Magical mystery tourism
England may not be the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, but the genre certainly spent some of its formative years there. If you’re a music enthusiast, a trip across the pond is a must. Ticket to ride The first thing you need to do is figure out what kind of sites you want to see. Do you want to see where the photos were taken for covers of albums by Oasis, David Bowie or The Beatles? Do you want to see Bob Marley’s first London address? Maybe where Hendrix lived? Or maybe you want to see where T. Rex singer Marc Bolan died. Whatever you choose, the best place to start is England Rocks. It’s a website conveniently sortable by region and type of interest point. Here’s a few of the places that Pat Healy hit. Day tripper You can’t have a fab tour without the Fab Four. For a quick but comprehensive introduction to where the most Beatles moments occurred, the best bet is to take the London Walks tour, hosted by Richard Porter. You get to see the Apple offices on Saville Row, the roof of the building is where they performed their last concert. You also get to see the theater where Beatlemania began. And while it is fun to do a dorky photo stunt like in the photo above, the actual crosswalk that was immortalized on the cover of the “Abbey Road” album is a little anticlimactic. If you want to get a feel for what it’s really like there, visit this site and you can see the famous crosswalk in real-time, and well, it's just a famous crosswalk. But you will get to see the odd tourist posing for pics. Rough Trade Forget everything you know about Notting Hill from that Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts rom-com of the same name. This West London area is full of rock clubs that have original music and amazing record stores, including the original Rough Trade shop, which spawned the label that launched acts like The Smiths and The Strokes. The shop has all sorts of vintage vinyl and a helpful staff. Climbing up on Solsbury Hill If you’re up for an overnighter, we recommend taking the train to Bath, and taking a bus to Somerset, where you can attempt to recreate the experience from the 1977 Peter Gabriel song, “Solsbury Hill.” Check out the video to see Pat Healy’s experience (and his first foray into iMovie). Inside the Song, Episode One: Solsbury Hill from patrick Healy on Vimeo. In the clubs There are many historical clubs in the London area that still book bands nightly. The Hope & Anchor in Islington was a definite favorite. Bands like Joy Division and U2 made their London debuts on this tiny stage, but what's more exciting than the history is the future. We saw the Manchester band No Flash, who combine the sensibilities of the aforementioned bands with their own reckless pub energy and rhythmic immediacy. Check out the 100 Club too. It opened in the 1940s, but it is probably best known for hosting early punk shows by The Clash and the Sex Pistols. Bigger Acts play The Round House. We saw Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at this aptly named circular venue, where bands like the Stones and the Doors played in the 1960s.Back |