Rock and Pop: Latest news - > August 26 - Out of the office, and in San Francisco
Published: 26 August 2010
IF you’re going to San Francisco...,” you must be me! Sorry I can’t bring you any deeply thought-out Alastair Cooke-type letter from America – I’m more like Sesame Street’s Alistair Cookie. So far all I’ve discovered musically in SF is, there are a lot of open-air jazz bands around and I hear Snoop Dogg played somewhere near on Sunday. Smoking is violently disapproved of here – the smell of cannabis is everywhere but so far the hippies have evaded me.
• So sorry to hear of the death of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s Charlie Haddon. He was well-known and well-loved around Camden and people will miss him.
• One of the finest live bands around, Camden’s smile-inspiring Man Like Me, join an all-day cast of live music at The Old Queen’s Head, Essex Road, on Sunday (3pm-3am). King Charles, Josh Weller and SixNationState complete the bill and it’s free before 8pm.
• Fans of The Killers might like to know frontman Brandon Flowers plays a special gig at Relentless Garage (September 8). The only catch is, there are only 200 tickets and you have to pre-order his album from HMV through the venue’s website by Wednesday (September 1). Good luck.
• Ready for Carnival? What about the vital after-party? Reggae Roast is promising to throw the biggest Roots Reggae party in the capital at the Big Chill House (August 29) with BBQ and Carnival vibes through the night with Manasseh feat Charjan, Moodie & Exel, Ramon Judah, Louis Slipperz and Dub Hunter. Course that’s just till 3am, you’ve still got the rest of the night to play with.
• Tricky – responsible for one of my all-time favourite albums, Maxinquaye – plays Koko (September 22) to promote album Mixed Race. Ever evolving, I don’t expect a return to the suffocating headiness of Maxinquaye but it’s sure to be an unpredictable evening.