Quote:
Originally Posted by jetpig
The Ship on Wardour street, of course, is on the list.
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I got taken to The Ship -before I knew about the Underworld connection- by a couple of friends who said "they play great punk music there". So I had a preconceived idea that it would be a rowdy punk pub. In reality they mostly play indie music on the stereo behind the bar, though if it's busy you may barely notice.
it's a long narrow sort of a pub. Old fashioned, English, not especially roomy. On Thursday and Friday evenings from 5pm onwards it can get really busy as the local workforce/ media types pile out of their offices and into the pub, so you may want to avoid that sort of time. In the summertime there are sometimes more people standing outside it than in it.
I remember reading a Karl interview where he talked about hanging out with creative people in nearby D'arblay Street as well as The Ship and one or two other places in and around Soho in the 90s. Anyone know the interview I'm talking about? I'm not sure why D'Arblay street is mis-spelled as D'Arbly on the STITI reissue. I'm guessing a mistake was made with the spelling at the time and never corrected.
If you're only in London for a short visit you may have more fun trundling around Soho than heading out to the suburbs. Although admittedly there aren't as many cool record shops around Wardour Street as there used to be (but Phonica on Poland Street is the best dance music shop in London). I realise Karl has a knack for seeing the art in things but I can't help wondering if a regular person in Romford might just think: This is suburbia, what am I doing here?
St Paul's Cathederal is worth visiting although the belly isn't my favourite bit, That's the Whispering Galllery in the dome where you can whisper at the wall and the sound will travel around to the other side. Get someone to whisper back to you. You can also continue up from the inside of the dome right on to the top of St Pauls - as long as you're not too scared of heights. Lots of people do it, and you get a great view of London. When you're finished up there you can round off your tour by exiting through the belly (there are some interesting famous tombs down there).
Not underworld related, but Spitalfields market near Liverpool street station is worth a visit. It has a roof but is open to the elements, They sometimes have an "Indie Label market" where lots of independent labels set up stalls promoting their own records. And from there you can venture along to Brick Lane which is packed with Indian restaurants and some hip venues and bars too.
Rough Trade East records can be found just off Brick Lane. They have loads of in-store artist appearances circa 6 or 7 pm. Some pretty big names have popped up there (Radiohead, Blur) - sometimes you need a wristband in advance (obtained by buying the artists new album from the shop), sometimes you don't. It's probably my favourite indie/dance/all-round record shop in London.
Hmm this post is getting long, I'll shut up now.