The new year sees a metal club night set up. The first visitors are Raging Speedhorn (20th). The older rock fans arrived in force to see ex-Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden frontman Blaze Bayley (13th) in Blaze.
February's best night (24th) has My Vitriol, Thirteen 13 and Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi on board. A deafening Defenestration (17th) impress, but a reformed Sigue Sigue Sputnik is a rare occasion on level 2 when everybody deserved their money back. It was awful!
March opens with Cooper Temple Clause supporting The Pecadiloes (3rd). Hell is For Heroes also play (10th). The highly rated Lowgold are supported by the newly named Goldrush (24th), previously known as Whispering Bob. Ex-Black Grape member Kermit arrives (30th) with his new band Big Dog.
April, and nu metal is on everybody's lips. Esquires receives Brutal Deluxe (21st). King Adora (11th) play a Radio 1 warm up along with Easyworld. Also of note are Mo Solid Gold (7th) and Plan A (14th).
There is only one gig to mention during May. On a Monday night (14th), Guy Garvey and Elbow are here on level 2. The debut album "Asleep in the back" is the first great album of the decade and the band showcase it. The highly impressive Mull Historical Society support.
Wow! What a gig in June (16th) as Lost Prophets, who are earning rave reviews, are joined by the equally awesome Welsh music makers Skindred. Other visitors of note are punk boys Sick On the Bus (9th) and the slightly crazy Sack Trick (30th).
Many local bands are coming to the fore and these include Moneyshot, Zipper, Useless Wooden Toys, Jehu Explsion, Coarse and Pooka. The annual battle of the bands competition is won by Gumbo. Runners up include Clint and Sandy's The View.
Friday July 13th saw The Quireboys once more on the Esquires stage, reforming after many years away. They were loudly cheered back. The only other gig of note occurs when Seafood and Easyworld share a Saturday evening stage (21st).
A possible candidate for gig of the year happens in August (14th) when The Music from Yorkshire and Brighton's The Soft Parade share a great evening. Esquires is aslo packed when Shed Seven, under the pseudonym of Change Giver, relive their brit-pop heyday for a V2001 festival warm up (16th). Haven also made some beautiful noise two days later.
September (6th) sees Bedford's adopted Oxford five piece Goldrush headline a Thursday show. Otherwise the month is made up of local bands in the Saturday slots. Dark Cell (8th) and Karmic Jera (29th) enforce the burgeoning metal scene, which is blossoming at the moment courtsey of Pete at the Bedford Metal website.
October sees Blaze return (20th) , plus a fully refreshed Quireboys retake the level 2 stage (17th).
November, and we say hello again to Mull Historical Society (7th). This time it is for a well deserved headliner. Also back are King Prawn (3rd) and Spunge (10th). This time they are joined by the 'wacky' 4ft Fingers. With their new album "Go to Hell" in the pipeline, Sick On The Bus lead a loud and raucous punk gig (17th).
December sees the recently signed Bristol band Halo appear (15th). The Jellys returned to see us (1st). This month is also the launch for the annula BOTB competition. Speaking of which, local bands who made their mark on level 2 in the second half of 2001 include Borderline, Manboob, Chico And The Chocolate Factory, Unitus and Alterica.