Although he’s been producing and remixing for a number of years – Marco Niemerski, better known as Tensnake, will forever be known for his track “Coma Cat”. Hardly surprising — the 7 minute number is the most undeniably fun piece of music since “Hey Ya!” Mixing the classic house chords of Antony & the Camp’s “You know what I like” with his own buoyantly tropical style, the single developed into a dance-floor monster – reigning supreme in the summer of 2010 and beyond. And no one-hit-wonder neither – his irreverent take on Azari & III’s “Reckless with your Love” was just as ubiquitous. While a bit quiet recently his latest release, a pair of remixes for Philip Lauer, showed that his old touch hasn’t deserted him – two giddy cuts of goodtime house that’ll have even the dourest dudes shuffling.

Alongside will be John Talabot, the Barcelona resident whose debut album fIN, despite only being released in February, is already being tipped for the end of year garlands. While his use of tropical tropes often see him grouped with chillwave types, his music touches base with a range of styles – with shades of deep house and melancholic techno filtering into his sound. However we can expect a riot if classic cut “Sunshine” doesn’t get an airing!

Elsewhere Futureboogie host a room headed by Hot Creations’s Waifs & Strays, whilst a live set from Swedish techno duo Skudge looks set to raise the temperature to boiling point. Who needs the Costa del Sol?

Trouble Vision Summer Session with Tensnake, John Talabot, Skudge, Futureboogie at Corsica Studios, SE17 1LB, Friday 25^th May. More information can be found here.

Tensnake photo used with permission from the artist

Kicking things off in style is Friday’s House of Disco in Shoreditch, whose big draw is a live set from the awesome Tiger & Woods. The mysterious duo of Larry Tiger and David Woods (possibly not their real names) made 2011 their own with an incredible run of singles, a fantastic debut on Running Back and an album “Wiki + Leaks” given away for the hell of it. The duo specialize in creating edits — sampling tiny sections of oft obscure soul, funk and disco tracks and building these basic elements into irresistible house grooves.  The duo bring to mind Daft Punk, not in their sound so much as their innate grasp of dancefloor dynamics – replicating the best moments from their favourite songs to create music unparalleled in its joyfulness.

Things get a bit heavier on Saturday with Melt Music’s bill of house/techno heavyweights Nick Hoppner & Tama Sumo. With his monthly residence at Panorama Bar and his running of the club’s in-house label Ostgun Ton, Nick Hoppner is very much the face of Berlin’s Berghain club – one of the most famous clubs in the world and a renowned Mecca for techno devotees. His set typifies the sound that rocks Berlin every weekend, a tough mechanical techno with minimal splashes of melody — specifically primed for maximum dance-floor impact. Joining him is fellow Berghain resident Tamo Sumo, whose great Panorama Bar mix CD showcased the unique touches of house warmth she brings to her live sets. Though the door staff hopefully won’t be as terrifying, expect Melt’s event to bring some of the magic of a long night out in Kreuzberg.

Sunday night winds things down a notch with party perfectionists Wolf + Lamb, who will be throwing an all-day “experience” for those still on their feet. While notionally a duo of Zev Eisenberg & Gadi Mizrahi, Wolf + Lamb is an umbrella term for a range of ventures – a production team, a record label and a community of like minded souls who like their house music slowed down to a sticky n’ sensual groove. Their approach while playing live is as laid back as their music, an unpretentious good times party that include chats with the crowd, club rap bangers and impromptu stage invasions. With Love Fever’s event going on all day and a barbecue on hand, expect a perfect end to the weekend whatever the weather.

Friday: House of Disco presents: Tiger & Woods (Live), Wolf Music, Rayko at Basing House, Shoreditch. Tickets are available here.

Saturday: Melt Music 5 with Nick Hoppner & Tama Sumo at Secret Shoreditch Warehouse. Tickets are available here.

Sunday: Love Fever with Wolf + Lamb at Oval Space, Bethnal Green. Tickets are available here.

Tama Sumo image used with permission from the artist.

Bootie — the world-famous all-mashup party from San Francisco — is back on tour and in London tomorrow night (Friday).

For the uninitiated, mashups (also known as bootlegs or bastard pop) take the acapella from one track, the music from another and fuse them to make a new piece of music.

Arguably the first internet-powered music phenomenon, the modern mashup scene was born in London about a decade ago. Hits like M/A/R/R/S’ Pump Up The Volume and the Sugababes’ Freak Like Me have reached number one, successful sample-based bands include the Go! Team and the Avalanches and laptop-wielding megastar Girl Talk recently released a free-to-download album which “broke the internet”.

We take our hats off to the ingenious DJs who somehow dream up killer combinations like Green Day, Oasis, Travis and Eminem, George Bush with John Lennon or, in the suitably named A Stroke Of Genius, The Strokes with Christina Aguilera.

As well as writing their own material with dancefloor fillers like Beethoven’s 5th combined Kanye West’s Gold Digger, Bootie ringmasters San Francisco DJs Adrian and the Mysterious D (aka A+D) have been responsible for organising mashup parties all over the US with occasional trots around the globe. Tomorrow evening, they will be dropping into Electrowerkz in Islington where they will host and headline a night with London’s own DJ Payroll.

There’s a free exclusive Bootie London mashup CD to the first 100 people through the door and to get you in the mood, here’s a sublime combination of Iron Maiden and The Monkees titled Trooper Believer.

Tickets are £8 in advance or on the door. Electrowerks is at 7 Torrens Street, Angel EC1V 1NQ.

What differentiates the great producers from the good? In the limited parameters of dance music it’s sometimes easy to miss the true masters, but the prodigal talent of Danilo Plessow has seem him stand out when others are still starting out. Although Stuttgart born and Cologne based, his recording moniker Motor City Drum Ensemble references the music of Detroit – the birthplace of electronic music, with its techno pioneers and unique house sound. And while the music of the past informs his refined productions, he is not slavishly trying to recreate the sounds of yesterday. Instead he works in the same mindset almost as producers like Moodymann and Theo Parrish, producers whose intent is not to tear up the dancefloor, but more on exploring the continuum of soulful expression.

The Deep Cuts series of vinyls that made his name saw him expertly stitch snippets of funk and soul tracks into muscular deep house anthems, a run of records that just a few years on already holds mythic status. His outstanding DJ Kicks mix from last year chose not to showcase the hottest new sounds from Berlin, but to weave a tapestry of the soul, jazz and early house records that so inspire Plessow’s original poductions. It doesn’t matter that Detroit is 4,000 miles away –- this type of music is a feeling, not a postcode. And besides, when has being German got in the way of creating fantastic electronic music?

The night, in the classic ‘as yet undisclosed East London Warehouse location’ will also feature sets from Desolat’s tINI, offering cuts of her Ibiza inspired tech house, and Mulletover label boss Geddes cranking out those sweet house sounds. Wherever it takes place, expect the motor city to feel that little bit closer.

Nofitstate feat Motor City Drum Ensemble, Tini, Geddes at TBA – East London, Saturday, 17th March. Tickets are available here.

Image from Motor City Drum Ensemble

This Saturday sees the next outing for Bacanal, an event built around the not-so-well-worn ingredients of food, cabaret and a decent dose of hardcore clubbing.

While the combination of food and cabaret for this event are familiar to devotees of supperclubs like Notting Hill’s Supperclub or East London’s Brickhouse, there are two particular twists to Bacanal that warrant attention and attendance. The first is the the aforementioned clubbing, the quality of which would not be out of place in high season Ibiza, despite actually being in Belgravia. The second is that the event starts in the middle of the day with a chucking out time of around 7pm, just in time for evening frolics or – in our case – slinking off home for a lie-down.

The food itself is a pleasant affair – three well-executed dishes with veggie options that are filling without leaving you with a carb OD. The real fun starts with what one organiser (Diego, an Argentinean ex-City banker) calls “the transition”. Its a small phrase with a big impact: one minute, we’re scarfing down the dessert while chatting with our neighbours, the next we were in a darkened room at eye-level with the very bendy Iona Luvsandorj while the fire dancers and stilt walkers of Girls Roc wander by. As well as the impromptu circus, we’re treated to the Australian electric violinist Jane Cho who applies an overdue roundhouse kick to the head of modern classical music.

The platinum-plated cherry on this event’s cake is undoubtably the teutonic techno-tsunami unleashed by DJ Klaus and live percussionist Ameet Jugnauth. Over three non-stop hours, the pair bring the house down with some fearsomely loud thumpa-thumpa tunes. The tables are cleared and most flat surfaces are up for grabs as the crowd come together for some serious hoofing.

We walked out thinking that brunch clubbing is a great idea on at least two counts. The first is that, being held in the afternoon, we had far more energy than if we were going to a club at weekday-bedtime o’clock. The second is that the journey home did not mean (for once) the usual ritual of waiting for and being jammed onto a night bus. Talk about win-win.

Bacanal’s next outing will be a 20s themed  event this Saturday, again at Il Botaccio. Tickets are £40 and more information can be garnered here.

Love Brunch

If you’re looking for an alternative brunch clubbing experience, we can also recommend LoveBrunch. Keeping to a similar formula of food, cabaret and club tunes, they recently celebrated their second birthday with an event at the Sanderson Hotel.

LoveBrunch will be returning to Supperclub on Dec 17 for an event in conjunction with the Austrian alpine rock festival Snowbombing. You can see more news on that here.

