And to perhaps bigger news than the closure of London's Astoria. On Friday 9 January, Alo Conlon died, aged 73. Conlon was the landlord of Camden's Dublin Castle and it was Conlon who turned the pub, somewhat unwittingly, into a British institution. In 1979, he gave Madness a residency, going on to handpick such minor bands as Coldplay, Blur, Supergrass and (allegedly) Metallica to play in the pub's back room, giving Camden its live music reputation long before the Barfly existed. The Dublin Castle was soon ringing with the sounds of pop's future and the scrawling of A&R scouts' biros.
In early 2000, at the Castle's Club Fandango, sipping warm Red Stripe from the tiny bar at the back, I saw my friend's sister's boyfriend's friend's band Keane play to a half-filled inattentive room. I thought they were forgettable. Conlon thought otherwise and – surprise – I was wrong.
Conlon's friends and family held an impromptu street party on London's Parkway last week, closing both ends of the road. Suggs was there. As were the police, revellers and countless fans. Conlon died just two months after licensees across Camden decided to give him a lifetime achievement award, yet he remains an undersung hero of Britain's world-dominating alternative scene. It is sad to lose a man without whom some our most revered bands might never have been heard beyond their parents' garage.
