Holden Richards

Freak show or music show?

I attended a rather intriguing gig the other night. To be honest, I only went out of morbid curiosity and because my friend had a free ticket. In the US, our celeb meltdowns are more like Charlie Sheen; shunned and disgraced. In the UK, yours play sell-out gigs at London venues and spark devotion among their legions of fans. I swear, the longer I live here the less I understand you Brits. First I find out that my best friend’s house is powered by red diesel suppliers, not the mains electricity and now I discover that a self-confessed junkie and thief is still adored by the music press and the British public!

More

Gallery grunge

I’m lucky enough to know not one, not two, but three people who own their own art galleries. OK, most of them are about the size of a broom cupboard and located in arty parts of town like Elephant and Castle and Vauxhall, but from little acorns and all that. Besides, whenever they have openings I get an invite to the “free bar” parties; and a free bar is great no matter where in London you find it. Most of the time the attendees are people like me; young-ish with a passionate interest in the arts, but not much spare cash to throw in the direction of a struggling artist or a struggling gallery owner.

More

Home from home

Every now and then I can get a little home-sick for New York. Only occasionally, though, as most of the time London and my friends here keep me so busy I don’t have much chance to miss the Big Apple! Luckily, you guys in the UK are so obsessed with American “culture” that I can always find some way to imagine myself back in New York without ever leaving the Greater London area. Missing genuine American hamburgers? Why, I simply head to the diner behind the Palace Theatre that serves burgers, chilli dogs and glass bottles of Coca Cola with a straw. Hell, I only need to turn on my TV to watch some of my favourite shows from home. Do you guys make any TV programmes of your own? I’ve got more chance of finding a red diesel supplier who delivers to Camden than of finding an original idea on British telly…

Of course, there are plenty of areas where the UK does things better than the US, and that’s why I moved here in the first place. Your theatre is much less “jazz hands” and more about real acting; your museums don’t cater to the lowest common denominator; and your up-and-coming bands have a freshness that has been missing from New York clubs since the days of punk.

Every now and then, though, I think how nice it would be to go and see a New York band play live, to hear a familiar accent and to have something to talk to my friends at home about that they won’t mock as “limey”. London’s vast music scene means that on any given night there is usually some band or performer with a New York connection in town. When I get homesick, genre isn’t as important as where the musicians hail from; in fact I’m just as likely to go and see a classical music quartet or a death metal band!

Similar Posts:
Jersey Boys the Musical in London : Jersey Boys is a jukebox…
Best summer in how long – Comment : A blog on the World Cup…
Big Energy Business : Poor energy saving. It used to be the kid…
Connected Youth : There was a time when the older generation…

Practice makes perfect

Living in London, you can’t really avoid the Olympics. There’s still a year to go until the main event but that hasn’t stopped the city and all its residents becoming obsessed with the Games. I don’t want to sound like a sore loser, seeing as London beat my home town of New York to the honour, but I do worry that they’re going to tire themselves out before the actual Olympics get started! There doesn’t seem to a be a More

Chill out time

Having only ever lived in cities, I really enjoy the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the packed tube trains, even the bad-tempered queue to get my morning coffee. The only time this changes is when the weather gets hot. Then cities can become unbearable, and tempers start to fray even more!

In New York, it’s always easy to escape the high rise buildings and the cramped streets, as you’re never really that far away from one of our parks. More

Night Clubs in London - An Overview

There are thumping drums and lot of bass that sound in the night clubs of London. If it is ear bleeding dance or scratchy guitar sounds that one loves to swing one’s body to then London night clubs have a lot to offer. These types of clubs are open and extend their activities through the late hours of the night to the early hours of the next day. It is therefore suggested that people who plan for a night out More

All About Agriturismo La Brocca – Restaurant

Recently I took my dad, who had just recovered from hair transplant surgery, out to dinner and we went to the Agriturismo La Brocca. It was recommended to by a good friend of mine. Here is what I thought of the place and its food.

Agriturismo La Brocca is a n award winning restaurant which is family owned with sibling Carla Di Crescenzo being the manager. You will find quality food here with modest pricing.

The La Brocca restaurant is More

Florida vacation at half the price in London!

London is a great place to be as an outsider! I’ve never been in a city that allows me to feel like I’m not just a foreigner; that actually I’m a native. Even New York with its bustling cosmopolitan feel and attitude, doesn’t match London in terms of its multi-cultural environment.

Even the travel agents I’ve been to in London are ten times better than the ones in New York. I recently went into an independent agent just off Kensington More

The Night Life in London

London in terms of nightlife supersedes other cities of the world. The best part of London nightlife is the pubs that serve varieties of beer. These pubs have the feel of old school and can be easily found in various corners of the city. They are warm, cozy and very inviting.

Some of the pubs stop serving drinks after 11pm and the tube, the commuting lifeline of London, stops after 12 am. But there are pubs that take off from More

Exploring the numerous art galleries of London’s East End

The East End of London, once known as the run-down, economically deprived area of the capital, has experienced some significant regeneration in recent years, particularly in regards to the Olympic development at Stratford for next year’s games. Some of the most popular galleries in the East End include Rivington Place, situated in the artsy area of Shoreditch. It encapsulates an £8 million building, which became the first ’newly-built'public space in the city since the opening of the Hayward in 1968. More