I had the honour of being there for the closing of the Tackety Bit and it was with mixed feelings that I attended the event. At first I was happy to be attending another enjoyable night out at Tackety but I realised that when this night came to a close there wouldn’t be another. But even at the end it didn’t disappoint, they had the lads from The Stumblers in and they raised the roof. My particular highlight was their cover of ‘Dreaming of You’ by The Coral which had the entire the bar singing along.
Tackety Bit hasn’t been around long especially compared to Fanny By Gaslight (Formerly the Fifty Waistcoats and originally the Railway Tavern) which has been around in some form or another since first being established in 1846, but despite that I feel that during the time that it was running that it certainly left it’s mark on Kilmarnock, and I’ll always remember the times that I had there.
The Venue has been a great supporter of live music and has hosted a variety of local bands such as The Stumblers, Aboriginals, Losing Ground, Nothing But the Night and Ambivist just to name a few through its doors over the years.
In fact my friends from Ambivist had their debut live performance at Tackety Bit on the 22nd April 2016 alongside Nothing but the Night and Servant Sun. I imagine that the pub closing will feel like a particular loss to them because in a way they’ll be losing a piece of their own personal history as a band.
As I mentioned above the closing weekend kicked off with The Stumblers who rocked the joint all night playing a mixture of covers and their own brand of Scottish Folk Punk. It’s important to note that as well as being a popular spot for Live Music that Tackety Bit is also a Sports Bar and even on the last night there were a few dedicated fans who were crowded round the big flat screen to watch football while the band played in the corner.
The closing will be an additional blow to Kilmarnock because it’s yet another change to the pub scene. It was just a week or two earlier that a staple of the community in Kilmarnock Fanny By Gaslight changed ownership and many people are saying that it really is the end of an era or that the times are changing.
In my head Tackety Bit was the Independence pub and not just because it opened up right around the time of the Big Referendum. In many ways Tackety was a bit like Scotland, small but with a lot of potential, it’s just a shame that circumstances have cut short what should have been a long history but I can only hope that the boys at Tackety are off to greener pastures and know that we all appreciate them for feeding and watering us the past couple of years and most importantly thanks for all the good times.
I for one will be sad to see the place go even if another venue has popped up to take its place and So I raise one final glass to Tackety and say thanks for the memories.
Although Tackety Bit has closed, the property didn’t stay shut for too long, in fact The Tartan Sheep opened up fairly soon after to fill the void and has done its best to provide the same level of quality as it predecessor.
Lastly, I have a couple of quotes from people who wanted to say something about the closing:
“Was a shame, it’s a great pub with lovely staff and I wish Chris and Faither best for the future” – Lilian Anderson
“Its guttin’ to see one of the best pubs in town go under there was never a time I didn’t enjoy going to the pub” – Glen Robertson
“Tackety was a fantastic pub and its a shame to see it go. As it made the perfect atmosphere from the second you walked in” – Victoria Anderson
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