Top Five: Summer Loving

I can never trust people who say nonsensical things like ‘Oh I prefer winter to summer. I like wearing jumpers’. This is Britain: you can wear jumpers in summer you eejit, only you won’t need to put them on over 5 layers of vests and you will hopefully only need one when you’ve accidentally stayed in London Fields until 11pm again after a BBQ.

Summer means seeing your friends more, longer evenings, happier days, Wimbledon, festivals, holidays, less rain and no tights. NO. TIGHTS.

I’ve put together my ‘Top Five’ things to do in (or just outside) London this summer. Followers of ours who don’t live East will be delighted to see that I’ve broadened my usual horizons – another thing I wouldn’t be doing if it was snowing and dark at 5pm.

1. FESTIVAL OF LOVE

Speaking of loving, first on my list is the Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love. Celebrating the passing of the Same Sex Couple Act, the festival looks at love in all its guises – be it sexuality, friendship or loving yo’self, sistas. There’ll be performances, music, readings and more until the 31 August, when the festival will end with a bang by hosting the Big Wedding Weekend. Held at the Royal Festival Hall, couples can get married, or renew their vows, en mass and on stage – SUMMER OF LOVE INDEED.

When: From Saturday 28 June to Sunday 31 August
Where: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Cost: Varies

2. FARR FESTIVAL

Photo courtesy of Farr Festival

After years of making the pilgrimage to the sparkling Adriatic waters of Croatia, this summer we’re festival-ing somewhat closer to home. A mere half an hour on the train from Kings Cross, Farr Festival (clue is not in the name) is held in an abandoned woodland and this year hosts the likes of Hercules & Love Affair, Mount Kimbie, Ame, Pional, Andrew Weatherall and Daniel Avery. Running the decks late into the night there’s Bicep, Optimo, Horse Meat Disco, Detroit Swindle, Scuba, Justin Roberston and so many more. You can go for the weekend, or just for the day and with food from Voodoo Rays, Byron and Bangwok, our bellies are going to be as happy as our ears.

When: From Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 July
Where: Bygrave Woods, Newnham, Hertfordshire, SG7 5JX
Cost: £99 weekend ticket, £55 day ticket

3. POWER OF SUMMER

If you fancy a bit more than popcorn with your movie, head down to Battersea Power Station for the Power of Summer. Everyman Cinema and Street Feast have paired up to put on festival of pop-up outdoor cinema in the park – the last chance to hang out there before developers get their hands on the land. There’s day-time screenings of children’s favourites and evenings with cult classics or recent blockbusters. Food comes in the shape of Mama’s Jerk, Anna Maes, Le Bun, Popdogs and more. You can even watch films from private sheltered pods with table service, supping on Proscecco and oysters if you want to be really West London about it.

Picture courtesy of Time Out

On the 13 July they’ll be screening the World Cup Final for free, as well as a pre-match showing of the 1966 game – so at least you can watch Germany lose before they win, AGAIN.

When: From Thursday 10 July to Sunday 31 August
Where: Queenstown Road, London, SW8 4PE
Cost: £7.50 – £25

4. PRINCE OF WALES

No summer would be complete without at least one night on the terrace at The Prince of Wales in yep, you heard me, BRIXTON. I might as well move to South London at this rate. Seriously though, I’ve had many a happy day-cum-evening-cum-night at this place, where the sound system is ridiculously loud for an outdoor venue and the canopies and sunshine trick you into thinking you’re in Ibiza (when actually you’re just dancing on top of KFC). There’s an indoor club too for when it gets nippy and plenty of bars, so check what’s on here.

When: All year
Where: 467 Brixton Road, London, SW9 8HH
Cost: Varies

5. NUMBER 90 

I’m bringing it back east for the last pick of my list, to good old Hackney Wick. A spacious, canal-side bar and restaurant, Number 90 is hosting a series of summer events, from bingo to three-day art exhibitions, club nights and Sunday lunches. There’s tapas, coffee, cocktails, boat trips on the canal and guest hosted parties, most of which are free or really cheap, so make the most of the long evenings alfresco.

Photo from N90’s Facebook page

When: Wednesday to Sunday
Where: 90 Main Yard, Wallis Road, London, E9 5LN
Cost: Varies

Anything you think really should have been on the list?!

Live review: Arcade Fire at Hyde Park, 3 July 2014

Four years ago I paid £50 to see Kings of Leon at Hyde Park. It was crap.

