Alexander's Festival Hall

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  • Next AFH live show! Chat’s Palace, 2nd Nov 2014

    Next AFH live show! Chat’s Palace, 2nd Nov 2014

    Hi all,

    Next AFH live show will be at the lovely ‘Famous Times Live’ a Sunday afternoon session at Homerton’s Chat’s Palace. Doors 4pm, and once we know our stage time we’ll let you know!

    http://www.chatspalace.co.uk/whatson/

    AFH x

  • The Longest Handshake

    Here’s The Longest Handshake – a video-art/social-happening  conceived and organised by Claire Flannery and a team of other interesting people, that took place in June 2013 in Skerries, Ireland. As a nice side-project I composed music for the piece, using piano, guitar and harmonium – taking two chords as the basis, echoing the idea of two hands interacting. Finger sounds recorded on a table top add a little percussion and rhythm.

    From the original event notes:
    “The act of shaking hands is a performance. Humans alone perform this act, frequently and often on a daily basis. The context defines the intensity and weight placed upon this single gesture that joins two bodies together in a physical bond. It is a performance we enact to demonstrate genuine interest, commonality, shared integrity and is generally servant to a social occasion or contractual agreement. In ‘The Longest Handshake’ this act is isolated and performed by up to one hundred people simultaneously.

    On a vast beach, two long lines of people will be facing each other, and moving from a considerable distance, will slowly walk towards a central point in a choreographic gesture of approximation. The performance will culminate in a collective handshake of people that may know or not know each other, an act that expressly magnifies our awareness and aims to realise its poetic potential…”
    More

  • Next gig:

    Next gig:

    NEXT AFH LIVE SHOW!
    1st May @ The Slaughtered Lamb, Clerkenwell… Lovely little downstairs venue in the sleepy village of Clerkenwell, pop it in your diaries mes chers…

    Update: tickets available! here: https://www.facebook.com/earmusicgigs/app_211526985586920

  • Singing and being a ‘chap’… an article

    Singing and being a ‘chap’… an article

    As a member of ChapsChoir, London’s foremost artful new male voice choir, I wrote an article reflecting on the experience of joining such a group, and what it might tell us about the evolving nature of maleness. You can read the full article on the Chaps’ website below.

    “We’re singing songs from the fields of Georgia to the snows of Finland, the chart world of the 1990s to the elegant drawing rooms of Manhattan’s upper-west side. Men of all stripes and ages, learning in public, transmuting long held fears about public speaking into a determination to make the very air turn new colours in song…”

    Read: On being a Chap.
    Bonus: here’s an excerpt of us in full flow:

  • Present and Correct – acoustic at the Union Chapel

    A little video from our December 2013 show at Union Chapel… We present ‘Present and Correct’ featuring members of Chaps Choir on backing vocals…

    Thanks to Julius Beltrame, for shooting and directing. Also thanks to Arctic Circle who put on the excellent Daylight Music sessions at this truly one-off London venue.

  • Feeling nuptial? new AFH video

    Feeling nuptial? new AFH video

    So in a sop/bid/gesture/offering to those Hallmarkian Gods of Greeting Cards who rule our time on Earth, Mr AFH spent a busy night cutting together a little Valentines video for “I’m gonna get married” from the album. The song also features some lovely duetting from Miss Piney Gir and is in no way suitable listening for the romantically cynical.

    Here’s the video and you can get the song on iTunes here.

  • AFH Winter shows and new Xmas compilation song.

    AFH Winter shows and new Xmas compilation song.

    And with the agglomerating leaves underfoot, a sure sign of terrible poetry in the offing, it is of course autumn. In gigging news, AFH will be opening proceedings tomorrow night with a full-band show at the Buffalo Bar, 28th Nov., onstage 8.15pm.

    If you can’t make that and are feeling a wee bit festive, AFH will also be playing a couple of songs at a very special Union Chapel show on Saturday 7th December at 12 noon, playing with other contributors to “Festivus 2” – a delectable Christmas compilation from New York’s Highline Records. Headliners are the Trans-Siberian band – should be a mad show and the perfect way to kick off Xmas. We’re on at 12.15 sharp, FREE entry.

    You can RSVP or find more details here:
    http://store.unionchapel.org.uk/events/7-dec-13-daylight-music-union-chapel/
    https://www.facebook.com/events/235421323273350/

  • Plectrum

    “One moment a green olive being seductively swirled around a perfectly mixed Martini, the next a revolving mirror ball lighting up the eyes of George Gershwin” (Plectrum-TCP magazine)

  • HowDoYouAre

    “AFH sounds like Jarvis Cocker backed by a street marching band trying to play Disco in a gay Vaudeville cabaret owned by Kompakt” (HowDoYouAre blog)

  • Next AFH show: 4th Sept at Old Queen’s Head

    Next AFH show: 4th Sept at Old Queen’s Head

    Hi all,

    … Ah yes, a show! AFH will be gracing the stage upstairs at the Old Queen’s Head, Essex Road, N1 in early September (the 4th for you details heads). Should be a fun night mes cheres, do join! Doors 7.30pm. There’ll be some disk jockeying too no doubt.

    Friendface event page here: facebook

  • Upturned: poster design gallery

    Upturned: poster design gallery

    Central to the story of the Upturned video was the idea that the always-slightly-disturbing ventriloquist doll, Mr Charles, had a long history of former accompanists, all of whom disappeared in mysterious circumstances. To try to get this point across we decided to have bill posters from Mr Charles’ long and illustrious career on the walls of his home, designed by the very talented Linda Baritski.

    For reasons I can’t quite recall I wanted the names of the guitarists who played with Mr Charles are all taken from the Petit Nicolas books, so take a look through and say ‘salut!’ to Alceste, Geoffroy, Nicolas, Rufus et Clotaire.

  • Peacock in a hotel..?

    Played by AFH Micro-Team, at an intimate soirée, hosted by painter Stefanos Rokos, at London’s South Place Hotel.
    June 2013.

  • Snipe London

    “Brings to mind a distinctly English Magnetic Fields – we dare you not to lose your heart to the gorgeous liftoff of the chorus.”

    John Rogers, Snipe London

  • AFH to play Secret Garden Party 2013!

    AFH to play Secret Garden Party 2013!

    Hi everyone,

    More exciting gig news… AFH will be playing at Secret Garden Party 2013 – as part of The Local’s ‘Sunset Sessions’ on Friday 26th July. Onstage at 6pm. Also playing are our good friends The Machine Gunners who are rather splendid. Hope to see you there!

    alexander x

  • AFH in Germany – July 2013!

    AFH in Germany – July 2013!

    Hi all,

    Minitour news now… AFH will be playing 2 German shows in July 2013, both super exciting:

    1. Alexander’s Festival Hall, supporting Tom Tom Club. Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Monday 8th July. This show is an honour for us to play at. I think I learned pretty much everything I know about playing guitar watching Stop Making Sense on endless repeat till the VHS wore out 😉
    More details and tickets here!

    2. Alexander’s Festival Hall: Thursday 11th July. German album launch party. AFH Micro-team (just two of us) will play songs from the record with support from our good friend DJ Supermarkt of the ace HowDoYouAre blog. At Smaragd Bar. FREE so come on down!

    Alexander x