urban75 blog

Glasto Refuseniks' Picnic, Brixton

2009-06-28T20:20:00.001Z

urban75 posters held the traditional Glasto Refuseniks' party for those unswayed by the temptations of Glastonbury.

Taking place in Brockwell Park, the home made food was delicious, the weather was terrific and it was a delightful way to pass a Sunday afternoon.

urban75 Glastonbury pages

Critical Mass, London

2009-06-27T21:15:00.001Z

Apart from some positively psychotically incandescent cabbies (and, to be honest, one or two testosterone-overcharged cyclists), this was a fabulous ride, with hundreds of cyclists enjoying a leisurely, car-free saunter around the streets of central London.

More photos here: Critical Mass, London

Offline special with The Shanners

2009-06-27T10:10:00.001Z

When we heard that a venue had cancelled the farewell gig for our friends The Shanners, we quickly assembled the Offline Pronto Gig Relocation crew, and found them a new home at the Dogstar for their last ever show. And it was ruddy great too!

More photos: Offline, Dogstar 25th JUne

Midsummer's Eve at Myatt's Fields Park

2009-06-21T19:20:00.001Z

A free event on Midsummer's Eve, 'The Big Event' coincided with the launch of the annual Camberwell Arts Festival, and marked the official re-opening of Myatt's Fields Park after its extensive ?3m renovation.

Designed by Fanny Wilkinson - one of Britain's first female professional landscape gardeners and a strong supporter of women's suffrage - the park dates back to Victorian times, being opened in 1889.

More photos

Rock and Roll! Machetes + The Spivs @ Offline

2009-06-20T15:53:00.001Z

Photos from last night's ace Offline gig with Toronto all-girl punksters the Machetes and east Landahn garage rockers The Spivs online here.

RAWK AND RAWWWL!

More here: offlineclub.com

Naked Bike Ride London

2009-06-13T20:07:00.001Z

Mass scenes of wobbling bottoms spotted in the heart of London!

Here's what it's all about:

"A peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. A celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body. A symbol of the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic. The world's biggest naked protest: 50+ cities and thousands of riders ..."

See more photos here: Naked Bike Ride, London

Red Devils over London

2009-06-13T12:14:00.001Z

It's the Queen's birthday, so out come the planes. Whoosh!

Thurs 11th: Woody Guthrie special + ace bands + cabaret. FREE!

2009-06-07T15:23:00.001Z

OFFLINE PARTY AND PROTEST SPECIAL!
Thursday 11th June - don't miss this one!

Dogstar, Brixton, 389 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8LQ
Tel: 020 7733 7515. 7pm - 2am.
FREE ADMISSION all night!

We've put together an incredible, thought provoking bill featuring a musical tour of Woody Guthrie's work by WILL KAUFMAN, contemporary South Seas protest songs from THE LANI SINGERS, the exhilaratingly brilliant 12 piece gypsy Balkan brass sensation the TRANS SIBERIAN MARCH BAND, Scottish folk with STARS OF SUNDAY LEAGUE and protest videos, poetry and slideshows, plus a full cabaret bill. We'll be running three rooms and two floors of entertainment - and it's FREE all night.

More info here: Offline Club

Sergeant Buzfuz @ Offline, Brixton

2009-06-07T15:11:00.001Z

Shaking off the disappointment of Ella Edmondson cancelling at the least minute through illness, we had a great night at the Brixton Albert, with the excellent Sergeant Buzfuz putting in a great performance.

Here's a few pics from the night:

More pics here: Offline Club

The Apprentice remixed

2009-05-29T10:13:00.001Z

Absolutely hilarious!

Dorset; Swanage, Corfe Castle, cider bars and more:

2009-05-25T22:26:00.001Z

The urban75 walk club's jaunt to Dorset was one of the best I've been on for a long time.

Despite weather forecasters predicting a weekend of showers, ne'er a drop fell on our heads and we were treated to some fabulous Springtime sunshine.

The trip had everything:

countryside, seaside, coastal walks, ice cream, castles, donkeys, new born lambs, dinosaur trails, goats, steam trains, celebrities, cliff top strolls, great globes, lighthouses, abandoned villages, ducks, the fiercest gale force wind I've ever encountered, delightful bays and some unbelievably fine cider - and the company of a fine bunch of urbanites.

Here's a some photos:

Here's the abandoned village of Tyneham, Dorset:

And here's the windiest hill I have ever stood on. Some people very nearly didn't make it down!

See more here: Dorset photos including Swanage, Corfe Castle and the lost village of Tyneham,

Kettle The Met Protest, Scotland Yard

2009-05-23T18:02:00.001Z

A march from Trafalgar Square leading to a rally outside Scotland Yard to 'remember Ian Tomlinson, demand no more deaths in police custody and defend civil liberties and the freedom to protest.'

More pics here

Josie Long, Voodoo Trombones + more @ Offline

2009-05-20T14:08:00.001Z

Just got chance to post up some pics from last week's Offline bash at the Dogstar with Josie Long, Voodoo Trombone Quartet, Atomic Suplex, Anchorsong and Vic Lambrusco's Cabaret Hour - plus Craft Corner.

It's great to see Offline back in its old home and pulling good crowds, but it was so hectic I didn't get chance to take many pics.

Here's a few from the night:

More: http://www.urban75.org/offline/offline59_dogstar.html

More morris dancing mobs!

2009-05-10T21:32:00.001Z

More photos and feature here: Westminster Day of Dance 2009
and here: Westminster Day of Dance 2009 (part 2).

Morris dancers mob Trafalgar Square

2009-05-09T20:00:00.001Z

Morris troupes from all over the country mobbed Trafalgar Square for a mass Morris-off this afternoon - and it was a hoot!
Anyone else go along to watch a bit of bell-clanging, hanky-waving, stick bashing fun?

