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| Best foyer event was in National Theatre |
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| Poster at RAF Church |
Top London Destinations
- Concert Holst Singers Pizetti and Palestrina at Temple Church
- Free Foyer Event Rive Gauch Gypsy Band at National Theatre
- Best Building British Library
- Best Dining Experience Strada Italian Restaurant at RFH
- Best Late Night Venue Ronnie Scotts’ Late Night Jazz Tim Thornton and friends
- Best Pub Pat and Dave pub singalong at Soho pub Coach and Horses
- Opportunity Missed Saudi Air Force Musicians at St Clemens Danes Church
- Musical London Road at the Cottesloe
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| Mileson at Cello Factory |
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| Birds Eye View from Terrace at NT |
The murder of five Ipswich prostitutes and the reaction of local residents may seem a most unlikely plot on which to base a successful musical but
London Rd running at the Cottesloe Theatre, part of the National Theatre complex on the South Bank doe this. Operatic in the sense that it is all sung in the manner of a sort of recitative with the speech patterns recorded verbatim but with some repetition of lines in the manner of a chorus, the cast of eleven actors play a range of characters from London Rd
residents, press photographers and reporters and prostitutes . The characters are so well drawn, you can’t quite believe that actress playing an elderly Neighbourhood Watch committee is the same one playing a drug ravaged girl on the streets . The
Cottesloe is an intimate space it is easier to chat to other theatre goers than in the larger West End spaces.
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| South Bank Busker |
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| Arabian Air Force Music Group |
The foyer offering is a Hot Club de Paris style jazz band, Rive Gauch with violin, guitar , accordion and the sound wafts around the open plan foyer space .
On passing the St Clements Danes RAF church opposite the Courts of Justice , I notice some turbaned gentlemen gathering in the doorway. They are the musicians of the Royal Arabian Air Force getting ready for their lunchtime concert of Omani folk music I am tempted to forgo my original plan, more tempted by the promise of lunch afterwards than the prospect of unfamiliar musical treats but I hesitate and press on to my destination.
Later in the evening I return to the same road and seek out
Temple Church
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| Repaired and beautified |
in the tranquil leafy law chambers district existing mere metres from the bustle of Fleet St in a Harry Potteresque sort of way where I learn that
Pizetti is not edible accompaniment to the
Palestrina but a very fine 19
th century Italian liturgical composer.
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| Stephen Layton takes a bow |
The high backed stall type pews arranged at perpendicular angles give an unusual feeling of being in a private listening space which may account for the hushed concentration of the audience, the silence unbroken even in the short interval between works.
With time to kill before I meet my travelling companion I wonder around a bustling Soho and am lured by the tinkling sound of an old Joanna . Pat and Dave are installed in the Coach and |Horses
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| Pat and Dave |
where they lead an old fashioned singalong for any punters wishing to partake . (Don’t know the words? Copies of the lyrics are provided )
And indeed a young Welsh man seated at the bar launches into a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone . Sadly the Chas and Dave hit
There Ain't no Pleasing You which I associate with cockney singalongs is not included in their repertoire yet.
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| Researching at British Library |
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| Soho Sing a Long |
We arrive at
Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club
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| Ronnie Scotts |
for the late show just as headline act Michel Le Grand is leaving via the front door . (You could say we rubbed shoulders) The red velvet cushioned banks arranged in tiers with atmospheric subdued lighting make it a seem a sophisticated space for late night jazz where substantial business types rub shoulders with college students . The MC hovers front of house and does a good job of creating an intimate atmosphere and does an creditable turn at scat singing himself.
.....He who tires of London
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| Soho Gig Listing |
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| Foyle's Best picks |
