Thursday, March 16, 2006
Meeting of the Big Apple Anoraks!
So last night I stopped into Stout NYC for a get together with some local Marillion fans and also one from across the pond in England. We had a great time talking about the band and just about things in general.
Back in their native England, Marillion fans have to take a lot of crap because of one or more of the following misconceptions that they can seemingly never shake: 1) that they are a Scottish heavy metal band [their former lead singer was Scottish but they have never resembled anything even close to a heavy metal band], 2) that they are a prog-rock Genesis clone band [one of their first b-sides was a proggy track bearing some resemblances to Supper's Ready and they never did anything like that since... AND THIS STIGMA HAS STUCK?!?!?!], 3) that they broke up in the late 80s and were that "Kayleigh" band ["Kayleigh" was a huge hit in 86 in Europe and probably would have been in the USA as well if not for the payola scandal that hit EMI around that time. If you ever wondered why there are so many English girls named Kayleigh who were born in the 80's, this is why.]
Here in the USA they don't have to deal with any of that bullshit, they are just another unknown band.
So most of England has missed out on 16-17 years of great music that they have put out since they allegedly "broke up." Their loss, my gain, I guess. Of all the bands I am into none have a more close-knit, community feel among the fanbase. I cannot wait to attend the convention in 2007 where I am sure to make friends from all over the world.
Now, onto my review of Stout NYC. I haven't been there in a while, as I honestly don't enjoy the massive pre-event, after work crowd that congests the place, but when I did go in the past I did enjoy the selection.
However this time around they had only 2 of the 4 stouts they advertise on tap. Guinness & Murphy's Irish. Same stuff you could get anywhere.
Also there were two times where we asked for bottled stouts and they were out. If you are going to take yourself as a serious beer bar then please update your list at least once a week so we know what is and isn't in stock. On the positive side, the staff is friendly, the bar is big and clean, and the food is decent.
However it seems like they are just trying to make the quickest profit possible at this point. Even the small chalkboard above the bar had several beers erased and the selections are now dominated by the US macros. When we went downstairs to get a bigger table they did not serve any bottles down there.
I promised my fellow anorak Jimbo from the UK that we would stop into a REAL beer bar next time. I would like to treat him to a good US microbrew.
I started out with a pint of Guinness, on Jimbo. I will pick up the first one next time. After that I got a bottle of Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout when they were out of the Young's. So that was 2 beers I had already had.
Moving on I then ordered a bottle of Sam Adams Cream Stout, which they were also out of. I gave the waitress 2 choices from the list hoping that at least one of them would be available. She returned with:
97) Coopers Best Extra Stout - This was a stout with a bitter touch to it. Pretty good stuff.
We finished up by having a pint of cask conditioned Brooklyn Brown Ale.
It was a great time and solidified my opinion that Marillion has the best fans in the world. We will definitely be getting together again in the near future (perhaps a return to Copperfield's?) and I promised to send Jimbo a list of great pizza places in the city. When you come to NYC, always make sure you eat right!
97 down and 268 to go.
Back in their native England, Marillion fans have to take a lot of crap because of one or more of the following misconceptions that they can seemingly never shake: 1) that they are a Scottish heavy metal band [their former lead singer was Scottish but they have never resembled anything even close to a heavy metal band], 2) that they are a prog-rock Genesis clone band [one of their first b-sides was a proggy track bearing some resemblances to Supper's Ready and they never did anything like that since... AND THIS STIGMA HAS STUCK?!?!?!], 3) that they broke up in the late 80s and were that "Kayleigh" band ["Kayleigh" was a huge hit in 86 in Europe and probably would have been in the USA as well if not for the payola scandal that hit EMI around that time. If you ever wondered why there are so many English girls named Kayleigh who were born in the 80's, this is why.]
Here in the USA they don't have to deal with any of that bullshit, they are just another unknown band.
So most of England has missed out on 16-17 years of great music that they have put out since they allegedly "broke up." Their loss, my gain, I guess. Of all the bands I am into none have a more close-knit, community feel among the fanbase. I cannot wait to attend the convention in 2007 where I am sure to make friends from all over the world.
Now, onto my review of Stout NYC. I haven't been there in a while, as I honestly don't enjoy the massive pre-event, after work crowd that congests the place, but when I did go in the past I did enjoy the selection.
However this time around they had only 2 of the 4 stouts they advertise on tap. Guinness & Murphy's Irish. Same stuff you could get anywhere.
Also there were two times where we asked for bottled stouts and they were out. If you are going to take yourself as a serious beer bar then please update your list at least once a week so we know what is and isn't in stock. On the positive side, the staff is friendly, the bar is big and clean, and the food is decent.
However it seems like they are just trying to make the quickest profit possible at this point. Even the small chalkboard above the bar had several beers erased and the selections are now dominated by the US macros. When we went downstairs to get a bigger table they did not serve any bottles down there.
I promised my fellow anorak Jimbo from the UK that we would stop into a REAL beer bar next time. I would like to treat him to a good US microbrew.
I started out with a pint of Guinness, on Jimbo. I will pick up the first one next time. After that I got a bottle of Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout when they were out of the Young's. So that was 2 beers I had already had.
Moving on I then ordered a bottle of Sam Adams Cream Stout, which they were also out of. I gave the waitress 2 choices from the list hoping that at least one of them would be available. She returned with:
97) Coopers Best Extra Stout - This was a stout with a bitter touch to it. Pretty good stuff.
We finished up by having a pint of cask conditioned Brooklyn Brown Ale.
It was a great time and solidified my opinion that Marillion has the best fans in the world. We will definitely be getting together again in the near future (perhaps a return to Copperfield's?) and I promised to send Jimbo a list of great pizza places in the city. When you come to NYC, always make sure you eat right!
97 down and 268 to go.
# posted by Nick @ 8:23 AM 
