Blog written by a Spaniard (from Getafe) nostalgic about London who lived for a year very close to it, in Reading, and who decided in May08 to come again to the big city. This is a blog about pubs, about beer, about friends and party, and, mostly, about London. And about that motto I have been tried to master and I haven´t done it yet as they always ask me back when I pronounce it in a pub: 'Pint of Carling, please!!'
So far so good, no club has blown away me in such a way as Shunt did when some weeks ago I went there for a random Saturday night. I had heard about the place before, true, but you know how it works, you don’t believe everything you hear, people tend to go on the exaggeration side, and so on. But they were totally right. This place is amazing.
Shunt is located in London Bridge station. Nope, not besides, either close to. In. Inside the station, in its underbelly, completely hidden. Capisci? So follow the insider tip: as you cross the barriers in order to leave the tube station, if you follow the indications toward the train station you will find a small door with a bouncer besides it, checking IDs. There may be a small queue as well, depending at what time in the evening you get there. And that is it – a tiny door, and a bouncer. And £10 to get in. And a closing time at just 2.30 am, which is not late enough at all for the price. So it doesn’t seem tempting enough, let’s be fair.
But as soon as you get in, everything changes. The place is built up behind the station vaults, which means they have lot of space. Actually, they have a massive space available, and they make use of it all – just imagine Fabric, but with wider spaces and less people, and more corridor like instead of room like. Yes, you are getting it…
There is a very big corridor (about 8 m broad and about 10 m high) with small corridors/rooms on its sides, with several artistic performances on them, each one more different and more surprising. Actually, Shunt is not so much a club but an artists space, as you can easily perceive if you browse their website. All the shows and works change on a weekly basis, so you may be surprised with something new almost everytime you go there if you want.
After all those corridors, there are two massive rooms where the party takes place, and besides them there is an additional space used as a venue room, where gigs take place. It has even several stands with chairs where you may enjoy the gig from if you feel like doing it. The day we were there we didn’t pay a lot of attention to the bands, but I’ve read in several blogs that some good ones have performed there. So maybe it is a good point to check out from time to time who’s playing in order to make the experience completely rounded.
The big room has a pool table, a football table, a couple of pianos, and several tables and chairs scattered around the place. This is so big that you may have chairs and people chatting up or directly kissing and also people dancing, or just drinking. The place fits all. It has even a little terrace where you can show up your dancing skills, if you like that, or check out someone else’s.
A cooler place to pot balls? I don't think so...
And you can also walk through the infinite small corridors coming from this big room and discovering small places with small pieces of art work too.
On the negative side, they don’t have draught beer. They have cans, though, at £3.50, which is alright for a night spot. They also do cocktails, but they seemed a bit pricey for me… anyway, I’ve never been to much into the mojito way of life. They don’t accept debit cards, either, and you may have to queue at some point to go out to smoke a fag, if you are one of them. Finally, the music is quite eclectic, and from time to time I felt lost about what that was about. Trendy and alternative places have this, I’m afraid: they don’t do the Strokes or Bruce Springsteen, or any pop music, at all. Anybody’s perfect.
The main bar
The gigs room
And another negative point: you have to get there early enough. At 11 they close the doors, while you can stay inside, so going fairly earlier than that is compulsory. 9 is a good time to be in the door, but don’t risk to go much later than that unless you are up to a potential b plan.
A really different place, this Shunt. Maybe a bit too artistic, and maybe not the cup of tea for everybody, but always worth a visit. Or two.
Donnington Park is one of the most well-known motorbike racing parks in the world, although the first time I heard about it was also about music. Being myself just 15 years old I was drinking with some friends in Garage, one of my favourite pubs in Getafe, when they played in the TV Donnington’s 1991 Monsters of Rock video. Since then, I’ve thought without the slightest doubt that that one was the best gig ever – ACDC and Metallica leading it, playing one right after the other, and trying to prove who reigned the heavy metal scene at that time. The countless fans watching it also impacted me in the deepest way: 1.6 million people - believe it or not - enjoying the two best bands in the world at that time, and in what still today remains in the case of ACDC as their best recorded performance, at least in the Brian Johnson era.
So when a friend of mine here in London offered me a couple of weeks ago to go to Download Festival, in Donnington, in the VIP area for three days at the ridicule prize of £45 – for the WHOLE bloody weekend, Friday,Saturday and Sunday -, I obviously didn’t think it twice. And I can say it was the best festival I’ve ever been.
Donnington Park is 1h 30min far away from London by train, besides a very close to a small town called Castle Donnington – no need to say it has a castle on it -, an not too far away from Derby, another town lost in the middle of nowhere in Derbyshire. 85,000 tickets were sold for every day in the festival, which may give a clear insight of what a massive festival we are talking about. And the crude fact is that festivals in the UK have nothing to do with our little Spanish ones…
For instance, the fun fair rides. Russian Mountains, big wheels, bumper cars… well, all you can get in your hometown local fiestas, you get it in a festival like this one as well – I cannot even think about Glastonbury, which is even bigger. Plus a 24 h cinema. Plus a million food take-away shops, ranging from the classic beef burger to the pizza alike, Thai food, Mexican food, etc. Plus ‘the village’, an ad-hoc real village with more shops, t-shirts, tattoos, heavy metal paraphernalia… build up just for the three days festival. Plus the Guests area, where we met Korn’s bass player, and where you could chill out besides the main stage and listening to the show at the earlier hours of the day when you don’t feel bold enough for those crazy goths making annoying noise in the outside :).