Concrete is a new venue for the six-weekly event previously housed in both Grammaphone and Cable clubs. Antique tiled walls and candlelight give the impression of stepping back in time into a speakeasy, a theme that’s proliferating around the capital.

This week, regular spinners Benji and Moxie played electro-tinged R&B in a relaxed back-to-back, throwing down a few hip hop tunes before increasing the tempo with UK Bass numbers. Remix maestro, Mosca headlined with his distinct future garage sound and a set featuring a majority of his own material which kept the feet firmly on the dancefloor. Benji closed the night with a mixture of heavy funk and jazz such as this Nina Simone song, increasing the speakeasy vibe.

Deviation is next at Concrete on 14 December. The line up has yet to be announced but expect a continuation of the high calibre seen to date. Entry £7, 9pm-2am.

By Daniel Byrne

Diz "Honey Bear" Watson

Streatham’s set to swing to the sound of a deep-south speakeasy with the launch of a bi-monthly Speakeasy Sunday jazz night at Hideaway. It has the nod of approval from New Orleans voodoo maestro Dr John.

Roaring RnB and New Orleans Jazz and funk will be on the menu from 6 November at the stylish South London jazz club, with live music and a specially created creole menu with added “Big Easy” atmospherics provided by Jazz FM DJs.

Playing live at the launch night is Diz “Honey Bear” Watson whose barrel house piano and New Orleans  boogie led Dr John to say: “Diz is great, you can’t fool him. He really can play that piano.” Diz be backed by steamy funk jazzsters The Doormen.

Speakeasy Sunday will take place every other Sunday with two live sets by that night’s jazzsters, including the stinging Chicago blues of Rollo Markee and the Tailshakers on 27 November, and swamp soul band The Coalminers, who boast Dr John’s UK horn section in their ranks, on 18 December.

There will be exclusive cocktail tasters courtesy of Four Roses Bourbon served in Speakeasy Jam Jars for the first 30 through the door, too. Nice.

Speakeasy Sunday launches 6 November, doors 7pm. Tickets £8 in advance.

Hideaway, 2 Empire Mews, off Stanthorpe Road, Streatham, London, SW16 2ED. 020 8835 7070

Thursday 28 April

Get ready for the big weekend with A Right Royal Rave courtesy of Pump Up The Volume at XOYO, Cowper St EC2. This stag and hen style do bursts with 90s hip hop, house and pop fit for kings and commoners. 10.30pm-4am, tickets £8, £12 on the door.

Urban 75 get ready to say fuck the royal wedding with an Offline anti-royal wedding special at the Stockwell Grosvenor, 17 Sidney Road, SW9 0TP. It’s free admission so go and admire the anarchist bunting plus samba drumming, the fab Actionettes, magic, protest movies, trash garage, beats and more. 9pm-3am + cheap bar.

Friday 29 April

The Leonard Street Royal Wedding Street Party kicks off at 10am on Leonard Street, Shoreditch EC2A. The wedding will be beamed to a big screen and other entertainment will be provided by the Book Club, The Griffin and Pure Evil Gallery. A vintage fair will be laid on by Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair and Rag&Bow – The Roaming Vintage Store. Expect live music, food and booze and party games plus the reception rolls on into the night with a party at the Book Club from 6pm. And it’s all free to attend. RSVP on Facebook.

There are royal zombie celebrations in Soho Square from 10am, led by Queer Resistance.

Lords Cricket Ground in St Johns Wood is throwing a street-style party in its grounds. The home of cricket screens the wedding in Harris Gardens whilst Middlesex play Surrey on the pitch. Entry tickets for the day are just £15 for adults, £7.50 for over 65s and kids are free.

Butterfly Social throw a street party based around the Lamb in Leadenhall Market. Starting at 10.30am, watch the wedding, have lunch, play games, get the giggles and bop to a cheesy disco. Tickets £12/15.

The Jam Tree in Chelsea will be open from 10am with jugs of Pimms, a royal barbecue, a sunny back garden to chill out in and general merriment to the small hours.

The Water Poet pub on Folgate Street, Spitalfields hosts a whole day of revelry and a commemoration knees up from 11am. It’s all Londony retro, picking the best bits from 1700-1900 with a Music Hall sing along, accordion chanteuse, screenings by The East End Film Festival, Jack the Clipper’s Barbers in the cellar, Sipsmith Gin Palace, Pearly King & Queen of Bow Bells plus Fuller’s cask ales, Truman’s limited edition bottles and a rather magnificent horse and dray. Free entry.

Upstairs at the Ritzy, Brixton is open from 11am screening the wedding and throwing a ‘Right Royal Raucous Royal Wedding‘ party with Pimms, bunting and music hall maestros, the Dead Victorians. Free entry all day.

Five Nicolson’s pubs along the Thames – The Mudlark, The Old Thameside, The Blackfriar, The Horniman at Hays and the Doggett’s Coat & Badge – will be showing the Royal Wedding on their widescreen tellies and celebrating with barbecues and street entertainment. You can try their specially commissioned Royal IPA while you’re there.

Republic’s Not The Royal Wedding Party takes place in Red Lion Square, Holborn from 11.30am. It’s a street party “celebrating democracy and people-power rather than inherited privilege” so don’t expect to watch the balcony kiss at this event.

Royal Wedding Bash unleashes a day and night time party to celebrate with Wills n Kate. Between 10am-3pm watch the wedding live with a glass of champagne and sit down to a mega cream tea afters with a dash of live comedy. The Royal Wedding Evening Ball is from 7-11.30pm with live (rock) music. They both take place at Porchester Hall, W2. Tickets are discounted at present (can’t shift ‘em?) day time: £75 / evening: £30 and offers for groups.

Drink, Shop, Do urges you to put on a posh frock and watch the wedding on their big screen whilst taking a Royal Afternoon Tea (strawbs and champagne) at 9 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DX. Book your place and scrub up nice.

The Waterloo Bar and Grill opposite Waterloo Station tell us it is showing the wedding on the telly in the front bar and Chef is rustling up a special tea.

The Bavarian Beerhouse celebrates the wedding at both Old Street and Tower Hill with Willenkate lookalike contests and Bavarian wedding cake. Open from 8pm-midnight, admission free.

It’s Royalty v Anarchy at Throne Out, Proud Camden from 7.30pm. Tales of the Unexpected bring fire breathers, aerialists and all sorts of dark embellishments to the Horse Hospital, with live music and carousing till 4am. Tickets just £3.50 + bkg free in advance.

Meanwhile, at Proud Cabaret at 1 Mark Lane EC3 there’s a celebration of Love and Lust with satire of everything British, royal role reversals and a “patriotic striptease”. Supper club dinner £54. Show only £11. 7.30pm-1.30am.

The Alternative Royal Wedding Reception takes place at the upside down cow on the Southbank AKA E4 Udderbelly at 7.45pm. Guests will be entertained over 2 hours by comedy and cabaret and those in full on wedding finery get discounted drinks. Tickets £19.50.

Fuck the Royal Wedding at Buffalo Bar, Highbury and Islington from 8.30pm. A decidedly ‘anti’ party, it even has a band called Fuck off Piss off playing with support from the socialist R&B of Three Faction. Tickets £5 adv, £6 on the door.

Urban 75 throw another anti-royal beano Offline with Punk Versus Nashville Wedding Night Showdown at the Prince Albert, 418 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LF, free entry, 9pm-3am.

The Royal White Wedding is for those who wish it was them in the big frock and those who just love a wedding reception. Dress as “Henry VIII’s brides, Princess of Whales, Duchess of Pork… Prince Consorts… walking cakes” basically full on wedding clobber for a right royal piss up. At 229 The Venue, Great Portland Street from 9.30pm-3am. Tickets £8 advance, £10 on the door.

Saturday 30 April

The William IV pub – as visited on our Royal Wedding pub crawl – is holding a day late street party on the pavement surround its premises. £10 entry includes a glass of wine and a burger plus knees up entertainment between midday and 7pm.

Club de Fromage have a Right Royal Knees Up 80s special at the Islington Academy from 10.30pm. “Party like its 1981 at the wedding of Charles and Di. Make sure you get togged up in your 80s wedding best as we’ll be crowning the King and Queen of Fromage.” Tickets £6.50.

What have we missed? Tell us in the comments.

Image of Royal Wedding Collector Plate designed by KK Outlet by Ed Aves.

Unsure whether 2011 spells economic misery and austerity or a fine fresh start? Feeling Gloomy and Club de Fromage provide the perfect year end split personality NYE party with one room of glorious indie wallowing and one of perfect cheesy pop.

Plus, in an attempt to predict what the coming year holds the ‘Gloomometer’ will register the mood of the nation by measuring how many people are in each room at midnight and proclaiming the results in the name of “science”.

Happy or sad, no-one goes home empty handed with free merchandise and presents including Fromage and Gloom mugs, t-shirts, badges and beach balls.

Want to go? We have 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway. Enter the draw now. Winners will be picked at random and notified by email tomorrow – Friday – around 10am.

Good luck!

Feeling Gloomy vs Club De Fromage is on Friday 31st December at 02 Academy Islington, 16 Parkfield St, Islington, N1, from 9pm- 4am. Price: £20. Buy tickets online.

Check out our other NYE clubbing recommendations.