I admit that sitting in the sun and drinking wine throughout the support acts probably wasn’t the best way to secure a good viewpoint, but I was in front of the sound desk. And when the headliners came on, I am sad to say that I could barely hear them.

Edging increasingly nearer to the stage throughout the set, I still struggled to enjoy the band and the main thing I could hear was the inebriated crowd. Disappointed and £50 poorer, I put the money down to experience and vowed to never attend a concert at Hyde Park again.

So when a friend managed to snap up some £2.50 tickets to Arcade Fire last night (the result of a massive ticketing error/PR stunt – you decide which), and asked if I wanted to come, I was a little dubious. But having missed out on the chance to see the band while in Berlin recently, I decided it had to be worth a go for a couple of quid.

In 2012, AEG Live took over from Live Nation in producing the series of summer events. Now known as Barclaycard British Summer Time, the current manifestation turned out to be an entirely different beast to my last experience.

Boasting four stages, a huge array of independent food vendors (Pizza Pilgrims, Bleeker St Burger and Bad Brownie to name but a few), a champagne bar, cocktail bars, fairground rides, and carnival-like parades of dancers and performance artists snaking their way through the site, BST in a mini-festival in its own right.

The 27-degree heat and glorious sun may have had something to do with it, but there was a definite party atmosphere, something which had also been missing in 2010.

Quickly purchasing ourselves a couple of cocktails from the Cuban themed bar, we settled in to watch Wild Beasts on the main stage. I was immediately taken aback by the feeling of bass in my chest. ‘It’s loud!’ we cried in only half mock-relief, and any concerns about the volume for the headlining act thankfully began to ebb away.

A Bleeker St Burger (which was banging, by the way) and a few more cocktails later, we were back in front of the stage waiting for Arcade Fire. Arriving on stage to chase away The Reflektors – a fake version of the band dressed in papier-mâché heads – the group wasted no time in whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

Regine Chassange led a trio of bongo banging, pom-pom waving members during opener ‘Normal Person’, before donning a gold cape and proceeding to swoop gleefully around the stage. The rest of the group matched her enthusiasm, never losing energy throughout the meaty two hour set.

And neither did the crowd: from the chants of ‘Lies! Lies!’ raising the proverbial roof during ‘Rebellion’, to the melody of ‘Wake Up’ being sung long after the lights went down, the commitment of the fans was crystal clear.

Dipping into each of their past four albums for this show, Arcade Fire proved both the longevity of their older material and the success of this year’s Reflektor. ‘Tunnels’ sounded as relevant under last night’s summer sky as it did on Funeral’s release 10 years ago, and Neon Bible’s ‘No Cars Go’ showed forward-thinking hints of both The Suburbs and their latest release.

The stage production drew heavily on Reflektor’s theme of reflections and mirrors: at one point a trio of sequined dancers took to a podium in the middle of the crowd, footage of which was then displayed real-time on the screen behind the band.

Theatricality has always been an element of Arcade Fire’s music and performances – they frequently swap instruments, and by now we all know that Regine is fond of the odd prop – but the visual element of this show was possibly their most dramatic effort to date.

And the sound? Before the final song, front man Win Butler joked with the audience, ‘Shh! Don’t wake up the rich people!’ – the battle between the concert producers and local residents about noise levels is ongoing – and although they could have turned it up a decibel or two no problem, the volume was a definite improvement on last time.

So would I go to a gig in Hyde Park again? Possibly. And see Arcade Fire again? Without a doubt.

Live review: Kelis at Wilton’s Music Hall, 8 May 2014

‘My record label said I was too inconsistent to have a real fanbase’, said Kelis last night of her troubled relationship with Virgin Records, which ended in 2002 following the release of her second album, Wanderland. You can understand their concern: the Harlem-born singer has been genre-hopping since she followed up her R&B hued debut album Kaleidoscope with the Neptunes produced single Young, Fresh ‘n’ New, a grinding bassline-fuelled sprawl of funk that turned out to be more at home on MTV2 than MTV Bass. Since then she’s journeyed through Calvin Harris and David Guetta dance-pop collaborations all the way back to this year’s Food, a soul-infused homage to her love of cooking, complete with extra-husky vocals and an enthusiastic horn section.

I must admit, to sum up my interest in Kelis would be make a whistle stop tour through her collection of banging singles, and then spend an afternoon drinking wine together, maybe having a poke through her wardrobe and asking her how she gets her hair so lovely and fluffy. But that’s not meant to criticise: backed by a full band at last night’s show at the beautiful Wilton’s Music Hall, her musical versatility was clear.

