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Joined: Jan 2009
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Hello all,
We're all music people here so here's an off-topic music/travel question. I'm starting a UK business trip with a free weekend in London, this coming Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 25-26). I was wondering if anyone in or out of that area might have any suggestions for music-related activities in London this weekend. Anything from concerts to museums to jam sessions...
I realize I can find any number of musical events through Google or in a weekly entertainment guide in my hotel, and you don't know what I like and all, so please don't research anything for me. But if you have a "say, you know what's really cool" idea, please share! Serendipity!
I'll be staying in North London, quite close to Abbey Road Studios (for no particular reason). I don't have much planned for the moment. I've been there a few times and can get around pretty well with public transit.
Thanks!
Bruce
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You could see an extremely rare live performance of 'Forward Down the Field' if you had Lions tickets this weekend.  Sorry, all I got. Maybe some of our members from the area will chime in.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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My dear friend, Hayley Oliver, is playing in Kent, Kent at the Dancing Dog Pub in the Acoustic Lounge. I don't know England's geography but if you will be within reasonable driving distance, I definitely recommend seeing Hayley.
She was recently nominated Best Country Female Vocalist in Britain by BCMA. Tell her I sent you and she might buy you a beverage.
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Wow, Don, that's a great tip, thanks! I would love to hear Hayley. But alas, Kent is just a wee bit of a "schlepp" as Irish Jewish Brits might say - over an hour if I had a car, 2 hours 20 minutes by train.
Thanks,
Bruce
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http://www.timeout.com/london/free-magThis is probably the best source of info, the scene is huge. dopnt forget the pub cluture for jams etc, its everywhere. Z
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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You could always make a pilgrimage to Abby Road and tour the iconic studio if it's open to tours.... at the very least, you could walk in the footsteps of the Fab 4 crossing the street.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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More good tips - thanks! I will definitely be walking in the Fab Four's foot steps on Abbey Road, but it hadn't occurred to me that there could be tours. Probably not on the weekend but I will check.
Cheers,
Bruce
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I recently visited Motown studio on a Sunday .. if Abbey Road doesn't offer weekend tours they are missing the boat!
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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I think Abbey Rd doesn't let you in most days, but you do get to walk the road crossings.
I come from round these parts. Do have a coffee in the café at Golders Hill Park during the day, check out Hampstead Heath, and Camden Market, where you will find the Round House - which was right at the heart of the music revolution in London from the late sixties. This is a good area for alternative culture.
There is so much more too..
Last edited by ZeroZero; 10/24/14 08:33 AM.
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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I recently visited Motown studio on a Sunday .. if Abbey Road doesn't offer weekend tours they are missing the boat! My thoughts exactly, rharv!
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Thanks again for all the tips. Here's some feedback (I'm still in London but my business trip starts in the morning). I researched tours of Abbey Road Studios and found it is hard to get in there if you are not recording or mastering. So I just went and took pictures and walked the crosswalk like all the other tourists. There's a post in this forum about a new article in the Atlantic about the studio and its history. Last night, I got tickets for "Sunny Afternoon," a new musical based on the life and music of Ray Davis of the Kinks. I saw two pretty decent reviews and got a decent cheap ticket. I like the Kinks' music but I hated this show. It was like a high school play, like someone took a list of key events in Ray's life and found the closest match in his songs and went with the first draft. Bad acting, bad dialog, bad staging. The rock playing was OK. I was sorely disappointed to waste my Saturday evening on that instead of some real new music or something. Oh well. Not a musical, but in the afternoon I saw an amazing play, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time," based on a book I love [LINK] by Mark Haddon. It's the (fictional) story of a 15 year old boy who has something like Asperger's (this is never explicitly said but is pretty clear). He is a mathematically gifted but very difficult boy. I won't say more but both the book and the play are amazing. It is now also on Broadway. That play was worth the trip to me. Thanks again, Bruce
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Did you check out Time Out mag as suggested, it is well respected for reviews of shows and could help you select shows in a more informed way. There is so much for so many tastes. If you get a chance dop check Camden Market - Camden Town station. or Belzize park which would take you near to the RoundHouse, I used to see Pink Floyd there, Fleetwood Mac, and a whole host of other bands before they became famous.
There is a vibrant pub scene too, I live just outside London now, so am not strictly up to date, but Time Out is, as a schoolboy I suck a pin in its pages and went to see an unknown band in a boy scouts hut, the band was Led Zeppelin! I was totally changed in one night!
There are really two scenes. the 'pop' scene (corny, money orientated and facile) and the underground movement, its still true..
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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