Monday 09 June 2025.

Monday 09 June 2025...6.15pm to 12pm... NATIONAL RESTAURANT AWARDS at Magazine, North Greenwich , London SE10 . Around 500 guests here tonight . The venue has outdoor space and views by the river . Plenty of seating indoors and outdoors . At 8.15pm we are all seated for an hour in the room next door to the bars and food trucks for the awards. We have the Top 100 restaurants countdown, and a few special achievement awards. Great to see the iconic The Ritz in Piccadilly beat off all the trendy newcomers to make the top spot. Seven of the Top 10 were in London. LONDON ESSENCE drinks had a stand inside and there was caviar tasting as well on another stand inside. A DJ was playing tunes after the awards . Lots of complimentary drinks and food for all. Piper Heidsieck Champagne, four different cocktails, wines, beers , ciders and the four different food trucks who were all located outside. Guests got a goodie bag of cosmetics from RITUALS. www.nationalrestaurantawards.co.uk - Visit their website here for the Top 100 list. ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Sunday 08 June 2025. For the first time in it's history , it will be held outside London . In 2026 and 2027 The BRIT AWARDS will be held in Manchester at their newish Co-Op Arena. ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Saturday 07 June 2025. BEYONCE live at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Beyonce plays the second of her six massive shows here Beyonce brings her ' Cowboy Carter' world tour to London. I saw Beyonce at this same venue in 2023, when she played five shows here , so she breaks her own record for the artist playing the most shows at this stadium on the same tour. The ' Cowboy Carter ' album won big at the 2025 Grammy Awards, scooping Album Of The Year, Best Country Album, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for ‘II Most Wanted’ with Miley Cyrus, making Beyoncé the most-nominated and most-awarded artist in Grammy history with 35 wins. ------------- Some gigs and festivals have low tickets , and are being cancelled , but Beyonce has no trouble selling 45,000 tickets for tonights sold out show , even with the high ticket prices . The cheapest pitch standing ticket was over £200. Although the weekday shows have not sold out. Her fans seem to love this 'Cowboy Carter' country music , as there are Cowboys and Cowgirls dressed up everywhere . Stetsons and shorts with boots galore. We had some rain showers at the start of the set. Everyone is up and dancing from the start . BEYONCE arrived on stage at 7.45pm for a nice long show lasting 2 hours 40 mins. The staging as you would expect is stunning. A huge screen that covers all the rear of the stage, along with an extended catwalk and b - stage. Videos are played for the several OTT costume changes. She has 20 dancers that are used off and on. The crowd have been given those wristbands that flash to the music...and there were plenty of pyros. In the second half we had the big hits including ' Crazy in Love', 'Single Ladies ( Put a Ring On It ), ' Irreplaceable ' and ' If I Were A Boy'. There were cover versions including ' Blackbird' and 'Jolene'. Lots of visual treats including Beyonce riding a gold Bucking Bronco , and Beyonce floating around the stadium atop a giant Horseshoe and near the end, an open top Pink Cadillac . Beyonce daughters joined her on stage. A glorious spectacle that was really great to watch.

Posted 8th June 2025