ELI “PAPERBOY” REED, 100 CLUB LONDON, 13TH JANUARY.
Eli “Paperboy” Reed is all about soul. Not the faux, glossy soul that abounds in today’s charts though. No, the Bostonian embodies the gritty, tear-your-heart-out soul of the ‘60s. The kind of soul that instinctively makes you want to clench your fists tight. Shake your head in appreciation. Move.
IKONIKA, GOLDIELOCKS, COOLY G, FATIMA & LUCY PINK, CARGO LONDON, 22ND DECEMBER.
It’s three days before Christmas, and London is covered in a blanket of snow with icy weather conditions threatening public transport. A bold time to be putting on a fundraiser event then, which is probably why last week Tuesday there was a little more dance floor space than you’d usually see in a venue such as Cargo.
EDAN, GRAMAPHONE LONDON, 10TH DECEMBER.
“I am VERY displeased with this,” says a deadpan Edan Portnoy, standing behind a jungle of turntables, mixers, cables and leads. The Boston producer-slash-rapper is at London’s Gramaphone to screen the accompanying video to his new album ‘Echo Party’, and some serious technical difficulties are plaguing proceedings. Eventually, the right-hand speaker stack starts working again, and Gramaphone’s busy underground cellar…
CHALI 2NA, CARGO LONDON, 2ND DECEMBER.
A straight, long queue stretches down to Curtain Road from the entrance of Cargo in Shoreditch. After finally getting out of the cold and into the cosy, intimately lit venue, it’s just as busy inside. To the left, a sizable queue for the cloakroom. To the right, a long wait at the bar. The main room that houses the stage…
FINK, JAZZ CAFE, LONDON, 16TH NOVEMBER.
Yesterday, on a brisk London night, Bristol-born Fink headlined the famous Jazz Cafe in Camden for the first time. As expected, he was playing to a full house, and from just the slightest utterance of a greeting, this sold out venue was his. Really, it’s not hard to see why. Fink and his two bandmates, with their messy hair and…
BREAKESTRA, LONDON DINGWALLS, 17TH NOVEMBER.
Last night at Dingwalls in Camden, Breakestra did something I’ve never witnessed before. They played a storming, electrifying set to a packed house. For two. Straight. Hours. You know what? That’s pretty impressive, but it gets wilder. Not only did they play a two hour set, they didn’t actually stop playing for the whole two hours.
NNEKA, LONDON ULU, 4TH NOVEMBER.
Last week saw MOBO winner (Best African Act 09) Nneka play her only London date at ULU. Which was surprising; I expected someone of Nneka’s pedigree to play a venue like the Jazz Café, or Cargo. I have to say though, ULU was the perfect place to host the show. It may not have been the most glamourous setting, but…
