Amelia’s Magazine | Valentines Day 2013: Jewellery, Handmade Gifts & Discounts on Chocolates

I’ve given you some great ideas for unique handmade Valentines cards, and now I bring you a round up of beautiful and unusual gifts, including, of course, some delightful jewels.

dowse design anatomy brass pendant
Dowse Design don’t pander to the usual romantic image of Valentines, instead they have crafted an unusual gesture of love that is bound to turn heads: the Anatomy etched pendant comes in steel or brass and is made in England.

With Love Silver Necklace_Nicola Crawford_RRP £135
Jewellery designer Nicola Crawford has based her designs on the lost art of letter writing in a collection entitled With Love. These tumbling letters may well spell out your own feelings.

Georgia Wiseman Sirus Limited Edition pendant
For something more jewel encrusted, Georgia Wiseman has some glamourous earrings. I love the art deco influenced Capella design, but she has also created a special limited edition pendant for Valentines; Sirus, which looks like a modern day flint, is made with a smokey Swarovski crystal set in rose gold. She’s offering free P&P up until February 14th too.

EOTW designs Hand made Solid SIlver Earrings
We profiled Eye of The World Designs back in 2011, and since then designer Hope Von Joel has been busy building the brand, which bridges interior design and jewellery. I love these bold laminated wood and perspex earrings.

Made & Told heart ikat cushion
Moving on to other gift ideas, Made & Told are offering hand woven Ikat cushion covers with a heart pattern. They are handmade in Uzbekistan and come gift wrapped for £30 (including P&P) using the code SAINTVALENTINE. The company promotes traditional crafts from central Asia and you can watch a film about the making of the cushion on their website.

Nichollette Yardley-Moore vintage silk scarf Rose cushion
Designer Nichollette Yardley-Moore collects vintage fabrics, scarves and original flags which she then transforms into beautiful one-of-a-kind cushions. I like her romantic floral cushions, which are made up with vintage silk scarves from the 1960s

MrPS happy hearts Hankies
These pretty hankies by illustrator Robert Shadbolt are covered in smiling hearts. They are screen-printed by hand in the Mr.PS studio and come in double-packs of candy pink & sky blue, and plum & turquoise.

Chloe Cook painted teapot
If you find an overload of hearts a bit saccharine, how about this starry hand painted teapot by Chloe Cook?

M.Hulot Strapped howe red bag
Or how about a beautiful rich red hand made leather Howe clutch from M.Hulot?

London Kills Me Reclaimed slate Heart
Slate hearts from London Kills Me are hand cut from reclaimed roof slate, much of it from the nineteenth century, meaning that each one has a slightly different patina. They can be written on in chalk pen: making them an ideal alternative to a paper card.

sabina savage hummingbird scarf
This wool and silk mix scarf by Sabina Sauvage features four bold hummingbirds and comes with a lovely blood red border.

Charlotte Linton Cove_paisley scarf
There’s something a bit, I don’t know, meaty, about this unusual bright red Cove Paisley scarf by designer Charlotte Linton. It would make an unusual gift, the swirls reminiscent of hearts and body parts.

David Shillinglaw Double Heart painted bottle
Artist David Shillinglaw offers beautiful hand painted bottles, which come with a short personal message: perfect for a beer lover perhaps?

YouTube Preview Image
And: for something a bit different, how about a personalised serenade over the phone from consummate karaoke professionals Hot Breath (above). ‘Intimate, passionate and 100% from the heart. All sung by a professional amateur to the best of their ability.’

To find exclusive handmade designs, go no further than the Love.Make Designs pop up shop at Craft Central’s Corner Shop in Farringdon, London from the 11-17th of February.

Luxury-Valentine-Gifts-My Voucher Codes Chocolates Hotel Chocolat
And don’t forget, chocolates will always go down a treat, so why not take advantage of some great discounts at My Voucher Codes? Get 10% off any purchase from Hotel Chocolat: how about their Sealed With a Kiss selection, which comes in a pretty heart shaped box?

Thorntons Be My Valentine chocolate selection my voucher codes
Or you could really make an impression with this Be My Valentine chocolates selection from Thorntons, with a bespoke message hand iced onto a chocolate tag. Take advantage of My Voucher Codes and get a free box of chocolates when you spend £20 with Thorntons, plus free delivery on orders of £25 or more.

To round off the blog, here’s a clever infographic describing spending patterns on Valentines Day, brought to you by the folks at My Voucher Codes.

