José James x Eska x Deviation x The Pinboard Guide To A £5 Night In London

Last night was probably one of the best nights the Crew and I have had in a while! One of those brilliant London nights where everything works out great, everyone is on point - bussin jokes and out to have a good, good night. Oh and not to mention, it was HOT!

Firstly, I must say – I was mega upset that I never made it to Writers Block @ Juno Bar. Due to a ‘scheduling’ clash, I was unable to make the special evening, but I hope ya’ll attended and if not, you gotta go check them out via their Myspace, show them some love and MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THE NEXT ONE! It’s a truly amazing evening!

That said, we started the evening at The Roundhouse [Camden] to attend the José James gig.

Thanks to [the lovely] Emily over at Brownswood Recordings, we rolled up, grabbed our press passes and the 4 of us took our seats. We were introduced to the evening by the lovely and supremely talented Eska…

Backed by a 5 piece band [including a violinist], Eska sat on her piano and sang her heart out. Her voice is truly remarkable and sounded perfect in the beautiful soundings and acoustics The Roundhouse effortlessly provides. She blew us away, really! Her voice was so powerful, yet so intimate she really, really reminded me of Jill Scott – only, she’s a Londoner (Baaaby!).

After Eska did her thing, it wasn’t long till José James and his band (a Drummer, Keyboard player & a Cellist) graced the legendarily stage. The atmosphere in the venue was simply beautiful. It was a sit down, round table event [each table decorated by a tiny candle], perfect for an evening of real Jazz.

I was first introduced to José James when I caught him at Flying Lotus’ “Brainfeeder” festival a few months back and since have become an avid admirer - his album “The Dreamer” is superb. His voice is surreal, his writing ability unique – he brings Jazz into 2008 with such ease. And I love that he performs real, sophisticated Jazz, yet rocks a New Era hat on stage!

PinBoard Footage:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKGcoge34Yk]

^ AMAAAAAAZIN!

James really did amaze us last night. I was really looking forward to hearing him live, [on his own] and my expectations were most certainly exceeded! I’m so happy I was able to witness what he does at The Roundhouse – it’s such an amazing venue! Love it.

…Our evening did stop there though, although the gig would have been more than enough to satisfy us!  

Straight after the gig and after loosing one member of the Crew (you know who you are. Waste. LOL), we realised we were famished and needed some grub. The problem? We were on a SERRRIOUS budget [you know how that is!] - but what’s Camden perfect for? Cheap ass China food…

^ Image courtesy of Google!

We found this lil’ lady selling her last bits of Chinese food on her stall in the Camden Stables and was selling EVERYTHING for £1 (insert accent here). So…naturally we made her fill up one of them big containers with all she had (including: Coconut rice, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Beef in Black Bean Sauce and some Veg) and paid her her £1. GENIUS. While eating [the good, good food], we of course needed a drink, so we found an off licence (remember the budget!) and grabbed ourselves a good, good Ribena for 58p. OH!

We then hopped on a bus and headed for Liverpool street to attend…

Deviation was a JAM! Seriously, what a perfect way to end a great night?! The music and the peeps were on point. No bitchass’ness, no hassle, no stooshness just a bunch of peoples rocking out to some good, good music courtesy of Mr Judah, Benji B and Morgan Zarate! The night was topped off with a PA by the lady who blew us away earlier – Eska! Oh. My Daaaaaze. She tore it UP on that mic! Performing “Sticks and Stones”, she had the whole crowd raving like it was someones house party! Too much man, just too much! That tune is so, so, so, so, so BIG! My god! 3 Rewinds?!?

Gramaphone [the venue] was TOO f*ckin hot tho! Where was the air con? Goddam. After heading upstairs for some fresh air, we decided to call it a night around 1.15ish…

So yea, what a dope night!  José James & Eska at The Roundhouse [free], Chinese food [£1], Ribeena [58p] and Deviation [guestlist/free]. Ha!

…And that’s ‘The PinBoard Guild To A £5 Night In London!’

Go show love to José James, Eska & Deviation

Peace, Love & LDN Life

Speeakz

P.s Actually, THAT’S the way to have ANY night in London!