Karauke: The fusion of Karaoke and Ukelele playing. In a trendy bar in Hoxton. Tres chic.

This apparently happens once a month. I had a great time at this recent event, and plan on being there again, with a few friends, next month. Maybe I’ll brush up a few songs.

Facebook fan page here.

Ruby’s top Halloween Treats are here!!!

Firstly a massive big up has to go out to my Friends over at Bringstuff. Tonight for one night only they will be teaming up with the Almighty Celebrity Murder Party for a night of frightful fund-raising for Charity Camp Cando. BringStuff headed up by Giacomo and Katy, are the people that brought you Black and White Ball and more recently the fantabulous Bring Pirates Pub Boat Brawl!

Its been brought to our attention that there are still over 150 tickets available for this Dreams and Nightmares themed event. If you go to the Bringstuff website or befriend either him or the Group you may well be able to arrange a ticket, the Pre-Party meet-up is at London Bridge 8pm. Alternatively make sure you’re one of the first 150 people at Hays Galleria before 8pm, get your free shot, buy some raffle tickets and get ready for a night that you will not forget!

Still on the Southside of Town is the Lost Society Haloween Weekender.

Lost Society is a renovated 16th Century Barn which originally formed part of the ‘Claphampton’ Manor Estate (get that!). Historically a Banquet was held there in honour of Elizabeth the First, and the Artistic flair and flamboyance of Elizabeth’s England remains present thorough the modern day Decor.

Emma LostSociety hosts special events through the year, Fondue Thursdays, Cocktail class (truly awesome) and the ever Popular Halo Events.

If you only fancy paying a fiver to get your Halloween kicks Lost Society is the Place for you!!

Last but but least is the old faithful William IV on the Harrow Road. Tonight is a Cowboy and Indians Party – which I find kind of refreshing considering that *everyone* is going to be dressed as the living dead this evening (not my best look). Free, funky and in West, this is where I will be heading this evening… Have a good one!

OK – that’s a bit of a silly way to put it, but someone is, sadly, very ill after inhaling anthrax spores from animal skins while making drums. Apparently it’s not unheard of. A quick google-around tells me that someone in Scotland died in 2006, and another drum-maker from Greenwich Village had the same problem a while back. Oh, the dangers of being a bohemian!

Well, I hope our Hackney drum-maker gets well soon, and that his goat skins remain ever anthrax free in future.

Real story on BBC news here.

Next time you’re at a party and someone gets the bongoes out – time to pop out into the garden for a bit of fresh air, I think…

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to go to the press launch of the new “super club” in London’s O2. Matter really is a hell of a place. It has a huge amount going for it as it can be and will be a club that will play an eclectic amount of music having dance and indie nights as well as having live acts as well.

With its location in the dome the best way to get there is pretty much the best way to travel around London and that is by boat which will take take you a to a 2 minute walk from getting into the club. The boat trips on London are superb and really get your anticipating a good night ahead. Not only that but boats will be running all night on club nights so you can get back into town with ease.

The club itself has a huge amount of cool stuff, the decor is basic (all concrete) but the dance floor in the main auditorium vibrates with the bass of the music and turns your body into a speaker itself. In the vip the is a walkway which goes over the main dance floor which is some 30 foot below.

Check out the Matter website for all their events which are upcoming i will definitely be going again as they have some huge names which will be entertaining.

I thought I was going to be a Radiohead widow on Tango Tuesday. Kirmann had managed to get a ticket for PJ, but there was no joy for me. At the last possible minute, Mitlepunkt came through with a dodgey eBay purchase.

“Go to ‘We Will Rock You’ and call this number,” he says. So, we go to the place and call the number, and the guy says “I’ll be down in 5 minutes.” Five minutes later, an Indian bloke dressed like an off duty investment banker comes down and hands us the tickets. Then he disappears into the crowd.

We walked from Mile End to Victoria Park…all 15,000 of us. Saw this nice little church along the way. Arriving at Victoria Park, the police were out in force herding us through with British queuing efficiency.

Then we were in the park. Kirmann was on the phone constantly before the concert. Claire is pregnant, and she could pop at any minute. Mitlepunkt had worn shorts and a shirt and was freezing his ass off, but he was soon distracted by the sausages. It was a festival atmosphere. Food stalls, beers, people lounging on their blankets with coffee and wine and spliffs.

I have to say, going back to the food: it was gross and expensive. PJ couldn’t finish his sweet and sour. The smart people were the ones who had brought a picnic. Gates opened at 4 p.m., and it had been glorious weather. Almost like they had planned it like this so near the summer solstice.

The light show started early…before dark, and people started to get up and excited with anticipation.

Then, there they were. I remember Thom saying: “what’s going on with you mad people down here?” His rapport is lovely…like a bloke who’s playing a gig for his mates in his back garden: quiet and shy…but funny.