“New Years Eve? Ooh, what a conundrum,” exclaimed a waiter overhearing our multiple-choice conversation at De Beauvoir’s dainty A Little Of What You Fancy. Do you stay in and watch Jools? Invite some friends over? Go to theirs? Go dancing? Go and stand in the cold looking for fireworks? The possibilities are huge if you’ve got the cash, but coordinating your friends is quite the mission.
If dancing is your desire though, we’ve pulled together some of our favourite sounding nights that all come with the Londonist seal of approval.

New Years Eve @ Dalston Nest: Tickets £15.
Since transforming from Barden’s earlier in the year, The Nest, thanks to its connections to Fabric, has had no shortage of the freshest, most cutting edge electronic talent on its decks. New Years Eve doesn’t change their strategy as Jesse Rose headlines a lineup that also includes Boy 8 Bit and Rachel Barton. Rave it up.

Ultimate Power @ The Scala: Tickets £20
Air guitars at the ready! For a cheesy rock option, we’ve heard nothing but good words about Ultimate Power. Whether it’s Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi, Meatloaf or even Phil Collins that gets you going, this night of solid power ballads and singalong rock means January 1 will probably be spent talking in very hoarse tones.

Bugged Out @ XOYO: Tickets £28
Legendary London dance night Bugged Out continues it’s residency at Old Street’s XOYO by teaming up with 90′s r&b and dance night ‘Pump Up the Volume’ for New Year’s Eve. DJs include Friendly Fires, Riton, L-Vis 1990 and Lou and Nova.

Good Times @ The Garage / Clapham Grand: Tickets £35 (North, South)
Norman Jay’s Good Times covers both North and South London with two events that will see Jay himself and Gilles Peterson running across the Thames to play at both venues. Normally we’re used to dancing to Good Times at Notting Hill Carnival but have no doubt that its feel good vibes will happily distract from the freeze outside. Also on the Islington bill are Ladybugz and Crate Diggers while Junior Boy Terry Farley and Rudy Ranks join the headliners in Clapham.

Eve of Tomorrow Ball @ Secret Location : Tickets: £45+
Londonist favourites White Mischief combine forces with The Boom Boom Club to invite you to join them at Ronald Frend’s Electric Corporation in 1930′s London. Featuring cabaret, a circus, robotic waiters, liquid nitrogen ices and for some a currency to invest in the shadowy corporation, we’ve no doubt from previous events that this’ll be worth the hefty fee. Dressing up is encouraged and you can shake your wares until 5am.

Midnight in Manhattan @ Ronnie Scott’s : £60
An upmarket glamourous choice for the night, upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s will be hosted by American jazz singer Kai Hoffman for a party that plans to make like it’s 1959. Your finest 50′s vintage dresses should be out for the night as Kai and her Cats celebrate with jazzy jive, rock and roll and speakeasy-style fun.

Together @ Brixton Academy: Tickets £60+
The biggest dance party in the UK this New Year, Together heads to Brixton Academy with Mark Ronson headlining a night that runs all the way till 6am. Annie Mac, Fake Blood, Herve, Zinc, Krafty Kuts and Evil Nine make up the rest of the bill which reads pretty much like a dream-team in the world of dance music. Top this off with a midnight PA from Katy B and you’re getting your money worth in terms of big names.

Ice skating season begins at the Natural History Museum today. Image by onenil v2 via the Londonist Flickrpool

All weekend:

• Remember, remember the 5th of November: find a bonfire night event near you.

Friday:

• The Natural History Museum ice rink opens today: weekdays from 10am-10pm, weekends from 8.45am-10pm. Adult peak time ticket £13, kids £8.50.

Saturday:

• The Throwback Vintage Festival celebrates “the entirety of the last century” with a fair for shopping all afternoon and a night of music and live performance. At Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. Free before 8pm, then tickets £5 adv. From midday till 3am.

Sunday:

• Take a walk in the beautiful 1,000 acre River Lee Country Park and discover a world of lakes, waterways, green open spaces and countryside areas. Meet at Fishers Green Car Park, Stubbins Hall Lane, Waltham Abbey EN9 2EF. 10.30M-12.30pm, free.

42-44 Battersea High Street SW11 3HX. Tickets £12 adv.

Other good stuff:

Lots of arty stuff opens this week. There are gigs to go to and literary events to listen at. Plus, if you’re feeling the pinch, there’s frugal fun for everyone.

You can also browse all latest arts and events features and salivate over our latest food and drink content for gastronomic inspiration.

Booking Ahead

Masterchef Live – formerly more boringly known as the London BBC Good Food Show Live – is at Excel weekend of 12-14 November. Tickets from £20.50.

What are you doing? Let us know in the comments. And have a stonking time.

This post is sponsored by the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

On November 27th, 2010 – 14 countries will exchange the best of their local nightlife as part of The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project.

For your chance to BE THERE the day the world swaps nights, click here.

Every third Friday of the month, Cosmic Slop heads to underground dancefloor The Drop in Stoke Newington to play an ecletic rare selection of psychedlic funk, soul and rock’n'roll from the 1950s onwards. This month’s Slop sees the regular DJ team joined by Mahssa Taghinia, a dedicated vinyl librarian and archeaologist who runs the US branch of Finders Keepers Records. We spoke to resident DJs Pat Long, Dr. Smith and Chris ‘The Judge’ Arthur to find out more.

What’s the story behind Cosmic Slop?

We just wanted to put on a regular monthly free party for our friends as there weren’t really any nights in Stoke Newington that played the music that we all liked. It’s developed slightly from that but the ethos remains the same.

Who are your djs, what do they play, and what do they do in the real world?

One of us is a freelance illustrator – check out his work at www.raysmith.bz – one of us is an electrical engineer for London Transport and one of us is a layabout – but we’ve all been DJing for years and have excellent and wide-ranging taste and record collections.

What is it about the music you play that is so special?

It’ll make you shake your ass.

Have you had any celebs on your dancefloor?

Vampire Weekend came along once but it’s really not about that. There’s no red carpet, dress code or VIP area and if you were dancing next to someone famous you probably wouldn’t notice because you’d be having too much of a good time.

The Drop is a pretty new venue (underneath The Three Crowns pub) – what’s it like?

We started the night about a year ago at a place called The Gold Bar, but that venue burnt down in slightly mysterious circumstances in the middle of the night. We moved to The Drop when it opened. It’s basically just one big dance floor, is in a cellar and has an amazing sound system, so it met all of our requirements.

Tell us one artist you play who we’ve probably not heard of that we should check out.

Os Mutantes.

What other club nights do you like going to in London?

The Fabulous Cellar club in Camden is consistently great. The best club I’ve ever been to in London was The Frat Shack in the ’90s – great rockabilly/garage/sleaze/burlesque/fancy dress/mayhem night before any of that stuff was done to death and got stale.

Does Cosmic Slop have a plan for the future?

We love doing it, and judging by the number of people who come down we’re doing something right. We’ve done two mixes so far – which you can find here and here – and the next one will be available very soon. Plus you can check out our Facebook Group for our Spotify playlists and stuff.

Name five songs we’ll be having a dance about to tomorrow?

‘Cottonpickin” – Jim And The Invictas

‘Mony, Mony’ – Celia And The Mutations

‘Let’s Stick Together’ – Wilburt Harrison

‘Why Can’t There Be Love’ – Dee Edwards

‘Hipsville 29 BC’ – The Sparkles

What’s your absolute floorfiller?

‘Come On Over’ by The Vine Street Boys

And finally what’s your London secret?

Pom Pom Hair And Beauty in Leyton is seriously amazing.

Check out Cosmic Slop tonight at The Drop (downstairs, 175 Stoke Newington High Street) and get a sneaky peak of their playlist over on spotify. Doors are 10 – 4 and entry is free.

We love a good idea for a club night, and The Record Player has ticked all our boxes. Launching this Saturday night at Concrete on Shoreditch High Street, the night promises to take you on a journey back in time, this time round to 1979. Instead of focusing on one particular type of music, it plans to take a year of history and dig through all the musical gems associated with it. For 1979 we’re promised Blondie, Talking Heads, ELO, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and many more for the big guns, but we’re assured that there’s going to be a hint of geekery involved with the 4 DJs digging through forgotten treasures for songs we weren’t about to dance to when they first came out.

They’d like your help though, and you’re invited to head along to their blog to share your recommendations and vote on your favourite 20 songs of the year. Leave us a comment with your favourite song of 1979 and we’ll give our favourite suggestion a pair of guestlist to the night.

The Record Player, Concrete, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ. Entry from 8pm – 2am priced at £4.

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We love a good idea for a club night, and The Record Player has ticked all our boxes. Launching this Saturday night at Concrete on Shoreditch High Street, the night promises to take you on a journey back in time, this time round to 1979. Instead of focusing on one particular type of music, it plans to take a year of history and dig through all the musical gems associated with it. For 1979 we’re promised Blondie, Talking Heads, ELO, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and many more for the big guns, but we’re assured that there’s going to be a hint of geekery involved with the 4 DJs digging through forgotten treasures for songs we weren’t about to dance to when they first came out.

They’d like your help though, and you’re invited to head along to their blog to share your recommendations and vote on your favourite 20 songs of the year. Leave us a comment with your favourite song of 1979 and we’ll give our favourite suggestion a pair of guestlist to the night.

The Record Player, Concrete, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ. Entry from 8pm – 2am priced at £4.