Valentines Day spending patterns infographic
Fancy being featured in one of my regular round ups? Make sure you follow me on twitter @ameliagregory: most of these designers responded to open callouts for Valentines ideas.

Categories ,2013, ,anatomy, ,Be My Valentine, ,bespoke, ,Capella, ,Charlotte Linton, ,Chloe Cook, ,chocolate, ,Cove Paisley, ,Craft Central, ,cushions, ,David Shillinglaw, ,discounts, ,Dowse Design, ,Eye of The World Designs, ,Georgia Wiseman, ,gifts, ,handmade, ,Hope Von Joel, ,Hot Breath, ,Hotel Chocolat, ,Howe clutch, ,Infographic, ,jewellery, ,Karaoke, ,London Kills Me, ,Love.Make Designs, ,M.Hulot, ,Made & Told, ,Mr PS, ,My Voucher Codes, ,Nichollette Yardley-Moore, ,Nicola Crawford, ,Robert Shadbolt, ,Sabina Sauvage, ,Sealed With a Kiss, ,Sirus, ,Swarovski, ,The Corner Shop, ,Thorntons, ,Uzbekistan, ,Valentine’s Day, ,Valentines, ,Vouchers, ,With Love

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Amelia’s Magazine | Valentines Day 2013: Jewellery, Handmade Gifts & Discounts on Chocolates

I’ve given you some great ideas for unique handmade Valentines cards, and now I bring you a round up of beautiful and unusual gifts, including, of course, some delightful jewels.

dowse design anatomy brass pendant
Dowse Design don’t pander to the usual romantic image of Valentines, instead they have crafted an unusual gesture of love that is bound to turn heads: the Anatomy etched pendant comes in steel or brass and is made in England.

With Love Silver Necklace_Nicola Crawford_RRP £135
Jewellery designer Nicola Crawford has based her designs on the lost art of letter writing in a collection entitled With Love. These tumbling letters may well spell out your own feelings.

Georgia Wiseman Sirus Limited Edition pendant
For something more jewel encrusted, Georgia Wiseman has some glamourous earrings. I love the art deco influenced Capella design, but she has also created a special limited edition pendant for Valentines; Sirus, which looks like a modern day flint, is made with a smokey Swarovski crystal set in rose gold. She’s offering free P&P up until February 14th too.

EOTW designs Hand made Solid SIlver Earrings
We profiled Eye of The World Designs back in 2011, and since then designer Hope Von Joel has been busy building the brand, which bridges interior design and jewellery. I love these bold laminated wood and perspex earrings.

Made & Told heart ikat cushion
Moving on to other gift ideas, Made & Told are offering hand woven Ikat cushion covers with a heart pattern. They are handmade in Uzbekistan and come gift wrapped for £30 (including P&P) using the code SAINTVALENTINE. The company promotes traditional crafts from central Asia and you can watch a film about the making of the cushion on their website.

Nichollette Yardley-Moore vintage silk scarf Rose cushion
Designer Nichollette Yardley-Moore collects vintage fabrics, scarves and original flags which she then transforms into beautiful one-of-a-kind cushions. I like her romantic floral cushions, which are made up with vintage silk scarves from the 1960s

MrPS happy hearts Hankies
These pretty hankies by illustrator Robert Shadbolt are covered in smiling hearts. They are screen-printed by hand in the Mr.PS studio and come in double-packs of candy pink & sky blue, and plum & turquoise.

Chloe Cook painted teapot
If you find an overload of hearts a bit saccharine, how about this starry hand painted teapot by Chloe Cook?

M.Hulot Strapped howe red bag
Or how about a beautiful rich red hand made leather Howe clutch from M.Hulot?

London Kills Me Reclaimed slate Heart
Slate hearts from London Kills Me are hand cut from reclaimed roof slate, much of it from the nineteenth century, meaning that each one has a slightly different patina. They can be written on in chalk pen: making them an ideal alternative to a paper card.

sabina savage hummingbird scarf
This wool and silk mix scarf by Sabina Sauvage features four bold hummingbirds and comes with a lovely blood red border.

Charlotte Linton Cove_paisley scarf
There’s something a bit, I don’t know, meaty, about this unusual bright red Cove Paisley scarf by designer Charlotte Linton. It would make an unusual gift, the swirls reminiscent of hearts and body parts.

David Shillinglaw Double Heart painted bottle
Artist David Shillinglaw offers beautiful hand painted bottles, which come with a short personal message: perfect for a beer lover perhaps?