The dredlocked girl standing next to me lit up a spliff, and all was well. I had been working my ass off over the past week or so, and I was tired…nearly too tired to dance, but I put in an effort. A lot of people were talking, and I thought if I danced I might be able to get other people to dance and consequently shut the fuck up and listen to the music. I mean, you paid £40 for the tickets. Shut Up!

A teenager and his parents were in front of us, the dreaded ones to the right and a humping couple to the left…dirty dancing every time a slow song came on. “No humping in public,” I screamed. Mitlepunkt and Ofra and Giza were bringing up the rear.

The main display was made up of hanging rods with a light show playing against them. It reminded me a bit of Mariko Mori’s Dream Temple. The side panels were divided into four smaller screens with close up on each band member. They were like moving album covers. PJ didn’t like it too much. He wanted to see the band, but we were too far back, and the stage was too low. Didn’t want to get up close because, frankly, I’m too old for that. And, as I said before, I like to dance.

The sound was amazing. And Thom’s voice is strong like an ox. You don’t get that from the records. You think is voice is so fragile…like it’s gonna break with emotion and pain and anger at any second. But when you hear him live, that emotion surges into a wave that crashes down on you commanding you to move, goddamnit, do something.

Then, it was over and we started to long trek home. It was nighttime, and we were practically skipping through the park. It felt like what it must have felt like hundreds of years ago after a Bacchanalian romp in the forest. We hit the gates, and it was gridlock with middle class people talking about how the council should do something about this. A car was caught in the sea of people.

We decided to try Bethnal Green station, but it was packed. Went for the bus, but packed. Then walked to Liverpool Street station, where we got the bus back to Covent Garden.

Thanks Radiohead for the lovely time. Hope to see you again soon.

Fast forward to the present and on the Saturday I had two pints before walking from Covent Garden to Great Eastern Street then another three pints of bitter at the gig. All of this over about a 5 hour period. Brits would call me a light drinker, however, Americans would say that I am binging.


Wild Animal were opening for Pris. Here are two pictures of Wild Animal Playing


These are the notes I took on the night:

“Showing her tits and guzzling beer on stage, with “fuck” every other word out of her mouth, Wrong Animal’s Miss Bee reminded me what it was to be liberated. Every girl wanted to be her, every guy wanted to be in her.”

Except for this guy:

Oh yeah, and the music rocked.

Then it was Pris…Francois, Simon and Rose kicked off with a moody new song and then hit their stride with some classics like “Comes Undone” and “Lipstick Traces.”

Here are Pris:

Then PJ and I briskly walked home talking about the gig and eating sunflower seeds and spitting them out right on the street. I figure I got about 2 hours of aerobic exercise from the walking and the dancing, so that must counter act the alcohol in some way.

On Sunday, I went to Lelly’s 40th dress-like-a-movie-character Fancy Dress party. Here she is:

Of course, I went as Cathy Whitaker in Far from Heaven. To be true to the spirit of my character, I actually don’t remember how much I had to drink. It was free champagne all night, and I can never keep track in those little fluted glasses.

This is something that happens to me a lot in clubs. I’ll be shaking my bootie to some tronic, and the guy next to me will shout: “Yeah! I love this tune! Don’t you love this tune!” I just shake my head in affirmation because I don’t want to embarrass myself by saying: “I have never heard this tune before, I think it’s crap, and I’m only dancing because if I sit down I will fall asleep.”

I really want to go to one of the Shellac Sisters gigs. From their website: “The Shellac Sisters are four glamorous retrochics who dress in all things vintage and play 78rpm records on 1920s wind-up gramophones.” Yeah. And I’d like to wear a dress…a nice one with frills. And a hat too.

Myspace link here.

Thanks to Boing Boing.

Kaki King myspace

Roundhouse

Reader Lynsie Camuso sent in a link to her rather jazzy concert planning site, ShowClix. The site seems to have some very useful and nicely-implemented features, such as the ability to track concerts from your favourite artists. Lot’s of groovy Web 2.0 stuff there, such as seeing how many other people are interested in, although like any of these things, it helps if there are other people who like the same artists as you.

Maybe this will help me get out to some live music sometime soon. Does anyone else have suggestions for how to winnow out London’s infinite entertainment options?

I’ve read in the papers that this is the most depressing week of the year, so do yourself a favor, and get down to Brixton tomorrow night for the monthly “Talk is Cheap” DJ/Live Band extravaganza.

The line up is one step beyond awesome with Hardwire, Stathis L, Boxtronica, Chris Murphy & Filthy G, Lewis Ryder & Javier Espanol and Enterprize.

My mate Rich puts on these monthly events, which go on ’til 6 a.m. The crowd is warm and friendly, and the music will make even the grumpiest among you shake your booties.

Read more for the flyer and guest list info. I hope to see you all there.