The Intrepid Fox, St Giles

I have to say that my experience at the Fox on Thursday was terrible. Sure Pink Cigar played fine, but the sound was dreadful. How difficult can it be to mix? Are PC unique? (Excuse grammar.) They comprise a guitar, a bass guitar, drum kit and a vocalist. Oh, and two more mikes needed for said guitarist and bass player. Perhaps the guy on the mixing desk had never encountered such a combination, but the vocals were inaudible until challenged by an audience member (modesty forbids ...) which meant that the balance was only fixed for the last number. I would have thought that a venue like the Fox could demand reasonably qualified technicians. This was frankly the worst I've heard, and I've been to some pretty rough places. OK so it was free entry, so one would expect the bar takings to reflect this, rather than relying on the door. But that leads me on to the second aspect of this dross night. I cannot speak of the service at the upstairs bar: it may be fine but I'm a pint drinker, and there didn't seem to be any draught on offer other than the ground floor. That's fine, I understand the physics of lugging barrels about. But the service downstairs matched the sound mixing upstairs. Again, worst ever. Why have staff who want to work behind the bar as a hobby? Why not get people who are prepared to serve customers? There was one guy who seemed reasonably connected, but he disappeared off to fetch glasses (OK, it has to be done), but the other two staff were terrible. One seemed to want to spend his time knocking back shots with mates and the other showed exemplary language usage when she chucked hissy fits about customers complaining. It took 15 minutes for me to get served for our first round, and people around me were saying the same thing. It took 15 minutes for us to decide that the second round was a waste of time, so we left. We went over the road to the Angel. Other people did the same, downed a few shots and went back. We didn't. Pat needs to fix things. Pity. It's a great place, full on and hardcore. Room for improvement.

12 Nov 2011 20:40