YouTube Preview Image
And: for something a bit different, how about a personalised serenade over the phone from consummate karaoke professionals Hot Breath (above). ‘Intimate, passionate and 100% from the heart. All sung by a professional amateur to the best of their ability.’

To find exclusive handmade designs, go no further than the Love.Make Designs pop up shop at Craft Central’s Corner Shop in Farringdon, London from the 11-17th of February.

Luxury-Valentine-Gifts-My Voucher Codes Chocolates Hotel Chocolat
And don’t forget, chocolates will always go down a treat, so why not take advantage of some great discounts at My Voucher Codes? Get 10% off any purchase from Hotel Chocolat: how about their Sealed With a Kiss selection, which comes in a pretty heart shaped box?

Thorntons Be My Valentine chocolate selection my voucher codes
Or you could really make an impression with this Be My Valentine chocolates selection from Thorntons, with a bespoke message hand iced onto a chocolate tag. Take advantage of My Voucher Codes and get a free box of chocolates when you spend £20 with Thorntons, plus free delivery on orders of £25 or more.

To round off the blog, here’s a clever infographic describing spending patterns on Valentines Day, brought to you by the folks at My Voucher Codes.

Valentines Day spending patterns infographic
Fancy being featured in one of my regular round ups? Make sure you follow me on twitter @ameliagregory: most of these designers responded to open callouts for Valentines ideas.

Categories ,2013, ,anatomy, ,Be My Valentine, ,bespoke, ,Capella, ,Charlotte Linton, ,Chloe Cook, ,chocolate, ,Cove Paisley, ,Craft Central, ,cushions, ,David Shillinglaw, ,discounts, ,Dowse Design, ,Eye of The World Designs, ,Georgia Wiseman, ,gifts, ,handmade, ,Hope Von Joel, ,Hot Breath, ,Hotel Chocolat, ,Howe clutch, ,Infographic, ,jewellery, ,Karaoke, ,London Kills Me, ,Love.Make Designs, ,M.Hulot, ,Made & Told, ,Mr PS, ,My Voucher Codes, ,Nichollette Yardley-Moore, ,Nicola Crawford, ,Robert Shadbolt, ,Sabina Sauvage, ,Sealed With a Kiss, ,Sirus, ,Swarovski, ,The Corner Shop, ,Thorntons, ,Uzbekistan, ,Valentine’s Day, ,Valentines, ,Vouchers, ,With Love

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Amelia’s Magazine | Art Car Boot Fair 2011 returns for the Apple Cart Festival in Victoria Park

Art Car Boot Fair 2011 review-all photography by Amelia Gregory
Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

It amazes me that I’ve never been to the Art Car Boot Fair before… but there you have it, buy this year was my very first time, despite it’s proximity to my home. I think I may have been inadvertently put off by the hype surrounding limited editions by very famous artists, sold out of the boots of (sponsored) cars to the desperate queueing hoardes.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011 review-Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
But if you could put aside the hoopla there was a lot of very interesting stuff to see and buy, especially by lesser known up and coming artists and collectives… here’s some of my favourite discoveries.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Renegade ceramicist Carrie Reichardt was there, selling amusing tiles and bastardised royal plates. Love her stuff – she’s invited me over to her studio in West London, so hopefully I will find the time to visit soon.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
On stage Hot Breath karaoke entertained as Tranny Tarot predicted the future.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Over the way there was face painting for trendy art kiddies, and adults. With some impressive and unusual results.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Holly Freeman was selling a Pint of Art for just a fiver. Pints of liquid in various guises, sold as art, was a fashionable theme.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Billy Childish was selling crumbled limited editions out of a large metal trolley. Here seen chatting to Gavin Turk.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
I particularly liked the recycled wall plaques of self taught artist Cliff Pearcey – tribal wooden faces created from found objects: old chopping boards, keys and hinges given a new lease of life.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Busty Babes on Bank Letters was a real winner – how to turn debts into cash. Kelly-Anne Davitt persuaded at least one of my party to help her out with that mission. Here she is seen celebrating a sale to Gavin Turk.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.
I finally had the chance to meet The Girls, who were posing for pictures beside the boot of their car which featured a carefully curated exhibition of postal memorabilia. POSTED celebrates the dying art of letter writing.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Things best ignored: Gavin Turk‘s eggs. (I mean, really. I would break it straight away. Or eat it by mistake.)

