The Cribs at Birthdays 27/08/2013

I've liked the Cribs for a long time but for some reason I've only ever seen them at festivals. When I heard they'd be playing a gig at the tiny Birthdays in Dalston I knew I had to get myself a ticket. Because this was going to be such an intimate gig tickets were near impossible to get, I was having major stress issues at my desk trying to buy them. The website was down, then they were sold out, then I could get 2 but then I couldn't get any. Anyway, after a lot of persevering I managed to bag myself 2 tickets. I'd never been to a gig at Birthdays but I've been there for dinner so I knew how small the place was so I was excited to see such a boistrous band in a tiny venue, I was definitely in for a good night.

 First impressions of the venue at Birthdays were not great, the floor seems to slope backwards so the further away you are from the stage the less you can see. Also, because the ceiling is so low the stage isn't very high up which exacerbates the view damaging effects of the sloping floor. Anyway, despite my terrible view the gig was terrific. As always the Cribs were full of energy and the crowd was rowdy. The band were greeted to chants of Wakefield from the band and it was apparent that there were a lot of Yorkshire boys in the audience. They bought out a greatest hits album earlier this year so the set list was full of gems however they failed to play my favourite song "Our Bovine Public' which I consider to be a one of their bigger hits so that was a little disappointing but alas a band should always leave you wanting more right?

I don't think I'll be rushing back to Birthdays for a gig any time soon but nevertheless it was an amazing experience to see the Cribs in such an intimate atmosphere. Hopefully they'll do a proper UK tour soon but I imagine when they do the venues will be a lot bigger thus causing me to be hesitant about wherether I'll buy a ticket or not, we shall see...

Also, before I forget to mention it, the Cribs were supported by Wolf Alice who are a fairly new London based alternative/indie band and are definitely worth checking out. The lead singer has a lovely voice.

Have you seen the Cribs before or been to Birthdays x

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#100London - August Update

Another bad month but that's hardly a surprise now.Started the month on a good foot by visiting the South London Gallery in Camberwell followed by the Sassoon Gallery in Peckham which is small and random. I'm also including Frank's Cafe and Campari Bar as they had a huge installation in the car park. Also popped along to the GX Gallery in Camberwell the same weekend which is another small one.

Later in the month I visited the Hayward Gallery which I have been to before this year but one of the exhibitions was 'The Museum of Everything' which is a moving museum so I'm counting it as an extra entry. This may be cheating but at this stage I need all the help I can get. I also paid Beanotown a visit which was silly and full of kids but sort of enjoyable. It was part of the Southbank's summer festival and is now over unfortuantely.

At the end of the month I also caught the Zandra Rhodes exhibition at the Fashion and Textiles Museum which was fantastic and whilst I was in the neighbourhood I also popped into the Bermondsey branch of the White Cube.

Now my total stands at 35, eek I still have a long way to go. Can't believe I'm not even half way yet!

What museums are on your must see list x

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#100London - July Update

Oops, this post is a little late! July was a terrible month for museum visiting anyway so you'll be happy to know you haven't really missed anything. I went to the Wellcome Collection to visit the Medicine Man exhibition which I've actually seen before so that was a little pointless but I had time to kill in Euston and the exhibition is really insightful anyway so I didn't mind having a second look around. The same day I checked out the Propaganda: Power and Persuasion at the British Library. The exhibition provided a basic overview to numerous aspects of propaganda including war, health and even the Olympics. My boyfriend wrote a review on his blog 'The May Day Review' so go and check that out if you're interested. The exhibition finishes this week so if you haven't already been I urge you to check it out. Whilst you're at the British Library it's always worth visiting the treasures exhibition which is a permanent display of old manuscripts, the Magma Carter, Beatles memorabilia and other literary works.

I also popped into the Guardian, Gagosian, Pangolin and Kings Place Gallery the same day to have a look at their current exhibitions. All these galleries change their displays quite regularly so it's always worth popping in when you're in the area to see what's on.

That was it for July, a pretty poor attempt and because I have already been to the Wellcome Collectin this year I can only add 5 to the list which brings me to the grand and pathetic total of 31. I have a lot of work cut out for me!

What exhibitions have you visited recently x

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