Review: Suede and British Sea Power play Kenwood House

Suede and British Sea Pow­er play­ing in the grounds of Hamp­stead­’s Ken­wood House is an irre­sistible oppor­tu­ni­ty, espe­cial­ly as com­plaints from near­by res­i­dents mean con­certs here are few and far between. As Suede’s set draws to a close, Brett Ander­son remarks how pleased he is to be back in Hamp­stead, an area he loves. As head­lin­ers, Suede are indeed…

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Review: Lounge on the Farm festival, Sunday 2013

Lounge on the Farm in Kent has big acts for the head­lin­ers, and local Kent bands enter­tain the crowds dur­ing the after­noon. I can only assume that every­one was suf­fer­ing from mas­sive hang­overs and too much par­ty­ing to Jessie Ware, as on arriv­ing at Lounge on the Farm at noon Sun­day, it all seemed suspiciously…

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Review: Ealing Blues Festival is now a sunny weekender

Imag­ine a fes­ti­val that only costs £5 entrance, has a choice of stages, sev­er­al food out­lets, the oblig­a­tory clothes and jew­ellery stalls plus a clair­voy­ant or two, a decent-ish bar, spot­less por­taloos with no queues… ok no camp­ing, but then you can’t have every­thing. This is what’s on offer each year at Eal­ing Blues Festival,…

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Night moves with The Bedroom Hour at The Finsbury

The Bed­room Hour. It was the promis­ing­ly sul­try name that ini­tial­ly enticed me to check this band out when they popped up on Twit­ter. First hear­ing and they’ve got me hooked. There’s an inten­si­ty to this five-piece West Lon­don band, an immer­sive qual­i­ty, a mood­i­ness which draws you in. Their songs have that abil­i­ty to…

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Simone Felice is spellbinding at St Giles-in-the-Fields church

It’s the fourth of July, we’re at St Giles-in-the-Fields Church, and Simone Felice is obvi­ous­ly enthralled and inspired by the atmos­phere of the church and its grand beau­ty. So much so that towards the end of the set, he bounds off the stage to dance down the aisle, encour­ag­ing us to join in with the…

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Review: Green Note in Camden, folk music Monday and organic beer

  Organ­ic lager, a super-friend­­ly vibe and a Mad­ch­ester moment for folk music: these are the mem­o­ries of my evening at the Green Note in Cam­den. Find this bijou music bar/restaurant by head­ing up Park­way, away from the clam­our of Cam­den Mar­ket, just at the point where the ver­dant san­i­ty of Regent’s Park can be…

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Review: Letting our hair down at Bearded Theory 2013

Beard­ed The­o­ry fes­ti­val 2013: it’s the fes­ti­val of Beards, Bands and DJs, and that just about sums it up. Now in its sixth year, Beard­ed The­o­ry is set in pic­turesque Kedle­ston Hall, Der­byshire. With some­thing like around 8,000 rev­ellers it’s a nice size, and man­ages to feel like one big par­ty. Beard­ed The­o­ry’s line-up leans towards…

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Cool tracks: Orlando Seale and the Swell at St Pancras

Of all the train sta­tions in Lon­don to find your­self in with time to spare, St Pan­cras is the most pleas­ant. A few shops, wine bars, arti­san type food out­lets, and occa­sion­al announce­ments in French – and I dis­cov­ered Orlan­do Seale and the Swell were enter­tain­ing the crowds. There’s even more going on at the…

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Phildel: The Disappearance of the Girl at St Pancras Old Church

Phildel used her sur­round­ings of St Pan­cras Old Church to cre­ate a mixed media expe­ri­ence, instead of sim­ply per­form­ing her songs – this was an inspired move. This tiny church has a rich his­to­ry and amongst those buried in its church­yard are a vam­pire writer, a com­pos­er and a sculp­tor. It clings to the edge of the glitzy…

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