Nathan Followill sits atop a raised platform Ringo-style, drumsticks in hand, head perfectly still, turning a piece of bubblegum over and over in his mouth. His hands reach out to the drumkit near him, his forehead barely breaking a sweat. Pop. Plunge. Crack. His brothers, Caleb and Jared stand in front of him, also still, Caleb's voice so full of guttural grit and scream that nearly it defies his delicate physiology; his cousin Matthew......

It’s difficult to make a cake. If you put too much of one thing in, it can become tough and unpalatable or gooey and sickly; treat the ingredients too roughly and their potential is compromised. Some bands manage to pick the right ingredients to combine, and treat them with enough talent to produce something near-perfect, like a sonically inspired W.I. veteran. Tonight’s performance at the 100 Club was one cake you’d want to have......

Photos by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen and Cian Oba-Smith. Read Naomi's review of the day here.......

On the 8th August London’s Underage Festival, designed specifically for 14-18 year olds, returned to Victoria Park for a bigger and better sequel, bringing a huge line-up with it. With more space and more stages, it easily matched the success of last year. Pull In Emergency, a team of underage musicians who are becoming more popular by the day, rocked a full tent with their cool, poppy sound and friendly stage presence. Meanwhile, Poppy......

London girl Catherine Anne Davies has had some outstanding press, so with high hopes we attended her gig at Bush Hall on Thursday night. A fair size audience, made up largely of young indie chicks and industry heads, demonstrated Catherine's growing popularity - a singer described by the NME as "How Kate Bush would sound if she died and went to hell" (which is supposed to be a compliment). Described as a 'gothic folk......

The music of Cole Porter may not be something you would expect to be discussed on Londonist, but every since we sobbed our way through 'De-Lovely' in Whiteley's cinema we've been a big fan. So we were excited to see Chelsea's gorgeous Cadogan Hall promising 4 nights Cole Porter kind of biopic 'A Swell Party'. Originally staged at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1991, John Kane's show attempts to re-create Porter's life story using a......

XO to GO is a new premium Asian food deliver service offering “restaurant quality food” that must then be heated up before serving. XO to GO reckons its menu, with signature dishes from the XO restaurant in Belsize Park, is just the thing “for a dinner party cheat or a lunch at the office.” Based upon our XO to GO experience, we can agree with that. Here’s our review of this novel approach to......

Last night found Londonist sampling canapés and cocktails at an outdoor medieval setting deep in the City of London. Hosted by the makers of Tanqueray gin and toptable.co.uk,” the first of two Tanqueray Tables events in London (there was an initial Tanqueray Tables night in Edinburgh last week) offered an excellent opportunity to check out the historic Merchant Taylors’ Hall. Dating from the 14th century, the hall is one of the Twelve Great City......

Londonist loves a burlesque soirée, especially when held at a swank venue such as the Gore Hotel and accompanied by a fantastic meal. Friday night’s Burlesque Soirée at Kensington’s Gore Hotel - featuring the exceptionally lovely Miss Polly Rae and her naughtily coy Hurly Burly Girlys - was brassiere loads of fun and well worth the £39 cover (which got ya in the door drinking a cocktail and enjoying a three course meal with......

The second night of iTunes Live is one for the serious muso fan. You know Glasvegas mean business when you see James Allen and his gang in black take to the stage. Latest single 'Geraldine' is fantastic live, with a wall of sound built from fuzzy guitars, howling feedback and pounding drums. On epic set-closer 'Daddy’s Gone', a young boy’s lament for his absent father, they sound beautifully heartbreaking. Paul Weller‘s fourth solo album,......

Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material provided a soundtrack for our teenage years, every single one of its three chords forever fused with our memories of youth. As we grew a bit older, it remained a favourite and was soon joined by Mark Stewart and the Maffia's As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade and the many productions of Adrian Sherwood. Trawlling through used record shops, anything with Sherwood's name on it went home......

Although Bat For Lashes cut out mid-set - whoops - Radiohead were always going to be awesome. Thankfully, crew were on hand to fix the temporary blow out that left Victoria Park rather stunned, mid organic sausage and paper pint Carling, and Radiohead rocked on stage only a little late and dazzled E9. Kicking off with a stretch of In Rainbows (Bodysnatchers is unstoppably funky and everyone adores Nude, even though Skins tried to......

As gorgeous as yesterday was, Taste of London presented a good excuse to forage through a marquee-laden Regent’s Park with friends. However, despite the pleasant weather, ToL would have hardly been categorized as a value for money outing. In a way, the event was comparable to a stroll through an alfresco version of the high end aisles of Sainsbury’s or Waitrose, which wouldn’t necessarily be an unpleasant activity but hardly one that attendees should......

Never underestimate the power of bass. This is a lesson that the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall learned as pieces of aluminium cracked and began to break free from the ceiling on Tuesday night as The Dubstep Chronicles rumbled its way through Meltdown 2008. No one was ever in any danger of being injured, but the low end frequencies compromised the building's structural integrity enough to force organisers to err on the side of......

The future is still what it used to be. Vangelis' music for Ridley Scott's portentous 1982 sci-fi thriller Blade Runner is often held up as an example of an original score that was in perfect harmony with the director's vision. Tonight it's taken apart and reassembled - well, pretty much the same as before. As part of Massive Attack's predictably eclectic Meltdown strand at the Royal Festival Hall, this performance of the soundtrack by......

When you go out to see a band that has existed for just over forty years, there's a high chance of it sounding past its prime. It is a testament to the boundless creativity of Daevid Allen and friends, as well as to the power of heavy, undiluted psychedelia, that Gong's set at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Saturday beat the odds. Presented as part of Massive Attack's Meltdown 2008, psychedelic legends Gong......