Plus pints of beer priced at £3.50, without any queues because yes, those guys know how to organize a festival and they are pretty aware that queuing for an hour is not fun – here in Spain we have to learn so bloody much about that. Plus the brilliant idea consisting in giving you back 20p per glass returned: you didn’t return it, but as some people in the festival short of money would do it for you, picking them up from the grass, the obvious result is that the place remains tidy and clean and healthy enough. Just like an Spanish festival, don’t you think?
Plus a camping area with grass – yes, real grass, that lovely green thing. Plus a gigs arena with grass – yep, the very same green stuff. And clean toilets. And not-too-overcrowded showers.
Plus a Guinness bar :)
And allowance to get as much booze or food from the outside as you want – no glass permitted, though. And… fuck it. Enough is enough. In a word: Plus plus plus. I’ll be back next year, VIP or not.
There were four stages:
The main one
The second one (Lacuna Coil, The Prodigy)
The Tuborg one
And the Redbull one, which, by the way, we couldn't find in the whole weekend!! :)
About the music, the gigs I went to – there were 4 stages, so some painful decisions including missing Opeth, Chris Cornell and Motley Crue had to be taken…
A fairly famous band in the metal-goth circle, I had been willing to watch these Italians for a while: I particularly like some of their melodic tunes. They sound a bit like Evanescence should sound if they weren't a shitty MTV con. They performed alright, although obviously the voice of the female singer - Cristina - didn’t get to the pitch she does in their records. I didn't know all the songs, so I guess my favourites ones are not the favourites of most of their fans... anyway, a fairly good gig. 7.5/10.
Everybody else insisted, and I suffered just half of the gig, after I decided to go to the guest area for a beer . I hate those guys, oh dear, how much I hate them, and they’re live performance is even more rubbish than their albums. 'Chandal metal' of the worst sort. 3/10.
Well, this is excelsior stuff. My first Korn gig, they really know their racket, these guys. Pretty aggressive metal, with machine head and fear factory they created a completely different sound that still today sounds fresh, as opposed to most Nu Metal bands. Jonathan Davis voice was perfect, and the band was just a trashing machine. I particularly loved the bagpipes moment, pretty emmotive too... anyway, pretty aggressive crowd as well in the front rows, but what the fuck, this is Korn! I will survive with a couple of bruises in my legs/head :) 8.5/10
The best gig of the festival, and one of the best I’ve ever been. Mr. Patton comeback was amazing, and even while I’m not a big fan of the band, they won me forever. Almost two hours of an incredible gig, I simply have no words, just say that absolutely everybody I spoke with on Saturday was pretty moved about it. 10/10.
The other big thing in the festival, a personal recommendation from my friend Kennet. These guys are extreme metal on its best, and the circle pit they created with their last song will very likely appear in the Guinness Records. I jumped around for a while in the dancing area, in the circle, under the moshing crew, and after a while I realized I just couldn’t breath anymore. And at that point, they did the circle pit thing. And I joined it, and almost died, and had fun as I didn't have had in a metal concer for a while. Have a look how the circle pit thing was in the video, from the screens in the stage...
An incredible shot of adrenaline, and an experience I effortless recommend to everybody. At 13.30 pm in the morning LOL. 9/10
The Auteurs
A punk rock band formed by four young lads, melodic enough to pass the evening alright. 6.5/10
Famous because of the Guitar Hero impossible to play track, this is classic heavy metal in the Helloween best tradition. As expected, they sounded technically perfect, and a bit soulless for mi taste. It remembered me my teen days, though. 7/10.
Another very good surprise, this weird band is right between the goth vibe and the drum&bass one. They are not rock, either dance… but they are good. Sometimes they remember the early prodigy, but more than that I cannot describe them, just listen a couple of tracks and decide by yourself. I'd be suprised if you don't like them. 8.5/10
The biggest deception ever. I’ve seen this guy three times before, and he was incredible every single time, so I don’t know what has happened since then, but guy, you were rubbish. Just three classics, and all the other songs from his last shitty album. No respect for his fans, sniffing over the stage and just pocketing the money and going somewhere else, like the Starfucker he is. Beautiful people and Dope show give him the 4/10, but really should be even less than that. 4/10
They were pretty good in their comeback. With less pre-recorded stuff than I thought, their live gig is really a live thing, almost completely performed with guitars and other rock instruments. I was quite far away from the stage, but the partying vibe was so good, and the atmosphere so high, that I really didn’t care. 8.5/10
I don’t get how they got to be the head of the main gigs day, but they didn’t deceive. I’m not a very big fan of this totally unmelodic band, but I reckon they have energy. Again, too far away from the stage, as 85K people were there at that time. Particularly memorable when they got everybody ducked first and jumping at the same time at the shout of ‘stand the fuck up’. A bit kiddy, but cool nevertheless. 7.5/10
A hard rock band I didn’t know at all and didn’t pay a lot of attention either. They didn’t sound too bad, though. 6/10
Skin
A classic British hard rock band, coming back after 10 years ago they decided to call it a day. They sounded very very well, as if they had never stopped it. 7/10
The other big discovery of the festival. This American guys make a rare mixture of metal, grunge and blues. They were very well accepted by everybody in Donnington, and they did a particularly touching show at some points, specially in the slower tunes. I recommend them, and hopefully I’ll have the chance to see them again when they come back to London on tour in October. 9/10.
