local venues that sell real ale. I used to print leaflets and hand them out, but was going through cartridges like nobody's business and probably reaching only a few dozen people at best. I was a follower of Tandleman's blog, and that gave me the idea to set up ReARM (Real Ale Real Music - I'm surprised how many people don't get what I thought was a really obvious acronym). Nowadays, as well as listing music events in real ale venues, although I do allow the odd non-real ale exception, I also have a beer festivals page which I hope is useful. I had 16,553 unique hits last year, which is far more people than I could ever hope to reach with all those bits of paper I used to print.

The Soul Searchers

Anyway, back to news: the Soul Searchers are an energetic local soul band who are playing tonight in the Mount Pleasant, Manchester Road, from 9.00 p.m. I've seen them once before and was impressed. The gig is to raise funds for Queenscourt Hospice - Comic Relief is a worthy cause, but it does tend to put local charities in the shade. The Mount nowadays sells Sharps Doom Bar instead of the Tetley's and Jo the licensee tells me it is selling much better than the Tetley's ever did to the extent that she is thinking of putting in another hand pump. So you can listen to great music, raise money for a good local cause and drink real ale all at the same time. A win-win situation, except for your wallet of course.