Entertainment in England
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A
Wembley Stadium
The city’s landmark national stadium where England traditionally plays its international matches and where the FA Cup final is contested.
reviewed
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B
Milk & Honey
Milk & Honey’s number one ‘House Rule’ reads: ‘No name-dropping, no star fucking’. This select, dark-lit den is a members’ club that lets non-members in on weeknights (before 11pm), and you have to phone in advance to reserve your two-hour slot. This practice is heavenly if you like privacy and great drinks, and hellish if you prefer a more down-to-earth atmosphere.
reviewed
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C
BFI IMAX Cinema
The British Film Institute IMAX Cinema is located in the centre of a busy round-about (there are plans to pedestrianise it in the not-too-distant future). The cinema screens the predictable mix of 2-D and IMAX 3-D documentaries about travel, space and wildlife, lasting anywhere from 40 minutes to 1½ hours, as well as recently released blockbusters like Star Trek à la IMAX (DMR and digital titles cost £13.50/8.75/9.75). The drum-shaped building sits on ‘springs’ to reduce vibrations and traffic noise from the traffic circle and subways beneath it, and the exterior changes colour at night. And size does matter here: the 477-seat cinema is the largest in the UK, with a…
reviewed
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D
Matter
London's newest superclub, courtesy of the Fabric crew, Matter is the latest word in high-tech club design. No regular nights, just a busy roster of visiting promoters.
reviewed
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E
Wimbledon
The All England Lawn Tennis Championships have been taking place here in late June/early July since 1877. Most tickets for the Centre and Number One courts are distributed by ballot, applications for which must be made the preceding year. Try your luck by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to the All England Lawn Tennis Club (PO Box 98, Church Rd, Wimbledon SW19 5AE). Limited tickets go on sale on the day of play, though queues are painfully long. The nearer to the finals, the higher the prices. You might be better off going to the men’s warm-up tournament at Queen’s Club, which takes place a couple of weeks before Wimbledon.
reviewed
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F
George & Dragon
Once a scuzzy local pub, the George was taken over and decorated with the owner’s grandma’s antiques (antlers, racoon tails, old clocks), cardboard cut-outs of Cher and fairy lights, turning this one-room pub into what has remained the epicentre of the Hoxton scene for more than a decade. Some of the best DJ nights in London are on offer here, with cabaret performances taking place on window sills. It’s total fun and mindless hedonism. Expect mustachioed media types and fashion-forward youths. Definitely not a place for a quiet pint, there’s a great jukebox, and it tends to get packed out at the weekends.
reviewed
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G
Fabric
This most impressive of superclubs is still the first stop on the London scene for many international clubbers, as the lengthy queues attest. A warren of three floors, three bars, many walkways and unisex toilets, room one also contains a kidney-shaking ‘bodysonic’ dance floor. The crowd is hip and well dressed without overkill, and the music – mainly electro, techno, house, drum and bass and dubstep – is as superb as you’d expect from London’s top-rated club. Superstar DJs often sell out Friday night’s FabricLive, when big names such as Goldie or DJ Hype take over. WetYourSelf!, a hedonistic techno and house night, is a real Sunday night treat.
reviewed
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H
Viva Cake Bitches
An evening with the self-declared Viva Cake Bitches usually kicks off in the late afternoon with tea, cake and sandwiches served by girls on rollerskates. Other diversions include dominos, knitting, baking and, if plans come off, a beauty bar, before the evening steps it up a gear with classic rock 'n' roll bands and jive-dancing. Remember to raid the dressing-up box for some vintage wear before you turn up.
