Finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Bars and pubs, as well as some nightclubs, are slowly starting to open up. The last few weeks have been busy at the Bedford music venue to be able to bring music in Bedford back!

Those who are acquainted with Esquires will be instantly aware of all the updates the crew have been making over the lockdown which was made possible by the donations given to them by a crowdfunding campaign appeal with the aim of bringing music in Bedford back better than ever before.

They have gotten rid of the ‘Let Us Entertain You’ sign that hovered under the Esquires name, and instead they have replaced it with a classy cinema-style board that displays acts playing, to mark the new chapter of music in Bedford.

On top of this, the crew have added a fresh coat of paint inside and outside the venue as well as a new quirky-cool shipping container outside in the car park. They have also decided to update the toilets and added in a neon cloakroom sign.

Music in Bedford has been on pause for recent months due to Covid, the ‘almost’ killing blow for the events sector, with pretty much the entire music industry, culture and arts industries also being heavily impacted, and this has been no different for Esquires. With a hesitant breath, it is exciting to say that Esquires have opened again, with socially distanced seated gigs.  

It is easy to focus on the negatives of the last year and a half, but for owner Gareth Barber and his team at Esquires, it was the perfect time to tackle a laundry list of jobs a music venue would normally never have the luxury of being able to tackle.

“We’ve never been in a position where we’ve been able to shut for a period of time to actually do some of the maintenance,” explains Mr Barber, “We’re normally open five nights a week.

“Replacing the toilets for example, that took a month from start to finish.”

Mr Barber was worried during the start of the pandemic due to the fact that he felt like the hospitality sector was going to get no help from the government. “Nothing was on the table initially,” he explains. Luckily for hundreds of venues around the country, the government Arts & Culture bursary was established to help out struggling businesses

“We tried to raise £20,000 to cover our costs and when we raised £50,000 we had a bit of time to think about what people really want out of the venue.

“Covid has been absolutely awful and devastating for venues up and down the country, but it gave us time to really take stock of what’s important and the Crowdfunder gave us the confidence that people really love what we do.

“I didn’t really realise that before because you’re so engrossed in what you’re doing.

“You go from show to show to show and you don’t have time to sit back and think.

“People believed in Esquires so much they were willing to donate money to make it survive so we had to think about what we could do to make it better.”

As well as the improvements outside of the venue and new toilets inside, walls have been painted, new floors have been put down, air-conditioning has been installed, the load in and out area for musicians has been overhauled and work done on the roof.

“We’ve spent the excess crowdfunding money on making the venue better, which we felt we had to do,” Mr Barber explains.

“The plan, when I took Esquires on five years ago, was to make this the best – or try and make it the best – independent venue in the country.

“There are so many good little venues out there, but if I didn’t have that goal, there was no point.

“It’s a constant goal to work towards, we just want to make this the best place it can be for people.”

The building which Esquires occupies is an old church that dates back to the 1800s and with that, as Mr Barber explains, comes regular maintenance.

“There were some issues which have been long-standing,” he explains.

“We needed to fix a bit of roof, we completely dug up and have re-done the load-out area, there’s a new smoking area which is a shipping container and we’ve updated the main signage on the front.

“It’s now a cinema-style sign which was something I’ve always wanted.”

It does slightly depend on what happens on the 19th of July, whether the restrictions will be fully lifter or if there will still be some limited restrictions, but regardless, fans will return in large numbers to see artists again. Excitingly, it is not the end of improvements that Mr Barber has planned for the venue. Mr barber still has more that he wants to do with the venue and plans to make Esquires the best independent venue in the UK, he adds: “The three-year plan is to take the ceiling off the main stage, get rid of the grid, take it out completely and expose the old church above.

“I think from going to places like the Paradiso (in Amsterdam) which is amazing, it would turn the main room into an incredible space.

“We’d have a lot to change, but that’s a longer-term plan.”

Sunday saw another socially distanced gig at Esquires, sadly the new normal. Since its reopening in June, the esquires have hosted a long line of familiar names in Tom Hingley from Inspiral Carpets, Mark Chadwick from Levellers and Spike from The Quireboys as well as shows by emerging talent in the form of Low Girl and Viddy.

Talking about having people back in venues: “On paper, most of the gigs have been sold out and we’ve only had a few no-shows which I think is understandable.

“It’s been OK, just a bit strange. Forget everything you think you knew about a gig because it’s so different but I think people have been getting used to it.

“I think people have been generally excited to be back at shows and excited to see live music again because it’s been such a long time.

“Viddy who played with Low Girl said it was her first gig in 16 months.

“I can’t imagine what that must feel like for an artist to actually get in front of people again.”

The national #ReviveLive campaign was launched by the Music Venue Trust, whose purpose is to help safely bring back live music to venues across the UK. Barber is hoping that if social distancing measures are relaxed on July 1, it would mean that Esqires may be able to hold standing shows regularly again. Mr Barber has said that to him, the safe of the fans is his prime concern, and would rather wait a little bit longer rather than filling the venue and putting the fans at risk. 

He said: “Venues that are part of Revive Live have agreed to follow strict guidelines in terms of how they run their shows.

“We don’t want anything to go wrong at a show, or for someone to be able to turn around and say, ‘the show did that.

“We haven’t gone out there and posted, a ‘biggest party in the world’ type event for the 21st of June.

“We just want to see what happens over the coming weeks and do things safely.”

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