25 Apr 07 The Spitz
If the Spitz gets the boot, what would be put in its place?
The neighbourhood is getting stranger every day. The Spitz is a local restaurant, gallery and music venue at Spitalfields Market that has been an institution for arts and culture for 12 years (though I can only speak for nearly 18 months of that time), and it’s now under threat of closure.
The facts are that The Spitz has been given six months notice to quit its current site in Old Spitalfields Market by its landlords Ballymore Properties. This means in a worst case scenario The Spitz would cease to exist by the end of September this year.
Currently there’s a Save the Spitz campaign underway, though few details are offered to explain what’s going on.
18 Jul 06 Tower Music Festival
It’s been and gone, but last week Matt and I attended a concert as part of a music festival at the Tower of London. The performances spanned two weeks with headliners including Pet Shop Boys, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and James Brown. We had no plans to go, but I got lucky and won tickets for the Madeleine Peyroux show from a community magazine that was delivered to our flat. With tickets selling for £35 each it was a pretty good deal!
The Tower is just a 10 minute walk from our place and we had perfectly beautiful weather for spending the evening in the Tower moat. Ticket holders were encouraged to arrive early and linger on the lawn with picnic and wine before the show started. When you finished up you could check your baskets into a tent for pickup after the concert, just like checking your coat.
Lounging around on the grass in the evening sun was great, but later the audience was herded into rows of uncomfortable, connected plastic chairs. Not so great. There was some space to stand, far back from the stage and behind the banks of seats, but overall the atmosphere was orderly and ‘civilised’.
The opening act, ‘Athena’, was a disappointment - a female singer attempting a vague imitation of Sarah McLachlan meets Tori Amos, without success. Madeleine Peyroux on the other hand, who we had never heard of before the nigh, was a treat. Her voice is more than reminiscent of Billie Holiday’s and she sings several covers, including songs by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed.
GET FED: