Cooler Than A Snowman's Cool Bits
There’s no shortage of places where the London 'in' crowd can head to be seen. From the swanky Soho hotels and private members clubs to the now ‘2 cool 4 skool’ pop-ups that seem to be springing up all over the place.
Regardless of the location, it would seem the pop-up concept is thriving, whether it’s in deepest Hackney, Canary Wharf or indeed the most fashionable of places… Shoreditch.
Nights Tales’ concept ‘Tokyo Nights’ is one such pop-up which has taken temporary residence between Old St roundabout and Shoreditch… essentially right in between tech and hipster ville. The aim, to take “inspiration from some of Tokyo’s best restaurants and cocktail bars, local markets and famous districts to deliver a real and authentic interpretation of the city. Tokyo Nights will take you on a tour of the buzzing metropolitan city and touch on scenes from Old Japan.”
Now before I go on I must make it absolutely clear I’ve never been to Tokyo or indeed Japan so you’ll have to excuse my lack of cultural expertise when reading this. However, I’m not sure a detailed knowledge of “Old Japan” is required for this review.
The space is buzzing; a variety of trendy food stalls and bars selling a range of gourmet fast food & cocktails, but I imagine you’ll be left slightly disappointed if you’re looking for a truly authentic Japanese food and drink experience. Not sure it’s quite the true reflection of “Old Japan”, especially the prices!
And to the music… it’s a pretty good set up with the wood chipped dance area taking center stage surrounded by the food stalls. Think festival set-up, scaled down to a car park size. The DJ (Brendan Long at the point I was there) was keeping the crowd entertained but unfortunately he was by no means the main attraction (sorry Brendan).
Just for clarity, I also need to make it clear that I was an early bird to this event and left before the headliners, Maribou State, came on. However, in my opinion, most of the attendees weren’t heading down to see Maribou State, they were there for the scene.
I know this doesn’t paint the most positive picture of the set-up but it just really wasn’t for me. It’s an incredibly cool set-up; the food is good, the atmosphere is buzzing and everyone was having a great time. The prices are steep (but what would you expect when in one of London’s hippest hangouts) and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the cast of Made in Chelsea being pictured by the paps stumbling out the entrance. However, if you were to ask me about the music… it seems to be an after thought.
It reminded me of my trip to Wilderness in July. A festival set-up to give the fashionable ‘I need spa treatment and a glass or two of champagne while listening to trendy music’ types access to festivals. It’s a pop-up experience for the very discerning punter.
