Tuesday 03 October 2023.

Tuesday 03 October 2023. GRACIE ABRAMS live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Popular American singer- songwriter plays the first of two sold out shows at this venue , to support her debut album 'Good Riddance'. The 24 year old released two EPs before that. The album went to number 3 in the UK, and number 52 in the USA Billboard 200. Gracie has been supporting Taylor Swift on her 2023 summer tour of North America. Gracie is playing UK shows before heading into mainland Europe. --------- Pretty much 90% females under 25 here tonight. Support duo SEAROWS were a bit too laid back and quiet for my liking in their 30 mins set. During the interval the crowd get wildly excited as American singers MADISON BEER and CAMILA CABELLO arrive in the Level 1 VIP seats. GRACIE ABRAMS and band on at 9pm for 85 mins. It is quite a sight to see all these young females in the crowd sing really loudly along to every song. Gracie has a great voice as she sings about love, lost and self-discovery. She has a real connection with her fans who hang on to her every word. For some songs Gracie played the keyboards. She played her first song she ever written, which she said was at age just 14. An enjoyable show. Leaving the venue we noticed four burly security guys making sure nobody was selling bootleg merch. ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Monday 02 October 2023. 6pm to 7.15pm...arrivals and drinks reception... BMI LONDON AWARDS at The Savoy Hotel, London. Major event for songwriter's, composer's and music publisher's. I have been to it several times in the past, including in 2013 when JOHN LYDON got the Icon. Tonight's Icon Award went to GARY KEMP who wrote all of the Spandau Ballet hits including ' True' which has had 5 million airplays on North American radio. The Police ' Every Breathe You Take' has now gone past 18 million radio plays in North America. Garys brother MARTIN KEMP was here with his wife , but needless to say no other Spandau members here. Spandau manager STEVE DAGGER was here, along with their legendary press guy ALAN EDWARDS. I saw Spandau several times since their early days. Others here included DON BLACK, PETE WATERMAN, CLEAN BANDIT, GRAHAM GOULDMAN, NAUGHTY BOY, DWINA GIBB , DAVID STARK from SongLink. See my Facebook page for some photos. A full complimentary bar inc Laurent Perrier champers. then 8pm to 10pm. THIERRY NOIR - private view - Christie's - King Street, St James's, London SW1. Thierry Noir (born 1958) is a French artist and muralist based in Berlin. He is considered the first artist to paint the Berlin Wall in the 1980s. He created brightly-colored paintings across large spans of the Berlin Wall and some of these original paintings can still be seen on surviving segments of the Wall in art collections and on the East Side Gallery. Noir's work and style are now considered iconic, and Noir is also regarded as one of the forerunners of the street art movement as a whole. He continues to create murals worldwide in cities including London, Los Angeles, and Sydney. A cool crowd with a DJ playing moody club tunes. THIERRY NOIR is here posing for photos. Nice surprise to see the artist STIK here. Complimentary Perrier Jouet champers and EIGHT different German beers due to him being based in Berlin. 10.15pm to 11.45pm Then back to BMI at The Savoy Hotel. I catch the 10 mins video highlights of Gary Kemp career and he sings ' True' backed by a keyboard player. The full complimentary bar is still going. Some have left but GARY KEMP and his manager STEVE DAGGER are still here.

Posted 3rd October 2023