Free stuff in London this weekend
June 5, 2009, 4:30 pm
Filed under:
Around Town,
Clubs & Bars,
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Music & Gigs | Tags:
big chill bar,
free,
holloway arts festival,
london,
southbank centre,
summer food market,
the hideaway,
the wire,
weekendAaaargh it’s been another week when I forget to post anything all week and then it’s time for another weekend round-up. Fuck it, here goes:
Friday: Get your ass down to the Big Chill Bar off Brick Lane to see Stringer Bell from the Wire DJing. That’s not a joke. He’s an actual DJ too, not a DJ like Alexa Chung is a DJ, and he’ll be playing hip hop and soul FOR FREE.
Saturday: Go to Beat It at The Hideaway on Junction Road cos it’s awesome, it has a pretty little beer garden, and because I said so. Not just me though, this place is now endorsed by never-heard-of-her-before-today-singing-sensation Zarif, in this Londonist interview. And they’re involved in the Holloway Arts Festival in some way that’s not completely clear to me yet, which I’ll be blogging about at some point.
Sunday: Fix your hangover at the Summer Food Market at the Southbank Centre. The website says this:
A programme of free access demos, tastings and workshops runs each day; a special feature are workshops demonstrating the use of Japanese condiments, courtesy of Clearspring.
Free stuff to do in London this weekend!
Friday: This blog is becoming increasingly biased toward stuff that’s near my house… and continuing that trend, here’s an event on Commercial Road. Let’s all celebrate five years of piracy and mayhem at the RampART. There’s bands, DJs and other excitement, and it’s free entry.
Saturday: More Shakespeare! God I’m predictable. The Pantaloons are performing Romeo and Juliet at The Scoop, the open-air amphitheatre on the Southbank (by City Hall, not far from The Globe in fact). It’s on at 2pm and 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, and it will be lovely because the weather’s going to be gorgeous.
Sunday: The weather’s going to be gorgeous again, so why not go for a Sunday Stroll with the charming people behind the London Friday Night Skate. It is in fact rollerskating, not strolling, if you’re unfamiliar with it. Meet at 2pm in the south east corner of Hyde Park.
Have fun!
Who needs to BUY beer?
Here’s a new idea I read about recently – beer bartering. The idea is, instead of paying for your drink, you offer goods or services that yourself and the bar staff mutually agree are matched in value to the drink you want.
Now, you could try this anywhere, but the article recommends going The Marksman in Shoreditch, where it might actually work.
My first though on this idea was that I bet my idea of what a pint is worth differs slightly to what the pub thinks… but helpfully, their website features a list of items they are looking for- called ‘The Landlady’s Fancy’.
So, if you have one of the following items, why not pop along and claim your free drink:
- hack saw
- tennis racket
- 4x false moustaches
- ladies’ bike
- punnets of fresh berries
I’m not entirely sure what the exchange rate is here… if a hack saw gets you a glass of wine, then a ladies’ bike gets you…..? Answers on a postcard.
Just a few ideas for the weekend…
No money? No plans? No problem!
Here’s what’s on this weekend that will cost you absolutely nothing.*
Saturday:
Record Store Day: If, like me, you were crazy enough to miss Marianne Faithfull’s one-off performance at Rough Trade, never fear! Today is Record Store Day, and to celebrate, you can see a whole bunch of bands for free. It’s also going on at a load of other record stores in other places. What? I’m not doing all the work for you!
Loose Cannons’ Social Club: It’s at The Social, near Oxford Circus, and it’s just one of the best free night’s that’s on anywhere in London. Or possibly, the world, I wouldn’t know.
Sunday:
Shakespeare’s Birthday: What? I’m into Shakespeare! Seriously, the fun, free activities going on at the Globe include a “world-record sonnet attempt”. Do you want to miss that?
Rock n Roll Jumble Sale: If Shakespeare’s not yo’ thang, maybe you’re more into rock and roll and… jumble sales. It’s fun! And it’s at 21 Phoenix Road, near Euston.
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: No, not the musical, that’s bloody expensive. BUT- a free screening of the classic film, plus free popcorn. Head on down to The Castle in Camberwell.
* Umm… until you add in the cost of drinks, records, jumble and the like. Sorry.
Soul of the Sixties- The Phoenix
I have to preface my review by saying that I might not feel so strongly if I had not had such high expectations set by the group of people I went with, who promised me that it was the best night in London, and that I would deeply regret it if I missed it, and that it was absolutely my kind of night.
Soul of the Sixties represented everything I dislike about soul nights. I want to hear a wide range of soul music that shows the different facets of the genre, with elements of funk, blues, and disco, and what I got is just a load of motown. I’d also quite like to hear a bit of rarer soul, perhaps something I haven’t heard of- there really is so much to this genre, and there’s no need to rely on the same five or six artists and only play their two most famous songs. And while I’m all for versatility, I didn’t come here to hear music that patently ISN’T soul, but is just from roughly the right era- ‘Jailhouse Rock’ should not be on your playlist.
On the other hand, a lot of people there seemed to love it, so if your less of a soul snob than me, you should definitely give it a try! I should also mention it’s not technically free, but I’m including it since I got in free on the basis that my brother’s boyfriend knew a friend of the girl on the door, so I figure you probably know them as well as I do!
93 Feet East – French Revolution
French Revolution is a music night at 93Feet East showcasing French bands. It’s free, but the beer is extortionate (£3.80 a can!!)
The Tatianas and La Shark are two completely polar opposite bands, that I couldn’t even believe were on the same bill.
The Tatianas clearly believe themselves to be the next Libertines, despite being about 5 years too late to be the next Libertines. The singer’s impression of Carl Barat is very accurate, but not exactly relevant to modern music. I did like the way the two guitarists had coordinated their ‘rock n roll’ look so thoroughly that they were identitical, from their Beatles haircuts and bum-fluff moustaches to their leather jackets, faux-vintage black and white t-shirts, retro guitars, ripped skinny jeans, and presumably scruffy converse trainers, although I couldn’t see their feet.
The gaggle of sixteen year old groupies at the foot of the stage were lapping it up, in their plimpsolls and tea dresses and bleached blond hair, doing their ‘I’m so indie’ dancing- the kind where you just jerk your body around without really moving your feet, like an out-of-control puppet. But to me, it sounded like a pastiche of bands I used to like as a teenager; a hollow, superficial shell of a performance that had such a fixed idea of what it SHOULD be there was no room for creativity or artistry.
La Shark are everything the Tatianas are not. They were the most vibrant band I’ve seen in a long time; the energy just seemed to flood out of them. They weren’t trying to BE anything, but they were wholly authentic and… substantial. I almost left after the utter disappointment of the previous band, but my friend convinced me to stay by describing La Shark as ‘the sound of someone faxing you a carnival”, which I can see, but trust me, La Skark aren’t a facsimile of anything. Please look out for them if they play near you.
