A Club If You’d Like To Go (who can spot where that name came from?) is a new regular gig night that’s being run by the ‘incredibly impressive, and hugely enjoyable‘ Oxfordian band Spring Offensive. Let guitarist Theo explain why they felt the need to set up gigs in a town already bursting at the seams with promoters:

“It’s so that we can put on bands who have in turn put us on in their own towns. We’ve found that some of the best shows we’ve played away from home have been with bands we’ve made friends with, not just because you reach a whole new set of ears, but it’s also nice to see friendly faces in new parts of the country. We’re going to be playing in Norwich and Aldershot with bands from both towns (Olympians and Our Lost Infantry) over the next few weeks, and this Saturday is the party at our place, so to speak. It’s also really liberating being able to sort out your own bills, as you can basically just choose who you want to see: next month we’ve got Hold Your Horse Is, who have one of the rawest live shows I’ve seen for a while, and we’ve also been lucky enough to get two of our favourite local bands to join us as well, namely Phantom Theory and Gunning For Tamar.”

Seems fair enough. The gigs will be at the Port Mahon in Oxford, which Theo rates because “it’s just the essence of everything good about DIY: you pay a small fee for a little room with a PA, and then you have a totally blank canvas to do what you want with.” Right on! There are currently two gigs lined up – Spring Offensive/Our Lost Infantry/Olympians on 16 October, and Spring Offensive/Hold Your Horse Is on 13 November. After those, there are plans to continue in 2011 with monthly, if not more regular, events.