Famed Rock Venue The 100 Club Loses Out

London’s 100 Club, a venue making the news recently as a host or rock stars rallied to try and stop its closure, has been dealt another blow.

According to the Daily Express, the guardians of England’s past, English Heritage, submitted a request to the government to have the club listed as a historic building. Their application describes the club as “the oldest continuously running (and surviving) live music venue in the capital.”

The British government declined the bid, however, with a spokesperson for John Penrose, the minister responsible, telling the Sunday Telegraph: “There’s no denying the club’s place in British pop music history but in the end it’s only the stage and the signage that mark it out as being any different from any other basement club. I can’t help but feel that giving the cradle of punk rock listed building status would not be quite in tune with that movement’s driving spirit.”

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Arctic Monkeys Member Loses £40,000 When Ancient Rum Accidentally Opened

Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders lost an estimated 40,000 pounds when staff at the Sheffield, England, watering hole that he owns – Bowery Bar – accidentally opened a 215-year-old bottle of Henry Jefferson of Whitehaven. Helders’ staff had purchased the bottle of rum for 70 pounds but didn’t realize its value until they’d already popped the bottle, and spilt some of its contents onto the bar.

Helders and Arctic Monkeys bandmate Alex Turner were among those who sampled a few shots.

A source told The Sun this week, “The bar staff were mortified when they found out what they had done. Later on that night everyone was talking about it including Matt, Alex, and former Arctics member Andy Nicholson. Everyone was shocked but found it pretty funny – except the manager who runs the pub for Matt.”

The Bowery Bar posted a message on their Facebook page acknowledging, “The industry experts seem to agree that we’ve opened a bottle of booze potentially worth about 40 grand. [Expletive]. It was a stupid mistake but it made a lovely dark ’n’ stormy cocktail. Now we’ve got some of the country’s leading rum experts investigating and coming to see us.”

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