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Tracey Emin in dark glasses doing a book signing. Bovvered.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Good stuff: I picked up a lovely signed print from David David. A real bargain that.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
A man with a rainbow umbrella.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Ridiculous edible art: chocolate biscuits, beans, cheese, you name it.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Public snogging.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
And how amazing is this girl’s hair?

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
There was hula hooping, public spanking and bubble blowing. And if you think this all looks like rather good fun but missed the Art Car Boot Fair this year, then there is still a chance to catch a bit of the magic at the pop up Art Car Boutique in a few weeks time at the new Apple Cart Festival in Victoria Park on 7th August. Lovely.

Categories ,Apple Cart Festival, ,Art Car Boot Fair, ,Bank letters, ,Billy Childish, ,Brick Lane, ,Busty Babes, ,Carrie Reichardt, ,ceramics, ,Cliff Pearcey, ,David David, ,Eggs, ,Face painting, ,Found Objects, ,Gavin Turk, ,Holly Freeman, ,Hot Breath, ,Karaoke, ,Kelly-Anne Davitt, ,Letters, ,Limited Edition, ,Pint of Art, ,Post, ,POSTED, ,print, ,The Girls, ,Tracey Emin, ,Tranny Tarot, ,Truman Brewery, ,Upcycled, ,Victoria Park

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Amelia’s Magazine | Stag and Dagger Festival 2010 Hits Shoreditch: A Review

Abi-Daker-White-HinterlandWhite Hinterland by Abigail Daker.

Having picked up my two Stag and Dagger press passes, two booze vouchers and a free lighter – yeah! – my first port of call on the circuit got off to an inauspicious start when I cashed in my free drink ticket, to be presented with a *small* bottle of Becks. Not even a pint! Better not to bother with a free drink at all, me thinks.

Stag and Dagger Teeth of the Sea Stag and Dagger Teeth of the Sea Taking these photos permanently damaged my ears.

We were at the Macbeth to see psychedelic rock band Teeth of the Sea, who’s tunes I had been listening to on myspace earlier. They provided a howling start to the evening’s entertainment, and left me wishing that I had remembered ear plugs (again). Most of the punters sensibly lingered close to the back of the bar but I took a step too close to the speakers for a photo and blew my eardrums right out with the very first band of the night.

Macbeth stag and dagger The Macbeth by Tim Adey.

My conclusion? Bands like this are best enjoyed in the privacy of one’s own home… where I can safely choose whether I want to suffer from permanent tinnitus in exchange for the momentary pleasure/pain inflicted by an insanely loud wall of noise.

Kevin-Bradshaw-Teeth-of-the-Sea Teeth of the Sea by Kevin Bradshaw.

Next up were a band that I discovered a few months ago when I heard their catchy single Icarus on 6Music. White Hinterland are a boy and girl from the hipster end of Portland, Oregon. Framed by candles he fiddled around with knobs and a *trendy* old school cassette player on an Indian carpet. She played uke and keys in turn, all the time nimbly leaping on and off her loop machine in bare feet, all the better to create rich textures with her mellifluous vocals.

YouTube Preview Image The Video for Amsterdam by White Hinterland.

They ended on a real highlight of the evening: a soulful minimalist cover of Justin Timberlake’s My Love, though this youtube version doesn’t do it justice. Shamefully I didn’t recognise it, but I was soon put to rights.

Stag and Dagger white hinterland Stag and Dagger There was a strange character there. I think he was chanelling the Joker.

Then it was time for fun part of the evening number one: Use Stag and Dagger map to find next venue. And instead miss most of next band due to extremely crap over-simplified map which ensured that we followed the wrong trajectory into deepest darkest Hoxton. By the time we made it to the very traditional east end pub The Stag’s Head – which still retains it’s curved glass rack above the bar and numerous nooks and crannies of the kind that every trendy bar rips out as soon as they can – we were just in time for one last song from Little Death, and to marvel at the extremely cute and leggy bassist, always a surprise in a predominantly male indie band I find.

Stag and Dagger Little Death JuneChanpoomidole-LittleDeath- Little Death by June Chanpoomidole.

We stayed on to watch Baby Monster half an hour later, straight out of LA via some white zinc facepaint. Two men making love to their keyboards: this was pure Erasure for 2010, and an unexpected highlight of the night. By now I was thoroughly bemused by the Stag and Dagger crowd; a few indie kids swamped by townies out on the lash, more interested in ogling short-skirted blondes than serious beard stroking.

