The Crooked Crow Bar venue reaches its 5th birthday

Late 2019 saw a lease taken of the former and long vacant ‘Blockbuster Video’ premises in the centre of Leighton Buzzard. The workers thronged to the site in scenes reminiscent of ‘Snow White leading the Seven Dwarfs’ (although Maxine, the leader of the pack, may resent being likened to an image of ‘Snow White’). A bar was built, a new ‘wild west’ style wooden plank floor laid, a large stage built and paint and varnish applied by the bucket full. Although not completed, it was close enough for friends and family to be invited down for a New Year party featuring MK band ‘The Zeroes’, personal friends of the management, and the new baby had it ‘head wetted’!

The Crooked Crow was born out of the metaphorical ashes of music venue ‘The Wheatsheaf’ which closed down when the lease came to an end late in 2019. Staff had wanted to carry on the live music events and wanted to take on a new lease, but that proved not possible and all seemed to be lost ….. but ever resourceful Maxine and crew soon came up with ‘Plan B’ – ‘The Crooked Crow Bar’, which was to become the spiritual home of those orphaned from now closed ‘Wheatsheaf’.

Friday 17th January 2020 and excitement grew for the launch night with band ‘The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican’ being the opening night entertainment. Once the doors were opened the invited guests flooded in and all had a taste of the great entertainment to expect going forwards along with beverages from the bar!

Saturday 18th January was the real tester night though with it being the first ‘business as usual’ night, but no one needed to have worried as it seemed like everyone in town wanted to see what The Crooked Crow Bar was like. The band that night was ‘Bad Hombre’ – Steve Askew’s band (formerly of Kagagogo). And so it went on with packed audiences every night until 23rd March, the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ start. This enforced immediate closure and cancellation of all events at the venue and indeed, nationally.

It was like a return to the ‘Dark Ages’, no live entertainment and musicians forced to do ‘on line’ show with a ‘begging bowl’ donations option. The Crooked Crow had to do a close down operation as beers won’t keep – most tipped down the drains and some given away to friends. There were three and a half months of total closure and then an open for off sales only opportunity. The venue, having successfully argued that it wasn’t a pub, but an entertainments venue, put on the first ‘post-lockdown’ gig in August – and that had to be ‘The Zeroes’ again – performing outside on the forecourt under the canopy! Next gatherings limited to 30 people maximum, sit down only gigs, a requirement for Boris’ 'Substantial Meal' to be served (and wow, the Crooked Crow conjured up some magnificent vegetable curries). Then came another full closure until May 2021 - 4 months of no income and staff all stood down on ‘furlough’ payments. How does any new business survive that?

Mid-May 2021 and venues across the country began opening up again and the Crooked Crow started booking acts and arranging other entertainment events such as comedy nights and film nights – appropriate in a former Blockbuster Video store! Habits had changed though and people were used to staying in and watching a movie with off-sales drinks bought at supermarkets. It was a hard slog to get people to come out again, and whilst numbers have recovered to a reasonable extent, it is rare to get nights now where prospective customers have to be turned away as the venue is full.

The comedy nights have remained a regular monthly feature – normally the last Wednesday of the month. They have attracted some of the comedy elite as well such as Henning Wehn (July 2021), Ian Stone, Alfie Moore, Simon Brodkin and Zoe Lyons. There was even a friendly invasion by President Obonjo from Lafta Republic – wherever that junta is!

Whilst The Crooked Crow Bar has an aim to be a ‘Grassroots’ venue attracting new original bands, nowhere can survive on that these days and the bread and butter music events are either tribute or covers bands of all genres. The venue has also managed to attract some quite big or well-known musicians including Rhoda Dakar (Bodysnatchers), ‘Spike’ (The Quireboys), Chris Difford (Squeeze), Richard Jobson from The Skids, Norman Watt-Roy (from The Blockheads etc), Jonny Bridgwood (Morrissey bassist), The Urban Voodoo Machine, Jo Carley & Old Dry Skulls, John Otway, Gaz Brookfield (had a No.1 album in folk charts). Musicians from The States have also played the venue including Cannonball Statman and Boris And The Joy. The highlight though: on 5th May 2024 Frank Turner played to a sold out event at 2am in the morning!

Local ‘Grassroots’ bands that have brought in the crowds at times include Kings Division, Vicrus, Audio Nasties, The Ologys and Steve Winch and The Inception. The venue runs a ‘B4WD’ (Before World Domination) evening for local bands to showcase their repertoires.

So, it’s an events bar that mostly relies on music, but looking back it has hosted an amazing variety of things including an annual pantomime, brass bands, bagpipes have been played, plays performed, a live album has been recorded, films shown, drag cabaret nights, pirate parties and sea shanty bands! The latest diversion has been ‘Candlelight Blues Sessions’ with the pilot event featuring the brilliant Robert J Hunter – the cheese boards were very popular at this as well! More of these will happen with William Poyer booked already and they should settle down to run on a monthly basis.

Owner of The Crooked Crow Bar, Maxine Bambrook, says ‘It’s been a heck of a journey and we must have been crazy even starting it. Despite being on the edge of collapse at times, we’ve achieved a lot though. Getting the new bands in and giving them a chance has been great, but at the other extreme to get Frank Turner singing on my stage was awesome and Gaz Brookfield as well – he’s brilliant! Chris Difford was really complementary saying he’d had some great gigs with ‘Squeeze’, but he’d enjoyed the Crooked Crow Bar more’. We’ve also had some great comedians, real top stuff doing warm ups for the Edinburgh Festival etc. Would I do it again? Sure yes, but even better!’ Maxine wistfully added “But we do need more people to come out and see some of the great events we put on”.

Up and coming events can be found on the Crooked Crow Bar website at www.crookedcrowbar.com/