Faces at the British Music Experience

Wednesday 11th August 2010

"When we realised at the PRS Awards we hadn't played a live gig since 1975 we just couldn’t believe it! The timing is just right, we can feel the excitement and we cannot wait to be back on stage playing to a live audience again. Expect the classics and also some incredible guests when we get back on the road, it’s going to be lots of fun." - Faces drummer Kenney Jones

The legendary Faces return after an eventful hiatus with original members Ronnie Wood on guitar, Kenney Jones on drums and the glorious keyboards of Ian McLagan, with the addition of Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) on bass, and vocals from Mick Hucknall (Simply Red).

We're honoured that the British Music Experience was chosen to host the intimate launch gig by infamous 70s English supergroup Faces, performing their 'proper' first live show since 1975.

There will be a 45 minute Q&A session with the band members, followed by an intimate gig for 400 people for an hour.

Only 60 fans will be invited to attend the Q&A session at 7pm before the rest of the audience join for the mini-gig at 8.30pm.

Radio Caroline

Monday 19th July - Saturday 7th August 2010

Infamous offshore pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, will be coming ashore and broadcasting live and loud from the British Music Experience until Friday 7th August.

Founded in 1964, Radio Caroline has established itself in broadcasting and British history for its renegade attitude. Defying the Government and other radio stations of the time, Caroline became the backbone of the 1960s by playing the music that its listeners wanted to hear – the music that defined a generation and went on to become the best rock and roll music of all time.

Bon Jovi 'When We Were Beautiful' Exhibition

Monday 7th June - Saturday 31st July 2010

To coincide with Bon Jovi's 12 night residency at The O2 this summer, we're thrilled to host an exclusive photography exhibition featuring never seen before images, personally curated by the band.

Soundstage Showcase 2010

Thursday 15th July 2010

London Get Ready!

The Sound Stage crew present an evening of fun, frantic, musical madness, youth, music and major artists fused together to give you an unforgettable event of music, dance and prize giveaways!!!

The Art of Heavy Rock

Tuesday 13th July 2010

This is the start of a new series of events looking at iconic album artwork and how each artist defines themselves visually.

For our first event, we're delighted to welcome Andie Airfix and Mark Wilkinson to discuss their work and influences.

You may not know these guys by name but you sure as hell will know their work.

Producer Series: Greg Haver Masterclass

Thursday 8th July 2010

Greg is a very talented producer with a background in engineering, drumming and programming who initially built up a reputation within the Welsh music community for his diverse production skills and innovative arrangements with artists such as Super Furry Animals, Catatonia, Lost Prophets and Bullet For My Valentine.

The Co-operative presents British Music Experience launch and Alex Kapranos Songwriting Masterclass

Thursday 8th July 2010

Wow!

Not only did we welcome on board our amazing new sponsor The Co-operative Group who launched their new scheme inspiring school children through music with the release of 15,000 tickets to the British Music Experience over the next 3 years AND....

We were treated to a very special Masterclass by one of the most charismatic men in pop: Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos.

Producer Series: John Leckie Master Class

Thursday 17th June 2010

We're thrilled to announce a special evening with the one and only John Leckie, producer of the Stone Roses, Radiohead, Verve, John Lennon to name just a few.

From entering Abbey Road Studios on February 15th 1970 as a Tape-Operator, to Balance Engineer working with with artists such as John Lennon (Plastic Ono Band),George Harrison, (All Things Must Pass),Syd Barrett (Barrett) and first engineering for Pink Floyd, (Meddle and Wish You Were Here) then graduating to produce and help launch the careers of some of the most exciting and influential new rock bands of the past four decades.

John Leckie has produced some of the most significant landmark British albums of recent times, including Radiohead (The Bends), Muse (Showbiz and Origin Of Symmetry) and perhaps most synonymously, The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses), voted the best record of all time on a music poll taken by BBC 6 Music.

Steve Lyon Producer Masterclass

Wednesday 26th May 2010

Steve Lyon shared his unique experiences, techniques and stories working with these amazing artists - the stories of recording with Depeche Mode and The Cure were fantastic -  as well as developing the sound of new talents, and hopefully playing some exclusive mixes and versions from his famous portfolio.

TY Q&A and Album Showcase

Thursday 10th June 2010

"This album showcase and Q&A will be an important moment for me to talk to the audience about why I make music the way I do!" TY

Join acclaimed international Hip Hop artist TY for an exclusive evening at the British Music Experience to mark the release of his forthcoming single 'Heart is Breaking' featuring Sway from the highly anticipated album Special Kind of Fool.

This will be an opportunity to take part in a Q&A with TY hosted by British Music Experience curator Paul Lilley and hear tracks from the new album and see TY perform with long time DJ partner Big Ted.

The Great Music Debate

Thursday 29th April 2010

A massive thank you to all the panelists and all of you that came along to make our first Great Music Debate such a success.

It was a very informative and insightful evening with many different expert opinions and some impassioned exchanges, especially between BPI and Pirate Bay.

Check out the podcastsand pictures from the night.

Book Reading and Q&A with Tony Fletcher

Thursday 25th March 2010

"I enjoyed this book almost as much as I originally enjoyed all the music it covered." Peter Buck R.E.M.

