Tag Archives: music

The London festival experience

Posted in food, Lifestyle, music by

GALA Brixton

As spring is firmly underway – or so we hope… c’mon, it’s still around 13°C most days here in London!– and daylight gets one extra minute each day, we get closer and closer to the wonderful stream of festivals that sweep across the UK. However, it seems like long gone are the weekends of mud, sweat and tears…

It seems that, as years have gone by, people are less interested in what some still love to call *the festival experience*. By that they mean camping for three/four days, often braving horrible weather conditions, large quantities of mud, bad toilet facilities, with little or no possibility of freshening up, let alone having a shower.

GALA Brixton

For someone who loves freshly washed hair (although I thank the Gods every day for dry shampoo!), clean and crisp clothing and the comfort of my own bed, this reads as my description of HELL.

I was never into this idea of ‘festival experience’, and I remember going to V Festival in 2006 and saying “oh my word, I cannot BELIEVE I’m home”. Don’t get me wrong, the festival was incredible! And it was even more so because in 55 minutes I was at my door, skipping happily to my warm shower.

I’m so glad to know that I’m not alone in this. The new festival experience involves VIP bracelets, a “sweat only if you want to” attitude, gourmet food trucks, drinks from independent producers and –the best of it all – a short tube/bus/Uber ride home.

LOVEBOX

It is no wonder that inner London festivals are becoming big players in the music scene. Field Day (Victoria Park), South West Four (Clapham Common), British Summer Time (Hyde Park), Wireless (Finsbury Park), Lovebox (Victoria Park) and GALA (Brixton) are some of the main festivals happening within London this spring and summer, taking advantage of the appeal of being at home after a long day (and sometimes night) of partying.

And let’s not forget that 2017 will be the first year where we’ll be able to use the night tube during summer! This is something I’m really looking forward to, in order to reduce my late night post-partying Uber addiction…

So, if you ever thought that you wanted to experience festivals but wouldn’t be happy applying your makeup in a muddy compact mirror, after cleansing your face with just a baby wipe for the third day straight… I HEAR YOU. Have a thorough look on all events happening within London and I’m sure you’ll find something that tickles your fancy – and with travelling time possibly shorter than your daily work commute!

written by Carol

Right, you know the drill… this is a bit of a PR post.

Three at the Roundhouse – a night of music

Posted in Lifestyle by

three_at_the_roundhouse_somanylovelythings - 6I cheated. On my iPhone with a Samsung Galaxy S6. Admittedly, it was a one night stand and I have to say  the performance impressed me.

Especially the camera quality, the beauty mode (hello, pretty) and various other options. Cool.

Three UK, rated by YouGov the most reliable network presented us their  recently launched their 4G SuperVoice which has a better coverage – even in the depths of Roundhouse –  and allows us to make call via 4G.

Using a complete different handset was easier than I thought; the network didn’t fail me and I manage to social network away!

Three took me for an exclusive tour of the iconic music venue Roundhouse, in Camden, London, to find out more about their great work with young creatives, who can use the studios in the Paul Hamlyn Roundhouse studios to develop their talents, be it music, TV, radio, performing arts and much more.

Young artists can join courses, programmes or hire studios and equipment for very affordable fees.

If you are between 17 and 25, and want to develop your talents, get in touch with Roundhouse to check out their offer, they have a fab support system to help you thrive!

Three partnered up with the Joe Strummer Foundation for this event. We visited the Strummerville studio, which has some original Joe Stummer lyrics on the wall and also heard about the foundation charitable work and were invited to The Monarch for an intimate performance by two of their recently signed artist: Lyza Jane and Bless.

Lyza Jane is singer, songwriter and producer, but also a lovely bright little thing with the kind of singing voice I like: soft, almost raspy, lingering and striking. She sings from emotions, has supported Alabama 3 and has been going solo for about three years.

She also performed in Glasto at the Rabbit Hole a few times! Definitely one to watch out.

You can catch her on YouTube and Soundcloud. She also has a cute and sassy clothing range, Pantsu & Pantsu which has tees and knickers, mainly, with embroidery and pom-poms. worth checking!

The other act was a band, Bless, which has a heavier sound and I caught myself dancing(ish) along to.

The guys are great fun, we had a fab chat; it is amazing to talk about what inspires their creations, the process in a group and the sudden suggestion of shots!

They all know each other from a long time, were in different bands before and decided to do music together in January.

They’ve been touring France and will have their first London gig on the 11 December at the Monarch.  You can check out their site for dates.

Overall, a great night! Thanks Three UK for having me and for the AMAZING furry hand selfie stick I came home with.

If you want to know more about Three UK, check out their site for all available handsets and options.

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Innocent Un-plugged Festival and digital detox

Posted in Lifestyle by

innocent digital detoxHow much of a slave of your phone are you? Me, you ask? A huge one, I found out.

Our lovely friends at Innocent Drinks challenged me to a digital detox over their Unplugged festival, which took place over the late May bank holiday in the beautiful St. Clere’s Estate Pinetum and Arboretum.

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