On a cold midweek evening in a historic pub in southeast London, an enthusiastic crowd watched a rock group whose performance was reminiscent of the 1970s band Iron Maiden. In Albion, had an energetic heavy guitar sound and drew a flamboyant, expressive performance from its singer. The audience seemed to enjoy it even though the theatrical rock group was playing on a night advertised for funk and soul fans.

But it is ever thus at the Amersham Arms, the watering hole and entertainment venue that has sustained Lewisham for more than 170 years.

Other London music venues might commit to one genre, such as punk or jazz, or focus on one kind of entertainment but the Amersham Arms prides itself on its variety. “We put on an eclectic range of events where artists of all backgrounds can do their thing,” says Andy Palmer, manager of the Amersham Arms.

Some of these events are put on by promoters, he told ELL, but the rest are organised by staff. “It’s all about giving artists a platform to do whatever it is they’re into: fine art, poetry, society nights, meeting spaces or gigs.”

“Playing at the Amersham Arms is always fun,” said In Albion’s guitarist Ross Dinghile. “Nerves still fly, which I think is a good thing”.

A varied bill is a bit of an historical theme at the Amersham Arms. Soon after it threw open its doors, the local newspaper was describing an organ being played on the street outside the pub.

The Kentish Mercury’s report, dated 26 November 1859, showed that the Amersham Arms was following a pattern seen in other Victorian drinking houses. A 1983 British Journal of Sociology paper, Social Usages of the Public Drinking House: Changing Aspects of Class and Leisure, noted that industrialism “entrenched the ubiquitous pub amidst the song, sin and insobriety of the poor and the new working-class urban proletariat.” This allowed the public house to become “a focus of social freedoms and sexual licence, as well as a locus of more formal elements of rational recreation,” it said.

The paper added: “It was to the public house that there was a natural gravitation with industrial urbanism, linking the coarseness and spontaneity of popular recreation in a pre-industrial culture to the new urban context.”

In the early years, the Amersham Arms appears to have reflected this multi-purpose functionality. The pub served as a venue for wedding receptions and other parties and as a coaching inn for travellers. Property auctions were held there.

In 1869, the business was taken over by the Coppingers, a sporty family. They introduced games nights such as billiards and darts, according to the Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical and Musical Review of March 1870. Soon enough, the pub had its own billiards team. For decades, it competed in local tournaments. It’s possible that this competitive entertainment was influenced by the Coppingers’ passion for cricket, with multiple members of the family playing in the Kent county team.

By 1888, the Amersham Arms was back in family ownership and offered a multi-purpose bill of entertainment. A Mr and Mrs A.V. Ball would take over from in 1939. Under the Balls, the Amersham Arms seemed to change its focus a bit and started to advertise heavily in the local press as a restaurant.

In the 1960s, the pub started to focus on musical events, promoting a Monday jazz night that featured artists such as Owen Bryce, the legendary trumpeter who is considered one of the pioneers of traditional jazz.

It was from this point on that music became a staple of Amersham Arms’ entertainment, says Palmer. In reference to the moderately successful new wave rock band that emerged from southeast London, he added, “I’ve heard of talk that Squeeze played here when they were up and coming in the late 70s.”

The 1990s saw the pub broaden the range of its entertainment still further, with the introduction of quiz nights. But the meat and potatoes of the entertainment bill at the Amersham Arms remained its lively, if varied, music. It put on popular gigs that featured in music magazines but also had underground bands. Well-known musicians played there, with The Daily Mirror reporting that Glen Tilbrook and Marty Friedman came in 1992 and 1997 respectively. But so did underground bands over the years, much like In Albion in 2023.

“Maybe there’s been peaks and troughs depending on who’s been running the place,” said Palmer.

But mostly, the Amersham Arms has kept to the same basic mix and match entertainment formula – and if history is any guide, it seems to work.