Kevin-Bradshaw-Baby-Monsters Baby Monster by Kevin Bradshaw.

We dashed back to The Legion in Old Street via the shrine to school girl Agnes, now reduced to a depressing pile of wilted flowers. Ironically I was to be within yards of another random shooting in London Fields only the next day. Thems the breaks in Hackney these days.

Stag and Dagger Agnes

The Legion has been enlarged and *improved* since I regularly used to attend Jen and Mikes’ Hot Breath karaoke nights. Oh wowser, this was Shoreditch central on a Friday night indeed. Let the fun part of the evening number two commence: I pushed my way past the pissed idiots lunging cross-eyed for my boobs to wait near at the front for The Radio Dept, a Swedish band that I have liked for many years. After half an hour of jostling and beer spillage as men crashed towards the ill placed toilet behind the stage I was more than ready to leave. The DJ played a series of high energy tracks whilst The Radio Dept looked stressed as they fiddled with their instruments on stage.

Eventually the crowd began baying for the band, but as I looked around the bar I thought “You know what, I reckon about ten people in this room even know who The Radio Dept are; the rest don’t give a shit so long as they can get twatted and pull.” An unfair appraisal? As a young friend of mine commented “It’s just like my usual Friday night out: except today I’ve had to pay £20 for the pleasure.” With an abrupt disregard for the music due to follow him the DJ cut his rave tune for The Radio Dept, but within moments I had decided that the sound was so incredibly bad that I had to leave: it was just too depressing to hear such incredible music massacred. So, The Legion has widened its area to encompass more drinkers and more dollar, but doesn’t ensure decent sound for its bands. Shameful.

Instead we went on down to the rave in the grimy environs of Hearn Street Car Park. We stayed briefly, enough for me to realise that we only listen and enjoy industrial music for fun because most of us don’t have to work in noisy conditions in our post-industrial society. Those who do would surely think us mad.

The Stag and Dagger, in summary? I think this year’s attendance may have been affected by the huge queues of last year that prevented people from getting in to watch the bands they came to see. In their place we had a bunch of drunken city twats. I’m sure there were many more hidden gems to unearth on the eclectic Stag and Dagger line up, but frankly I’d pay good money to stay away from the Shoreditch hordes. I guess I should have known better. It’s an ambitious concept that champions some excellent little known bands, but the organisers can’t control the crowds who choose to come. I don’t think I’d bother going to the Stag and Dagger again: for value for money and comfort I would recommend that you simply pick a good line up of bands in one venue on any day of the week.




Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Baby Monster, ,Erasure, ,Hot Breath, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Justin Timberlake, ,Karaoke, ,Kevin Bradshaw, ,Little Death, ,Macbeth, ,Old Street, ,shoreditch, ,Stag and Dagger, ,Teeth of the Sea, ,The Legion, ,The Radio Dept, ,White Hinterland

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Amelia’s Magazine | Stag and Dagger Festival 2010 Hits Shoreditch: A Review

Abi-Daker-White-Hinterland
Abi-Daker-White-HinterlandWhite Hinterland by Abigail Daker.

Having picked up my two Stag and Dagger press passes, ampoule two booze vouchers and a free lighter – yeah! – my first port of call on the circuit got off to an inauspicious start when I cashed in my free drink ticket, order to be presented with a *small* bottle of Becks. Not even a pint! Better not to bother with a free drink at all, me thinks.

Stag and Dagger Teeth of the Sea Stag and Dagger Teeth of the Sea Taking these photos permanently damaged my ears.

We were at the Macbeth to see psychedelic rock band Teeth of the Sea, who’s tunes I had been listening to on myspace earlier. They provided a howling start to the evening’s entertainment, and left me wishing that I had remembered ear plugs (again). Most of the punters sensibly lingered close to the back of the bar but I took a step too close to the speakers for a photo and blew my eardrums right out with the very first band of the night.

Macbeth stag and dagger The Macbeth by Tim Adey.

My conclusion? Bands like this are best enjoyed in the privacy of one’s own home… where I can safely choose whether I want to suffer from permanent tinnitus in exchange for the momentary pleasure/pain inflicted by an insanely loud wall of noise.

Kevin-Bradshaw-Teeth-of-the-Sea Teeth of the Sea by Kevin Bradshaw.