The original among London's latest 1950s tea-dances, the irrepressible Viva Cake began life at the Bethnal Green WMC, but has since taken up a residency at the red-brick St Aloysius Social Club near Euston train station.
reviewed
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Donmar Warehouse
The small Donmar Warehouse is the ‘thinking man’s theatre’ in London. But it has taken a step back from the days when Nicole Kidman administered ‘theatrical Viagra’ nightly by peeling off her clothes in Sam Mendes’ production of The Blue Room and Zoë Wanamaker really did Gothic Southern as Amanda Wakefield in Tennessee Williams’ Glass Menagerie. Still, artistic director Michael Grandage stages interesting and somewhat inventive productions such as Ibsen’s Doll’s House with Gillian Anderson and Hamlet with the blue-eyed Jude Law.
reviewed
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Plastic People
This is a tiny club with just a dance floor and bar and a booming sound system that experts say easily kicks the butts of bigger clubs. Head here on Fridays and Saturdays for nights that are often given over to one long DJ set by the likes of Kieran Hebden, Kode 9 or Mr Scruff, smashing out mainly house and electronica.
reviewed
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Princess Louise
We might have used the word gem before, but we take all of the other instances back. This late-19th-century Victorian pub is spectacularly decorated with a riot of fine tiles, etched mirrors, plasterwork and a stunning central horseshoe bar. After an eight-month renovation, it’s looking even better. The old tiles and plasterwork have been scrubbed up, and Victorian wood partitions have been reinstated, giving punters nooks and alcoves to hide in. There are Corinthian columns too, would you believe? Beers are Sam Smith’s only, and, at £2 a pint, it’s a wonder anyone ever leaves.
reviewed
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Lamb & Flag
Good pubs can be hard to come by in over-touristy Covent Garden, but the Lamb & Flag makes up for any character or soul the area has lost – the interior is more than 350 years old, with creaky wooden floors and winding stairs, there’s live jazz on Sunday afternoons and, come sunshine or summer evenings, it’s a miracle if you can approach the bar for all the people crowding outside. Its setting is equally charming: the main entrance is on top of a tiny cobbled street, but you can also reach it from the backstreet donkey path that’ll make you think of Victorian England.
reviewed
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M
Fac251
It might be a paeon to days of yore, but Fac251, located in Tony Wilson's former Factory Records HQ, stands on its own two feet as one of the best venues in town. Three rooms, all with a broad musical appeal, from Monday's Hit & Run (drum 'n' bass, hip hop and dubstep) to Stoned Love on Saturday, which has Indie rock, Motown and techno across three rooms. Something for everybody.
reviewed
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Comedy Store
This was one of the first (and is still one of the best) comedy clubs in London. Although it’s a bit like conveyor-belt comedy, it gets some of the biggest names. Wednesday and Sunday night’s Comedy Store Players is the most famous improvisation outfit in town, with the wonderful Josie Lawrence; on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays it’s Best in Stand Up, which features (you guessed it) the best on London’s comedy circuit. Tickets are generally around £20.
reviewed
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Royal Shakespeare Company
Coming to Stratford without seeing a production of Shakespeare would be like going to Beijing and bypassing the Great Wall. The two theatre spaces run by the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company have witnessed performances by such legends as Lawrence Olivier, Richard Burton, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.
There are two grand stages in Stratford: Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre on Waterside, both extensively redeveloped between 2007 and 2010. The redevelopment of the earlier 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre added a new thrust stage auditorium and an observation tower (admission £2.50; open 10am daily) for views over town. Backstage…
reviewed
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P
Last Days of Decadence
A brand new club that opened in the height of the recession, this is a place that celebrates the 1930s through its heady, abandon-fuelled parties and through its Great Depression–inspired name. Not that it sticks to 1930s music, however – you’ll find regular nights hosting DJs such as the out-there trannie DJ Jodie Harsh on Fridays’ Circus, and Last Days of Decadence’s eponymous night that mixes up D&B, nu-rave and jungle. On a quieter note, there are free jazz gigs on Tuesdays, and Monday nights are life-drawing classes – £10 a go.
