Out with the Old Angel, in with the new

In the wake of the demise of The Music Exchange comes more disheartening news from Nottingham in the form of the closure and refurbishment of the Old Angel. Regardless of how the new management decides to spruce it up, the pub will inevitably lose at least some of its character as a no-nonsense, scuzzy mecca for rock and metal fans in increasingly smart, hip and Hockley.

My abiding memory of the place is a Les Savy Fav gig in the venue upstairs around 2001, when Tim Harrington walked the length of the room along the thin ledge (I hesitate to call it a shelf) normally used for punters to rest pints on and later performed an entire song while stood outside on the fire escape, out of view. Mark E Smith, eat your heart out.