Dripping in sequins and gold jewellery, her hair a billowing cloud on which I wished to lie, she began with a verse and chorus of Nina Simone’s Feeling Good, before switching to Food’s aptly named opener, Breakfast. Then with the closing bars still echoing in the rafters, she announced ‘we’re going to play some old stuff’, smiled slyly and launched into Andre 3000 collaboration, Millionaire. Suffice to say the audience was electrified, broad smiles exchanged as we danced wildly and basked in the knowledge that the ‘old stuff’ was going to get some airtime.

That said, with it being an album launch party, the focus at the start was firmly on Food, a record that I am sad to say I found mildly underwhelming. Unfortunately this was also the case live; while some tracks like Forever Be sizzled, others fell a bit flat: numerous people around me left to go to the toilet during her cover of Bless the Telephone, and Rumble lacked the oomph you’d expect from a recent single. It’s likely that Food will emulate her past releases; a handful of tracks will survive for future years and the rest will be left to the super die-hard fans. Even Kelis herself partly vocalised this sentiment when people began to shout requests for older, more obscure tracks: ‘y’all are asking for songs I don’t even remember’, she laughed.

But the nature of her career so far has been that when it’s good, it’s so really, very good. Tracks like Trick Me and Acapella were enough to silence even the inane chatter of the couple behind me, whose disregard for the performance could only be explained by them having got in on press passes and spent the time before the show snorting Bolivian-grade cocaine in the toilets. A medley of Get Along With You, Good Stuff and Glow nodded to the earlier hits; the band confidently strutting along, and later transforming Flesh Tone‘s 4^th of July from synthy electro-pop into a full on, soul-swinging anthem. Where Food was concerned, Jerk Ribs was the star, its groovy bassline inspiring many a hip wiggle throughout the venue.

Killer singles aside, Kelis’s other big draw is her likeable, no-bullshit attitude. Sitting down on the front of the stage for a break because she always ‘sweats profusely’ when performing (it turns out the electric fan at the front of the stage wasn’t just for dramatic effect), she recognised someone at the front who had been to see her 12 times before. The crowd was enraptured as she engaged him in conversation, later dragging him on stage to dance with her during Milkshake, his face simultaneously screaming pure terror and this-is-the-moment-my-entire-life-has-been-building-up-to: I almost couldn’t watch. Almost.

The evening felt less like I was watching a world famous pop icon and more like I’d gone to see an admittedly very accomplished friend play a gig for a bunch of her mates. Morphing repeatedly from chatty girl-next-door between songs to diva superstar and back again, it was impossible not to warm to all five foot 10 of this musical chameleon as she searched for the words to her songs in her notebook. ‘I used to try to cover up the fact that I forget my own lyrics’ she says with a cackle, and the audience is in love.

‘The List’ – a tourist’s Bible

Brag alert: I’ve just got back from New York. It was AMAZING. Go ahead, die of jealousy. Anyway. Now that awkwardness is out of the way, I can get to the point of this post.

Naturally, a week in the Big Apple was a much-anticipated occasion, so my holiday buddies and I spent a long time before we left compiling recommendations for restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs from various friends and acquaintances. The result was 15 sides of printed A4, stapled together and christened ‘The List’, which we religiously carted around the city for seven days.

This may sound extreme, but thanks to this paper treasure-trove we were never short of a pre-approved place to eat or drink, no matter where we found ourselves. Just wandering around Williamsburg or DUMBO led to repeated exclamations of ‘that’s on the list!’ and ‘I recognise that name, is it on the list?’, and I can honestly say that only one destination of countless was a disappointment (the rooftop bar at 230 5^th Avenue – go up and take a photo, but don’t buy a drink; unless badly mixed, overpriced cocktails are your thing), and everything else was a genuine piece of insider knowledge.

Although you can occasionally stumble across something exquisite, as we did with Michelin Guide recommended Uruguayan restaurant Tabaré on our last night, you can’t deny that tips from a savvy local make any new city that bit more accessible. And with my beloved London being a sprawling mecca of fine eateries and watering holes interspersed with more than its fair share of tourist traps, I couldn’t help thinking about the places I might include on a guide for someone visiting my home city for the first time.