Next up were a band that I discovered a few months ago when I heard their catchy single Icarus on 6Music. White Hinterland are a boy and girl from the hipster end of Portland, Oregon. Framed by candles he fiddled around with knobs and a *trendy* old school cassette player on an Indian carpet. She played uke and keys in turn, all the time nimbly leaping on and off her loop machine in bare feet, all the better to create rich textures with her mellifluous vocals.

YouTube Preview Image The Video for Amsterdam by White Hinterland.

They ended on a real highlight of the evening: a soulful minimalist cover of Justin Timberlake’s My Love, though this youtube version doesn’t do it justice. Shamefully I didn’t recognise it, but I was soon put to rights.

Stag and Dagger white hinterland Stag and Dagger There was a strange character there. I think he was chanelling the Joker.

Then it was time for fun part of the evening number one: Use Stag and Dagger map to find next venue. And instead miss most of next band due to extremely crap over-simplified map which ensured that we followed the wrong trajectory into deepest darkest Hoxton. By the time we made it to the very traditional east end pub The Stag’s Head – which still retains it’s curved glass rack above the bar and numerous nooks and crannies of the kind that every trendy bar rips out as soon as they can – we were just in time for one last song from Little Death, and to marvel at the extremely cute and leggy bassist, always a surprise in a predominantly male indie band I find.

Stag and Dagger Little Death JuneChanpoomidole-LittleDeath- Little Death by June Chanpoomidole.

We stayed on to watch Baby Monster half an hour later, straight out of LA via some white zinc facepaint. Two men making love to their keyboards: this was pure Erasure for 2010, and an unexpected highlight of the night. By now I was thoroughly bemused by the Stag and Dagger crowd; a few indie kids swamped by townies out on the lash, more interested in ogling short-skirted blondes than serious beard stroking.

Kevin-Bradshaw-Baby-Monsters Baby Monster by Kevin Bradshaw.

We dashed back to The Legion in Old Street via the shrine to school girl Agnes, now reduced to a depressing pile of wilted flowers. Ironically I was to be within yards of another random shooting in London Fields only the next day. Thems the breaks in Hackney these days.

Stag and Dagger Agnes

The Legion has been enlarged and *improved* since I regularly used to attend Jen and Mikes’ Hot Breath karaoke nights. Oh wowser, this was Shoreditch central on a Friday night indeed. Let the fun part of the evening number two commence: I pushed my way past the pissed idiots lunging cross-eyed for my boobs to wait near at the front for The Radio Dept, a Swedish band that I have liked for many years. After half an hour of jostling and beer spillage as men crashed towards the ill placed toilet behind the stage I was more than ready to leave. The DJ played a series of high energy tracks whilst The Radio Dept looked stressed as they fiddled with their instruments on stage.

Eventually the crowd began baying for the band, but as I looked around the bar I thought “You know what, I reckon about ten people in this room even know who The Radio Dept are; the rest don’t give a shit so long as they can get twatted and pull.” An unfair appraisal? As a young friend of mine commented “It’s just like my usual Friday night out: except today I’ve had to pay £20 for the pleasure.” With an abrupt disregard for the music due to follow him the DJ cut his rave tune for The Radio Dept, but within moments I had decided that the sound was so incredibly bad that I had to leave: it was just too depressing to hear such incredible music massacred. So, The Legion has widened its area to encompass more drinkers and more dollar, but doesn’t ensure decent sound for its bands. Shameful.

Instead we went on down to the rave in the grimy environs of Hearn Street Car Park. We stayed briefly, enough for me to realise that we only listen and enjoy industrial music for fun because most of us don’t have to work in noisy conditions in our post-industrial society. Those who do would surely think us mad.

The Stag and Dagger, in summary? I think this year’s attendance may have been affected by the huge queues of last year that prevented people from getting in to watch the bands they came to see. In their place we had a bunch of drunken city twats. I’m sure there were many more hidden gems to unearth on the eclectic Stag and Dagger line up, but frankly I’d pay good money to stay away from the Shoreditch hordes. I guess I should have known better. It’s an ambitious concept that champions some excellent little known bands, but the organisers can’t control the crowds who choose to come. I don’t think I’d bother going to the Stag and Dagger again: for value for money and comfort I would recommend that you simply pick a good line up of bands in one venue on any day of the week.

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Baby Monster, ,Erasure, ,Hot Breath, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Justin Timberlake, ,Karaoke, ,Kevin Bradshaw, ,Little Death, ,Macbeth, ,Old Street, ,shoreditch, ,Stag and Dagger, ,Teeth of the Sea, ,The Legion, ,The Radio Dept, ,White Hinterland

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