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Every story from the Tap ’n’ Tin desk, newest first.
How to Start a Club Night: A Guide for UK DJs and Promoters
A monthly DJ night lives or dies on its idea, its venue deal and its licences, then on the regulars who keep coming back.
Busking Licence UK: Council Rules, Permits and the Tube
Busking is legal across the UK, but the rules change from one council to the next, and a few places require a licence or an audition.
How to Press Vinyl: A Step-by-Step Guide for Bands
From a vinyl master to boxes of finished records, each stage of a first pressing and the admin that should run alongside it.
PRS for Music Explained: PRS vs PPL Royalties for Bands
Songs and recordings earn separately in the UK, and knowing which body pays for which is the first step to collecting what a band is owed.
How to Get Gigs: A First-Gig Guide for New UK Bands
From a first demo to confirmed support slots, the practical steps that turn a rehearsal-room band into one promoters book again.
What Is Garage Rock? From 1960s Basements to the 2000s
Fuzz, three chords and second-hand amplifiers: how teenage 1960s bands created a sound that keeps coming back every generation.
The 7 Inch Vinyl Single: History, Formats and Collecting
Small, cheap and quick to make, the 45 became the home of the hit single and the calling card of every punk and indie band.
Rough Trade Records: The Story of the Shop and the Label
From a west London record shop to the label behind The Smiths and The Libertines, the ups and downs of a British independent institution.
What Is Post-Punk? The Genre Explained and Where to Start
Punk tore rock down to three chords; post-punk kept the anger and rebuilt it with dub, funk, electronics and art-school ambition.
What Is Britpop? The Bands, the Sound and the Story
How a handful of British guitar bands answered grunge, fought a famous chart battle and defined the sound of the mid-1990s.
Chatham Music Scene: A Short History of the Medway Towns
From naval dockyard and art school to garage bands, punk poets and one famous reunion night, how Chatham built its own music story.
Rochester Sweeps Festival: Guide to the May Folk Weekend
Morris sides, folk stages and a leafy giant on the High Street: what to know before a day at Rochester's free May bank holiday festival.
The Libertines Freedom Gig in Chatham, 8 October 2003
How a prison release, a hastily arranged club show and one photograph turned a Kent night into the defining Libertines comeback story.
Billy Childish: A Beginner's Guide to His Music, Art and Poems
One artist, three forms: how the Chatham-born songwriter, painter and poet built a huge body of work on the same rough, self-made method.
The Medway Sound: Garage Rock From Chatham and Rochester
How a cluster of Kent river towns produced a rough, blues-soaked garage rock scene that still has a cult following around the world.
Going to a Gig Alone: A Practical Guide for First-Timers
No one to go with shouldn't mean missing the band; a little planning makes a solo gig relaxed, safe and often more fun.
Access Card for Concerts: Disabled Fans' Rights at UK Gigs
From personal assistant tickets to viewing platforms, how to book access at a gig, prove your needs once and complain when it goes wrong.
Festival Packing List UK: What to Take to a Camping Festival
Everything a first-timer needs for a camping weekend in a British field, from wellies and power banks to medication rules and banned items.
Earplugs for Concerts: How to Protect Your Hearing at Gigs
Live music is often loud enough to harm your ears in minutes; the right earplugs and a few habits keep the music and your hearing.
Gig Ticket Resale Rules UK: What the Law Says and Scams to Avoid
Missed the on-sale? Here is what a resale listing must tell you by law, how the rules are changing, and how to spot a scam.
Partner stories
Material supplied by partners appears below, newest first, and is labelled as such.
From the Tin archive. Between 2003 and 2006 this domain carried the website of the Tap ’n’ Tin, a three-floor music pub on Railway Street in Chatham. This page keeps one of its items as a historical record. The magazine that publishes the site today is independent and has no connection with the venue, its owners or promoters; contact details have been removed, and pictures lost from the old site have been replaced with credited photographs.
- A stage for the pool roomA proper stage went up in the ground-floor pool room, first used for an Opus Trees gig.
- The cage barPlans were drawn up for a new bar in the middle-floor room, next to the big picture on the wall.
- Visitors from far awayThe website counted visitors from the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and across the United States after the Libertines gig: over 4,500 visits in its first 45 days.
- Rachel Stamp in ChathamThe London glam-rock band Rachel Stamp were booked for a Saturday night in April 2004, with tickets reserved first for the mailing list.
- More pressThe Kent Messenger ran two pieces on the pub and its record label, and The Face featured the artist who drew many of its posters.
- The salon reopensThe hair salon upstairs reopened on Thursday and Saturday evenings.
- NME Christmas issuePeter and Carl of the Libertines were on the Christmas cover of NME, and the reunion gig at the pub got a special mention inside.
- A tattoo studioWork began on a tattoo studio, to be called Future Primitive.