]]> http://londonist.com/2010/05/preview_the_record_player_concrete.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2010/04/last_minute_listing_some_kind_of_wo.php http://londonist.com/2010/04/last_minute_listing_some_kind_of_wo.php#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:11:35 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=17137 W1′s The Social is one of our favourite central London venues but for one reason or another we don’t go enough. Tonight though we’re almost thinking about dragging our tired midweek clubbing heels down there for the launch of new night ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’. Promising the best soul 45′s from the 60s and 70s era, it’s a free night that tonight features special guest DJ Kevin Rowland. Having danced to a very funny set from the Dexy’s frontman at Bestival one year which involved him singing over the end of every song, we think this is one Thursday nighter worth hitting the tiles for. Entry is free and the night funs from 7 – 1.

Long Easter Weekends bring out the best in London clublife, and Fabric certainly know how to make you almost want to go to the same venue 4 nights on the trot with their line-up for this bank holiday weekend.

Tonight things kick off with the Advenutes to the Beetroot Field returning for their occassional Thursday night event with live sets from These New Puritans, Gyratory System, Banjo or Freakout and Daedelus. The big news though is a set from Belgian disco heroes Aeroplane. We’re not sure if they’re playing live or DJing but either way should be a treat.

Fabric Live continues pushing boundaries on Friday when we’d be keen to see up and coming Glaswegian dub producer Rustie take on Room 1, but the main highlight of the weekend comes on Saturday night when Canadian Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts make their only scheduled UK stop of the year so far. With a background in classical and Latin musical studies, his solo band project sees him trying to make the perfect blend of funk, house, techno, gospel, swing, barbershop quartet and afro-beat. During live shows we’re promised an emphasis on experimental percussion, so it should be an energetic and fun show.

The full line-up is online along with tickets for Saturday at a somewhat pricey £18. Luckily though if you’ve spent all your Easter money on chocolate, Fabric have given us three tickets along with a bundle of CD which includes Guillaume’s latest and room 2 DJ Robert Hood’s Fabric 39 compilation. To win, email your name and phone number to londonist@gmail.com with Fabric in the title.

If you want to hear a mixture of the freshest sounds in clubland, then Annie Mac’s Friday night Radio 1 show is unmissable. In the last twelve months, she’s been taking her tastemakers skills out into her audience with specially curated shows ‘Annie Mac Presents’. The latest edition hits Koko next Saturday 14th November and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. Email londonist@gmail.com with your details and Annie in the subject line and we’ll randomly pick a winner next Tuesday. We caught up with the lady herself for her take on London’s club culture.

Annie Mac hello! We’re looking forward to a night out with you next week. What’s going on?

I’m returning to Koko for my 3rd Annie Mac Presents of the year. The last two have been brilliant nights and this time round I’m joined by Miike Snow, Young Father, Kid Sister, Boy 8-Bit and Doorly.

Why’ve you picked Koko as the venue?  

It’s a great space… because its got about 5 different levels. The sound works well and the atmosphere is great because everyone’s on top of each other. I kind of like having all this grimy club music in such a pretty old venue as well. 

Can you talk us through the talent you’ve chosen as performers?   

Miike Snow are a Swedish band that make beautiful electronic pop music and their album is one of my favourites from 2009.

Young Fathers: up and coming talent from Edinburgh – electro hip hop with amazing synchronised dance moves.

Boy 8-Bit: very talented producer from South London. His work is subtle and beautifully crafted; great DJ as well, playing at Fabric quite a bit.

Kid Sister: brand new rapper from Chicago. She has a great debut album ready to drop and is a really fun performer.

When you’re not running your own, what’s your favourite clubnight?


YoYo at Notting Hill Arts Club is my regular spot. I go there as much as I can. I never tire of it… they always put on really good up and coming bands before the club starts which is good too. 

Where’s home?

I moved to Queens Park a year ago after living in Brixton and Streatham and Battersea for years and years. I chose to live there because I had loads of friends there and I think it’s really important to be near friends in London.

What’s great and what’s rubbish about it?

It’s very different. Very quiet, very civilised and full of expensive gastropubs and delis. It’s quite village-y which I like. The park is sweet as well and it’s only 20 mins from work on my bike!

What’s the one thing we must do next time we go there?

Go to Jacks Place on Salusbury Road for a fry up. 

And finally what’s your London secret?

My fave pub is the Blue Posts in Soho. It’s right in the heard of town but still is like being in your Gran’s house…I love it.

]]> Should you find yourself in the Mile End area tonight, three great London bloggers will be coming together for the first and maybe last Shattered Satellite party. Promising a night of Arthur Russell tinged pop, Django Django, Colouring In and Al Cool & the Stranger Wines will all be playing live with our brave bloggers djing until midnight. At only £2, it’s the bargain of the weekend, especially as the first twenty through the door will receive mixtapes! Tonight: The Victoria, 111 Grove Road, E3 5TH from 7.45.

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/10/last_minute_listing_shattered_satel.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2009/10/halloween_things_to_do_things_to_se.php http://londonist.com/2009/10/halloween_things_to_do_things_to_se.php#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:45:03 +0000 Hazel http://londonist.com/?p=14823

The annual spook-fest of Halloween is looming and there is, as ever, a pressure to be doing something for the occasion, if only to avoid children knocking on your door for treats (and the alternative ‘tricks’ they may be offering are even less desirable…). To save you from hiding behind the sofa with the lights off all night, here are a few things we’ve spotted for Halloween – if you have any other suggestions, do add them to the comments below.

THEATRE

The Abattoir Pages at The Old Abattoir: a creepy, sensory overload in Clerkenwell, mixing performance, art installation, haunting and treasure hunt-style evening… with suggestions that audiences won’t be hunting but may well be the hunted during the night.

Zombie Prom at the Landor Theatre: Hairspray / Grease 1950s-style teen musical romance. With zombies. Need we say more?

The Witch of Edmonton at the Courtyard Theatre: “Shakespeare meets Tim Burton and The Wicker Man” in this new adaptation of the play from 1621, based on a true tale of London witchcraft and witch-hunting.

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour at Shakespeare’s Globe: spooky old school radio show performed live, with a special programme of flesh-creepers for Halloween. We’ve just noticed that there’s a £10 a plate buffet and a £4.50 Fitzrovia Radio Hour tuck box if you want – that’s just dandy.

FOOD AND DRINK

Wandsworth Common Beer Festival: Halloween themed, set in a Grade II listed building with food supplied by Le Gothique, it’s definitely a different, distinctly more alcoholic way of marking the event.

FILM

Herzog’s Nosferatu at the Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey: interesting venue, creepy classic film, no obligation to wear a costume or get drunk (but it is Halloween, so you might want to anyway)

I’ll Be Back…Film Quiz at The Victoria, Mile End: from the same people behind the Bigger Boat film quiz, this is going to be a Halloween special of the full lights, camera, action quiz we know and love.

CLUBBING

Dungeon Disco at Land of Kings, Dalston: dress code is spooky and line-up is impressive… prepare for a big night out.

Beach Party Massacre at Beach Blanket Babylon (Shoreditch): we may not have read the info correctly but we think this evening promises motorbike burlesque, dinner, kinky life drawing and some devastating dressing up – this is not the place to go if you’ve just cut some holes in a sheet as your outfit.

OTHER, DRESSING UP, TRICKS AND / OR TREATS FOR FAMILIES

In the Dead of Night, Late at V&A Museum: performances, screenings, story-telling and a whole lot of posing in this most decorative Late museum opening in London. It will be classy. There will be costumes. There will be Japanese horror stories and a tour of the new mask display.

Family fun days at Forty Hall, Enfield: because kids need a slightly different emphasis to adult Halloweens, this looks like the right sort of thing – a building tour with live actors and activities and minimal chance of incurring permanent psychological damage

Halloween Half Term Horror at the Old Operating Theatre: macabre old medical playtime for kids who have the stomach for it (and for accompanying adults not too squeamish about old teeth-pulling practices and mixing your own herbal remedies)

One Eye Grey events: three days of ghoulish outings with our friends who write the penny dreadful – bike rides, dining at a lido and ghost stories in a pub.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead at Vibe Bar, Brick Lane: a one day festival celebrating Mexico’s love affair with death, featuring sneak preview glimpses of new art exhibition from Beatriz Canfield Zapata, live music, food and beer. Altars, offerings, stilt walkers and clowns also promised.

Image Ghoulishly Green by Annie Mole from the Londonist Flickr pool – thank you!

Roll up roll up! Tonight, for one night only, ladies and jellyspoons, you get to go out and have fun with a clear conscience. Hundreds of venues all over the capital, be they club, bar, dive, pub, room, rave or rink, are participating in a scheme wherein punters are all *invited* to contribute £1 per head towards three of London’s most outstanding children’s charities: Kids Company, Capital Radio’s Help a London Child, and the Metropolitan Volunteer Police cadets. London for London is the rather clever brainchild of two young Londoners: it is such a logical thing to do that one wonders why no-one thought of it before.

So there’s no excuse to stay in. Get out there an enjoy yourself in the name of philanthropy. Or something. Here’s the full list of participating venues, or you can follow developments on Twitter.

Of course we will stress that there is a difference between a clear conscience and a clear head, and if you go out and get absolutely shit-faced, you do it on your own terms.

As part of their ongoing new Friday night clubs, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern played host to a whirlwind of power ballads and soft rock a couple of months. This Friday, the meaningfully titled ‘We Built This Speedwagon On A Prayer’ returns to our favourite club in a pub with inflatable guitars and mullets aplenty. If you love rocking out to a bit of Meatloaf, Bon Jovi or even a bit of Cher, you don’t want to be anywhere else this weekend. We caught up with promoter Baylen ahead of the night to let you know exactly what you should be expecting.