If you know me at all you’ll probably be laughing right about now: I totally buzz off giving people recommendations for places to eat, drink and dance – that’s pretty much what this blog is a thinly veiled excuse for. So when you’re quite finished, here they are: six of my consistently favourite places in The Big Smoke.

 

Brunch: Dreyfus Café

This cute corner café on Clapton Square is the ideal brunch destination for egg lovers: you can order benedict, royale, florentine or leopold (caramelised leek, tarragon and bacon) by the egg/half muffin, meaning that the indecisive among us can mix and match – ingenious! Pancakes and French toast with a variety of toppings are also on offer, as well as healthier options such as muesli and omelettes.

NYC equivalent: Allswell, Williamsburg

Dreyfus Café, 19 Lower Clapton Road, London, E5 0NS

 

Budget dinner: Dotori

Korean cuisine has been enjoying something of a moment in London recently – you can even buy bulgogi paste in my local Tesco now, but that’s a story for another day. Dotori is one of my long-standing favourite budget eateries in the capital; a Finsbury Park institution where you can stuff yourself silly on bibimbap and made to order sushi for a pittance. My two tips are book in advance, and base your meal around the great value set menu A – just add whatever else you fancy.

NYC equivalent: Mrs Kim’s, Greenpoint

Dotori, 3A Stroud Green Rd, London N4 2DQ

 

Blow-out dinner: Buen Ayre

If you’ve got something to celebrate, or just want to eat some damn fine meat, check out Broadway Market’s Buen Ayre for an authentic Argentinean dining experience. With the wine list boasting 13 different types of Malbec alone, you’re sure to find something to your taste to wash down your succulent steak, which is always cooked to perfection. Don’t miss their chimichurri.

NYC equivalent: Smith & Wollensky, Midtown

Buen Ayre, 50 Broadway Market, London E8 4QJ

 

Pub: The Three Compasses

A hidden Dalston gem off the well-trodden path of Kingsland Road, this cosy nook is the perfect place to while away a boozy afternoon, and let’s face it, most of the ensuing evening. Offering a great selection of beers and ciders, a projector for the footie (plus Game of Thrones on Mondays), super-friendly staff and the awesome Original Fry-Up Material boys in the kitchen, the Compasses is your London home away from home.

NYC equivalent: The Gibson, Williamsburg

The Three Compasses, 99 Dalston Lane, London E8 1NH

 

Friday clubbing: Corsica Studios

Screw Ministry of Sound, Corsica Studios is Elephant & Castle’s number one destination for electronic music enthusiasts. It’s a grimy two-roomer under the arches, delivering top quality house, techno and disco on the finest sound system this side of Fabric’s Room One.  Ladies, leave your heels at home – it’s trainers all the way with this one. Advance tickets generally recommended; check out the what’s on here.

NYC equivalent: Output, Williamsburg

Corsica Studios, 4/5 Elephant Rd, London SE17 1LB

 

Saturday clubbing: The Nest

Saturday nights at The Nest are hosted by Late Night Ltd, who promise (and deliver) body movin’ house and disco in this sweaty, 350-capacity basement club. With entrance never more than £7 and queues rarely longer than 10 minutes, this low commitment night out is perfect for party people after a slice of subterranean rave. Sets from Mighty Mouse and Ben Pistor are particularly worth the journey, as are the ‘oooh’-inducing purple lasers.

NYC equivalent: None. Sadly, two things it seems NYC isn’t too hot on are basement clubs and disco music.

The Nest, 36 Stoke Newington Rd, Dalston, London N16 7XJ

 

I would apologise for the east-leaning nature of my choices, but I live in Hackney and let’s face it, east is best. So, if you were putting together a list for a friend visiting London, where would you recommend?

 

Live review: Wild Beasts at Brixton Academy, 1 April

Although I’ve been a fan of Wild Beasts for many years, last night at their Brixton Academy show I was all about hearing their new album, Present Tense. The follow up to 2011’s Smother reached number 10 in the UK album chart when it was released in February, and saw the electronic-leaning sound of its predecessor refined further, and to triumphant effect.

Fortunately, the gig proved to be a kaleidoscopic tour of both Present Tense and highlights from the band’s back catalogue, and even the oldest tracks were performed with a nod to the band’s synth-laden new direction. Nine of the new album’s 11 tracks made the set list, including an electrifying rendition of Daughters, which delivered earth-shaking bass and fronds of green lasers, while Nature Boy saw Thorpe and Fleming’s duelling vocals take centre stage, converging to form one powerful, sneering voice.