For our first book launch event we welcomed author Tony Fletcher who read extracts from his fantastic new book ALL HOPPED UP AND READY TO GO.

Following his explosive success of his bestselling Keith Moon biography Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, Tony Fletcher's new book explores the pivotal cultural history of the musical street scenes of New York from 1927 to 1977.

Ross Halfin Photography Masterclass

Wednesday 24th March 2010

Out of all the wonderful rock photographers Ross Halfin has probably had the most fun.

His cameras have shot definitive moments in the Punk era of the 70's including The Jam, The Clash, Adam Ant, The Sex Pistols and spent most of the 80's touring with bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Def Leppard.

Producer Series: Steve Levine Master Class

Wednesday 10th March 2010

Acclaimed Steve Levine to kick off our Producer Series in true style.

Since learning his craft as an engineer working with The Clash, Steve Levine built his reputation sculpting the sound of the 80s and produced all of Culture Club's classic hits including 'Karma Chameleon' and the bands' first three albums.

Steve treaded the crowd to studio version of his famous work and shared his expertise, knowledge and pop stories for this special Q&A.

Hospital presents Q+A+E - Part 2

Friday 5th March 2010

Hospital Records returned for another Dance Masterclass this time with Danny Byrd, John B and Emalkay.

Hosted by Radio One’s Mistajam, the artists presented their music-making techniques and took questions on how they go about creating their trademark sounds, beat programming, heavy basslines and everything else in-between.

Hugh Cornwell Songwriting Masterclass

Thursday 25th February 2010

"He remains a hugely popular and prolific performer who’s songwriting retains its fiery eloquence and whose gigs still crackle with electricity" Classic Rock

Rolling on with our Songwriting Masterclass Series, we were thrilled to welcome Hugh Cornwell to the British Music Experience on Thursday 25th February.

Chris Difford Songwriting Masterclass

Saturday 31st January 2010

"I never thought that it would happen
With me and the girl from Clapham" Squeeze

The British Music Experience presented an exclusive Songwriting Masterclass and Workshop with double Ivor Novello Award winner Chris Difford on Saturday 30th January.

Freemasons Music Masterclass

Thursday 26th November 2009

Firstly, thank you everybody for coming.

This is the first Dance Masterclass we've run and it was amazing to see so many of you turn out, we hope you had as enjoyable, educational and fun time as we did.

Secret Bon Jovi Gig

Thursday 5th November 2009

Wow! What a night.

Stadium fillers Bon Jovi performed a secret gig especially for a handful of their British fans last night, right here in the British Music Experience playing here to an audience made up entirely of winners of a competition held on their UK website.

Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock Photography Exhibition

25 - 27 November 2009

From 25th September to 27th November the British Music Experience premiered a unique exhibition of photographs of Britain's biggest musical icons, from the V&A's collection.

Howard Jones Songwriting Masterclass

Tuesday 27th October 2009

Howard Jones, one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop was our honored guest for a very special Songwriting Masterclass talking about his career, songwriting techniques and performing some of his songs.

Rock Photography Masterclass

Thursday 15th October 2009

During our Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock photographic exhibition, we hosted a very special evening with three of the nation’s leading music photographers.

Jill Furmanovsky, Mark Mawston and Philip Townsend presented their amazing images, techniques and photography tips, as well assome very funny and personal backstage stories on the journies to the forefront of British music photography.

Sensescapes

Thursday 1st October 2009

On the 1st of October 2009 we hosted a unique day of talks, workshops and live demonstrations exploring the relationship between sound, light, space and experience. The event was developed and curated by SPACEPILOTS, a collaborative practice of architecture and art and gave participants the chance to meet experts in sound and lighting design.

Jeff Beck Guitar Masterclass

Monday 21st September 2009

Guitar legend Jeff Beck along with fellow musician Jason Rebello hosted an intimate, money-can't-buy performance and Q&A session. It was beautiful.

Hospitality Q+A+E

Friday 4th September 2009

Pre Hospitality at Matter we put on Hospitality Q+A+E at the British Music Experience to give fans, ravers and budding producers a chance to hear how Hopsital Record's finest: London Elektricity, High Contrast and Logistics make their tracks. Hosted by BBC Radio 1s Nerm we had 90mins of excellent hints, tips and questions from the audience and a certain little new dance move called 'The Drum & Bass Step'.

Street Dance Masterclass with Hypnotik

Thursday 27th August 2009

Graced by the presence of professional dance outfit Hypnotik to teach us the art and fun of Hip Hop dancing. These guys can move like you wouldn't believe!

Andy Warhol's Michael Jackson portrait on display

Thursday 6th August 2009

For just 3 days only, Andy Warhol's famous 1984 portrait of Michael Jackson arrived from the U.S. for exclusive display in the British Music Experience.

This famous work of art had never been on display in Europe before, but was on view at British Music Experience visitors on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th August. It then went straight under the hammer in New York.

The Hand-Bell Ringers of Great Britain Vs. The Orb - Tubular Bells Celebration

Saturday 6th June 2009

To celebrate the 35^th Anniversary of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and , the British Music Experience and Mercury Records presented The Hand-Bell Ringers of Great Britain vs. The Orb.