Description

Built For Comfort emerged from the ashes of Swindon based, The Hot Tamales in July 2002. Founder members Alec Adams and Bill Jones were joined by Phil Tait on drums, Chris Goddard on bass and John Ingleson on guitar.

Bill and Alec had met in the summer of 2000 when Alec was seeking harmonica lessons. Bill knew Chris from many years of playing together in The Vindaloo Brothers, Phil was a chance encounter from working with a TV leasing company and John answered a local advert by the boys for a guitarist. And then the story began. By the summer of 2004 the band had played over 65 gigs together, averaging about one a week.

Now, over a decade and hundreds of gigs later, Built For Comfort have turned into one of the tightest, rocking Rhythm and Blues outfits on the circuit today! The recent addition of Blues guitar maestro Michael King on guitar and Simon Needler on Hammond organ and piano have added a new dimension to the band. Little wonder they wow audiences wherever they play!

Built For Comfort have supported among others Wilco Johnson, Paul Lamb And The Kingsnakes and Ben Waters.

Description

Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t move for Irish-themed pubs in Bristol or, come to think of it, any other city. It was a short-lived novelty and many of the pubs have reverted back to their original state (or been transformed into another sort of theme bar), but Seamus O’Donnell’s was one of Bristol’s first and it has survived a decade- and-a-half of fads and fashions.

We continue to retain our Irish theme. A small, one-room bar with a red ceiling, dark wood tables and dark green stools, the walls are plastered with gold advertising mirrors and Irish street signs. Shelves are lined with old whiskey bottles, jugs, flagons, board games and even an old fiddle. Seamus O’Donnell’s is reassuringly and unashamedly old-fashioned, a place for people who appreciate and enjoy their drink and conversation, rather than go out purely to be seen or shout to be heard over loud music.

Needless to say, Guinness is our biggest sellers, and there are two pumps each for the original and “cold” varieties - even the Irish who visit tell us that it's taste is the closest anywhere to that of home. Apart from the black stuff, we stock a variety of Irish Whiskies and, for those with an even stronger constitution, Irish Moonshine 'Poteen' – the 70 percent ABV triple distilled spirit – which is so strong that it is limited to one shot per customer - you can't get this in any other bar in Bristol! Traditionally made from either potatoes or grain, the production of Poteen was outlawed in 1661, and remained illegal until the late 1990s.

A popular watering hole for office workers and St Nicholas Market shoppers at lunchtime and then a younger crowd in the evening, Seamus O’donnells is a refreshing reminder of what a pub should be, if you are new to the area or a regular visitor, you will always get céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes).

13 Nicholas Street,

Bristol,

England,

BS1 1UE.

01179 251 283