THE Bitter End in Romford has been through many incarnations in its time, but is currently one of east London and Essex s premier live music venues, writes MATT TROLLOPE. This Saturday sees up-and-coming south coast trio Broken Links perform in a line-up

THE Bitter End in Romford has been through many incarnations in its time, but is currently one of east London and Essex's premier live music venues, writes MATT TROLLOPE.

This Saturday sees up-and-coming south coast trio Broken Links perform in a line-up which also includes Barking trio OneSevenFours, and Essex foursome Seven Summers.

I, for one, remember The Bitter End, as a junior reporter on the Recorder almost 20 years ago, as the one place you could still get a drink in between afternoon closing and evening opening in the days when most pubs did shut during the day.

But Broken Links frontman Mark Lawrence insists: "If you're a band based outside of London trying to build a reputation, then The Bitter End is one of the places you want to be playing.

"As well as the cream of the guitar bands trying to make it right now, it also has a lot of the cooler American bands just starting out too."

Mark, 26, went to the same school as 22-year-olds Lewis Betteridge (bass) and Phil Boulter (drums), all three growing up in Eastleigh, just north of Southampton.

Together now for 18 months, the trio released their first EP soon after they formed at the start of 2009, purely to get some gigs.

Mark, who works as software consultant, says: "We have set ourselves milestones to achieve along the way.

"First was getting a gig, then record our first releases, and next to headline The Joiners, our local leading live venue, where Radiohead and Oasis have played in the past.

"Next up is to play outside of the UK, and we're off to Germany for a week of gigs straight after The Bitter End gig, including one in Hamburg.

"So things are going pretty well for us a the moment."

Broken Links have been likened to Muse and include Joy Division, Depeche Mode and Manic Street Preachers as their influences.

Meanwhile, OneSevenFours, can also be found tomorrow (Thursday) at The Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel, hot on the heels of their recent gig at the Admiral Vernon in Broad Street, Dagenham.

You can check out a taster of Broken Links' new six-track EP, The Fine Line Between Choice/Decay, at myspace/brokenlinksmusic and get more information on the band at their website www.brokenlinksmusic.co.uk