reviewed
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Q
Egg
Egg has the most superb layout with three exposed concrete rooms (across three floors), a garden and two gorgeous tropical roof terraces (relieving the edgy, exiled smokers). It specialises in house, dance, techno and drum and bass. On Sunday morning, there’s a breakfast after-party. At weekends, Egg runs a free shuttle every 30 minutes between 10pm and 2am from outside American Carwash on York Way.
reviewed
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R
Passing Clouds
One of those little flickers of nightlife brilliance, Passing Clouds throws legendary parties that go on until the early hours of the morning. The music is predominantly world oriented, with a lot of African influence and regular Afrobeat bands, and a reputed jam session on Sunday nights (from 9pm); the parties are a healthy mix of DJs and live music with a multicultural crowd that really makes you feel you’re in London. The decor is makeshift bar, colourful lanterns and tropical titbits, and the atmosphere is just exhilarating.
reviewed
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Hackney Empire
The programming at this renovated Edwardian Music Hall (1901) is eclectic to say the least and certainly defines ‘something for everyone’ – from hard-edged political theatre to opera and comedy. The Empire is definitely one of the best places to catch a pantomime at Christmas.
reviewed
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Astoria
An extremely popular though not particularly salubrious venue, the Astoria's future may be cut short by plans to knock down the building as part of a programme to rejuvenate the area of Charing Cross Rd, to the general displeasure of Astoria's many fans. Still, until the final decision is reached, the venue is busy most nights of the week with indie, pop and rock acts before becoming a club later on in the evening.
The adjacent Mean Fiddler, at No 165 - a far more intimate venue that doesn't get used as much - is facing the same bleak future.
reviewed
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Ritzy
Despite fears that making the Ritzy a multiplex would kill its cool style and community feeling (four new screens were added to this 1911 building in the late ‘90s, making it London’s biggest independent cinema), this is still one of London’s favourites, screening a good mix of mainstream and indie films. The Ritzy is an off–West End screen during the Times BFI London Film Festival, and alternative gigs are often held inside the large original auditorium. The funky bar-cafe upstairs is a gathering spot for arty locals.
reviewed
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V
Jerusalem Tavern
Starting life as one of the first London coffee houses (founded in 1703), with the 18th-century decor of occasional tile mosaics still visible, the JT is an absolute stunner, though sadly it’s both massively popular and tiny, so come early to get a seat. There’s good lunch food and, this being the only London outlet of St Peter’s Brewery (based in North Suffolk), it has a brilliant range of drinks: organic bitters; cream stouts; wheat and fruit beers – many of which are dispensed in green apothecary-style bottles.
reviewed
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Arcola Theatre
The Arcola’s location in Dalston in the East End makes it a bit of a trek, but many still flock to this innovative theatre. The director, Mehmet Ergen has been staging adventurous and eclectic productions since founding the theatre in 2000.
The program focuses on cutting-edge, international productions (such as work by young Turkish, Swedish and Austrian playwrights) and a unique annual feature is Grimeborn, a music and opera festival in August/September, the antithesis of the world-famous annual Glyndebourne opera festival taking place around the same time.
reviewed
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X
Trafalgar Tavern
Lapped by the brown waters of the Thames, this cavernous pub with big windows looking onto the river is steeped in history. Dickens apparently knocked back a few here – and used it as the setting for the wedding breakfast scene in Our Mutual Friend – and prime ministers Gladstone and Disraeli used to dine on the pub’s celebrated whitebait, when the start of the season was so keenly anticipated that Parliament would suspend sitting for a day. Try to make a beeline for a seat in the big bay window if you can.
reviewed
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Y
Seven Stars
Even though it’s packed with lawyers in the after-office booze rush hour, the tiny Seven Stars is still a relative secret to many Londoners. Sitting behind the Royal Courts of Justice and originally a sailors’ hang-out, this is the place to come for real ale and ravishing game dishes (the eccentric landlady and chef, Roxy Beaujolais, is a former TV chef and raconteur).
reviewed