When and why did you set We Built This Speedwagon On A Prayer up?

We had our first one in May. It was meant to be a one off but everyone had such a good time and have been asking us when the next one was, so we thought why not, lets go! We originally did it because it seems every other type of music genre is catered for except some good ole soft rock. You do get the odd classic thrown in at other nights, but there was nothing out there on the scene where you could go and really just indulge in the glory that is Soft Rock. A lot of the crowd on that first night came because it was a bit of a novelty, and admitted later that they didn’t really think they were going to be that into it, but those were the ones that were there til the end screaming for more! I think sometimes it’s easy to forget just how much great music falls into the soft rock genre, so we like to remind people.


Who are your DJs? What do they do in the real world?

It’s a group of us who are all really close anyway, so it made sense to do it together. There’s me, and I work on-air at BBC London and Radio 2, and also DJ around other Vauxhall venues. Then there is Lucio who is well known to the pop crowd because he presented the chart show hit40uk for years, and his own show on Capital, now you can hear him on Absolute Radio. He also pops up at PopStarz behind the decks from time to time. There’s Chris Woo who is a big mover and shaker behind the scenes in the music world. He manages producers and artists who have been responsible for some of the biggest hits in recent years. He’s had his finger in all sorts of pop pies – the likes of La Roux, Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson to name but a few. So we all come from different musical places but find common ground with Rock.

So what is it about soft rock that makes it so special?

We have a very strict music policy of Soft Rock, Yacht Rock, 80s & 90s rock, and plain ole RockRock! Basically anything with rock in it’s description and we are all about it. I think sticking so closely to the music policy is what makes it special. There is nothing worse than getting all geared up for a night that promises one thing and chickens out half way through and delivers something else. With Speedwagon you get exactly what it says on the tin. We also come around with free shots every now and again, we like giving away things on the door to help everyone get into the mood, and there are always a couple of short song length performances that happen randomly through out the night to mix things up a bit.


Have you ever had any celebs on your dancefloor?


Of course! This is London, and with our backgrounds and jobs, we’ve had quite a few well known friends air guitaring and screaming along to Total Eclipse of the Heart or Bon Jovi or whatever but we don’t focus on that. To us everyone who comes through the door is a star, and we would never name names. The last thing we want is for people to come to Speedwagon to see famous people dancing, we want people to come because it’s an amazing great night out

If people haven’t been to the RVT, what can they expect?

The RVT is basically an old pub. Simple as that – there’s nothing flash about it, which we love! It’s friendly, the drinks are cheap and they have a great sound system. It hosts mainly cabaret during the week, but at the weekend it is one of the busiest club venues in the area, which says a lot considering it’s in the middle of Vauxhall with all of it’s mega clubs in arches.

It’s predominately a gay venue, but is everyone welcome?

Of course! The venue is legendary on the gay scene but our night is totally mixed in every way. Last time we had just as many straight guys and girls as we did gay ones which is as it should be. Soft Rock knows no barriers.

Tell us one artist who we might not have heard of that you play that we should check out?

Well because of the type of music we play, most of the artists are quite well known or were at one time at least! So what we concentrate on is playing those songs that you haven’t heard in ages. Although, having said that Lita Ford is someone that people always ask who it is when she’s played. She started in The Runaways with Joan Jett and then went solo and had a huge hit with Kiss Me Deadly which is an amazing rock song. Everyone remembers Joan Jett but not Lita Ford and she kicks ass! We LOVE chicks with guitars!!

What other club nights do you like going to in London?

We are all over the place but our regulars are Duckie, Horse Meat Disco, Popstars, Kimono Krush, Gutterslut, & Trailer Trash. We tend to go for smaller clubs rather than mega ones, but mega can be good too if you are in the mood.


What are the club’s plans for the future?


We don’t plan really, which may or may not be a good thing?!? At the moment we are still trying to decide whether we want to do it monthly or just keep it going as and when, although we do think Speedwagon would go down a storm on the festival circuit next year.

What’s your dream venue?

Any venue with a sticky floor, black walls and cheap drinks.



Name five songs we’ll definitely be rocking our air guitar to on Friday.

Pat Benatar- Love is a Battlefield

Whitesnake – Here I Go Again

Heart – All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You

Quiet Riot – Cum on Feel the Noize

Rick Springfield – Jesse’s Girl


And your all time favourite floor filler?

Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way …without question!

We Built This Speedwagon On A Prayer returns to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern this Friday night from 8pm with a £5 door tax. Go – it’s awesome!

We’ve got them to thank for introducing us to Hexstatic and The Cinematic Orchestra: both have become favourites.

But we thought we’d better find out a bit more about this club promotion stuff, who was behind it, and what made them tick. So meet Rob. Rob Waller.

What do you actually do and is it fun?

Put on my favourite music acts. Yes a lot of fun, but a lot more hard work than it might appear!

Are you musical yourself?

Not really in a performance sense so much. I used to DJ a fair bit but apart from the occasional warm up set I prefer to leave it to the professionals!

What do you listen to when you’re not up there promoting stuff? What’s on your iPod at the mo?

New on my ipod? A new EP from a Texan electronic producer called Yppah, the new Tim Exile LP, a few new cuts by NYC hip hoppers Anti-pop Consortium, an LP by a great soul singer from Norway called Kinny plus some summer reggae vibes from Trojan Sound System!

Is London where it’s at as far as music goes? Bearing in mind that Soundcrash productions crop up all over the place….

Well London is where Soundcrash hails from and is centered. Although we promote occasional events in Bristol, Glasgow and Paris we are proud of promoting the scene that emanates from London.

Who are the bands to watch at the moment?

Anti-Pop Consortium (hip hop), Anchorsong (beats, electronic), Grasscut (electronic), The Field (electronic).

And the top DJs?

Flying Lotus, Harmonic 313, Daedelus, DJ Cheeba, Edit.

What’s your favourite London venue? If you don’t want to upset anyone, we can split it: best club for vibes, best accoustics, most popular, best for trance, best for old school, best for R & B…

Best all round London venue: KOKO – Victorian opulence with a badass soundsystem! A night out there always feels special, I still keep on finding new rooms in that place!!

A new super-cool place in Shoreditch we really like is Village Underground – great when you find it! I think we’ll start a new club night there in the Autumn.

Best outdoor vibe: the roof terrace at The Queen of Hoxton.

Best bigger venue: The Roundhouse, has a really sense of history!

Tell us how you see the future for London clubbing…

As strong as it has ever been! We have seen our combined club attendances up to 3000 per month, every month (at Koko and Cargo).

It seems the hunger for new fresh music and the Soundcrash name is stronger than ever. London will always be the best place in Europe to go out as it is constantly re-inventing itself in so many ways. And while the occasional central European city may get a bit of limelight occasionally the inevitable focus will always return to London nightlife like it has for the past 50 years.

Where do you live in London and why?

I live in Stoke Newington. Good beer gardens in Stokey. Easy to walk to work in Dalston, almost staggering distance for going out in Shoreditch, Islington, Hackney etc.

We’re sure stuff goes wrong sometimes: tell us something funny that’s happened on one of your evenings…

Where to start? Actually funny or scary? 7 ft tall US rapper ‘Redman’ smoking an entire tree onstage, stripping then deciding to stage-dive from a 10m speaker stack was amusing.

How will you remember Michael Jackson?

For Bille Jean!

Have you ever been sick on the tube?

No

You can catch up with Soundcrash doing their thing TONIGHT when Kid Koala will be playing at the Garage, and again on Saturday night, when Plaid will be putting on an AV show at KoKo, with support from Clark.

Been unable to get the Human League’s ‘Mirror Man’ out of your head since it played over the credits of the brilliant first episode of ‘Ashes to Ashes’ on Monday? You’re in for a treat. Every couple of months the people behind popular Purple Turtle night Electric Dreams host a new romantic & synth pop 80s night based around the TV series and this Saturday is their April edition. We caught up with promoter DJ Stix to find out what it’s all about.

When and why did you set your night up?

We set it up about a year ago. Twenty of our staff and regulars from our other night, Electric Dreams, were featured as extras in the blitz scene of the BBC’s ‘Ashes To Ashes’ first series. We’d just started going monthly nights at the London Stone and needed a theme for our new night!

How was it being on the TV?

It was great fun. Some of us were in our clothes and make up and the BBC provided others. We just had to dance about and drink fake drinks!

Why was the Blitz club so important to London’s nightlife?

I think it just opened up doors for a new scene musically and fashion wise where people could express their own creativity in a more glamorous way after the punk and the new wave scenes.

You’ve mentioned you also run Electric Dreams (at Purple Turtle.) What’s the difference between that and Ashes To Ashes?

Both nights concentrates on the 80s but Ashes to Ashes concentrates on the New Romantic side of things including music from the excellent TV soundtrack. Electric Dreams covers new romantic but also new wave, punk, goth, industrial, indie and modern electro. You’ll get a bit of these at AtA too.

Who are your DJs, where and what do they play, and what do they do in the real world?

Me [DJ Stix], Valeriun and the Baron were a bunch of clubbers who didn’t really have many good 80s/synth clubs to go to in the mid 90’s-so we thought we would start our own night at the Soho venue Gossips and see how it went. Twelve years later we are still doing it, much to our surprise! We all live in London and have pretty unexciting day jobs.

