Think back to the glory that was London Vegan Beer Fest and you will recall I invited a fabulous band from my home town of Brisbane, Australia to play a gig for the drunken masses.
Love Like Hate played a killer set and made more than a few new fans on the day.
Fast forward to now and I am helping the band with promotion of their brand new EP, Unnoticed.
You can click here to access the world premiere of the music video for the title track.
Watch it, enjoy it, share it and help vegan musicians.
Click here for a review I wrote for music website Louder Than War. It details the rollicking good time I had at the recent Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys gig at the 100 Club.
I was recently welcomed onto the team of reviewers over at super cool pop culture website, Louder Than War. My first task was to give my opinion on the brand new album by La Roux, Trouble in Paradise.
London Vegan Beer Fest is rapidly approaching and plans are well underway. Super cool breweries are locked in, the 100% vegan BBQ menu is being devised and early bird tickets are flying out the door.
It is all terribly exciting, I’m sure you will agree. But hold onto your sun hats because that’s not all.
I am thrilled to have just confirmed Australian band Love Like Hate as performers at this year’s event.
Brisbane-based (FGV’s hometown!) band Love Like Hate are a duo combining post punk electric guitars with free form piano melodies to create a sound described as dark pop. Currently touring Europe on the release of their single Electric Ships from the upcoming second EP, Heather and Sonja have made special arrangements to be part of the biggest vegan party of the year.
Check out the music video for their fab song Electric Ships below then buy your super cheap London Vegan Beer Fest early bird tickets now.
My bag is packed (almost) and the excitement is starting to kick in. This Friday I am jumping on a flight to Southern California for a brief vacation and lots of sunshine.
I have grand plans that include seeing Steven (one of my longest-serving and dearest friends) who now lives in San Diego, drinking/eating my own weight at the LA Vegan Beer and Food Festivaland taking in some live performances by my favourite artists (Jill Sobule and Suzanne Vega).
This blog post isn’t just to boast about my fun trip. I also wanted to let you know about the special travel-size personal care products I purchased from Superdrug for my journey.
I have written on a few occasions about my love for the cruelty-free value to be enjoyed by shopping with Superdrug but this is my first mention of their travel range.
Almost anything you would want or need for a holiday can be sourced in this mini size. The bottles and containers come in under the allowed volume for cabin inclusion, meaning you can pack them in your hand luggage. This is fantastic if you only want to travel with one bag. No waiting around at the luggage carousel and you still have everything you need.
Of course it is all incredibly inexpensive. You have got to love Superdrug for their commitment to making cruelty-free care products at low prices. Everyone can afford to be vegan on holiday!
I have been writing this blog for several years and during that time I have always tried to stay on topic. Topic being food and overeating, of course.
But every now and then I like to slip in a little slice of information that means something to my heart and brain, as opposed to my belly.
If you love music and are impressed by other people who devote their lives to music, then you need to get your good self to Camden to check out a brand new store devoted to collectible vinyl. Vinyl Boutique Camden is the creation of UK rockabilly pioneers and legends, Lyn and Boz Boorer.
Lyn and Boz know everything there is to know about rockabilly, psychobilly, neobilly and everything in between and outside the genres. I would feel happy saying what they don’t know about the scene is not worth knowing.
Boz also enjoys a much-celebrated and adored musical relationship with Morrissey, collaborating on some of his finest solo material and heading up stage antics as band leader, guitarist and backing vocalist.
I dropped by the new store in Camden Village Market (shop 231) yesterday to see how things were shaping up. Lyn and Boz were both hard at work putting the finishing touches to their store, while the signage was due to go up ahead of the grand opening this weekend. Mayor of Camden Jonathon Simpson is due to cut the ribbon across the front door at 1pm on Sunday (April 13, 2014) but the Boorers are keen to get proceedings moving faster than that and will feature live music outside the shop throughout the day.
Get down to Vinyl Boutique Camden this weekend and expand your knowledge of good music. You couldn’t ask for finer teachers than Lyn and Boz.
Exciting news for pop music fans. Properly exciting news.
Remember when I raved about vegan pop performer Betty Who? You don’t? Go here and here to remind yourself of how I lost my heart to Betty Who.
Now that you are up to speed, hold on to your cruelty-free hats as I drop the latest.
Betty Who is performing in London on May 27th, 2014!
Fresh from topping the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with her hit Somebody Loves You, the Australian singer has locked in a date to perform in east London. The venue appears to be rather intimate so I strongly suggest being quick when tickets go on sale this Wednesday (March 5th, 2014). You can buy here.
See you at the gig. I’ll be the FGV in the front row.
The creation of the Internet has led to some strange and wonderful occurrences in life. But I’m not sure I’ve experienced a more unexpected social media surprise than pop star Darren Hayes sending me a recipe for soup, with personalised tips on how to make it vegan.
My history of interaction with the ex-Savage Garden singer goes way back. There was the time I gave Darren a Stars Wars figurine as a gift. I was much, much younger and hanging out to meet my pop star idols was a favourite past time. Pop-loving me was was beyond thrilled when Darren phoned me at home in Sydney, Australia that night to say thanks for the action toy.
Fast forward a year or two later and I was hanging out after seeing Darren’s band Savage Garden in concert in Manchester, UK. I think it was around the time I was about to turn vegan and Darren was about to turn gay (love and jokes, Darren!).
Darren loved the Madonna t-shirt I was sporting and invited me onto the tour coach for a short chat about pop music and other hot topics. It was a fabulous opportunity for fan boy me to spend some time talking with someone I looked up to musically.
Then we need to fast forward about 15 years for my next Darren Hayes encounter.
One of the most popular recurring features on this blog is airline food. You people are mad for it. No other posts get as much instant attention as these airline meal posts. If you have any theories as to why this is, please let me know below.
While I wait for your replies to pour in, let me tell you about a recent eating adventure from above the clouds that was made a whole lot more enjoyable by music.
Recently returning from Philadelphia on British Airways, Josh and I were treated to a decent-verging-on-notable meal that appeared to be completely vegan. But it wasn’t just the inclusion of vegan spread and a salad dressing kit that made my flight enjoyable. I was also blown away by the staggering amount of super cool music featured within the inflight entertainment catalogue.
Let’s get the food over and done with and then we can talk music.
My main meal tray featured a tasty tomato dish with sides of mushroom sauce and steamed broccoli. I wasn’t running up and down the plane celebrating culinary greatness, but it was a solid dish that was consumed promptly. That’s about as good as it gets on a flight for vegans.
The salad was just a salad except for the little dressing kit accompanying the bowl. A small bottle of olive oil sat with a sachet of salt and herb called Mrs Dash. It was life-altering, but I don’t think I’ve seen ingredients to make your own vegan dressing on any other flight.
Toss in a bit of fruit and my meal was of a fairly high standard, but it was the music that made this the best flight of recent times. Check out the food photos mixed with shots of some of the albums I enjoyed.
