Why London is Fantastically Splendid

Live music all night for L2.50, and decently cheap drinks in an entirely charismatic venue.

A slightly more structured open-mic style every Monday night, minimal cover charge, and they screen each act before it's put on the docket, so there's a substantial level of musicianship maintained.

We caught a number of gems tonight:

Henry Brill (of Henry Brill and the Electric Company). Growly, emotional, bluesy vocals. Well blended lyrics with powerful guitar, and still manages to show a talent for ensemble and composition with vocal harmony. Check out "Your Rage" and his other stuff here.

Natalie Ross. Cute, bouncy, and yet soulful and meaningful. She performed with a fantastic 40's aesthetic, and experimented admirably with looping and electronically layering her substantial vocal talent with jazz-influenced songs. Please, please, please check her out here.

Headliner was a 4-piece folk-rock group called Son of Kirk. Guitar(s), violin, drums, and male-female harmonies. Wonderful instrumentation and blending of sounds. Finished the set with an absoluting rocking slide-guitar sea shanty called "Man Overboard." Really compelling stuff. Here.