Concerts, Clubs and Music! Oh My!

That title was sort of lame. I'm sorry. lol

Friday 6pm

If I were back home, in Cheyenne, right now I would probably be getting home after a dance class or two. I would make some dinner, maybe hang out with some friends, and then go to bed. Nothing else. The topic for discussion today is Life in a Big City.

London is a bustling metropolis with a population in Greater London of 7,825,200. The city is filled with different sights and offers all you can want in one city. You have South Kensington, which is wealthy and posh, Camden is alternative and edgy, and Westminster is financial and tailored.  If you think America is a melting pot, then take America and thrust it into one city and that’s London. I love London because there is something to do every night, and you can do it all last minute. You can choose clubs, concerts, bars, art galleries, and performance art and all you have to do is walk out your front door or jump on the tube. Life here is vibrant and beautiful.

For example…..

I went and saw New Found Glory on a Friday night. It was last minute and I just read about in passing on Twitter because I follow one of the guitarists. I quickly jumped on some 20-pound tickets, threw on some concert gear, and headed off to Chalk Farm. The beauty of the Tube is that you can get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time. Chalk Farm is not really relevant to the story, only that the concert venue was there. It was called the Roundhouse and was huge. New Found Glory is a pop-punk band formed in 1997. They have some awesome original songs like, “My Friends Over You”, “All Downhill From Here” and “Hit Or Miss”. Their cover of “Kiss Me” is to die for as its also the cutest video I have ever seen. I fully recommend them.  They played with The Blackout, whom I have never heard of before. I went to this concert by myself and had no trouble fighting my way to the front to scream at the top of my lungs. It was nice because I met a lot of Londoners in the line before the concert and during the concert itself. It felt really “slice of life” and one of the best experiences I have ever had. I never felt unsafe or sketched out; it was just a good night. The roundhouse has tons of concerts lined up, I vote everyone goes out and sees one or two or eight. Whatever works.

My friends and I have hit up some clubs while we have been here. Two of the very different ones are The Zoo Club and Borderline. The Zoo Club is located in Leicester Square and has a cover charge after 9, I think. It’s filled with your typical dance music and club downstairs, with an offshoot to a smaller bar and more pop music to the right. Upstairs had some classic rock playing, more of a bar setting and a smaller space to dance in. Its located up the street from Trafalgar Square, a place Night buses seem to congregate. Borderline is located in Soho and is an indie bar. It has different club nights and the Saturday we went was Indie and real old school music. It’s a small club located in the basement with two bars and small stage. They offer live music some nights and overall it’s a pretty chill place to dance till 3am. Beware the sticky floor, its deadly adhesive.

If dancing, drinking and loud music is not your thing, well YOU’RE MISSING OUT! I am kidding, London offers you museums, which are free to the public and you can spend hours walking around and finding new things to look at. The exhibitions aren’t free but are cheaper to students. Tate Modern has an exhibition with Kusama sponsored by Louis Vuitton right now. Its beautiful and worth seeing. Kusama does a lot with dots and repetitive patterns and tries to recreate what she sees in a hallucinatory state. It’s really interesting and I would encourage anyone to go. London is also a theatre hub, with shows in the West End that are amazing and popular. You can see lesser-known works around the city for reasonable prices and it’s worth it. My friends and I paid 20 pounds to see Jersey Boys and we were in the 6^th row from the front. It was a beautiful show that was a whirl ride from start to finish. Shakespeare’s Globe opens in Late April and any show there is worth its weight in gold. Not only do you get to see a classic production but also the experience of what a show would be like in Shakespeare’s time. It’s an open-air theatre, standing room closest to the stage. Open-air is as open as it gets and you can hear planes flying over and pigeons are unpaid guests in most shows. It’s an experience that cannot be rivaled.

Lastly, one of the AIFS staff  (Hi Claire!) told one of my roommates and me about this great place in the East End. Its called Club 1001. It’s a bar, venue, club and overall great place to be. It has a live DJ and a place to dance as well. Its sounds like fun and its on the street that houses some of the best curry I have ever eaten. Its next on my list of places to check out, maybe when I have eaten my weight in curry and naan bread.

I hope that what you have garnered from this post is how vibrant London is. Its full of a brilliant nightlife that caters to the thousands.

Things I hope you haven’t taken away

-I party all the time. (I swear I spend most of my time learning in London)

-I really could eat my weight in curry and bread. (That part might be true.)

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite lines from NFG.

And I can tell you’re going through the motions

 I figured you were acting out your part

  Once again, we’re playing off emotion

Which one of us will burn until the end?

The-One-Who-Burns

Paige