Montpelier (Lounged)

[k hogan]

Hey

First time post so go easy if this has been covered before!

Went to the Montpelier yesterday to watch the football. They have a massive screen at the back so thought it would be a good place ... Wrong.

Despite everyone round the screen wanting the sound turned up on the football they wouldn't turn the music down, which was really loud.

Fair enough the landlord wants to create a nice atmosphere by playing Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash records, which I have nothing against. But to isolate all those people seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Personally, I would be p*ssed off if a pub turned the excellent music so that people could watch footy on the telly.

Its a pub, not your living room.

[Nero]

Sounds like having cake and eating it. Why have a telly on when you can't listen to it? (PS I am not a footy fan and have never watched a game in a pub, but it's like advertising your wares and then saying, no you can't have them.) Nero

[brianb]

take a 2 minute walk to the prince albert the football is always on .great pint of lager

at decent prices.

[Muttley]

I was in the Magdala a couple of months ago and they were showing the cricket, England v India one day match. It was a day-night match with a thrilling finale (Broad and Bopara fighting back to win for England). Of perhaps ten people in the pub, all but a couple were glued to the cricket, including two of the bar staff. But they weren't prepared to turn down the music and put on the commentary for the final five minutes despite the obvious interest in it. There are times when having the commentary turned up are appropriate, and that was one.

[spadetownboy]

why should the music be turned down ,if someone has put a couple of quid in a jukie then they should be able to listen to the music, saying that there should be a bit of give and take ie if there is match on then it might be polite to wait until its over before sticking on the jukie, rather than having the two sounds compete, or if the guv,nor knows there is a big match on with a crowd expected not switch the jukie on in the first place.

[k hogan]

I was just a bit riled by the attitude of the landlord. This wasn't the real conversation, just the made up one in my head...

LL - "you must listen to Nina Simone"

Me - "yeah, nina simone is one of the most important jazz vocalists of our time, but everyone is watching the footy, put the commentary on"

LL - "no, that aint in keeping with the atmosphere this pub strives for"

Me - "well why don't you kick out everyone in the pub then or turn off the screen?"

LL - "i don't want to do that as I understand that you are all here for the football and paying for drinks and food, but this pub wants to be all sophisticated like"

Me - "i'm off somewhere else for the second half. i also hate nightmares on wax"

[SimonM]

Yoo don't get a commentary when you go to the Emirates or Anfield or Bramall Lane...and yet strangely the games are still enjoyable (well okay not so much Bramall lane just now...(6)). If you must have your banality-fix why not get the best of both worlds and ask the Landlord to turn on the commentary subtitles? (This already happens in many big-screen places with the news channels.) It really brings home to you how superfluous the commentaries are and how terrified some commentators are of letting the game speak for itself (i.e., and thereby underline the whole point of their absurd existence..)

[k hogan]

brilliant. do you think the people who write the commentaries up put in john motson's tourettes style vocal tics?

[pk]

i'm with hogan on this - if i go to watch football in a pub i want to hear commentary too

i therefore will not be watching football in the montpelier - hogan try the wishing well instead is my advice

[Michael Palaeologus]

There are few things more depressing that walking into a pub to find the patrons stood zombie like staring at the pub wall with their mouths open and vacant expressions on their faces. If you know that much about footie why do you need the commentary? Why dont you go an see it live?

[ratty]

Michael Palaeologus Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

-Why dont you go an see it live?-

Can't afford too, my team is based 80 miles away and a round trip to footy costs more than ?100 with beer and pies thrown in. If pubs advertise footy on then they are doing so to get punters, they should turn the fooking music off for the punters that want to watch the footy. It's only 90 minutes ffs! FFS I SAID FFS!!!!!

Solution however is to watch footy in the EDT or Wishing Well! Job Fully Done!

[*Bob*]

If I wander into a pub where they have football playing on a screen, I tend to wander out asap.

So having the football on but the sound turned down seems like a good way to alienate two lots of customers.

[Keef]

The thing is, if the sound is off, people will be staring at it like zombies, and there will be no atmosphere. If the sound is on, people get in to it, and it becomes a good fun experience (if you like footy obviously).

I just think a pub should either have it on with sound, or just not have it on, then everyone can choose where they want to go, and everyone is happy.

[k hogan]

big thumbs up to the last two posts

[Barry Rhode]

Don't know where the Montpelier is. Remind me

Anyone tried The Castle near Landels - the pink one

It looks like somthing out of the 1940s. Like it should have been stukka'd

That and the CPT really let this neck of the woods down

One bright pink the other bright blue

[mockney piers]

I rather like the montpellier, but I won't be making the mistake of wanting to watch footy there again.

I don't give two hoots for commentary, but it's nice to have the atmosphere, and having music and silent football merely serves to grate.

The castle has .. err .. character. You're taking your life in your hands having a pop at the CPT on here ;)

[Mark]

Why not get a little radio, plug in some headphones, tune it to Radio 5 and then go to the Montpellier? You can then watch and listen, everyone's a winner. Except Tottenham.

[Annasfield]

"Yoo don't get a commentary when you go to the Emirates or Anfield or Bramall Lane"

Yes, but at Anfield you get a fantastic atmosphere ::o

[Michael Palaeologus]

.. and pies and Bovril.

[tommy]

My solution is to buy some beers and go to a mates who's forked out for Sky Sports...great view, nobody walks passed the screen, get to turn the sound up, I get to watch the match and my mate gets some beers

[clare]

Just got back from lovely drink at Montpellier.

Screen rolled up so no one watching football.

Depeche Mode playing (bit too loud but I am geting on a bit).

We didn't eat but food looked good (and an alternative to Bar Storey and Peckham Experiment).

[tommy]

Peckham Experiment - thought that closed years ago ?

[clare]

I think it's called something else now but it's in the same place.

[Annasfield]

tommy, I like beer and have sky sports (and Setanta) ;-)