Last night was Diamond Dave’s birthday and he sent me a Facebook invite to his party. Dave calls British Bingo around town and Wednesday was not only his party at the Brass Door, but bingo night as well.
(By the way: Apologies for the crappy image quality of this post. My image editing software is messing up this morning and I don’t have time to find the fix.)
It was raining cats and dogs to the point that I took the rare step of bringing an umbrella with me. Normally I hate umbrellas. Anyway, I led off at happy hour at the Silly Goose, and there were maybe 8 people in there, and I would call that a good crowd given conditions outside. About 6:45 I got ready to walk to the Brass Door. “Poor Dave,” I thought. “I bet hardly anyone is going to show up for his birthday party.”
Was I ever wrong! Every table was occupied, and every bar stool was taken. The only reason I got a bar stool was because the DJ got up to do his gig and offered me his seat. A packed house, despite miserable weather, and during the time of year (January 1 through St. Patrick’s) when Downtown bars are at their slowest. Last night was the first time I had been in the Brass Door in about 16 months. Now, I know some of the people were there to see Dave, but looking at that crowd, the Brass Door is clearly doing something to attract folks for happy hour!
Not long after I got there, Seamus made a presentation. He said there is one thing Diamond Dave has always wanted:
… And now that guitar was Dave’s birthday present. The crowed clapped and cheered “SPEECH!” but Dave was a man of few words.
At 7:30 Dave began calling bingo. British bingo works a little bit differently than bingo in the United States. Here’s a look at the card:
You’ll notice that each number 1 through 90 appears on the card exactly once, in one of six colored boxes. Each colored box is a separate game. You have to get a “full house,” in other words every number in the box you are currently playing, before anyone else does to win.
Once the game starts, it goes fast! Dave calls a new number once every six seconds! Fortunately there is a video board where you can keep up with what was called:
Dave has sayings that go with each number. 22 is “two little ducks.” 62 is “tickety-boo.” 66 is “clickety-click.” 4 is “knock on the door.” 11 is “legs eleven.” 90, the highest number, is “top of the shop,” with 89 being “nearly there” and 45 being “halfway there.” The crowd plays along with some of the numbers, quacking twice for “two little ducks” for example and knocking on the bar for 4. This is a lot of fun and if you are looking for a reason to get out of the house and drink a few beers, I recommend it. There are Brass Door gift certificates for the winner of each game.
Seamus, the managing partner of the Brass Door, and I did a Jameson together. He then took me over to the other side, the former Mad Earl, and shared with me some of his vision for that space and the block of Madison his bar is on. He really wants the Brass Door to be a true public house (from which the abbreviation “pub” is derived), where the customers feel like it is their place, that they have a stake in it. He suggested that we meet once a week so that he can give me and my readers updates, and I agreed that was a good idea. So I guess the Brass Door will be seeing more of me!
As for the worry that I wouldn’t know a soul there, I knew a couple of people sitting at the bar. I also knew one of the servers. As I left and walked down Madison, a friend of mine texted that she wanted to say hello but was trapped by other people inside one of the booths.
I drank Memphis Made Fireside Ninja. That is a delicious beer.
I am glad I re-discovered the Brass Door. Very comfortable place. I will be back. Happy birthday Diamond Dave, and thanks for giving me a reason to be re-introduced to this fine Downtown public house.
Back with a news post at lunch or after work.