Side B

One album, both sides, start to finish. Lights down, no talking.

Thursdays upstairs at the Crown, forty chairs and a very good system. Next four below; the rest of the season on the board by the bar.

Thu 7 Nov

Jazz · 1959

A quartet record everyone owns and nobody has heard properly

41 minutes. The one with the bass solo you think you know.

A turntable in a dark room, its arm resting on a spinning record, green leaves in front.

Thu 14 Nov

Folk · 1971

A singer alone with a guitar and a piano

36 minutes. Bring a tissue; the second side has that song.

A black vinyl record standing on its edge against a white background.

Thu 21 Nov

Soul · 1972

A double album, all four sides, with an interval

78 minutes. The only night we stop halfway for a drink.

Seven-inch singles with coloured paper labels scattered across a table.

Thu 28 Nov

Your pick

Members' night: the album you voted for

Voting closes on the 14th. The winner introduces it, in under a minute.

Warm out-of-focus lights glowing in the dark.

A long shelf packed tight with record sleeves seen spine-on.

Strings of small glass lanterns and fairy lights hanging among trees at night.

How a night goes

19:30

Doors. Get a drink downstairs, bring it up. Talk as much as you like; this is the talking part.

20:00

Five minutes on why this album and what to listen for. Never longer.

20:05

Lights down. Side A. Phones in pockets, face down, or in the basket by the door.

20:25

The record is turned over in silence. It is a better moment than it sounds.

20:45

Lights up. Now everyone talks, usually for longer than the album lasted.

The room, and the garden in summer

Bare filament bulbs strung along the dark timber wall of a building.

Upstairs: forty mismatched chairs, rugs on the floor, blackout curtains.

A single glowing bulb hanging among trees at dusk, more lights behind it.

June to August: the garden, bulbs in the trees, blankets on the grass.

A hand holding a black enamel mug printed with white pine trees, a green blur behind.

Tea as well as beer: the pub sends up a pot at half time, and a mug is quieter than a glass.

Tickets

One Thursday£8
Season, twelve Thursdays£72
Members' votewith a season ticket
On the door, if there are chairs£10

A dark enamel mug steaming in tall grass, lit low by the evening sun.

Before you come

Arriving late: The door shuts at 20:05 and opens again when the record is turned over. Wait on the landing; it is only twenty minutes.

Is it really silent?: Mostly. Coughing is allowed; commentary isn't. Most people find it the most restful hour of the week.

Access: The upstairs room is up twenty stairs, no lift. In summer the garden is level; tell us and we'll keep a chair near the door.

Requests: Suggest an album on the board by the bar. We pick from it, and we'll tell you if we can't find a clean copy.

A distant stage washed in blue light, seen from the back of a dark hall.