Played In Chelsea

It's always the same dilemma. 
You're sat watching your weekly TV show when some background music comes on and you wonder who the artist is, and by the time you have opened Shazam the song has faded. 

Fortunately, if you watch Made In Chelsea, then the artists are playing at a weekly gig in West London, which means you can find out who sang that song and see them play live.

Each week, 'Played In Chelsea' is held at Under The Bridge, featuring three live acts from the shows soundtrack. I was invited down to one of the gigs, so set off the other evening to see what it had to offer.

It literally was 'under the bridge'. 
Chelsea Football clubs stadium, Stamford Bridge, in fact.
I met up with Ryan outside, strolled down the courtyard past the photos of past and current players, and headed on in to grab a drink. 

 Ryan wore his Barbour Coat, Topman Trousers and a satchel from a small shop in Winchester.

I went for my Winter Coat, Taxonomy tee, Black Jeans, shoes by Hudson and my Mulberry manbag.

As it was going to be streamed live on E4 online, we grabbed our spot and watched as the floor manager came on to warm up the crowd into a small frenzy.
Before being quickly followed on by Jamie Laing and Proudlock from the series.

Who laughed and joked about the night and show, before introducing us to the first act.
A new up and coming indie band called Outside Central.

Their songs would act as the perfect backdrop to a day at the beach, cider in hand with your friends. Listen to 'Tell Me That You're Mine' here - I have just added it to my Spotify Playlist!.

In-between the bands, the guys came back on to film some scenes to introduce the next artist to the stage for everyone who was watching at home.
If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen that we did send a couple of cheeky tweets using the #PlayedInChelsea hashtag to see if they got read out.

Next up was Pylo.
My and Ryan clearly did not know who this band was, or even heard of their music. 
Our vacant faces gave it away whilst everyone else cheered as they walked on stage.

It's all about discovering new music though, right?

By the end of their set, we were tapping our feet and bopping our heads along in enjoyment!
More of a chilled set than a jump-around-going-crazy set. 
It went down well with a pint and they had a few more fans by the end of it too, ourselves included! Take a listen here.

The final band of the night was Deaf Havana, a band we both knew about this time!

The crowd went absolutely wild for these guys, and there was no question they brought the house down.

Think guitars, drums, and a good voice mixed together with a good pace! They are one of those acts that makes you want to put your hand up in the air and sing along!

Three songs later, the band left the stage and the lights came up. 
Gig over, a little tipsy, we grabbed our coats and went back out into the ground of Stamford Bridge.


Being at Chelsea FC, we couldn't resist a little football cheer for the team.

Clapped, foot tapped, and all cheered out, we headed off back home after what turned out to be a great night of new music! 
Played In Chelsea was a great opportunity to discover new bands, and there is one more show left as the TV series comes to an end.
Unfortunately, it is sold out of tickets (which is good though, as the proceeds go to charity!), but you can watch it online and discover who those bands were playing on the latest episode!

I'm off to download some new albums from iTunes, and start foot tapping again under the desk!

John Newman at Electric

Last night I grabbed Frankie from work, ate a quick dinner, and hopped on the underground down to Brixton.

Well, we got as far as Victoria before the line was closed, London transport is never friendly when you have to be somewhere fast is it?

A black cab ride later, we made it to Electric Brixton to see John Newman perform on his last night of his sold-out UK tour. His latest album has been on loop on my Spotify for a few weeks, and you can listen to it at the bottom of this too. 

  

 

I am always a little indecisive as to what to wear to some gigs, though last night I opted for a Bomber Jacket, I <3 NYC Tee, Topman Spray-On Skinny Jeans, and Nike Air Max 90 trainers.

You may have seen Topman mention the skinny jeans recently, as they have launched their ‘Spray On Jeans’ SS14 collection. Skinny jeans are back in the spotlight again, but this time even skinnier than before, and in a range of different colours. To be honest with, they may be tight, but they sure are comfortable!
You can find the range here, and then once you have your pair, put an outfit together and Instagram a pic with #TopmanSprayOnJeans to show off your style!

I rolled mine up two folds, and threw on my new Nike Air Max Trainers...

Which were not, in any way, going to get dirty tonight!

As the delayed crowd filtered in, we grabbed some drinks and made our way up to the box to get a good view as Mr Newman came on stage...

... and watched on as he belted out his songs from his album 'Tribute.'

My personal fav is 'Losing Sleep', which is going to be his next single! Check it out below.

Before we knew it, the confetti was shooting up into the ceiling as he closed the set with his single 'Love Me Again', which sent the crowd into a frenzy and chanting 'more' long after he had left the stage.

The only downside to the gig was the fact he didn't sing the Rudimental track he was featured on, but apart from that, it was a great gig with some brilliant music!
If you want to see who is lined up to play at Electric, then take a look here. They have some good artists being announced over the coming weeks, so keep you eyes open and check back!

In the mean time, plug your headphones in or turn your speakers up, and have a listen to 'Tribute' below!

MKS. The Comeback Gig.

Last night, me and the guys went along to Scala in North London to see the comeback of Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan. Previously know as the original Sugababes, now know as MKS.

If you are unsure who they are, let me recap for you. Their arrived 12 years ago, but one by one left the band for various reasons, and were replaced by another female singer. At the end, Sugababes were a trio of girls who's sound couldn't have been further away from the original line up.

Fast forward to 2013, and MKS have officially reunited and headlining their first comeback gig at Scala, an intimate London venue.
It's taken 12 months since the groups announcement, but the buzz has been absolutely phenomenal leading up to this gig. Twitter has been ablaze, and tickets sold out in 14 minutes! People were desperate for tickets.

Once inside, the buzz built and built until the opening beats to their first single Overload started, the three of them stepped on stage, and it was honestly a gig like I haven't experienced before!

The group performed Overload exactly how they performed the single on Top of The Pops and CD:UK all those years ago. It was their opportunity to open the show with what they were, and take us through to who they are now.
Rolling through old time classics like 'Run For Cover' and 'Stronger' as well as new singles from their forthcoming album, it was as if they never disappeared.

Trust me, their new album needs to be at the top of your want list, the songs are that good!

The best thing about this gig was the incredible support the crowd had for these girls. There was a moment where Siobhan, who left the band first, sang the lines of her replacement and the crowd went mad with encouragement. It was deafening.
This is what every fan had been waiting for, to see these three reunited, picking up where they left it.

We were literally in awe not only at how the crowd reacted to MKS, but at how amazing the band sounded too! These days the artists never sound like the song when they sing it live, but MKS showcased their vocals to their full range.

After about an hour of being on stage, they said their thanks and we all screamed for more, as you do! They then came back out, and performed their new single 'Flatline' (which we all knew word for word!) before hugging on stage, thanking us all for coming, and ran backstage.

We all caught our breathe, finished our drinks, and went out into the London night humming along to their new song!

You can pre-order their new single here and check out their website too, they have more gigs coming up!

On the day where a current member of the Sugababes declared they were over, MKS came on stage and carried on the party they left 12 years ago.
It's come full circle, and definitely an exciting act to watch out for!

iTunes Festival

Every year, iTunes holds a music festival at The Roundhouse in North London, allowing for all the latest artists to play a live gig to fans and competition winners.

From Emile Sande, Usher, Pink, through to One Direction, Deadmau5, and Muse, this is THE festival to get tickets for each year.

Luckily, I was able to get my hands on tickets for one of the sought-after gigs, Calvin Harris and David Guetta. Two of the biggest artists at the moment, together under one roof, can only mean one thing.

Insanity.

After queuing to get into the venue with my friend Nick, we made our way round to the terrace, posed for pictures, and got the drinks in to warm up the vocal chords. Afterall, screaming and cheering is mandatory for these types of gigs!

Shorts from Berska (find a pair here) and I <3 NY top from here.

A few drinks down, our evening kicked off with support DJ Burns warming the crowd up, before Calvin Harris took to the stage.

The next two hours went from being a relaxed Saturday evening, to a 'Throw your hands in the air like you don't care, jump around and flick your hair' rave.

On the plus side, I did not leave the dance floor once! #Commitment.

After jumping, bouncing, screaming at the TV cameras (there is a video somewhere!), we caught our breaths in the 20 minute break and cooled down before it all started again.

Oh, and grabbed another drink for endurance reasons!

Round two... David Guetta. This time a lot of the crowd started to thin out towards the end, so we were able to work our way to the front.

Drenched-hair from a mini-water fight, trying to not slip up, whilst drinking a cider. Classy.

Another 2 hours later, and the lights came up in The Roundhouse. Slightly drunk and on a high from what we have just experienced, we ended up back on the road to Camden, covered in confetti and proclaiming that we had just been to the BEST GIG EVER.

Literally, it was that amazing.

Although the next day our bodies would be screaming at us for jumping too high and drinking too much!