The Bedford

The Bedford (also known as The Bedford Arms) is an English public house situated in Balham, London. In addition to serving food and drink, it is a well known venue for weekly live music nights, featuring acoustic sets from up and coming new artists and established acts. The Bedford also holds regular live comedy nights and provides dancing classes in Swing, salsa and pole dancing. In 1876, the building (then named "The Bedford Hotel") housed the Coroners inquest into the notorious unsolved murder of Charles Bravo.

Live music

In July 2003, after the closure of the Kashmir Klub, music promoter Tony Moore took over the management of music nights at The Bedford public house in Balham, where he created a similar live music venue with an emphasis on emerging artists as well as established acts. The entry policy is strictly first come first in, although tables can be booked in advance for meals. There is normally no entry charge. The Bedford also holds regular "Livestyle" charity concerts, where the audience is asked to make a donation and which include various additional fund raising activities such as auctions and raffles.

Artists who have played at the Bedford include: Paolo Nutini, Lucie Silvas, James Morrison, Pete Townshend, The Feeling, Alex Parks, James Fox, David Sneddon, Imogen Heap, Second Person, Alistair Griffin, The Storys, Kiki Dee, Tom Baxter, Marli Buck, Skye (from Morcheeba), Steve Balsamo, Uli Jon Roth, Jon Allen, Nerina Pallot, Rietta Austin, Foy Vance, Nick Hall, Nizlopi, Mark Owen, JJ, Vince Freeman and Yoriyos.

There are two main performance areas, "The Tavistock Room", a small room with a capacity for about 80 people containing a number of small tables where food is served. The live show is very "unplugged" in nature with an emphasis on intimate performances. "The Theatre" is modelled on Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and is a round room with a domed ceiling and a wooden gallery running all the way around. There is capacity for 250 people, both seated and standing and food and drink is served throughout the night. Both rooms have a sound system and a dedicated production team.

The live music shows take place Mon-Thurs every week (Wednesday in the Tavistock room and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday in the Theatre) and all the gigs are webcast from the main Bedford website from 8.30pm GMT.

Club Nights

The Bedford runs as a club night till 2am every Friday and Saturday night. Friday nights is Mirrorball, featuring disco, house, R&B and rock in the theatre. Saturday night is Monkeyfunk, which features house and club classics in the theatre, and funk, soul, ska, rock and roll and original jump blues in the Ballroom. Admission is £5 or free with Banana Cabaret tickets.

Webcasts

Moore was one of the first promoters to pioneer the use of the internet and the regular live performances at The Bedford and its associated venue The Regal Room are freely available to all on four nights a week, via a dedicated webcam and chatroom.

In October 2006 The Bedford joined with Streatham based video production company Quirky Motion to launch a free weekly podcast. The Bedford Bandstand Podcast promotes new artists that perform at The Bedford and a 15 minute episode is broadcast each week. Each episode features a different act that has appeared at The Bedford, including songs and an interview with the artists.

Comedy

Comedy nights are held on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with Banana Cabaret Comedy, (a comedy club for established acts) run by David Vickers every Friday and Saturday night and the New Acts Night run by Ed Rikard-Bell on Tuesdays. Previous performers have included Harry Hill, Al Murray - The Pub landlord, Rich Hall, Adam Bloom, Paul Tomkinson, Eddie Izzard, Will Smith and Boothby Graffoe.

Awards

In 2004 The Bedford won the Morning Advertiser award for Best Pub of the Year and Best Pub in the country, it has twice won the best pub and club award as well as the The Publican award for Music Pub of the Year in 2002, and The Morning Advertiser Disco Pub of the Year in 2003 and 2004. It was awarded Evening Standard pub of the year in 2002.

References and external links

* [http://www.thebedford.co.uk/ The Bedford website]
* [http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/archive/display.var.574110.0.young_folk_full_of_promise.php This is Local London Archive, 25th February 2005] Livestyle concert
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6221298.stm BBC news June 20, 2007]
* [http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/LeisureandTourism/Aboutborough/abthistory.htm History of the borough of Wandsworth]

Media

* [http://www.whereitsat.tv/bblive.html The Bedford - Live webcast]
* [http://www.bedfordbandstand.com/ The Bedford Bandstand (video and audio podcast)]