Three Lamps, Swansea

Walking up Oxford Street towards Castle Square late on a Saturday night, I was contemplating the end of a good crawl around the city when I suddenly heard someone belting out a cover version of Don Henley's Boys of Summer. Following the sound, I ended up stood outside The Office - a pub I'd regularly swerved when I lived in the city due to it having a bit of a bad reputation. However, the place seemed rammed and with a great atmosphere inside as the band launched into another tune, so I wandered in to see what was going on. The place used to be a good option to watch obscure sports coverage but nowadays seems to focus on live music in the evenings, with acts being drawn mainly from the rock/metal end of the spectrum. The place has a fairly unremarkable layout, with a large room wrapped around a centrally positioned servery. A good sized stage fills up most of the front wall and is well set up to allow bands to put on a decent show. Some seating could be found around the perimeter of the room, but the whole front part of the pub had been cleared out to allow people to dance in front of the stage and to give easier access to the busy bar area. Behind the bar there was a brighter space with what appeared to be a lot more seating and I think I saw a pool table back there as well, although I may be mistaken. The room was pretty dark, with lights dimmed for the band, but I was able to make out various bits of music memorabilia on the walls which might merit further exploration during the daytime. I didn't expect to find any ale here, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Wychwood Hobgoblin and Robinsons Trooper available at the bar. The Trooper was actually in very good condition and the bar staff seemed well drilled and successfully dealt with large drinks orders from well-behaved hen-do parties and the like. This was an unexpected but ultimately worthy last minute addition to my crawl around town. The place is clearly at its best showcasing live music and I'm not sure what a daytime visit would be like, as I got the impression that the venue is a bit rough around the edges, but I thought there was a good atmosphere within and that it makes an interesting alternative to the generic chain bars down nearby Wind Street.