What’s your venue, the London Stone like?

The London Stone is a pub on Cannon Street in the city. It’s a great intimate venue with lots of nooks and crannies to get into.

What are your crowd like?

Usually quite a mix of people aged from early 20s to early 40s. Some people dress up, some don’t. We have many regulars who have been coming to the club for many years.

How dressed up do we need to be to come?

We don’t have a dress code as such. Some people come in new romantic, goth, punk, or fetish styles and some home made combinations! Newcomers would look at home with a splash of eyeliner and a nice trilby hat!

Have you ever had any celebs on your dance floor?

Yes over the years we have had members from Adam and the Ants, Depeche Mode, A Flock of Seagulls, Gary Numan’s band, Renegade soundwave, UK Subs, Sex Gang Children, Madness and even weirdly Lemmy from Motorhead!

What other club nights do you like going to in London?

There is a pretty good scene at the moment and I enjoy attending (and sometimes guest DJing at clubs like the resurrected Blitz Club, Festival of Sins, Slimelights, Bedsitland, Antichrist, Club Noir, Striplite, Unholy, Invocation and Vagabonds to name but a few..

Wow, that is a lot for us to check out!! What’s been your all-time favourite London night?

Probably a club called Planet Earth in the early 90s that played lots of good 80s and new romantic music.

What’s your all time floor filler, and your current favourite tracks to play?

Depeche Mode ‘Enjoy The Silence’ is our classic floorfiller, and Visage’s ‘Fade To Grey’ is another big one. Two more contemporary songs I’m enjoying playing recently are White Lies ‘To Lose My Life’ and The Knife’s ‘Heartbeats’.

Ashes To Ashes is on at The London Stone, Cannon Street this Saturday from 9pm. Entry is £5. Full details here. Sadly Phillip Glenister will probably not be there.

In advance of their Deep Space Disco party at Ether on Sunday Night, the Noise of Art collective are throwing a party tomorrow night that’s not to be missed for any disco fans. Curtain Road’s Bar Music Hall is the venue and Italy’s Hell Yeah! Records are the stars of the show bringing over two of the hottest new Italian dance acts for the party which is co-hosted by London boy Slutty Fringe.

Sicilian techno duo Blatta & Inesha headline with their twisted melodies, ably supported by their label boss Marco Gallerani. The awesomely named East London band They Came From The Stars I Saw Them will play live alongside a set from Horsemeat Disco star Severino.

Best of all the night is free so you can rave Italian style in a recession busting manner. Drink before hand though or stick to water as BMH’s bar prices aren’t exactly cheap.

We’ve got a goodie bag of Hell Yeah CDs and a t-shirt to give away, so leave your details below and we’ll pick a lucky winner next week.

In advance of their Deep Space Disco party at Ether on Sunday Night, the Noise of Art collective are throwing a party tomorrow night that’s not to be missed for any disco fans. Curtain Road’s Bar Music Hall is the venue and Italy’s Hell Yeah! Records are the stars of the show bringing over two of the hottest new Italian dance acts for the party which is co-hosted by London boy Slutty Fringe.

Sicilian techno duo Blatta & Inesha headline with their twisted melodies, ably supported by their label boss Marco Gallerani. The awesomely named East London band They Came From The Stars I Saw Them will play live alongside a set from Horsemeat Disco star Severino.

Best of all the night is free so you can rave Italian style in a recession busting manner. Drink before hand though or stick to water as BMH’s bar prices aren’t exactly cheap.

We’ve got a goodie bag of Hell Yeah CDs and a t-shirt to give away, so leave your details below and we’ll pick a lucky winner next week.

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/04/preview_bring_the_noise_bar_music_h.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2009/02/free_tonight_60.php http://londonist.com/2009/02/free_tonight_60.php#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:34:04 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=11461 Want to make money while you drink? Those folk up at the Boogaloo in Highgate have come up with a clever scheme to get you spending your pennies by actually giving you some of theirs. Tonight is the launch of ‘Recession’, a club in a pub night that’ll play fun indie & electro and pay you an actual £1 for every hour you stay. Sounds like a winner? Check it out. (Image / bagelmouse)

]]> Want to make money while you drink? Those folk up at the Boogaloo in Highgate have come up with a clever scheme to get you spending your pennies by actually giving you some of theirs. Tonight is the launch of ‘Recession’, a club in a pub night that’ll play fun indie & electro and pay you an actual £1 for every hour you stay. Sounds like a winner? Check it out. (Image / bagelmouse)

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/02/free_tonight_60.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2009/01/free_tonight_58.php http://londonist.com/2009/01/free_tonight_58.php#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:22:38 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=11450 Book Tuesday off work – tonight’s going to be messy. With less than three weeks to go until the end of The End, Trash-descendant Durrr is pulling the plug tonight and going out with a bang by bringing out some special secret guest DJs. It’s rumoured there might be 2many of them, but don’t take that as word! Doors are at 9 and if you’re a regular they’ll be a special queue, otherwise get there early with £6 in your shivering hand! (Image/Nicole Blommers)

]]> Book Tuesday off work – tonight’s going to be messy. With less than three weeks to go until the end of The End, Trash-descendant Durrr is pulling the plug tonight and going out with a bang by bringing out some special secret guest DJs. It’s rumoured there might be 2many of them, but don’t take that as word! Doors are at 9 and if you’re a regular they’ll be a special queue, otherwise get there early with £6 in your shivering hand! (Image/Nicole Blommers)

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/01/free_tonight_58.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/12/the_hippodrome_on_the_corner.php http://londonist.com/2008/12/the_hippodrome_on_the_corner.php#comments Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:01:10 +0000 Lindsey http://londonist.com/?p=11288

Hippodrome Leicester Square, La Clique

The Hippodrome on the corner of Leicester Square was opened as a home for real circus and performance in 1900. They had polar bears! A 100,000 gallon tank of water! Elephants, for goodness sake.

Its revival in October last year with the vastly popular and sexy alternative circus La Clique in residence, was audacious, featuring Miss Behave and Ursula Martinez among others more used to fringe venues and spiegel tents. With tickets now booking to April 2009, the move was truly zeitgeisty. Up close and personal performance is definitely hot right now, as Madame Zingara knows.

Unfortunately, it’s not lucrative enough to secure its tenancy. Although the Hippodrome is quickly leaving behind its dubious 20 odd years as a byword for terrible tourist and “up west” clubbing, once unforgettably with Stringfellow’s greasy paws all over it, it looks likely to be redeveloped into a huge casino, replete with Ramsay restaurant, however unlikely that sounds at this time of economic turmoil.

It sounds madness to us, and yet, they’ve got money to restore the building to its original glory, revealing, as the Guardian reports, “the minstrel’s gallery at the top… and wonderful plasterwork, friezes and balustrades”.

Perhaps if the big boys with the big gambling money could find space in their hearts development for a cosy cabaret restaurant space too, a slinky, sexy corner retained for perpetuating the Hippodrome’s circus past, Leicester Square could have a genuine gem on its corner.

Meanwhile, get tickets to experience La Clique yourself (tickets start from £15) or take up our recommendation and get along to the Salvation party on New Years Day.

Image courtesy of La Clique

]]>

Hippodrome Leicester Square, La Clique

The Hippodrome on the corner of Leicester Square was opened as a home for real circus and performance in 1900. They had polar bears! A 100,000 gallon tank of water! Elephants, for goodness sake.

Its revival in October last year with the vastly popular and sexy alternative circus La Clique in residence, was audacious, featuring Miss Behave and Ursula Martinez among others more used to fringe venues and spiegel tents. With tickets now booking to April 2009, the move was truly zeitgeisty. Up close and personal performance is definitely hot right now, as Madame Zingara knows.

Unfortunately, it’s not lucrative enough to secure its tenancy. Although the Hippodrome is quickly leaving behind its dubious 20 odd years as a byword for terrible tourist and “up west” clubbing, once unforgettably with Stringfellow’s greasy paws all over it, it looks likely to be redeveloped into a huge casino, replete with Ramsay restaurant, however unlikely that sounds at this time of economic turmoil.

It sounds madness to us, and yet, they’ve got money to restore the building to its original glory, revealing, as the Guardian reports, “the minstrel’s gallery at the top… and wonderful plasterwork, friezes and balustrades”.

Perhaps if the big boys with the big gambling money could find space in their hearts development for a cosy cabaret restaurant space too, a slinky, sexy corner retained for perpetuating the Hippodrome’s circus past, Leicester Square could have a genuine gem on its corner.

Meanwhile, get tickets to experience La Clique yourself (tickets start from £15) or take up our recommendation and get along to the Salvation party on New Years Day.

Image courtesy of La Clique

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/12/the_hippodrome_on_the_corner.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/09/styleist_rockabaret.php http://londonist.com/2008/09/styleist_rockabaret.php#comments Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:00:00 +0000 NatalieU http://londonist.com/?p=10266 Ever wonder what it would be like to go to the mad hatter’s tea party? Well, Rockabaret takes STYLEist on a journey into the magical world of Alice in Wonderland. Live performance acts, neo-burlesque, face painting, studio portraits, stilt walkers and a mad hatter and white rabbit around every corner. It’s definitely a night to remember. Sounds like your cup of tea? Rockabaret has re-launched their extravagant rock star parties on the 3rd Saturday of every month at SIN. Expect a journey of a different kind. Check their website for more details.

