Djing at Stitch! and a couple of reviews...

Happy belated new year! Hope you had a good one. I am fresh back from my trip to Australia where I had been travelling around for the past month. Had an amazing time over there and managed to cram in a load of gigs, beach bumming, clubs, restaurants, aquariums, zoos, shopping, surfing as well as lots of sight-seeing in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. I even had Christmas dinner with an actor from Neighbours, can you belive it?! It was the Aussie dream! Bonza!

I wrote a couple of reviews before I went away too. One is from a Drums gig in Kentish Town and the other was of a Madness show at Earls Court.

Links:

The Drums http://www.subba-cultcha.com/live-reviews/article.php?contentID=22814
Madness http://www.subba-cultcha.com/live-reviews/article.php?contentID=22820

So, back to reality and I have some DJ dates coming up. First up is at stitch! Presents... Ghettotines Take 2! Hope you can make it!

Here is their Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=175425882497149

Here is their blurb:

Since graduating from Crunk College, stitch! is moving the party to London! Since everyone has recovered from our last valentines bash, it’s time to destroy lives and livers again in true stitch! style, with take 2 of stitch! presents... Ghettotines Day!

Ghettotines is all about crunkin' behaviour and regretting everything you did the night before. We live by the motto 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' a...nd par-take in the act that makes babies!

We got a variety of activities for you to dive into...

First off is the return of the ghetto weddings! A section of the Macbeth will be transformed into a decked out our Las Vegas wedding hall, where we provide the supplies for you to get hitched with. All you need to do is bring yourself and your 'boo' down to the alter, where you will be joined in holy matrimony by our ghetto priest. Then to the dance floor for your first dance as newlyweds where music will be brought to you by our mixture of awesome bands and DJ's.

"Strap It Up, Before You Slap It Up” such wise words from the man that is Tim Westwood. Throughout the night we will be providing you all with various treats to practice safer sex; catching an STI & babies can be icky so always be prepared boys and girls. Our own STI doctor will be more than happy to provide you with the tools to a thumping good time.

Our Trailer Trash Cupids will be spreading the love-bug by hosting our Personal Ads wall for all you singletons out there who are looking for a lil’ bump and grind. Make sure you get your booty call this Valentines by leaving your name, number and a saucy message.

-------------------------------------------------

The first installment of live music is brought to you by Death of an Artist (DOAA). DOAA started writing melodic/post-hardcore music in April 2009; taking influences from Underoath, Saosin, Emarosa, Thrice, and Alexisonfire, this band has used different styles in their music to create a heavy, yet melodic sound, having everything from epic vocals to heavy beat-downs. DOAA have shared the stage with Hopes Die Last, Lower than Atlantis, Deaf Havana, The Elijah, Proceed, Dividing the Line, Evita, Memphis May Fire, Broadway, Burn The Fleet, and many more.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Death-Of-An-Artist/91008079327?v=wall


More Live Acts T.B.A so watch this space!

--------------------------------------------

Sextacular DJ sets from:

Special Sex Set by Captain Magic (Peanut Butter Jelly Time/ Real Life)

Adrian Storry (What Ever Happened To P-rock? /Eclectic Like Whoopi)

One Piece

Spec. (formally known as Geek Chic Soundsystem)

Teen Symmetry

Fynn vs. Golden Gun (stitch!)

Bringing you the best in Punk Rock, Hip Hop, Rnb, Alternative, Crunk Rock, and Tech House, expect to hear the likes of...

R Kelly | Sum 41 | TLC | 50 Cent | Lil Jon | Test Icicles | Ciara | Lostprophets | Outkast | At the Drive In | Lady Gaga | Circa Survive | Blink 182 | Slick Rick |Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs | The Maine | LE LE | Jay-Z | Say Anything |Weezer | Kano | Busta Rhymes | Bloodhound Gang | Man Overboard | Finch | Ludacris | Five | Homegrown | New Found Glory | De La Soul | Brand New | Busy P | Good Charlotte | N.E.R.D | The Starting Line | Boyz II Men | American Hi-Fi | Destinys Child | Alexisonfire | Lil Wayne | Backstreet Boys | The Donnas | Katy Perry | Coolio | Alkaline Trio | 2 Pac | Andrew W.K | Four Year Strong | Glassjaw | Ninjasonik | Usher | Pennywise | Bobby Brown | Rihanna | Uffie...

We will be revealing in all manners of tricks & treats in the next few weeks, so watch this space!

Feel free to invite your friends to the event page, ‘cause this is the only thing we want spreading like Chlamydia!


