Comic relief at the BBC, 16/03/07

I probably chose the most difficult day to journey down to White City to participate as an audience member for a show at the BBC. Friday 16th was not just hosting the standard run of the mill show, oh no, it was all about the big red fundraising nose called Comic Relief.

Having only been to a television studio years ago for some random game show featuring Boyzone, I was all excited about the prospect of mixing with the great BBC production team to see how live shows like Comic Relief come about.
With our pre-ordered tickets in hand we arranged to meet at 9pm an hour before our actual entry into the studios. We were told that tickets didn’t guarantee entry, so we assumed that an hour would be more than enough time to cue before getting in to the late night adult version of the show.

Unusually, I arrived first on the scene and decided to join the ever-growing line of people hoping to each get a place in the studio. It was lucky I did join the cue, as after my mates arrived we were the last four people to be let in to the building with at least a hundred people being turned away right behind us. Once inside the building we had just enough to time to get our free drink before making our way into the studio. Now because we were the last four people in the building we were placed on standby, which meant despite getting this far, there was no assurance that we would even make it in to the studio. Luckily for us we did.

Being last in actually worked out in our favour, as we were placed right next to the stage with the likes of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton all just meters away. The highlight of the evening had to be The Killers performance. We were lucky enough to notice them come on stage to the left of the studio and started scoot our way over to the stage, so that when the performance began we were right at the front with full view of the band. I even managed to catch a flower that Brandon Flowers chucked into the crowd. Mysteriously enough that flower is still alive. Maybe The Killers should be renamed The Elixir of Life instead.

I did not anticipate just how much work goes in to a show like Comic relief. There were at least 8 massive cameras moving all over the place throughout the whole show. The down side to being right at the front was the constant need to be herded off in different areas. We left about 1am just in time to bump into Patrick Kilty walking in the Gents toilets. Apparently he didn’t wash his hands, so be warned.

I had such a great time, it was just a shame that it got too tiring to stand up any longer or I might have stayed till the end. Big up to anyone who donated some cash on the night, your all stars.

The Wardour, 10/03/07

A few of us girlies arranged a night out to discover what new swanky club The Wardour, Soho had to offer. An infamous Peter Stringfellow strip club in the week, this venue was oozing with decadence. The décor was akin to a boudoir with gold, leopard skinned thrones and glitzy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and bar. It felt like we had stepped into an Arabian palace set in the middle of Central london.

Anyone who is ever disappointed with new clubs that just change the name on the door of their venue, but keep everything inside exactly the same as the previous place can fear not as The Wardour bares absolutely no likeness to Trap the club that once filled these walls. It appears that no expense was spared when designing this club.




With girls dancing on podiums and in cages there were constant reminders of the week day goings on, but it was not daunting in the slightest and we soon got down on the dance floor at first in the upstairs bar restaurant and later downstairs in the entitled “Showroom” which was really large in size. For me there is nothing better than a nightclub with enough space to dance and in addition breath. We even spotted Mr Stringfellow himself wandering through the crowds, probably checking up on the crowds to see if everyone was having fun.




It was an exciting night and I will definitely go back. The bar staff were really friendly and the service was relatively fast, if a little expensive. They have quite a good drinks menu. You must try out the frozen Margarita, as it was to heavenly.

Secret Wars Semi Final, 08/03/07

Finally the end is in sight and with a nail biter of a tournament almost behind us, two artists had their last attempt to join Teck 1 in the grand final on the 31st of March. Would they deliver the goods? Of that there was no question.



Both quite detailed in their styles, Alfa and Inkie had a serious challenge on their hands. Alfa – who like finalist Teck 1 likes to incorporate the battle theme into his pieces – is a real crowd pleaser, whilst Inkie is a noted artist with a large following all over the country. This battle was indisputably going to be tough and the crowd certainly knew it.

Just like in the previous Semi final, the artists would be given free reign on a much larger wall space with also double the time on the clock. Both artists were going to have to step it up to impress the crowd and the judges, especially with their use of space, which alone has played a big factor in decisions of the judges in previous battles.




Alfa male drew a captain character holding an octopus obviously in reference to his opponent’s name… Inkie. This captain was definitely a representation of Alfa himself as he was drawn wearing a cap with the initials SD emblazoned on the badge, a tribute to his Kingston based art crew Soopa Doopa. In addition to the raised middle finger in the foreground of the piece, the finger was also wearing a ring in the shape of one of Alfa’s most favourite characters, the skull.