]]> Ever wonder what it would be like to go to the mad hatter’s tea party? Well, Rockabaret takes STYLEist on a journey into the magical world of Alice in Wonderland. Live performance acts, neo-burlesque, face painting, studio portraits, stilt walkers and a mad hatter and white rabbit around every corner. It’s definitely a night to remember. Sounds like your cup of tea? Rockabaret has re-launched their extravagant rock star parties on the 3rd Saturday of every month at SIN. Expect a journey of a different kind. Check their website for more details.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/09/styleist_rockabaret.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/09/win_matters_launch_party.php http://londonist.com/2008/09/win_matters_launch_party.php#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:05:02 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=10156

Clubbers of London must be very excited about this weekend as Matter prepares to open it’s doors over at The O2. The people behind the awesome Fabric have created this new bespoke space with three floors and a 2,600 capacity complete with body kinetic dancefloor and 360 degree visuals.

The forthcoming line-ups are amazing and follow the Fabric model of more band-y, live stuff happening on Fridays and DJs on Saturdays. Coming up soon you can expect the likes of Carl Cox, Mylo, Sasha, Armand Van Helden and Justice all DJing, while Florence & The Machine, PNUA, Deadmau5, Lindstrom and Reverend and The Makers are just some of the acts performing live.

Opening night is Friday and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. UNKLE headline the night joined on stage with Ian Brown, Ian Astbury, Gavin Clark and Joel Cadbury. Also playing are the brililantly bonkers Late of the Pier and Iglu & Hartly. Tickets are £20 and full information can be found here.

However if you’d like to go as our guest, just fill in this form and we’ll let you know if you’re a winner on Thursday.

< ?php @include "http://www.gothamistllc.com/contest/contestcode.php?id=457&source=$PHP_SELF&status=$status"; ?>

]]>

Clubbers of London must be very excited about this weekend as Matter prepares to open it’s doors over at The O2. The people behind the awesome Fabric have created this new bespoke space with three floors and a 2,600 capacity complete with body kinetic dancefloor and 360 degree visuals.

The forthcoming line-ups are amazing and follow the Fabric model of more band-y, live stuff happening on Fridays and DJs on Saturdays. Coming up soon you can expect the likes of Carl Cox, Mylo, Sasha, Armand Van Helden and Justice all DJing, while Florence & The Machine, PNUA, Deadmau5, Lindstrom and Reverend and The Makers are just some of the acts performing live.

Opening night is Friday and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. UNKLE headline the night joined on stage with Ian Brown, Ian Astbury, Gavin Clark and Joel Cadbury. Also playing are the brililantly bonkers Late of the Pier and Iglu & Hartly. Tickets are £20 and full information can be found here.

However if you’d like to go as our guest, just fill in this form and we’ll let you know if you’re a winner on Thursday.

< ?php @include "http://www.gothamistllc.com/contest/contestcode.php?id=457&source=$PHP_SELF&status=$status"; ?>

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/09/win_matters_launch_party.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/08/win_fabric_guestlist.php http://londonist.com/2008/08/win_fabric_guestlist.php#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:35:18 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9897

We’ve always been massive fans of Fabric and as a weekend of major partying approaches, we think there’s no better place to be tomorrow than Fabric itself. Former Trash resident and all round amazing producer dude Erol Alkan headlines Room 1 ably supported by LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney, and our very own favourites, the Disco Bloodbath DJs. Ed Banger take over room 2 with the heavily tipped Japanese Popstars playing live.

Tickets are £12 in advance, but we’ve got a pair to give away right here along with a copy of Fabriclive 36: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney. Enter and we’ll let you know in the morning by email if you’re a winner.

< ?php @include "http://www.gothamistllc.com/contest/contestcode.php?id=448&source=$PHP_SELF&status=$status"; ?>

]]>

We’ve always been massive fans of Fabric and as a weekend of major partying approaches, we think there’s no better place to be tomorrow than Fabric itself. Former Trash resident and all round amazing producer dude Erol Alkan headlines Room 1 ably supported by LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney, and our very own favourites, the Disco Bloodbath DJs. Ed Banger take over room 2 with the heavily tipped Japanese Popstars playing live.

Tickets are £12 in advance, but we’ve got a pair to give away right here along with a copy of Fabriclive 36: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney. Enter and we’ll let you know in the morning by email if you’re a winner.

< ?php @include "http://www.gothamistllc.com/contest/contestcode.php?id=448&source=$PHP_SELF&status=$status"; ?>

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/08/win_fabric_guestlist.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_14.php http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_14.php#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:04:45 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9618

Super cool Tuesday night club White Heat has a particularly fun sounding line-up tonight at Madame JoJo’s on Brewer Street. From 8.30 London pow pow! kids /The Clik Clik will bounce their way through a set before girly space warriors Poppy and The Jezebels pull some mystical shapes. Then recent Listen Up! stars XX Teens round it all off with songs from their new album. £6 on the door from 8pm – Mdme Jo Jo’s, Brewer Street.

]]>

Super cool Tuesday night club White Heat has a particularly fun sounding line-up tonight at Madame JoJo’s on Brewer Street. From 8.30 London pow pow! kids /The Clik Clik will bounce their way through a set before girly space warriors Poppy and The Jezebels pull some mystical shapes. Then recent Listen Up! stars XX Teens round it all off with songs from their new album. £6 on the door from 8pm – Mdme Jo Jo’s, Brewer Street.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_14.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/07/win_tickets.php http://londonist.com/2008/07/win_tickets.php#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:05:41 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9432 Love your pop music? We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets up for grabs for tonight’s Wonky Pop clubnight at Cargo in Shoreditch. Although Annie was due to headline, illness has forced her to pull out, but she’s replaced by the awesome London girl Ebony Bones. It’s an all star cast with The Clik Clik and Helsoise and The Savoir Faire also playing live while Richard X, Alphabeat and Popjustice DJ. First two to email londonist.music@gmail.com who can pick the tickets up in Leicester Square win!

]]> Love your pop music? We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets up for grabs for tonight’s Wonky Pop clubnight at Cargo in Shoreditch. Although Annie was due to headline, illness has forced her to pull out, but she’s replaced by the awesome London girl Ebony Bones. It’s an all star cast with The Clik Clik and Helsoise and The Savoir Faire also playing live while Richard X, Alphabeat and Popjustice DJ. First two to email londonist.music@gmail.com who can pick the tickets up in Leicester Square win!

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/07/win_tickets.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_8.php http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_8.php#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:05:34 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9428 Tonight Amy Winehouse will be hosting her own clubnight ‘Snakehips at The Monarch’ on Chalk Farm Road. On Saturday night we spotted her chatting to the amazing DJ Bioux in the small room at Proud and now it seems the pair will be going head to head for a DJ battle playing 50s and 60s. Judging by what he was playing on Saturday we think this would be brilliant even without Amy. We dread to think how busy this will be so if you want in, just get there as early as you can.

]]> Tonight Amy Winehouse will be hosting her own clubnight ‘Snakehips at The Monarch’ on Chalk Farm Road. On Saturday night we spotted her chatting to the amazing DJ Bioux in the small room at Proud and now it seems the pair will be going head to head for a DJ battle playing 50s and 60s. Judging by what he was playing on Saturday we think this would be brilliant even without Amy. We dread to think how busy this will be so if you want in, just get there as early as you can.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_8.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_4.php http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_4.php#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:15:04 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9360

If you’re into anything dancy you’d be hard pushed to find a better night out than at Fabric. Tonight in the floor quivering Room 1 Drop The Lime drops in from Brooklyn to play along side Switch & The Scratch Perverts while over in room 2 Australian drum and bass chart invaders, Pendulum, headline with support from the likes of Goldie. It’s room 3 we’re most excited about though as it celebrates the release of Mary Ann Hobbs latest album, with the great lady herself headlining. Tickets.

]]>

If you’re into anything dancy you’d be hard pushed to find a better night out than at Fabric. Tonight in the floor quivering Room 1 Drop The Lime drops in from Brooklyn to play along side Switch & The Scratch Perverts while over in room 2 Australian drum and bass chart invaders, Pendulum, headline with support from the likes of Goldie. It’s room 3 we’re most excited about though as it celebrates the release of Mary Ann Hobbs latest album, with the great lady herself headlining. Tickets.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/07/free_tonight_4.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/06/clubwatch_beat.php http://londonist.com/2008/06/clubwatch_beat.php#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:00:12 +0000 Talia http://londonist.com/?p=9100

Every so often we take a more indepth look at clubnights round London that peak our interest. This week it’s Beat Poetry, an ecletic funky night which moved from Brixton to Spitalfields earlier this year.

If you like the sound of it, the next installment is taking place this Friday (13/6) from 10pm and entry is a mini £3, with a promise of lollies, jelly beans and free CDs. Cool!

When and why did you set your night up?

Beat Poetry started as a radio show in the Midlands in 2002 when Joss and I were at Warwick University. We were both mad about UK hip-hop at the time and used to do a two-hour show every week late on Saturday night. From there we started DJing together at student nights.

After uni, Joss and I moved back to London and started putting on parties with a friend of his, Alex. We started off in various venues around Balham and Clapham before settling at Mango Landin in Brixton for a year. We moved the night to Gramaphone in Spitalfields in February this year.

Where did the name come from?

