RIVAL SONS [SCALA, LONDON 9/6/14]

Last Monday my friend Katie and I headed over to Scala at Kings Cross, London to watch one of my favourite bands, Rival Sons and it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to. Just incredible.

I first heard the band play on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show last April and I was instantly hooked. Jay Buchanan's voice is just magnificent and if you haven't listened to any of their stuff please do. For the last year I had been playing their stuff non-stop on Spotify and I had bought a few of their CD's. Basically my music listening was taken over my this band from LA so when I saw that they were playing down the road in London there was not two ways about it, I was going.

Scala is a great venue as it's so intimate which makes for an electrifying atmosphere. Jameson opened the show as the Rival Sons' support act and he was great. As well as being devilishly handsome his bluesy guitar playing and raspy vocals worked together flawlessly and I would honestly pay to go see him headline his own gig - so good!

The band opened with five songs from their newest album, Great Western Valkyrie. The first being the unmistakable Electric Man which was accompanied buy some awesome guitar playing from Scott Holiday. From the get-go the crowd was head banging, shouting and dancing. After every song the applause was almost deafening. Good Luck, Secret, Play the Fool and Good Things followed before an amazing rendition of my personal favourite, Jordan, from their 2012 album Head Down. It was spine tingling stuff.

With the high tempo Gypsy Heart and the newest single Open My Eyes the crowd was sent home with an amazing and equally emotional rendition of Face of Light. 

Wow. When we walked out of the gig towards the tube we couldn't believe what we had just witnessed. Two weeks before, both of us were at Finsbury Park for the Arctic Monkeys gig and I can honestly say that the Rival Sons gig was better. Controversial? Maybe. Truthful? Definitely.

LONDON DAYS

Since moving to Royal Holloway two years ago, I have taken central London being only 19 miles away for granted. My friends and I would just pop in and basically go to the same old place, you know the obvious places - Oxford Street, Westminster etc and I began to get bored of the city. My mum would come up to stay and she would just be fascinated and excited by the whole hustle and bustle of the place. She would love the tourist filled Selfridges and would just enjoy the fact that we were in London at the heart of civilisation rather than in the middle of nowhere with but fields to keep us company which is what we're normally used to back in Wales.

However, this all began to change (although Westminster is still one of my favourite places in the City). Days were spent discovering the city with friends, family and on my own (I quite like going around London on my own). We would have mulled wine and chorizo and rocket baps in Borough Market during christmas time after watching novice ice-skaters fall outside the tour of London. Brunch was eaten after a morning of strolling around Notting Hill and Portobello Market. I began to scratch the surface of London, the real London that is, the London far from Oxford Street.

Last week my friends and I decided to get all touristy and head to a few museums and galleries that are in the city. What's great about the museums and galleries we went to which were the British Museum, Tate Modern and National Portrait Gallery, is that they are all free. In fact the majority, if not all, of the museums and galleries within London are free so go and explore! We spent hours in the British Museum strolling through centuries of history that varied from the Enlightenment to Asia, Europe and my favourite, the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian exhibition was extremely popular and you had to push yourself through groups of people in some sections but that didn't take away from the magic of it all. We were able to see and to read about actual mummies and their tombs. I know that I am a history student so this might interest me more than others but seeing coins or jewellery that were made in 400BC just blows my mind.

If modern art is your thing then the Tate Modern is for you. We strolled through  4 floors of free exhibitions with varying opinions of the art that we saw. On the top floor there is a great view of St Paul's which I urge you to see if you ever visit the Tate. There was a Matisse exhibition on when we visited but you have to pay to see that exhibition but from what I have heard, it is well worth the money.

The David Bailey exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery has been on the top of my to-do list for a very long time and since exams are finally over I headed over to Leicester Square last Saturday to witness the cool photographs for myself. This specific exhibition was £12 for students and it was well worth the money but there are plenty of exhibitions throughout the gallery that are free. With portraits of artists, african tribal figures, rockstars such as the Rolling Stones and models like Kate Moss the whole experience was awesome and I am glad I got to witness it before the exhibition finished last Sunday.

After a bit of lunch we roamed around Shoreditch in East London and it was great. Brick Lane was filled with Indian restaurants, underground vintage warehouses and vinyl sales. We roamed around Spitafields market where we sat, had a coffee and watched the world go around. While exploring the area we came across Rough Trade which is a famous and very awesome record shop and it is in here that we discovered their photo booth so obviously we had to have some photos taken :) I have to say I really enjoyed my first proper taste of East London and I am looking forward to another trip of East London exploration.

So the next time you head to London, steer away from Oxford Street, just jump on the tube and get off at a random station because I am sure you will find treasures in every corner of the city. Also, when you walk around the city you come across some spectacular architecture and some stunning houses. My friend and I would regularly stop and look at flats and houses and their great doors - massive strong doors which just makes you want to own a flat or a house in central London. If you are a lucky person and are looking for luxury apartments in the city then be sure to check out Redrow London :)

I'd love to know where your favourite London spots are - tweet/intagram me @lisagwawr and use the hashtag #LoveLondon :)