Vintage Festival @ Southbank

The jury's still out on the much anticipated return of Vintage, held this year at the Royal Festival Hall. There have been mixed reviews, but i have to say that i had a ball! Yes, i think that there was more scope for pushing each decades theme a little more (well, a lot more actually), but there was just so much going on that everybody seemed to find their place. Each floor hosted a different decade through music, dance, decor and drink, with loads more extras thrown in. It was really surreal to see such an eclectic combination of fashion and style under one roof, from the 20's right up to the 90's. The man and me performed an initial reccy of the place (with necessary re-fueling stops along the way) before settling in the most amazing 80's living room (more on which later). The river front balcony drew the crowds by nightfall, so much so that the fun was ushered inside after 'structural concerns' were voiced. Just as MJ started getting his 'Off the wall' groove on - major bummer! We did manage to toast the town with our plastic martini glasses before we left though! God, i love London.

Wayne and Geradine Hemingway - the brains behind this award winning event

North South Divide...a great little pub bringing together northern monkeys and southern wankers! There was plenty of good humoured, animated banter, with accents that got more and more pronounced with every drink!

Then there was the entertainment...i'm a bingo lover at the best of times, but when you throw in some gays with great legs and show tunes, it just explodes! 

Let it Rock! The place for the movers and shakers and sexy teddy boys.

The Warehouse. An underground rave. Hot, sweaty and seedy, deep in the bowels of the Festival Hall. 

The Disco...as night fell this balcony was THE place to be. the views over the southbank were stunning. the perfect backdrop for a disco soundtrack and some retro moves...

projected patterns

The Prince's Pop-Up

I was really intrigued when i heard about the Start pop-up sustainable restaurant at Lancaster House, especially as it's not normally open to the public (by the by, this is where The Kings Speech was filmed...). So, the man and me decided to have a bit of a nosey on Friday night. Now, i'm becoming a little dubious about pop-up's as they seem to be, hmmm, well, popping up everywhere. But as we walked through St James Park, (debating prices of the bordering houses - including a certain palace...) we knew we were in for a treat when we heard the sweet sounds of acoustic music and laughter drifting from the grounds. So, first of all, there were no queues - just brilliant - and second of all, the place was dreamy! Imagine a warm summer's evening (well actually it was bloody freezing but i'm using some artistic license here), delicious food, amazing local lager (freedom - too good), live music and great company to while away an evening with - sounds good, no? The decor was kind of a cross between old British colonial and a cool Brighton brik-a-brak shop, really inspiring and all reclaimed stuff as well. Everyone seemed to have their own leather sofa to sink into, which definitely contributed to the relaxing vibe that oozed from the marquee into the night. There was also the option of a more formal dining experience inside the house, which looked gorgeous, but this was just perfect for a Friday night wind down.

Apologies as this post is kind of posthumous...the pop-up ended on Friday. But keep an eye on the Start website, for more events and celebrations around sustainable living. These guys are on to a great thing here.

all the food was organic and locally sourced. The yummyness you see is a potted crab and smoked haddock scotch egg platter and a ham hock terrine platter with pickled cherries - sounds odd but surprisingly delicious! Lots of yummy noises were made - always a very positive sign!

location, location, location!

Wandering through Soho yesterday, i found myself walking past St. Martins, just as some removal guys were shifting boxes. It was just so sad. In case you didn't know, this institution of an art school, which has nurtured an unrivaled roll call of creative talent (Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan, Giles Deacon, Phoebe Philo, Katie Grand, Antonio Beradi, Lucian Freud, Mike Leigh, Gilbert and George...ok i'm out of writing breath now, but you get the picture), is relocating to Kings Cross, to a 'one house fits all students' kind of building. Talking to some current CSM students a few weeks ago made me realise how blue everyone is about it (well everyone i know anyway). I tried my best to find the positives...after all everything will be so shiny and new and well, warm. Did i mention shiny?? They don't want shiny... There is also the argument that Soho is not what it was in the hedonistic hey days of the 80's and that Kings Cross is up and coming. These guys wouldn't get something like this wrong...right?? Lets hope the move isn't too stressful and that the talent just keeps on rolling.

gorgeous graffitti

Walking down Southampton Row at lunch a flash of fluro made me do a double take. Through a little iron gate i spied an awesome example of graffiti.  I love the acid colours of the floral print.

Wake up and hear the music

Monday morning alarm calls always seem to hurt that little bit more. So imagine how gorgeous it must have been for East Londoner's yesterday morning,  when they were serenaded from sleep by seven musical hot air balloons, floating over the city. This unique project is a collaboration between the London Sky Orchestra, the London International Festival of Theatre, and the Mayor of London's office, marking yearly countdown to the Olympics. So listen out tomorrow morning for a wake up call you won't want to sleep through!

Images from REUTERS/Andrew Winning

it's the final countdown

So, only a year to go (this Wednesday) and already things have really kicked off. There has been loads going on around the city in the last few days, to help get us in a state of perpetual Olympic excitement (stop grumbling you cynics...we'll figure out the tube woes later), with a 'unique ceremony' taking place at Trafalgar Square this Weds for a few big reveals...ooohhhh! I am loving all the weird and wonderful events that are cropping up all over the place, with the musical hot air balloons (post coming up) and Films on Fridges catching my eye today. Yes, i said fridges. Films being projected onto fridges. The connection you ask? Well, the fridges are from East London and the films are sporting in nature. Just Brilliant! 

Anyway, I am off on a tangent here, so i'm reeling it in. What with all the 2012 shenanigans this weekend, i got to thinking about the last time the Olympics were in town and what that must have been like. It became known as the 'Austerity Games' due to post war rationing and the struggling economic climate - this was the first games since the 1936 Berlin Olympics after all. I imagine it helped bring even more pride and celebration back to the city. I started fishing for imagery and found some absolute corkers. I love poster art, so when i spotted this official poster i was in my element. There are loads of great artists on board to create some iconic images for next years games as well - Tracey Emin, Martin Creed, Chris Ofili, Michael Craig-Martin, Howard Hodgkin, Rachel Whiteread and Bridget Riley - so i imagine they will be pretty spectacular. 

Love these guys...the Australian water polo team. Which one is your favourite? i have two...

all images borrowed from Getty - thanks.