Olympic enthusiasts, not only will this book make a pleasant change from following news on Beijing medal hopes, London's dubious Olympic legacy and building sites but it will restore your faith in Olympic spirit and the capacity of countries to fall out over officials' decisions. Oh yes, then as now, the Olympics caused international controversy. Bringing the Games to London with just 2 years preparation, is presented as a feat of derring-do by one......

On Thursday night, Four tet headlined The Eat Your Own Ears series at the Indigo2 in Greenwich, an incredible space with a really terrific sound and lighting system. Before we get to fawning over Four tet, however, the opening acts deserve a mention here. First up was Kode9, whose pulsing rhythm set the mood nicely, but to be fair, we were concentrating more on the beer. Next up was the happy surprise of the......

The Long Good Friday. That's if you can judge these things on the index of Movie London by Tony Reeves. This updated tome from Titan Books lists the Hoskins flick 21 times, with John Wayne's Brannigan a close second on 20 entries. The locations of over 500 films are revealed in this smart volume of filmic London - from obscure Ealing comedies to the biggest blockbusters. Do you know which bit of Kensington featured......

The Porchester Spa Queensway, London, W2 5HS Nearest tube/overground: Bayswater, Queensway or Royal Oak Tel: 020 7792 3980 Hours: 10am–10pm, 7 days a week. Men only: Mon, Wed, Sat. Ladies only: Tues, Thurs, Fri. Expect to pay: £20.35 for admission (£11.55 for Westminster residents); any treatments are extra Rating: 8 out of 10 Behind an unassuming set of West London doors boils the Porchester Spa, an Art Deco palace of heat, steam and sweat.......

Seems like Monday was a good day for album launch shows. Whilst Londonista Dave was experiencing the fragile ether-eality of Goldfrapp in Union Chapel, we were in the slightly less salubrious surroundings of HMV Oxford Street, where a reed thin moustachioed man is hopping up and down preaching hell and damnation, or at least something about scissors and prolix, next to some guru-esque sixties serial killer lookalike who's doing strange things to strange things.......

“Erm… hello. So this is… erm… a dress rehearsal. If anything untoward happens, we may stop.” Some might think that Alison Goldfrapp’s introduction to the ‘friends only warm up show’ at the Union Chapel last night was a little bit insipid. And, to be fair, they would be right. The crowd looked mostly bemused as the large group of performers that is Goldfrapp traipsed onto the stage in the amazing Victorian gothic church in......

March already? How did that happen? The perils of having our head buried in a book so much of the time, no doubt. If we must emerge this week from our cosy little book-enclosed chrysalis, it’ll likely be to head to the following events. Monday: The RSL-sponsored TS Eliot Memorial meeting brings together award-winning poets Alice Oswald and Kathleen Jamie for an evening of readings from their work. Both have been lauded for the......

Hang on to your TLSs. Literary London is a lioness roaring in a few weeks ahead of her regularly scheduled appearance in March. With both the London Word Festival and Jewish Book Week launching this week, we’ve got enough events in our diary to keep us busy until spring. Keep an eye on this space as we highlight our favourites from these festivals over the next couple of weeks. Monday: You want poetry? RADA’s......

A couple of years ago Chris Roberts - who will be leading our 4th Londonist Walk on Friday evening - (and who is no relation to the Grantham Roberts clan) co-wrote True Blue: A musical about Margaret Thatcher in a bid to come to terms with his own, and his nation’s, past and more importantly setting Geoffrey Howe and others to music. Who better then, to send along as guest reviewer to a spanking......

Perhaps your New Year’s resolutions have all made their way to the rubbish bin by now. You’re sneaking ciggies again, you’re spending more nights at the pub than not, and you’ve worked out exactly two times, despite the shiny new gym membership. Don’t worry, you’re in good company. The history of literature is filled with stories of writers and their vices. It may just be a sign of genius. Still, you can up your......

It’s now over ten years since the Spice Girls entrenched themselves into the mindsets of teenyboppers around the world. Now all of those teenyboppers are in their early to mid-twenties and apparently desperate for a slice of retro-tastic cheese. Armed with plenty of alcohol in our system and a set of fuzzily fond memories we set off to the O2 to see the reunited Spice Girls in action. A quick glance round the audience......

We already knew London was capital of the world, but 2007 has firmly cemented us as the best city by far musically. The Millennium Dome reopened as the O2 Arena, hosting not only 21 nights of Prince, the Rolling Stones, Take That, and the Spice Girls first UK dates for 10 years, but also the most anticipated gig for a good decade or so: Led Zeppelin’s reformation. Unfortunately this Londonista had to settle for some......

2007 is quickly slipping away, and with it the few remaining book events for the year. As most of us are busy buying books for the bibliophiles on our shopping lists rather than reading or going to signings this week, we thought we’d present you with an alternative Book Grocer today. For those of you already finished with your shopping (you overachievers you), the traditional listings follow. If, like Londonist, you go for the......

After a 2-month hiatus spent reading Finnegans Wake (alright, would you believe rubbish romance novels?), The Book Grocer returns, with a continually evolving format and its diary stuffed full with book-ish events. Here are our picks for the week: Tuesday: Anne Sebba, author of Jennie Churchill, Winston’s American Mother, in conversation with Hugh Whitemore, playwright and writer of the Emmy-award winning Winston Churchill drama The Gathering Storm, at Waterstone’s Notting Hill Gate store, 7pm,......