What can I say about this classic of the classics? They invented concepts as glam rock, power ballads and so many others, that even today you feel something special when you listen to one of their ballads. They were the classic formation but the singer, which by the way was fairly good. 8/10.
With Marilyn Manson, the other big deception. The singer voice sounded like shit and their virtuoso way of playing, with long tracks and long solos, didn’t get on well with the mood in the festival at that point. And it is a pity, as I really like the music they do.
And that was all, as I had to go back… I missed three classics after Dream Theatre: ZZ Top, WhiteSnake and Def Leppard. But you can’t get everything in live… so better take what you get!
As quite a lot of you very likely remember, early 2008 Camden Town experienced a massive fire that ruined the east side of the market and seriously compromised the future of the whole charismatic London premises. Last weekend I realized that this side of the market has recently being opened again, even in a bigger shape than it ever had, as a real Phoenix emerging from its ashes.
One of the casualties of the terrific fire was Hawley Arms, one of the best pubs in the area. It reopened 9 months after the fire, with more strength and even a better vibe than it had before its closure. The owners even campaigned in Glastonbury (today, Festival of Festivals) in order to solve some bureaucratic issues related with the situation of the ladder that allows the access to the first floor of the pub, and the publicity they got was really worth it, as they were permitted to reconstruct the pub just as they wanted. I’ve been there several times since and, I can promise, this is a neat pub.
Pretty famous for having as local patrons the likes of Amy Whinehouse or Kate Moss, the atmosphere is really Camden-like in this place. One very good point, though, is that the tourists presence is less substantial than in other similar places in the main street. The fact that is not located on the main street itself, but just 20 m around the corner as you cover the Camden Lock bridge, really helps on it.
The distribution, as introduced before, consists basically in two different storeys. The ground floor is the main one, and includes a long bar and several tables and sofas to chill out, as well as a jukebox with fairly good tracks on it. The first floor is smaller, and is where the party takes place on the weekends: I’ve been there a couple of times for early beers and there is a fairly good mood there. Also there is a nice terrace on this first floor, which invariably was completely packed every chance I tried to have a drink in it. A real pity, particularly now that summer is starting to finally take off.
So, yes, this is a pub in Camden, and as so, it has some of the classic flaws that define them:
- Bartenders more worried to look like pop stars than in serving timely pints to their clients.
- Overpriced drinks, even if the situation wasn’t particularly bad here. I got the feeling that I was being charged more for the sake of not being a trendy Northlondoner, but maybe I’m wrong in that.
- Overcrowded, even as like I said before the situation is worse in some other places in the area.
They have several beers on the tap, including some guest ales. I cannot talk about the quality of those, as I went for lager, but I’ve read in some other blogs that the keeping of the beer is not as good as it should be. Shame on them if this is the case.
About the decoration, well, you cannot expect ancient stuff in a pub that was burned one year ago, can you? There are several signed vinyls, band posters and general pop music memorabilia, which is always a good thing to cover brand new walls J.
In a word, if you time your visit right you may get a pic of Kate Moss in the place, while if you don’t you’ll just be in a not too bad pub very likely quite squashed with high prices but vey good music and vibe. Saturday nights are good there. And at the end, it is completely up to you if that is enough or not…
Shunt is located in London Bridge station. Nope, not besides, either close to. In. Inside the station, in its underbelly, completely hidden. Capisci? So follow the insider tip: as you cross the barriers in order to leave the tube station, if you follow the indications toward the train station you will find a small door with a bouncer besides it, checking IDs. There may be a small queue as well, depending at what time in the evening you get there. And that is it – a tiny door, and a bouncer. And £10 to get in. And a closing time at just 2.30 am, which is not late enough at all for the price. So it doesn’t seem tempting enough, let’s be fair.
massive space available, and they make use of it all – just imagine Fabric, but with wider spaces and less people, and more corridor like instead of room like. Yes, you are getting it…
space, as you can easily perceive if you browse their website. All the shows and works change on a weekly basis, so you may be surprised with something new almost everytime you go there if you want.
A cooler place to pot balls? I don't think so...
The main bar
The gigs room
And another negative point: you have to get there early enough. At 11 they close the doors, while you can stay inside, so going fairly earlier than that is compulsory. 9 is a good time to be in the door, but don’t risk to go much later than that unless you are up to a potential b plan.
