New Kicks

I had a surprise come through the door the other day.

One of those surprises that you have needed for a little while, but still get excited when it arrives.

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!

The House Of Peroni

If you come out of Oxford Circus tube station, and walk north past H&M and Nike, you will turn a corner and find a row of terraced town houses.

At Number 41 is The House of Peroni. Neatly tucked in the middle of the terrace, but bursting at the seems with Italian culture.

From fashion, to film, music, art and food, this is worth a trip one evening during November!

Walking in through the flourescent entrance, we decided to work our way through the house room by room to take in everything it had to offer.
First stop, the bar on the ground floor, which is open from 12pm - 11pm. 

The drinks menu has been created by Gerry Calabrese, who is the man behind the drinks at the Hoxton Pony, and there are a range of new cocktails created especially for the house.

For us though, nothing can be a great pint of Peroni after a long-day in the office!

Which may, or may not have, gone down a little quicker than it should have done!
At the rear of the bar is a dark room, featuring moving art across 8 screens by digital artist Quayola.
Just like when you stare at the clouds, you could sit down and spot the different shapes that were created as the art moved from frame to frame.

After shape spotting and catching up on each others week, we made our way out into the hall to be met by The Blue Ribbon. 

 

Upstairs is a completely different atmosphere. If downstairs was for the artists and relaxing, then upstairs is for the fashionista's and food lovers. 
Oh, and the best part? There is a private cinema showcasing a range of films.

Hanging from the ceiling are white backdrops which sections the room out, and acts as screens for fashion films to be shown throughout the night, whilst the DJ fills the room with his latest music.
We grabbed a spot and carried on catching up, whilst staring up to see the short-films being screened.

Emilio (His real name is Joe, but we were being Italian for the evening) works at a fashion house, so was in his element when he spotted a selection of handbags by designer Simone Rainer.

Simone was studying a maths degree when he discovered fashion was his love. He dropped the degree, created his line, and the rest is history.

You could see his mind racing away as he unzipped, zipped, felt and held the bag as if it was his own.

Whilst I (now named Sebastiano) worked out that my camera wouldn't fit in any of them, so headed on through the archway towards the outside area.

Top is from Zara (Similar here), jeans from Levis, shoes from Dune and bag from Mulberry.

Earlier in the year, I told you about Street Feast over in Dalston, and on selected evenings you can find a couple of their stalls out on the roof terrace; serving up (you guessed it!) pasta and other Italian dishes, which tasted really good whilst washed down with more Peroni!

If you want to have a sit down meal, then you can in the restaurant on the ground floor. Click Here to reserve a table. 

As it was freezing outside, we ate our pasta quick and went back inside to be greeted by a new friend...

As the house is inspired by 1960's, Silvia Bergomi created a bespoke fragrance for the event.

Of course, Emilio went straight in for a smell from the bottle and gave his seal of approval.

If you love calligraphy, then make sure you don't just walk through the entrance without taking in the work by graffiti artist and graphic designer Andrea (he is also know as Riot!). 
After a few drinks, you may be stood there staring for a little longer than normal, reading all the words he had written.
Not that we did that at all...
Okay, maybe we did for quite a while- but it was so cool!

Fit to burst of Italian food, drink and culture, we made our way back out onto Portland Terrace and into the cold night. Sebastiano and Emilio were off to party!

The House of Peroni is only here for November though, so you have a couple of weeks to get yourself down there! Each week the house holds different events and film screenings, so it never stays the same.
You can find it here, and the house is open from 12pm-midnight, Monday to Friday. 

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!