The Mini Monocle, Loughborough

Right in the heart of the town centre, this is a small, single room pub that specialises in live music, although rather amazingly, I managed to turn up on a rare night with no music on. The upshot of this was that the place was pretty empty, aside from a couple of blokes propping up the bar, but I was quickly made to feel welcome by the cheery barman who was compensating for the lack of live music by playing YouTube videos of his favourite live performances on the big screen at one end of the room, as chosen by himself and the two blokes at the bar. He then proceeded to pour shots for us all, on the house, creating a tiny party of four whilst a bemused barmaid looked on from the sidelines. The room itself is a simple bare boarded affair with the bar along the rear wall and the stage to the front. The bar has a timber fronted counter with barrel ends mounted on the bar back from which the beer is mysteriously poured. A couple of banquette booths can be found to one side of the room and high tables and stools have to make do down the other. The stage had all the necessary gear on it for a band to plug in and let rip, but this all looked a bit unsightly and messy on a non-gig night. The place has been broadly decorated with punk and rock themed items, including a few decent paintings. There were no less than six ales available, but as some of these were poured from the barrel ends on the bar back, I couldn’t work out what all of them were, only being able to read the Nottingham Rock Mild pump clip from the handpull nearest to me. I ended up staying here for a few pints, one of which was nearing the end of its shelf life, but the rest were all in pretty good nick. This was a slightly surreal and unexpected end to the evening, but I enjoyed chatting to the locals and the barman whilst watching classic music clips and drinking some tasty beer. It’s a very niche place, so won’t really offer much to those uninterested in catching a band, but I thought it was better than a lot of grassroot music venues I’ve been to in the past and enjoyed my time here.

Micro music pub, very much of the punk/New Wave ethos. Furniture of the late 70s American persuasion though I suspect it's more likely sourced from one of the local Asian outlets, with some half cube seating off right and tables made from repurposed drum kit floor toms. Full kit set up for bands at the front of the room. Plenty to look at, and an interesting touch was the door leading to the toilet being that of an old phone box. Beer served from a wall at the back, making it hard to see what was on, especially so as they are all music themed (presumably rebadges from Nottingham Brewery). My ‘Lemmy Legend’ was ostensibly fine though I suspect an aspirator was on the go as it felt a bit zombified (NBSS 2.5). Friendly punters and staff. It's a unique venue and whilst not really my thing, I wish it well.