Jean Graham's Blog: Where Radiohead played their first gig

It was back in 1986 & Radiohead were not Radiohead. They were called On a Friday. And it wasn’t in London as you might have thought. It was in Jericho. No, I don’t mean the Palestinian city on the bank of the Jordan River. I mean the historic suburb in Oxford where all the posh, artsy, Bohemian people live in stunning town houses and write their novels in tiny cosy cafes whilst eating carrot cakes decorated with violet blossoms. The gig was nowhere else but at the Jericho Tavern.

The Jericho Tavern (click here to see where to find it) is a gig club & a pub in the very heart of Oxford’s Jericho. Unfortunately we went there when there were no gigs on (otherwise we could have listened to the likes of Bastille, Supergrass, Mumford & Sons or Ben Howard - who have all played in the Tavern before). What we did have though was a delicious dinner paired with a rather beautiful pint of beer.

You can’t beat pub food. Especially for someone who grew up in a rural countryside, no matter in what country that was, pub food is simply the fundamentals of my existence. To put the Jericho Tavern to the test I had one of the most complex pub foods you can have - mashed potatoes & sausages. There’s so much that can go wrong here - the liquidity & meatiness of gravy, the chunkiness of mash, the quality of sausages. I give the Jericho Tavern a sold 7 out of 10. It wasn’t mind blowing, it didn’t taste like my mum's potato mash, but it did fill my belleh and made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside. Shaun had a burger with fries & onion rings, which I quickly grew jealous of and may have stolen a couple of onion rings from.

Overall, a very affordable (I’d even say surprisingly affordable for the location) & pleasant little pub with history that will enchant every music buff!

Have you been to Jericho before?

What’s your favourite pub or restaurant in Oxford?