Event review: Belshazzar’s Feast at the Oval Tavern, Sunday 7th December
My husband Steve and I went along to this gig at East Croydon’s Oval Tavern recently. We know the musicians very well. They are Paul Sartin, who is a singer, oboist, violinist, composer and arranger....
View ArticleCan CAN do it for the arts in Croydon?
Like so many things in Croydon, the Croydon Arts Network was created out of a negative. When cuts in the arts started, when the Ruskin Square theatre plan was shelved, when the council’s culture office...
View ArticleEvent review: Benji Kirkpatrick at the Oval Tavern, Thursday 12th February
Despite having lived in Croydon for my entire 28 years, Thursday 12th February was only the second time I had ever been to the Oval. Both times have been courtesy of the Croydon Citizen, and I am...
View ArticleEvent review: Geoff Berner at the Oval Tavern, 21st March
Musically, Geoff Berner‘s is sometimes a dark, brooding, haunted sound; at other times it sings the cheeriness of cheesecake and dancing. Put them together and I’d say you get a kind of jolly...
View Article20 reasons why Croydon isn’t boring
There’s been a bit of dissent recently. Disgruntled rumblings around the esteemed – albeit virtual – corridors of the Croydon Citizen. Croydon is boring, they say. Dull. With boring people. Well. I beg...
View ArticleEvent review: Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies at the Oval Tavern, Thursday...
Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies was the main bill at the Oval Tavern, Croydon on Thursday 14th May, one of their regular ‘pay what you can’ folk events. They were supported by Worry Dolls, a...
View ArticleEvent review: Pappy’s at the Oval Tavern, Thursday 18th June
There is a lot of festivals coming up in Croydon quite soon. We have Purley Festival, South Croydon Food Festival, Croydon Heritage Festival‘s on right now, and in July the ambitious Ambition...
View ArticleEvent review: the Alternative Dubstep Orchestra plays Croydon Minster,...
Ambition Festival gave us lots of treats and it was hard to know which event to attend. But one in particular really grabbed my attention – the Alternative Dubstep Orchestra (ADO). The group, from...
View ArticleComedy festival review: Richard Herring and Matt Green at the Oval Tavern,...
Wouldn’t you just know it? Edinburgh is in full swing, so naturally we have a comedy festival in Croydon. Now, all things being equal, you would expect any comedians worth their salt to be in Scotland...
View ArticleEvent review: O’Hooley and Tidow play the Oval Tavern, Thursday 8th October
As I settled in for another fine evening’s music at the splendid Oval Tavern to listen to torch folk duo O’Hooley and Tidow, I was delighted to find an extra gem on the menu. No, not the fabulous...
View ArticleSo what if Fairfield Halls closes for two years – I’m glad
News that the Fairfield Halls is due to be closed for two years of renovation has seen many in Croydon enter into paroxysms of grief reserved usually for dead relatives and relegated football teams....
View ArticleBreakfast Cats theatre company to perform The Complete Works of Shakespeare...
On Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th April the Breakfast Cats Theatre Company will perform ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)’ on the outdoor stage at the Oval Tavern, Oval Road. Release...
View ArticleEvent review: ‘Party’, by the Breakfast Cat Theatre Company, performed at the...
Deep in suburbia, a new political force is fomenting. Ready to sweep away the established power blocs with its bold new approach and deeply held beliefs and convictions. Once they can work out what...
View ArticleEvent review: Radfest at the Oval Tavern, Saturday 16th July
Radfest returned for its second year on Saturday July 16th and saw a dozen or so bands play all day and into the night at the Oval, close to East Croydon station, to raise money for Macmillan Cancer...
View ArticleLove Croydon, hate gluten? Here’s where to eat
Let’s begin with a few words about gluten. It is a mix of proteins found in wheat, rye, oats and barley and, by extension, common foods such as bread, cakes and beer. It also finds its way into...
View ArticleHow we helped Croydon’s children to celebrate bees
The Oval Tavern garden nestles snugly between the playing field of Ark Oval school and the houses on Oval Road. Walk near to the pub on a warm summer’s evening and you are likely to hear the strumming...
View ArticleEvent Review: Faustus at the Oval Tavern, Tuesday 18th October 2016
My husband Steve and I went along to the Oval Tavern in Croydon a few days ago to see the trio Faustus, who are three of folk music’s leading lights of their generation. Benji Kirkpatrick was at the...
View ArticleEvent review: Sieben and the Silver Darlings at the Oval, Saturday 4th February
It was with keen anticipation of another heady, boozy, real-ale-soaked night of musical creativity and exploration that my partner and I caught the overground into darkest West Croydon station on a...
View ArticleEvent review: Will Pound and Eddy Jay at The Oval Tavern, Tuesday 2nd November
Will Pound is no stranger to the Oval Tavern, having played solo here last year with his numerous harmonicas. For this gig, hosted by the Oval, along with The Ukulele & Other Machines, Will teamed...
View ArticleWhy I’m backing Croydon’s bid to be London’s first Borough of Culture
David Bowie famously used the word ‘Croydon’ as an insult. “God, it’s so f**king Croydon”, he would say. Well, Bowie was no stranger to cultural re-invention and if he were still alive today, it...
View Article
