Friday fun and local music round up - Friday 28th August 2026

 As is the tradition with Barnet Bloggers, we start with the Friday joke, once more from the purveyor of finest Dad jokes, Robert Wilkinosn.

I had to leave my job at the cat sanctuary when they reduced meowers.

— Robert Wilkinson (@robertwlk) August 23, 2026

And on to the weekly gig round up!

Friday 28th

Butchers Arms 9pm – 11.30pm - The Past Unperfect (Country/blues)

The Lord Kitchener 8.30pm – late - One Man Stand

Kings Head 9pm – late - Karaoke Night

Barrington Bar 8.30 pm - midnight  - Karaoke with Johno

Ye Olde Monken Holt 9pm – 11.50pm - DJ The Real Slim Sadie (Disco)

Saturday 29th

Butchers Arms 9pm – late  - Xspired (60 - 90s Covers)

East Barnet RB Legion 8.30pm - 11pm £2 non members - Odyssey Blues & Soul (Soul, Blues, Jazz)

Toolans 9pm – 11.30pm - Gaz Martin

Ye Olde Monken Holt 9 – 11.30pm - Cat Reynolds (Acoustic Covers)

Chipping Barnet Social Club EN5 5UW 9pm – 11.30pm -  Marc RV (Solo artist)  

Sunday 30th

The Kings Head 2pm- 4pm - Elena & Kevin (60-80s' covers)

East Barnet CIU Club 2pm – 5pm - Georgia Chandler

Black Horse 2pm – 6pm - Freckle & Fret  

Ye Olde Monken Holt 7pm – 9pm - Redwood Rose

Queens Arms 7pm- Amy Winehouse Tribute

Butchers 8.30 – 11.30pm - Butchers Arms Jam Electric/Blues/Rock (Full backline available

Toolans 8.30pm – 11.30pm - Theresa Rodgers

Monday 31st

Jan's North London Jam at The Three Wishes, Edgware 

Live music details for this gig on Lemonrock

9pm - 11pm

Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm (stables room) - Barnet Acoustics Session

Tuesday 1st

The Black Horse Open Mic Night 7.30pm (1st Tuesday of month)

Wednesday 2nd September

Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30 – 11pm  - Open Mic Night

Thursday 3rd September

Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30 – 10.30pm - Irish Session

And finally, it was my birthday last Saturday! I had a right old party down at The Dublin Castle. We played this!

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Friday Fun 11th July

We start this feature, as ever with the Friday joke.  As is often the case, we nick one from Dad joke purveyor and good mate of this blog, Robert Wilkinson

Apparently, putting alka seltzer into your mouth and walking into Tesco shouting ' the virus has mutated!' is not considered amusing by shoppers or management.

— Robert Wilkinson (@robertwlk) July 7, 2025

And on to the local gig round up. All of the latest local music news can be found on the Barnet Music page.

It would be great to meet you tomorrow (Saturday) night down at the Builders Arms for our Ska/Reggae night!

Friday 11th
The Builders Arms 8.30pm – 11pm - W3 Detour Trio (Original Rock/blues)
Butchers Arms 9pm – midnight - The Latest Flames (60`s, 70s covers 4 piece)
Barrington 8.30 - midnight - Karaoke with Neil

Saturday 12th
The Three Wishes 8pm, Edgware - The Tease (rock)
Butchers Arms 9pm – midnight The Fraud Squad (60s, 70s, 80s and 90s covers 4 piece)
Ye Olde Monken Holt 9.30pm – midnight Nially (Acoustic Covers)
The Kitchener 8.30 – late Karaoke with Johno
Maddens 9.30pm – late State of Play
East Barnet RB Legion  8pm - late £10 members £15 non members The Beached Boys
The Builders Arms 8pm – 11pm The False Dots + DJ Rebska (Ska & Reggae )

Sunday 13th

Butchers 8.30 – 11.30pm Jam night - Electric/Blues/Rock (Full backline available)
Toolans 8.30pm Theresa Rogers 
Maddens 5pm Blondie Tribute

Monday 14th
The Three Wishes 8pm, Edgware - The Tease (rock)
Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm (stables room) Barnet Acoustics Session

Tuesday 15th
Black Horse 7.30pm – 11pm - Open Mic Night (1st Tuesday of month)

Wednesday 16th
Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30 – 11pm Open Mic Night

Thursday 17th
Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30 – 10.30pm - Irish Session
Maddens 9pm - Ronnie Gordon Legacy Band

Friday Fun 18th April 2025

 Lets start with the Friday Joke, a cracker from Robert Wilkinson

My teenage kids treat me like God. They pretend I don't exist until they need something.

— Robert Wilkinson (@robertwlk) April 17, 2025

And this weeks gigs, we have the amazing London International Ska Festival all weekend. Don't miss it

Don't forget to get tickets for the Mill Hill Music Festival

And the local gigs this weekend

Friday 18th

The Butchers Arms 9.30pm – midnight Rockit Science (Rock covers 5 piece)

Barrington 8.30-midnight Karaoke with Neil 

Ye Olde Monken Holt 9pm – midnight Bob Storey (DJ) Simon Leavold DJ (soul/funk/disco/boogie)

Saturday 19th

East Barnet RBLegion 8.30 – 11.30pm Dr Realgood (Covers)

The Builders Arms, 8.30 – 11.30pmHorizon (Rock Covers)

The Butchers Arms 9pm – midnight Dukes Of Ol (Covers 5 piece)

