Fashion, Alcohol, Music

Thinking of some of the blogs I managed to forget to post, I’m reminded that I didn’t mention the hours Chris and I spent waiting to do our turn for the James Yuill Guinness video; I’m not sure it was worth the time but interestingly a few weeks after filming the video we encountered James headlining the first in a series of 4 gigs being Curated by Lyle & Scott at London’s XOYO club just off Old Street.

That first night had James being supported by Trophy Wife and Babeshadow. I’d not heard much of either of the support acts and can’t say I objected too much, the sets were just long enough to showcase each bands wares so you could go seeking out those you liked more. The Curated by Lyle & Scott gigs have a nice twist in that in amongst the established bands playing, at each event an unsigned band will also be performing which means you really are getting to witness fresh new music with tickets costing a whopping £3 it works out less than £1 per act. Who is going to argue with that? If you head over to the Lyle & Scott YouTube Channel you can see more videos from the events.

Thanks to the Lyle & Scott crowd having an army of photographers and video operators, there’s some good footage available as can be seen here:

Rather embarrassingly I didn’t make the 2nd event as I decided to go home first and grab a bite to eat, needless to say that once home not even Natalie Portman was getting me back out of the house and last week I got as far asmaking it to the entrance of the XOYO club before turning around and heading home again after realising I was still far too hungover from Wednesday night; the night I also managed to lose my travelcard. So on Thursday rather than researching where to go in Manchester for the weekend I spent most of the day sorting out my travel card which whilst vastly improved from a few years ago, is still a pain in the ass.

I wasn’t so lucky in Manchester in trying to get ticket to either the Mogwai or King Creosote gig which were the main reasons for getting out of London for a few days, in the end I spent a fairly relaxed couple of days wandering around going nowhere in particular. Highlights had to include the hotel reading material. As well as the usual bible courtesy of The Gideon Society there was also a TV listings magazine, and current editions of both the Cosmopolitan and The Economist. Something for everyone!

For a cheap n cheerful curry then head along to Soap Street in the Northern Quarter and seek out This & That where my cabbie suggested I go when I told him I liked spicy food. Don’t worry, the food is cooked to a medium level but at only £4.50 for a plate of rice and 3 mains it is not bad value for money and on a Sunday be sure to try a bowl of the Lamb Nehari which was extremely popular, in the 15 minutes I spent eating my bowl around 20 people came in and ordered it! It was hellish tasty.