Jess Gray had never experienced anything like the music night at Brick Lane’s Blitz retro store.
I was recently invited to an in-store live music event at Blitz, the vintage clothes shop just off Brick Lane.
How does this work?, I wondered. Do the musicians model the clothes on sale? I’d never been to a gig in a shop before so I was keen to try one on.
On arrival, I noticed that the coffee area had been converted into a cocktail bar, and the (free) drinks on offer were named after the three acts on tonight’s bill: the Shannon Saunders, consisting of Jack Daniels, honey, iced tea (lemon) and cinnamon powder; the Age of Luna, comprising Jack Daniels, Dr Pepper and chilli sauce; and the Andreya Triana, made up of Prosecco, orange juice and decorative stars. This was my favourite drink – elegant, strong and sweet – but of course I had to try them all.
The small stage was somewhere on the ground floor, and the stage lights were on red – sending out warmth and a warning of potential danger. As the crowd began to gather round, I realised we would be within spitting distance of the performers.
First up was hip-hop and r&b band of three Age of Luna (‘Luna’ stands for: living under no authority). They mixed original material with old school covers from the likes of Lauryn Hill, with singer Daniella also soloing on saxophone. For such youngsters (average age: 19), they certainly knew their music history.
Next on was Shannon Saunders whose latest single is ‘Breathe’ featuring DJ Wilkinson. Most of Shannon’s songs came with a funky electro pop backing, but for me the standout number was ‘Heart of Blue’ which she performed acoustically. Shannon, now 21, revealed that she wrote it when she was just 14. Seven years later, the song held this audience spellbound.
Do you know the one about cocktails? It ends with the line ‘and three’s too many’. Well I must have had too many because I haven’t got any notes on the headline act.
Pity, if her performance was anything like the cocktail named after her, Andreya would have been my favourite of the three.
Next time I promise to stay off the freebies. In the meantime, let me just add that you don’t have to get blitzed in order to enjoy the impressive vintage clothes collection at Blitz.