More pics soon!

The Specials @ Brixton

2009-05-08T00:32:00.001Z

Fuck, they were good tonight - and the crowd were up for it too!

Coping with failure: Cardiff City FC

2009-05-04T00:46:00.001Z

In a remarkable run of ultra-crapness, my beloved Cardiff City FC - who recently looked destined for a guaranteed play-off place (if not automatic promotion) - conspired to turn into a wobbly bag'o'cack, collecting just one measly point from a possible 12.

Today, all they had to do was draw to Sheffield Wednesday - a team languishing miles below us in the league, but even that proved too much, so it's another season in the Championship for us (or the 'Second Division' as it should rightfully be called).

Naturally, I'm horribly disappointed by this rubbish end to our season, but my reaction seems a little more restrained that I anticipated.

A few years ago, this would have been my response:

But now - perhaps because I'm older or perhaps because I'm not sure if the corporate-powered, prawn sandwich-propelled Premiership is to my tastes - I feel a lot more like this:

How do you cope with defeat? Check out the What kind of fan are you? section, or drop me a line...

urban75: Guardian's 'Best of the web'

2009-05-03T21:51:00.001Z

Nice to see this on the Guardian's website on Friday. The article links to an excellent criticism of conspiracy nutbobbins, written by Donna Ferentes.

If you want to see examples of the weird and wonderful things that 'conspiraloons' come up with, check out our archive forum, Compendium Of Kerrrr-azy Conspiracies - there's no shortage of nutjobbery to be found!

Offline Mayday Specials

2009-05-03T20:55:00.001Z

It's been a long weekend of partying with four great acts playing the Offline Albert gigs.

On Friday we had superb Kitchener and our favourite hip-hop act - Lady Lykez. She's lively, funny and talented and definitely one to watch.

More photos here

On Saturday, we put on the hilarious Mr B, The Gentleman Rhymer who mixed up chappage with hip hop, followed by John Peel faves I, Ludicrous.

There's not so many photos for this night as I'd suffered some hideous flu-like ailment overnight. It was so bad I had to run off during the soundcheck for a Mr Creosote-style chunder (without the need for a wafer thin mint). Eeeugh.

Happily, the excellent entertainment took my mind off things before I headed home early to bed.

More pics here

Offline Club photos

2009-04-27T22:47:00.001Z

Here's a few snaps from Friday's Offline Club at the Brixton Albert with Sanjuro and Sergeant Buzfuz. Both bands were *fab!*

The dulcimer sounded amazing!

More pics: Offline Club, Brixton

The Kings Cross Lighthouse Building lives!

2009-04-22T22:59:00.001Z

It's been slowly falling apart for years but the landmark building adjacent to Kings Cross railway station is set for a ?13 million internal reconstruction.

There's been some debate as to what the 1880s tower was originally for. Some say that it was built to advertise an Oyster House below, while slightly madder people have suggested that it was once a helter-skelter tower.

Whatever it was, it's great to see the old building set to get a new lease of life.

Read more here: The Oysterhouse Lighthouse

Helmond photos, The Netherlands

2009-04-22T21:23:00.001Z

Some more photos from our pedalling around this pleasant small city in the southern Netherlands.

The crazy cube houses (Kubuswoningen) in Helmond, designed by the Dutch structuralist architect Piet Blom in the mid-1970s.

Bridge over the the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal which runs through the city.

In the heart of Helmond can be seen this impressive castle, built by Jan III van Berlaer around 1350.

On the road!

The Netherlands is fantastic for cycling - not only is it flat, but there's loads of safe cycle lanes.

More photos: Helmond, Netherlands

Charlton Athletic 2 Cardiff City 2

2009-04-22T21:12:00.001Z

Phew! This was a nail-biting game alright!

Even though Charlton were already relegated from the Championship and had nothing much to play for, Cardiff failed to match their high-flying league position and had to battle through a very tense 90 minutes, only managing a much needed point at the death.

Here's a few photos:

I really like Charlton's ground. It may be new(ish) but it's not another hideous metal box like the rest of them.

One minute to go and.. GOALLLLLL! Cardiff get the crucial equaliser, right at the end!

More photos: Charlton 2 Cardiff City 2

Shunt Club, London Bridge. Absolutely amazing!

2009-04-20T00:39:00.001Z

I can't remember the last time I was blown away by a club, but Shunt was one of the best clubs I've been to for a very long time.

We went down to watch the Actionettes play and I thought I was in for another run-of-the-mill tarted up under-the-arches kind of club, but how wrong I was.

The night started ominously with the security staff insisting on scanning in my ID - but inside the security was very, very light.

First off, the space is absolutely MASSIVE. And I mean huge! There's tons of space and it takes ages just to work out where everything was.

There was a mini rolling skate rink with people running around like nutters. The Actionettes danced on two stages simultaneously - one of them 20 foot in the air. It was really exciting - it felt like the sort of underground parties that Jagger might have gone to in the 60s.

The all-girl Monks tribute band The Nuns played on another stage. There was a cinema playing Nancy Sinatra.

There was snooker and table football. The crowd was mixed. The music was fantastic - 50s, 60s and a smattering of dance - and the DJs looked sharp as fuck.

It was one of the best nights I've had out on ages. It's such a shame that the club's closing soon (it's going to be replaced by - you guessed it - shops) but if you do get a chance to go - don't miss out!

Hampstead Heath walk photos

2009-04-19T22:17:00.001Z

Here's some more photos from the mob-handed urban75 walk on Saturday:

More photos here: Hampstead Heath photos