Older songs were lifted and polished by the band’s new musical confidence: The Fun Powder Plot was transformed from playful guitar-pop into soaring, transcendental psychedelia, demonstrating how far they’ve come since Two Dancers in 2009. Lion’s Share throbbed seductively in the encore, a moody reminder of how Smother served as a stepping-stone from the band’s indie beginnings to today’s R&B influenced hooks.

The audacious light show must also take some credit for the way the band’s presence filled the venue to the rafters: the stage was drenched in atmospheric hues reminiscent of the Present Tense artwork, slowly building to an explosion of sweeping lasers that punctuated the second half of the set.

My only disappointment came with the decision to finish on the understated End Come Too Soon. Although this fitted perfectly when Smother was the latest in their arsenal, I couldn’t help but wish they’d dared to close an otherwise self-assured set with something new. Despite this, Wild Beasts’ performance demonstrated not only a fresh sense of showmanship, but a rare ability to play their songs live and make them sound more than the sum of their parts.

Present Tense is out now on Domino Records.

Set list:

Mecca
Sweet Spot
The Fun Powder Plot
Devil’s Crayon
Pregnant Pause
A Simple Beautiful Truth
Daughters
Hooting and Howling
Reach a Bit Further
Palace
Nature Boy
Bed of Nails
A Dog’s Life

Encore:

Wanderlust
All the King’s Men
Lion’s Share
End Come Too Soon

 

Original Fry Up Material

It was always going to go well when they came up with such a cracking name, but luckily my friends Tom & Jon also make the best breakfasts and burgers in the country. After a year of feeding Londoners at various foodie markets, providing sausage muffins and tunes at festivals old and new and a stint at the wonderful Trinity Leeds Kitchen, Original Fry Up Material have finally set up camp in none other than my favourite local pub, The Three Compasses. Get. In.

Last night was their launch night at the pub, where they were offering a burger and fries for the introductory price of £5. Frankly I would happily have paid £10 and probably still had another one afterwards. I mean look at it:

The Bacon Blue in all it’s gloopy glory. Also on offer:

Bethan went for the Sweet Smoke, which as you can see was just as impressive:

The burgers were perfectly seasoned – the patties were nicely salty but not overpowering, with the outsides slightly crisp and the insides like this:

So… yeah. Ridiculously good, with the buns doing a stellar job of holding all that juice in.

Tunes were provided by the wonderful Low Life and thanks to their disco beats everyone was up and dancing off their burgers long into the night. Dreamy.

OFM will be cooking up their burgers every night of the week and on the weekend they’ll be there all day so you can check out the breakfasts that made them famous. Alongside their signature home-made sausage and egg muffin they’ll be serving a full brunch menu including Eggs Benedict and hash browns.

The Three Compasses is hands down the best pub in Dalston, with super friendly bar staff, a great sound system, TWO dart boards and now the tastiest and (least pretentious) pop-up you’ll ever come across in East London.

Bang tidy.

The Three Compasses, 99 Dalston Lane, E8 1NH

Track review: Kidnap Kid – Stronger

When he was touted as one to watch in the 2014 ‘pop house’ scene by the Guardian, 22 year old Matt Relton, aka Kidnap Kid, reacted by saying, ‘The stuff I’ve been writing recently, I’ve sent myself back deeper and darker. I’m slightly shying away from the poppier audience.’ As if to punctuate this remark, a new track, Stronger, appeared on his SoundCloud page a few days after the article was published.

More immediately four to the floor than previous cuts Vehl and So Close, Stronger makes for a call to the dance floor. The bassline treads sure-footedly between driving and laid-back groove, directing the track through its six and a half minutes with a kind of restrained urgency. It’s easy to imagine this playing out in strobe-lit basement club, a wave of bass-satisfaction spreading from the speakers.

The female vocal is more in Kidnap Kid’s usual vein, weaving through piano chords and twinkling synths while lamenting ‘I should be stronger than this, you should be weaker.’ This melodic anchor appeals to those less club-inclined, but never tips over into anything recognisable as a pop chorus.

Although he shares a label with chart-friendly Rudimental, lumping Relton into the pop house genre would be not only premature, but underestimating his ambitions as a producer and DJ. Stronger harnesses the best elements of his past efforts while clearly pointing towards a darker, clubbier direction for 2014.

Kidnap Kid plays XOYO on 11 April with Klangkarussell and Le Youth. Find tickets here.

Listen to Stronger: