The Night Owl Flies Again
June 9, 2006
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The Night Owl Flies Again
A lot of activity is going on above Burtons next to Virgin Mega Store in the premier Cheltenham venue that is filled with history. Stuart Challoner and Richard Carrington and a team of builders are working almost round the clock to make the opening date of June 23rd.
Cheltenham June 9, 2006 — A lot of activity is going on above Burtons next to Virgin Mega Store in the premier Cheltenham venue that is filled with history. Stuart Challoner and Richard Carrington and a team of builders are working almost round the clock to make the opening date of June 23rd.
Going back to the early 60s when it all started as a milk bar frequented by the mods on their scooters. Egg & Bacon was the local hang out for the young and restless of Cheltenham. For a while it was a dancehall under the name SPA Lounge. In the late 60s it changed incarnation again. This time the venue was called Blue Moon. It became the premiere circuit venue for the Gloucestershire area. Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Mott The Hoople, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart to name but a few, played up the stairs in the corner stage. The Four Tops played their very first UK show at the Blue Moon, which it remained to be during most of the 70s.
Then in the early 80s the club changed management yet again and turned in to The Night Owl. What started with the scooters and the mods back in the early years, now turned in to a dedicated bikers and rock venue.
Another name change to Mistys didn’t mean it changed genre. Still a rock club up until 1996 when it turned in to The Attic which is when Stuart “Stu” Challoner got involved. Still focusing on rock music with up and coming bands playing live The Attic featured artists such as Stereophonics and Feeder.
Richard steps in a one of Stu’s long term friends who has not been part of the music scene as such but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know his rock’näroll history. Richard is overseeing the £100k refurbishement of the club.
The stage is rebuilt. Both bars are being extended. A state of the art Martin Audio sound system plus lights will be installed. The Night Owl has a full license which includes live perofromances and staying open until 6am on weekends.
A website with a forum is under construction.
Opening hours – Friday and Saturday 8PM – 6AM
Fully lisenced bar and real ales.
The Night Owl will open on June 23rd.
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Stu has a long history of being involved in the music industry, either as musician, club manager, band manager or transport manager. Working for the freight agent Rock-It Cargo Ltd, used by most stars worth their salt. Through Rock-It Cargo, Stu got shipped around the globe taking care of the clients and their equipment transport. Deep Purple, Metallica, Franz Ferdinand, Simple Minds, Iron Maiden, Zakk Wylde and many many more received Stu’s personal attention.
The one thing that won’t change for the opening is the entrance. “We debated what to do with the walls,” says Stu. “We were thinking of having the entrance walls painted black and have murals depicting the club history” continues Richard. “In the end we decided to do absolutely nothing. New lighting and a slight refresh is all we’ll do. The rest is up to the local artists. The walls in the entrance are a blank canvas and weäre handing it over to the people who visit the club.” Says Stu and continues “The plan is that whomever can submit a suggestion to us and once it has been approved by us they can have their go at decorating the wall.”
“We want people to feel that this is their club,” Richard adds. “We both started hanging at rock clubs when we were kids. Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we’ve stopped listening to rock music . Our taste in music hasn’t changed since but there isn’t really a place that caters for the likes of us, young or old.”
The Night Owl will cater for all genres of rock. Anything from classic rock to punk, goth, trash etc. Anyone from the age of 18 and up are welcomed.
“Up until the early days of the 90s bands had plenty of places to chose from. New bands could test the waters, find out if their music worked for the masses. Record companies had scouts out looking for new talent all the time. I know as I was a guitar player in various bands back then,” Says Stu.
“At the same time known smaller bands hardly have any places where they can play. That is what we are creating here.”