Doors open at 8pm partying right on ‘til 2am


Door tax: £5 on the door or for £3 cheaplist write the names on the Facebook wall or message us via Facebook.

Much love,

One Piece xxxx

Bug Salad!

I love living in London. There are so many fun places to go and to eat! I recently rounded off the late night Jack the Ripper tour of Whitechapel with a meal at Archipelago Restaurant in West London.

Archepelago specialise in exotic dining and they certainly mean it. The menu includes crocodile, kangaroo, zebra, scorpion and many other fantastic and unusual dishes! It was a great experience to try something different.

For my starter I ate crocodile. It tasted like chicken but had the texture of fish. It was delicious and I would highly recommend it! Just don’t think about it being a crocodile! For my main I had a wilderbeast curry. That too was out of this world! It reminded me of lamb or game and didn’t seem too hardcore really as it was kind of similar to stuff we have here. It was cool to say I gave it a try though! My side salad of locusts and crickets marinated in chilli and garlic was the most daring I got! Though, I drew the line at chocolate covered scorpions for desert.

However the atmosphere, setting and delicious delicacies have made me want to go back soon. I tried Mr One Piece’s zebra main and think I may order that next time... possibly with scorpion for desert!

Check out their website at http://www.archipelago-restaurant.co.uk

Also, if you haven’t been on the Jack the Ripper tour that is worth looking into especially if you love history and a bit of a fright! My tour was conducted by a Beefeater from the Tower of London so he was full of stories, facts and jokes too!

Check out their website at: http://www.jack-the-ripper-tours.com

The photo of my salad was taken by my very good friend Rene Ehrhardt. Check out his photos at http://reneehrhardt.com/ and http://reneehrhardt.com/blog/

Much love,

One Piece xxx

Rebellion Festival review on Subba Cultcha

This is me with Charlie, the front-man of legendary punk band UK Subs. I reviewed the old skool punk festival Rebellion in Blackpool at the beginning of this month, where I got to photograph and write about the original punk rockers as well as more contemporary artists including Vice Squad, Penetration, Big D and the Kids Table, F***ed Up, Citizen Fish, Star F***ing Hipsters, The Slackers, Dwarves, Agnostic Front, Gallows, UK Subs plus many many more.

This was one of the best festivals I have ever attended. The crowd were the friendliest bunch I have ever encountered, the organisation of the event meant very few bands I wanted to see were clashing and there was absolutely no trouble whatsoever.

Check out my review at: http://www.subba-cultcha.com/live-reviews/article.php?contentID=20793

Morocco and too manys gigs

Gosh, it has been an age since my last update. I have just been too busy having fun. Last time we spoke, I was getting ready for Slam Dunk Festival, which happend on the 2nd may bank holiday - blimey end of may?! I have seriously neglected on the blog front! Though to honest, it wasn't the best of experiences!

Read my review here!

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/live-reviews/article.php?contentID=19795

But lots of gigs in June got me back on track including the amazing bagpipe folk punks Dropkick Murphys at Brixton Academy and Scottish indie rockers Idlewild at The Forum. Aerosmith at the 02 showed that they were still the bad boys from Boston on their Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock Tour. Though saying that they did play a very similar set to when I saw them at Hyde Park three years ago! It was a nice warm up though as the following day I went to Morocco on holiday with Mr One Piece! We stayed in Marrakech, which is famous for its snake charmers, markets and souks; as well as lovely food and lots of haggling!

We also managed to fit in an excursion to the Sahara Desert, staying the night in a tent with lots of other back packers. The desert people took us on camel rides as well as cooking for us and playing music into the night. Watching the sunset and sun rise out there was amazing! On route to the Sahara we also got to see the atlas mountains, where Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia was filmed as well as other sites and casbahs! Truly memorable and I recommend going to you all!

If that weren't enough, a few days later after returning I was off to Hyde Park to see Sir Paul MacCartney play a mammouth two hour set of solo, Wings and Beatles classics. Though Coming Up and Temporary Secretary were missing, the likes of Band on the Run, Hey Jude, Live and Let Die, Jet, Get Back, Eleanor Rigby, Helter Skelter, Back in the USSR, Paper back Writer, Lady Madonna, Yesterday and Let It Be were all in there to temper the missing faves!

Day Tripper was a great surprise as it's a Lennon penned Beatles track, and Macca tends to stick to his own numbers!

And it was all rounded off with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which has the lyrics 'We hope you will enjoy the show'. Great way to end! We all certainly did.

No Sleep Til Bournemouth!

