We need to keep venues like this open

MUSIC LEGEND'S MESSAGE AS HE PLAYS 'LIFEBLOOD OF THE COMMUNITY' SOCIAL CLUB

- CHRIS SLATER

IT WAS a gig listing that made you do a double-take when news of it was first released.

And even stood next to him in the tiny room that doubled as his dressing room, it was still hard to believe it was about to happen.

Its staple is usually karaoke, bingo nights, and tribute acts. But on Saturday night, Cringlewood Social Club, tucked away in the Northern Moor estate had one of British music's most famous on its stage.

His band The Libertines, who have done so much to shape the look and feel of the country's indie scene, still regularly sell-out huge arenas and headline festivals. Yet last night Pete Doherty played for just 350 lucky souls at the former trade union working men's club on Yewtree Lane.

It was all part of The Northenden Fringe Festival (TNFF), which is bringing household names to the suburbs to complement the area's booming grassroots music and arts scene.

And Pete, those behind the show and those who run the club all hope it can be a blueprint for other towns and other venues moving forward.

Speaking to the M.E.N. before the show, 45-year-old Pete, famously a wild child in his younger days, said: "I've played in some decent venues but in terms of energy, this stands up with any of them.

"We've had such a friendly welcome. The lads who we're working with, whose idea it was for us to play here, are so passionate about what they're doing. The local community, bringing music to places that places that people just don't want to go.

"In the industry now, places like this, they are just too inconvenient. They don't meet the profit margins. You can't blame them, they are corporations that's what they're about, maximising profits, fair play.

"But these small, grassroots venues are the places where bands traditionally cut their teeth. Where I grew up, and went to school, in Coventry, this is the sort of place we'd blag to play and it'd be a big deal to play a working men's club on a Friday night.