The Exchange in Twickenham was the venue for a night of electric Roots music in effort to save the Rifleman pub.
Last week, the Rifleman held a concert to raise funds and continue to raise awareness of the pub’s possible closure, following Twickenham Brewery’s decision to no longer run the venue.
Many of the acts that performed in the concert are regularly found at the beloved pub and included The Kindred Spirit Trio, Tim Staffell & Paul Stewart, as well as David McGeachie, who was also on duty as one of the sponsors.
One of the Rifleman’s regular patrons first found the community focused pub when she stumbled upon it during New Years celebrations.
Speaking with the South West Londoner, she said: “It’s a proper local pub for local people. I was absolutely gutted when I heard it was closing down. [it’s] a lifeline for a lot of people in the area.”
The threat of closure has also attracted attention from residents who do not frequent the pub.
Hilary Copeland, attended the fundraiser with her husband and found out about the concert on Facebook.
Copeland said: “I keep meaning to go because they’ve got good music.”
The fundraiser show kicked off at 7pm, with folk music playing through the speakers as the crowd drifted to their seats.
The first performance of the night was from Tim Staffell, an accomplished musician who was apart of a band called Smile with members of Queen, before Freddie Mercury’s addition to the band launched them international fame.
Eel Pie Island, another iconic Twickenham venue, was famous as a hub of live rock music in the 1960s, with The Who, David Bowie and Eric Clapton all making appearances at the island’s former hotel.
Other notable moments during the show was the performance of the song Catch the Wind, a Donovan original.
In between the acts, one of the event’s main organisers, Chris Tulloch, cheerfully thanked the audience for coming and echoing the sentiments of the performers.
He said: “We have heroes playing tonight.”
Featured photo credit: Rag’e Ali
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