So 60 Million Postcards in Bournemouth most certainly got the One Piece treatment this month when I DJed at their hip vs glam rock night. DJing alongside Lee7Seven of the Geek Chic Sounsystem I dropped the likes of Motley Crue, KISS, Velvet Revolver, Iron Maiden, Pantera and Def Leppard while Lee spun Beastie Boys, Black Sheep, JStar, ODB and Bel Biv Devoe!

Bel Biv Devoe was literally music to my ears! Not heard that in so long! What a choon! I literally leaped onto the dance floor when I heard that intro. Lee made my night when he played that!

What a night, can't wait for the next ROWYGO!

While in the glorious B Town, I also visited Monkey World and The Aquarium. The chimps were awesome and wanted a kiss from me, while the turtles, stingrays and sharks were too cool! Definitely worth a look if you're ever down in that part of the world! The beach was a tiny bit of a wash out sadly but I still managed to head to the pier and have a couple of rides on the helter skelter!

Two other cool nights I checked out when I was down there was Dollyrocker at The Winchester which played retro grooves, psychedelia, funk and soul and also We are your Friends: The Bloc Party. WAYF took over a load of clubs in Bournemouth, a bit like their version of the Camden Crawl or Stag and Dagger and boasted a line up including Utah Saints, Toddla T, Eddie Temple Morris, DJ Derek, Thomas Tantrum, Chew Lips, Tosh Ohta, Geek Chic Soundsystem featuring Lee7Seven, Shab Ruffcut Pony Up DJs (featuring my pal from uni Bonnie!) plus many more awesome DJs and bands!

Tiring work this partying but most definitely worth it! Bournemouth Rocks!

Volcanic Ash Clouds threatens second swoop

That Volcanic ash cloud we told you about last week is getting worse. Today Scottish airports were opened only for it be announced it would again be a no fly zone from midday. This has been cause by the Volcano in Iceland continuing to spew ash into the atmosphere. This undoubtedly will push back many peoples travel plans- the best advice to those in limbo keep in daily contact with your travel company. It is highly unlikely that anyone who was scheduled to fly over that next two weeks will do so on their original time frame as priority for seats on flights are being allocated to those away from home.

Volcanic Ash Haults Thousands of Flights

Volcanic Ash coming accross the atmosphere from an eruption in Iceland has forced all three main Scottish Airports and Cardiff Airport to ground all flights today.
Newcastle, Gatwick and Stanstead are all affected due to problems with visability- and the damage scientests know volcanic ash causes to plane engienes. If you have travel plans today- it might be best to check ahead in advance as A huge ash mushroom across major British flight paths threatens to turn thousands of families returning from Easter holiday into a nightmare.

Business travellers hoping to leave London from City Airport tonight also reported that British Airways had cancelled flights.

The Volcana has forced hundred's of people to be evacuated in Iceland.

Back from Barca!

Great weather, great hotel (with a massive shower room!), great tapas and great sites. Barcelona has some lovely architecture and sites! Mine and Mr One Piece's faves included Gaudi designed stuff (Unfinished Cathedral/ Park Guell etc), the aquarium and port, the Olympic Stadium and La Ramblas which we checked out on the tourist bus! While Mr One Piece loved the Maritime Museum because he is a bit of a geek who loves Hornblower.

We weren't too crazy about the Picasso museum though! We don't really get art and kept sniggering at things. Ah well!

We dined in Hard Rock one night and saw some cool Kiss, Van Halen, Madonna, Alice Cooper, Morrissey and Foo Fighters memorabilia! The saxaphone chandelier was pretty rad too!

I would definitely recommend checking it out if you love art as there's load of galleries, exhibitions and museums. The Modernista architecture is great too. If you're a foodie too, there are tasty places to dine everywhere you look and bars to match too! All in all it's a lovely city with lots to see and wonderful atmosphere.

Hope you enjoyed your bank holiday weekend whatever you got up to! Just purchased my Aerosmith tickets. Over a hundred quid - ouch! But going to be worth it! Dropkick Murphys and Face to Face gig next sunday! Yes!

Also worth an honourable mention is the Airbourne gig we went to the night before Barca! With 24 amps on the stage, those boys really rocked out bogan style! If you haven't heard of Airbourne before and like AC / DC, then they are worth having a listen to. The band live and breath rock and roll. They reminded me a little of Spinal Tap though! :)

The crazy lead singer also rocked out across the entire venue which was very nice for us in the balcony! He ran past our buddy Courtney at one point which was very very cool too! Check them out at www.airbournerock.com

Much love,

One Piece xxx

Misticon in South Africa

Misticon just went international! Our lovely photographer George is in South Africa at the moment on plenty of shoots. He took some Misticon Clothing with him and look what happened.
Sun envy anyone?