Inkie whose artistic approach tends to focus on the more beautiful than the insulting added a bit of flair to his own piece. Along with his traditional girly character, he had added a few different elements to his piece. One was a deck of cards with the King of spades entitled Inkie at the front, showing just how confident he must have been. He also drew a witch doctor type character with potions, headdress and even an “Alfa” chain around his neck. Surrounding the piece were the words, “Graf Royale” reminiscent of Japanese horror, Battle Royale. On the right hand side of the piece Inkie left another dig for Alfa, “You’ve been smoked”.







Without a doubt the judging for this battle was the most tense yet with each judge voting for a different artist leaving a crowd vote to determine the winner. The big shocker came as almost by fluke as the clap meter pulled up exactly the same reading for each artist. What were the organisers to do… the only thing they could, give the crowd a second chance to scream their hearts out for their favourite artist. Even though only slight the second attempt did show a clear winner. Alfa Male would be facing his pal Teck 1 in the final of the first Secret Wars Series. Wowee it’s such a shock that the moment has arrived for the two artists who have done so well throughout the competition to reach the final hurdle. Whatever happens, they are both winners. A commiseration to Inkie as your piece was really top notch.







How are we going to cope to the final, the event is already set in my diary and I know I am not going to miss this last event for the world. Word has it that there is even a fan from Australia flying in for the event. You know this event is gonna be huge. Get there early as Juno is gonna be a roadblock. Check www.secretwars.co.uk for more info on the final and further events that are planned in the summer.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly live at Apple Store, 06/03/07

I got the chance to check out a London Live session at the flagship Apple store in Regent Street on the evening of Tuesday the 6th of March. With no preconceptions of the band we were about to see; myself and other fellow lucky Apple employee Brad were excited with the opportunity to witness Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly in an intimate concert for a handful of budding fans.

Given that I did not have a clue of the bands style I was pleasantly surprised and soon got into the swing of clapping my hands to the beats of such songs as I-Spy and War of the Worlds. I loved the fact that one of the focal instruments in the band is a trumpet. It was reminiscent of music from some of the Jazz and Rock and Roll greats. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and with a free £10.00 Itunes voucher to put towards some songs, I couldn’t wait to lap up some of their numbers.

Their album is definitely worth a listen, so look out for: The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager in all good record stores now.

Secret Wars Tag Team @ Brighton 03/03/07

Brighton is a particularly creative place to be, and merged alongside a special Secret Wars event the creative volcano was set to erupt. With the help of Briton based artists Sinna and Sri, a night was set on the 3rd of March at Riki Tiks in the centre of town. The aim of the battle was to bring London based company Monorex and Brighton’s art collective Grafik Warfare together in a tag team battle.

With preparation underway, there was not much time to get everything sorted before the event kicked off. With some of the artists arriving later in the day, everyone was tense about whether everything would go according to plan.

To our surprise upon arrival Sinna had nearly finished up painting the battle wall white leaving only the sound check, MC’s script and finalising the 80 strong guestlist to sort out. With a capacity of only 200 people, Riki Tiks was set to be heaving.

After a mad dash for some grub alongside beat boxer Reeps One and artist Ink Fetish we made our way back to Sinnas plush pad to get ready. Because of the need for all the artists on each team to touch base, the actual battle didn’t commence till about 8.30pm despite the crowd eagerly awaiting the start from as early as 6pm.






Each team consisted of four artists. Snub, Defacto, Orco and Foundry were the Grafik Warfare team whilst Sinna, Sri, Alfa and Ink Fetish were representing for Monorex. The pieces were a divided in two so four artists from one team had to fill one space with the other four competing on the opposite side. Grafik Warfare went for a mismatch of styles on their wall, with transformer-like characters, geometrical shapes, factory piping and a one armed lady taking up most of the space. Monorex attempted to link all their styles together, creating a graveyard scene included with zombies, and tomb stones with the opponents names etched on the front. A slogan above read, “I’d rather be under the hill than over it” making reference to the older age of their opponents.







With all pieces completed and venue physically overflowing with people it was time for the winning team to be crowned. The judging panel consisted of Rarekinds Daz1 and local graff legend Req1 Both in turn voted for Monorex, leaving the angry Brighton crowds bemused.







Reeps One had an amazing set that impressed all of the crowd. He almost forgot his classic harmonica routine until a fan shouted for an encore. He totally blew everyone away. It’s always nice to have a bit more live entertainment straight after the battle finishes to keep the crowd hyped.



Even the artists couldn’t stop themselves from drawing and continued to do so on the Ecko sponsors poster, plastered on the central wall of the bar. It was lucky for them that the guys at Ecko, who had flown in straight from New York City, loved it nabbing the poster as soon as they could.

As the Secret Wars tour continues who knows what more surprises await us. Stay tuned via www.secretwars.co.uk for more info. Next stop on the SW tour bus is Southampton, so check it out.

Second Photo by Delarge.