Billed as "a new musical by the legendary Ray Davies", Come Dancing is actually the product of over a decade of crafting by the Kinks front-man. Yet despite some outstanding music, it still doesn't feel entirely finished. The show is a love letter to the dance halls of yesteryear, and specifically the glittering Ilford Palais where Davies' sisters and parents used to "dance the night away" every Saturday. The tables overspill into the auditorium,......

There are a *lot* of bands and artists in London, so many that it's easy to never discover the really great ones. Bandwatch is a new feature on Londonist where we talk to a new band or artist we think are really exciting. Of course it's our personal opinion and you might think our choices suck, but Bandwatch relies as much on you filling us in on the amazing band you discovered last week,......

Listening to the radio on St. George's Day (last Monday in case you missed it) we heard various proposals for a national anthem for England, something that could be sung at Twickenham to counter the emotion of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" or played at the unveiling of a putative English Parliament. This set us wondering if, given the prominence of London in international affairs and the prospect of the 2012 Olympics in particular, our......

Over the next two months the NFT are presenting Access All Areas, a veritable phantasmogoria of rock docs and concert films running between the 2nd June and 30th July. As they say:We can't offer you over-priced beer or appalling toilet facilities, but if you want rock 'n' roll circus, the NFT will be providing the essential festival experience of the summer!It's been a while since we were last in the NFT bar so we're......

Last Thursday, mod mecca Merc played host to Lucky Soul. It was to be a small intimate affair, to promote the launch of the band's very first single and, considering that there's been little hype about the band, the interest in the gig was impressive. So impressive that it was the biggest turn out ever for a gig at Merc, with those unlucky enough not to get into the store prepared to stand on......

A break from the norm in this week's Monday Music Review as we lead with a single review and eschew the normal full album reviews (mainly because we couldn't bear to listen to the albums more than once and we have yet to reach a level of cynicism that makes us write reviews based on solely one listen). The Eighteenth Day of May - The Highest Tree / Sir Casey Jones (single) The Eighteenth Day......