Ace Americana

The Ace Cafe hosted a mid-week hot rod cruise-in with music provided by cheeky chappies, The Caezars, so my Mopar enthusiast, built-for-speed sweetheart and I went along to see what was what...
















On arrival we were both pretty impressed with the selection of cars on display - my favourite was a beautiful baby pink car....or as it is actually called, a 1958 Oldsmobile Rocket 88.








Aaron's favourite was, of course, a Mopar - a 1968 Dodge Charger to be precise.






The event was advertised as the 'End of Summer Riot' and I'm glad we got to go, as we had a fun time, but I doubt that I would want to stand around looking at cars when winter sets in...








The Caezars took to the stage at around 9pm, and performed with their usual energy and vigor.


The audience were not as lively as they could have been, but the band made up for this with their own spirit and enthusiasm, and put on a great show.








The car park got more and more busy throughout the course of the evening, and by the time we left, it was jam-packed with cars and people. Having been to numerous car shows in California over the past year and a half, it was funny to see so many American hot rods, all in one place...in London.


Amusingly, after our evening spent at London's famous biker cafe, checking out the gorgeous classic cars on display.....we took the bus home.

Red-hot rockin'

Last Saturday ended up being a sizzling marathon rockabilly night out in Camden, starting at Zensai for some cheeky afternoon happy hour cocktails (hello pornstar martini!) and then moving across the road to Boppin' The Blues at the Black Heart pub.


Zensai make some potent 2-4-1 liquid concoctions, with a generous side serving of rockin' music every Saturday, from around 4pm-8pm. This rockabilly happy hour is a good way to start your evening, and although it tends to be more chatty and less dancey, loverboy made sure I got a few twirls around the dance floor, which was fun!




Tim Hellzapoppin' played a couple of killer sets, which our group thoroughly enjoyed, and helped us work up an appetite for a night of jumpin' and jiving.


When we got to Boppin' The Blues, it was still relatively early, so there were not too many people there yet, and we were able to take full advantage of an empty dance floor.


The room soon filled up, and it ended up being a super fun night, with a brilliant atmosphere. Being a hot summer night, I worked up quite a sweat on the dance floor, and throughout the course of the evening my hair went from curly to straight! Grrrrrrr!














Boppin' The Blues takes place on the first Saturday of the month upstairs at The Black Heart in Camden, and at £3 entry, it's a guaranteed brilliant bargain night out.

Lady Luck gets Poked...

The Lady Luck Club returned on Friday and boy was it lucky that I went along, as I got to witness the musical genius that is Pokey La Farge and The South City Three, all the way from St Louis, Missouri.


It was the first night out with my sweetheart since he arrived in London last Tuesday, so we were excited to get dressed up fancy and hit the town. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it appeared that aside from our circle of friends, many of the other guests did not have the same idea, with many of them decked out in...er...scruffy jeans and t-shirts. For shame - didn't they realise that this was the Lady Luck Club and that they should put a little more effort into their choice of attire on a Friday night? I know we're talking East London, but seriously - your grungy garments are not ironic, and they are certainly not very becoming. Anyway, I digress...






The club was packed and smoldering, whilst Pokey La Farge and his band wowed the crowd with their Southern charm and the finesse with which they played their instruments. Pokey's husky singing voice teamed with the band's ease of playing to the crowd created a relaxed vibe punctuated with intricate guitar twangs and impressive harmonica drawls.










Yes, the harmonica player was awesome, and check out his washboard abs...


The addition of the washboard, customised with all sorts of bells and whistles, was a joy to see being played, and listening to all of the weird and wonderful sounds that it created added a really fun element to the songs. As did the kazoo! This band is a celebration of Americana roots music at its finest, and I would recommend checking them out if you get the chance.


I just wish I wouldn't have felt like I was melting away, by simply standing on the spot watching the band! Thank heavens for the flyers distributed on nearby tables, as they doubled up as good makeshift fans!


As ever, El Nino, Lady Kamikaze and Scotty were on hand to spin the platters that matter, and kept the dance floor busy.






Of course, myself and Aaron danced, sweat...and then got salt beef bagels on the way home. Mmmmmmm, salt beef bagels.....