The Grog & Tankard of London ??

I am taking a trip to London next month and was hoping to find out from folks who lived/visited there what are some small club venues where local acts play? I will only be there for four days but want to make the most of my trip musically. Are there any other vital plays you can recommend? (CD Shops, pubs etc.)

Thanks!

Hop on a train to Manchester. ;)

You wont want to go CD shopping in the UK. CDs if you are lucky are 12GBP, unlucky 17GBP. The exchange rate is 1.8$ to the pound…… You would be better off using CDwow.net for more popular releases.

Instead I recommend going to the London eye, the giant big Wheel…. Its then a short walk or an even quicker cab to Tate2 (or do they call it Tate modern now?). After that walk over the wobbly Millenium bridge and go to St Pauls Cathedral.

plenty of cd stores there have decent deals, although better in Edinburgh than in London, but I am sure there are some good used stores and the like in London, I would check a UK message board

Ahh the memories…plenty of pounds spent at Fopp and Avalanche Records in Edinburgh. Lots of great must-own CD's for 5 quid.

I think these are national chains with an independent feel…am I correct?

here's a good starting point for used cds in london… they have a price reduction system where the price goes down over time if the item isn't selling. there are plenty others you just need to look.

http://www.mveshops.co.uk/index.htm.

your best bet for live music clubs in london is to check time out. i know the underworld in camden has a good rep.

Fopp, I think, is National. Avalanche used to be Edinburgh only, but now I think is in Glasgow, but not found outside of Scotland.

As far as venues, time out is indeed the best place to look.

The Borderline, just off Charing Cross Rd. south of Oxford St, was by far my favorite venue. Small, laid back, and it turns into a dance club late nite! (at least it used to - i'm not sure it still does) but the shows were generally alt-country/rock, perfect music for the setting. they have a pretty impressive roster of artists who played there before getting real big.

The Underworld in Camden is pretty nice as well.

There are plenty of used record stores in Soho, i can't remember any names, however.

Paperchase in Deansgate in Manchester is the best record place…well it was, don't know if it's even there anymore after our Irish friends did their handywork….pseudoscouse??? is it??

I went to Borderline on my last trip and felt like I was wasting a night, because the experience was just too similar to standing around in Iota. The one thing I thought was interesting about it was in the entrance where they have lists of every show that ever happened there. I'm sure there's a Grog And Tankard in London, but going there will be exactly like going to Grog And Tankard. And when it comes to the hotter Brit bands, you can often get better access here. That is, a good British band that plays theater or arena venues in England might be at a 930 or Black Cat here.
In contrast to the Borderline night, on the next night we checked out the cheapo chamber-music performance at St Martins In The Fields, which was awesome, ate at Belgo and then went to one of the huge Ministry Of Sound type clubs just for the spectacle of it. Sure that's staying right on the tourist track, but we totally enjoyed the whole night, even though I can't stomach discos here for one second. Just like footie, it's the enthusiasm people have for it that makes it fun there.
The CD shops in Soho are mostly on Berwick St, the best is called Restless or Reckless. As the other people said, you aren't missing anything if you skip it

What about the Hard Rock Cafe? Great food, great t-shirts, and loads of cool people.

Yes, yes, and yes! Go for the Steven Tyler fries and the "Mick-Shake". A milkshake named after the Hard Rock Cafe's crown prince, Mick Jagger.

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Pick up a copy of Time Out at one of the ubiquitous newstands. It'll give you the inside scoop on anything cool that might be happening. I found a few cool places to go in Time Out.

heh… it would be difficult to find a place in London that's as crappy as the Grog and Tankard!

The Borderline is one of the places that I'd check out to see who is playing. You might want to check out a new venue called Kill All Hippies. And then there is The Metro. For a flashy night, you may want to go to Electro Clash. Not sure I'd like it myself but it all depends what you're up for.

For a night in a pub without a band, a lot of my friends hang out at The Social in London. It's owned or run by Heavenly records which is the UK Astralwerks label. They opened it up to showcase their DJs and music. Nothing special but the music should be good. For what it's worth, Chris Martin and some other UK celeb came in the other night while my friends were there.

There's also a place that I've heard some things ahout called something like The Elephant Bar. (Maybe it's another animal or a fish.) It's a pub but I think they may have very small acts at times.

As far as record stores, you may want to stop in Sister Ray's. May not have bargains (not sure) but should have a broad selection and many hard to finds.

When are you going? I know that Explosions In The Sky with Trespassers William will be playing a show there soon. Think it's a weeknight.