Black Horse 8.30pm – 11.30pm Discovery Duo (dance)

Barnet South Club 8.30pm – 11.45pm (cash only bar) Paparazzi Replaced by Pip in Boots (Pop/rock) 

The Arkley Club 8pm – 11pm £5 cash on door Peace and Love (ska, reggae, rock and blues)

The Lord Kitchener 8.30pm – late Karaoke with Johno

Maddens 9pm – late Mighty Heartache

Sunday 20th

Ye Olde Monken Holt 7pm – 9pm Lana Shelley (Blues)

Ye Olde Mitre Inn, starts 8pm or 8.30 Home Cookin’

Butchers 8.30pm – 11.30pm Butchers Arms Jam Electric/Blues/Rock (Full backline available)

Monday 21st

Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm (stables room) Barnet Acoustics Sessions

The Barrington 6pm – 8.30pm Leech (Rock and pop covers)

Wednesday 23rd

Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30pm – 11pm  Open Mic Night

Thursday 24th

Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30pm – 10.30pm Irish Session

@ Maddens 8.30pm – 11pm

Ronnie Gordon Legacy (ska, reggae, blue, soul, latin)

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Friday Fun 14th February 2024 + local gig round up

 As is the way with the Friday Fun, we always start with a bit of humour to set the weekend off properly. So I'll share with you a sad little tale of romance from my past. Back in the 1970's, when I first started taking an interest in things romantic, we lived in a different world. I met a beautiful young lady at a gig in Camden. Things were very different then. We didn't have mobile phones. Where she lived did not have a telephone. She lived in Camden Town. She wrote down a number and said "This is the telephone box at the end of my road, call me at 4 O'Clock tomorrow and we can arrange to meet up". Our family only had one telephone, it was in the front room. The last thing I wanted was all of my siblings listening in and winding me up. So I decided to go down the road to the phone box. The only problem was that when I got down there, an old lady was in there. She seemed to chat for about 20 minutes. I was desperate. In the end, I knocked and said "Please can I make a really quick call, it's urgent", she told me where to go in no uncertain terms. After another 20 minutes, she eventually finished. I jumped in and excitedly dialled the number. It was engaged. I tried another ten times, it was still engaged. In the end, I gave up. I was dejected. 

About two weeks later, I went to see another gig at the Marquee. As I entered, I saw her at the other side of the club. I thought she'd be really cross at me for wasting her time and not calling. We made eye contact and she just looked away and stared at the floor. I've always been one to apologise if I screw up. I plucked up the courage to speak and made my way over. I said "Hi" and I was just about to launch into my long apology when she said "I am so, so sorry. I went to the phonebox and there was this old lady in their calling all her kids, she was on the phone for an hour. You must have been so fed up". I then explained what happened to me. We'd both spent a fortnight thinking that the other one would be really cross. Youngsters today have no idea of how easy things are. 

And on to this weekends gigs. A very special one on Sunday, my band The False Dots celebrate our 46th Birthday with an afternoon gig at The Dublin Castle in Camden Town starting at 2pm. Please come down and say hi! It will be a great afternoon. The last 46 years have been a blast. When we started in 1979, I'd have thought you were mad if you said we'd still be playing trendy Camden venues when I was in my sixties. But here we are. 

And perhaps there is a lesson to be learned. I have realised that age is a false measure of who we are. What matters is what we do. If you do something and you enjoy it, then it would be the height of stupity to stop doing it, wouldn't it? Apart from my family, my two passions in life are music and football. I'd still be playing football if my ankle hadn't given up the ghost. Fortunately, I can still make music. And we are not the only ones. Here are the best of the other gigs in the Borough this weekend.

Friday 14th

Fri

Feb

14

Blue North (Covers, 6 piece) at The Catcher In The Rye, West Finchley 

8.30pm - 11pm

The Builders Arms 8pm – 11pm Food Of Love (Covers) Duo

Butchers 8.30pm – 11.30pm Tracer (Indie rock, Alt, Dance)

The Catcher In The Rye, West Finchley 8.30 - 11pm Blue North (Covers)

Barrington 8.30-midnight Karaoke with Neil

Ye Olde Monken Holt 9.30 pm – late DJ Sadie (DJ) 

Saturday 15th

KD Band Duo (Covers 50s - present) at The Bodhran, Hendon Central 5.2 miles

9.30pm - midnight

The Builders Arms 7–11pm Vinyl Countdown

East Barnet Royal British Legion 8.30pm – 11.30pm Dream Circle

The Butchers Arms 9pm – midnight  Hot Fondu (Covers)

The Arkley Club 8.30pm – 11pm £5 cash The Latest Flames

Maddens 9.30pm – midnight Odyssey Blues and Soul Band (Souls/blue/jazz)

Ye Olde Monken Holt 9.30pm – late Tyler

The Barrington 8pm – midnight - Rebska plus Less Kix Thompson (Ska/Reggae/Motown and soul on vinyl)

Sunday 16th

Ye Olde Monken Holt 7-9pm Brian Connell and Dave Williams

Butchers 8.30pm – 11.30pm Pauls Jam

Monday 17th

Mon

Feb

17

Jan's North London Jam at The Three Wishes, Edgware 4.5 miles

9pm - 11pm

Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm (stables room) Barnet Acoustics Sessions

Wednesday 19th  Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30pm – 11pm Open Mic Night

Thursday 20th 

Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30pm – 10.30pm Traditional Irish Session (Irish Folk)