The name describes the music we play. Everything we spin has got to have that killer beat. From hip-hop to funk, electro to punk, it’s got to have the energy that can only be provided by a huge drum track.

The “poetry” refers to our love of hip-hop – rap was the music the three of us bonded over. As the years have gone by, we’ve expanded our selections to include many other styles of music, but hip-hop is still very much the basis of what we do.

Who are your DJs, where and what do they play, and what do they do in the real world?

Beat Poetry is three people. I’m Ally and I mainly play electro, punk-funk and hip-hop. I’m a journalist – I work as a sub-editor and music writer for London newspaper CityAM.

Joss plays hip-hop and reggae. He has an unhealthy obsession with Rawkus records and is well on his way to owning their entire back catalogue. He is in the film industry and has worked on projects including Hot Fuzz and The Queen.

Alex is our funk and soul expert. He is our very own 45 king. He works in marketing for Virgin Records.

What do you play and what is it about that music that’s so special?

We play electro, punk, funk and hip-hop. It’s a special mix of music because it’s all about making sure every single person in the venue has a good time. People who attend Beat Poetry should come expecting to dance till they can’t dance no more.

Have you ever had any celebs on your dancefloor?

I think Maxi Jazz from Faithless came to one of our nights in Brixton. He used to play at the same venue and stopped by one time to check out the competition!

What’s your dream venue?

I absolutely love where we’re playing now – Gramaphone in Spitalfields. It’s a beautiful basement club with a great sound system. I’d love to play at Koko too.

Tell us one artist who we’ve probably not heard of that we should check out?

Sonny J. His last two singles have been dancefloor gold and have featured some heavy remixes from the likes of Riton, J*Star and Shortwave Set.

What other club nights do you like going to in London?

Yoyo at Notting Hill Arts Club is good as is the quality of nights at the Amersham Arms in New Cross. I also love anything organized by the Soundcrash or Nice Up guys.

What’s your all time floorfiller, and your current favourite tracks?

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division always gets a spin late on at Beat Poetry as it’s the ultimate bitter-sweet drunk-dancing floorfiller. I don’t think there’s been a Beat Poetry night where this hasn’t been played.

My three favourite records at the moment are probably Soundtape Killing by Toddla T, Pilooski’s re-edit of Send Him Back by the Pointer Sisters and Electric Feel by MGMT.

]]>

Every so often we take a more indepth look at clubnights round London that peak our interest. This week it’s Beat Poetry, an ecletic funky night which moved from Brixton to Spitalfields earlier this year.

If you like the sound of it, the next installment is taking place this Friday (13/6) from 10pm and entry is a mini £3, with a promise of lollies, jelly beans and free CDs. Cool!

When and why did you set your night up?

Beat Poetry started as a radio show in the Midlands in 2002 when Joss and I were at Warwick University. We were both mad about UK hip-hop at the time and used to do a two-hour show every week late on Saturday night. From there we started DJing together at student nights.

After uni, Joss and I moved back to London and started putting on parties with a friend of his, Alex. We started off in various venues around Balham and Clapham before settling at Mango Landin in Brixton for a year. We moved the night to Gramaphone in Spitalfields in February this year.

Where did the name come from?

The name describes the music we play. Everything we spin has got to have that killer beat. From hip-hop to funk, electro to punk, it’s got to have the energy that can only be provided by a huge drum track.

The “poetry” refers to our love of hip-hop – rap was the music the three of us bonded over. As the years have gone by, we’ve expanded our selections to include many other styles of music, but hip-hop is still very much the basis of what we do.

Who are your DJs, where and what do they play, and what do they do in the real world?

Beat Poetry is three people. I’m Ally and I mainly play electro, punk-funk and hip-hop. I’m a journalist – I work as a sub-editor and music writer for London newspaper CityAM.

Joss plays hip-hop and reggae. He has an unhealthy obsession with Rawkus records and is well on his way to owning their entire back catalogue. He is in the film industry and has worked on projects including Hot Fuzz and The Queen.

Alex is our funk and soul expert. He is our very own 45 king. He works in marketing for Virgin Records.

What do you play and what is it about that music that’s so special?

We play electro, punk, funk and hip-hop. It’s a special mix of music because it’s all about making sure every single person in the venue has a good time. People who attend Beat Poetry should come expecting to dance till they can’t dance no more.

Have you ever had any celebs on your dancefloor?

I think Maxi Jazz from Faithless came to one of our nights in Brixton. He used to play at the same venue and stopped by one time to check out the competition!

What’s your dream venue?

I absolutely love where we’re playing now – Gramaphone in Spitalfields. It’s a beautiful basement club with a great sound system. I’d love to play at Koko too.

Tell us one artist who we’ve probably not heard of that we should check out?

Sonny J. His last two singles have been dancefloor gold and have featured some heavy remixes from the likes of Riton, J*Star and Shortwave Set.

What other club nights do you like going to in London?

Yoyo at Notting Hill Arts Club is good as is the quality of nights at the Amersham Arms in New Cross. I also love anything organized by the Soundcrash or Nice Up guys.

What’s your all time floorfiller, and your current favourite tracks?

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division always gets a spin late on at Beat Poetry as it’s the ultimate bitter-sweet drunk-dancing floorfiller. I don’t think there’s been a Beat Poetry night where this hasn’t been played.

My three favourite records at the moment are probably Soundtape Killing by Toddla T, Pilooski’s re-edit of Send Him Back by the Pointer Sisters and Electric Feel by MGMT.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/06/clubwatch_beat.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/06/music_review_uk.php http://londonist.com/2008/06/music_review_uk.php#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:50:54 +0000 Londonist http://londonist.com/?p=9025

It is abundantly clear that the Eurovision Song Contest is an event not to be taken too seriously. For both the audience and the performers, this annual extravaganza is primarily about one thing: fun. And so it proved with the UK leg of the Eurovision Winners Party at Scala on Saturday night.

As our free glasses of cider began to fill up, so – thankfully – did the club. The show was opened by Nicki French, who carried out the roles of singer and mistress of ceremonies. She told us that her role was “totally improvised” due to last minute confusion over the order of performance. But Nicki never let it show, as she continued to rattle off humorous Eurovision trivia throughout.

Sonia (also tipsy) followed, with cheery renditions of old hits, which she mainly left to the audience to sing, as she strutted joyously across the stage.

Next up were Bucks Fizz who, despite their name, did not appear as drunk as the prior performers. Their members may have changed over the years, but their dance routine was largely the same: a 1981 hand-jive followed by the obligatory removal of skirts.

Despite their odes to the past, however, Bucks Fizz’s own Cheryl Baker insisted she “wouldn’t touch Eurovision again with a barge pole. I mean, after winning, the only way is down”, she told us. Understandable, especially when juxtaposed with Nicki French’s statement (whose only finish was 16th in the 2000 competition). “I’d kill to do it again”, she emphatically declared.

To a chorus of both boos and cheers, the 2008 Eurovision Winner, Dima Bilan, confidently performed his winning song ‘Believe’ (we suspect some of the audience were still smarting from the so-called political voting). Then, receiving the loudest cheer of the night, runner-up Ani Lorak belted out Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’, followed inevitably by her Eurovision hit ‘Shady Lady’.

From the performers to the audience, fun was seemingly had by all. For Mike Nolan from Bucks Fizz, “it was just as enjoyable performing now as it was 27 years ago”, while newcomer Ani Lorak said she “really loved performing in front of such a great audience”.

By Laurence Brown

Image of Dima Bilan, Eurovision 2008 winner, courtesy of UK Eurovision winners party website.

]]>

It is abundantly clear that the Eurovision Song Contest is an event not to be taken too seriously. For both the audience and the performers, this annual extravaganza is primarily about one thing: fun. And so it proved with the UK leg of the Eurovision Winners Party at Scala on Saturday night.

As our free glasses of cider began to fill up, so – thankfully – did the club. The show was opened by Nicki French, who carried out the roles of singer and mistress of ceremonies. She told us that her role was “totally improvised” due to last minute confusion over the order of performance. But Nicki never let it show, as she continued to rattle off humorous Eurovision trivia throughout.

Sonia (also tipsy) followed, with cheery renditions of old hits, which she mainly left to the audience to sing, as she strutted joyously across the stage.

Next up were Bucks Fizz who, despite their name, did not appear as drunk as the prior performers. Their members may have changed over the years, but their dance routine was largely the same: a 1981 hand-jive followed by the obligatory removal of skirts.

Despite their odes to the past, however, Bucks Fizz’s own Cheryl Baker insisted she “wouldn’t touch Eurovision again with a barge pole. I mean, after winning, the only way is down”, she told us. Understandable, especially when juxtaposed with Nicki French’s statement (whose only finish was 16th in the 2000 competition). “I’d kill to do it again”, she emphatically declared.

To a chorus of both boos and cheers, the 2008 Eurovision Winner, Dima Bilan, confidently performed his winning song ‘Believe’ (we suspect some of the audience were still smarting from the so-called political voting). Then, receiving the loudest cheer of the night, runner-up Ani Lorak belted out Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’, followed inevitably by her Eurovision hit ‘Shady Lady’.

From the performers to the audience, fun was seemingly had by all. For Mike Nolan from Bucks Fizz, “it was just as enjoyable performing now as it was 27 years ago”, while newcomer Ani Lorak said she “really loved performing in front of such a great audience”.

By Laurence Brown

Image of Dima Bilan, Eurovision 2008 winner, courtesy of UK Eurovision winners party website.

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