Electrafixion

Apologies for the gap in posts, it was all for a good cause. My good friend John Ashby gets wed in a few weeks, so this weekend gone was spent with said Stag and nine other friends drinking London town dry.

We all enjoy a bit of live music on a night out and many plans were made to bag tickets for various events but in the end we settled for the go with the flow option. Which basically translates to “Head for Camden and enter the closest boozer”. On this occassion it was ‘The Elephant’s Head’ located on the high street, where we were treated to a mixed bag of 45’s in the form of Ska, Rockabilly and Northern Soul.

camden-41

I didn’t catch the DJ’s name but the man had an extremely impressive collection packed into one holdall. The beer and service flowed equally as well and the patrons were friendly and welcoming.

Stag parties can struggle to gain entrance into London Night Clubs if the whole party try and gain entrance to clubs at once. So we left the Elephant’s Head in splinter cells on a mission to catch Bangers & Mash Night at Proud where Twisted Wheel were doing a DJ set. They were to be joined by four live acts… CHASING ORA, THE REBS, THE ELECTRIC FLOWERS, and THE APPLE SCRUFFS. Two of us never made it, one of the two being me. A huge queue and a weak bladder put paid to that mission.

If you were at the above gig I’d love to hear your thoughts on the evening, my friends seemed more impressed with the photography exhibition inside the venue. Particularly the ‘Withnail and I’ shots.

Instead the gruesome two-some found ourselves in the Green Note, where we managed to catch the tail end of Yorkshire folk/bluesman Serious Sam Barrett’s ‘Close To Home’ album launch. The show, like the album features a collection of his own arrangements of trad folk songs, influenced by Ewan MacColl and The Watersons. Barrett has a wonderfully distinctive voice which sounds like he may have spent several nights hitting whisky bars. I found this video from the very gig on You Tube.

We finished the evening in various bars and clubs, none impressive enough to mention here. The others had spent just one hour in Proud but were never found until the next morning at breakfast.

Saturday was filled with shopping and more drinking in Soho. And it was back to Soho at night where we crawled the pubs toasting the groom to be, before opting for the famous Madame Jo-Jo’s to tear up the dancefloor to more Northern Soul rarities, Deep Funk and 60’s Underground courtesy of former Wigan Casino DJ ‘Keb Darge’s legendary ‘Lost and Found’ night.

The majority of the party has a long standing affection for Northern Soul so there really was no better venue and DJ to take in. An amazing night, in a characterful room that dates right back to the 1940’s. It’s a venue I would recommend to all visiting London.

This short film promo for Lost & Found will give you an idea of what’s in store. Only, on our visit the club was much busier.

We left Madame Jo-Jo’s about 4am, a few headed to the 100 club and the rest in the hunt for some food. Sunday was devoured by more drinking and live football in Zoo Bar off Leicester Square. A great weekend was had by all in-spite of the lack of live music.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Share and Enjoy: