If you are in Boston this Saturday Evening, we think you should make your way to our store on Newbury Street as we have Atlantic/Pacific playing for us from 5.30pm-6.30pm. A set not to be missed...
(click here to score a free download of the track "Patterns" by Atlantic/Pacific)
Atlantic/Pacific: Some Weary Valentine from Foglight Films on Vimeo.
Ben Sherman are giving away a pair of Field Day tickets, enter today and you could be living it up at the coolest London based Festival. Field Day is a one day event that takes place in Victoria Park London and never disappoints. Cutting edge music with an incredible atmosphere, this shouldn't be missed!
Enter at....
Some exciting news for all you Londoners…
London’s Mothership Group, the capital’s most forward thinking bar group, have joined forces with the artist management platform Central Illustration Agency and Pirates to create London’s, very first Pop-Up-Bar-as-Art-Installation project. For three months between May and August, Pop-Up Pirates will be part late-night bar, part art-installation and totally unique.
In this instance, Pirates have taken complete artistic control of the old building and intend to shape the project around Clerkenwell’s printing history - the site itself was an old factory building specialising in silver lithography.
The idea is all about type, be it modern and bright or traditional and sophisticated. Everywhere you look will be covered in words and letters of all sorts of shapes and sizes; some painted some in relief and some full on 3D. And that’s just for starters; the toilets will be transformed into an interactive blackboard, free standing cut Perspex letters will grow out of walls and upbeat catch- phrases will cover every inch of the bar. There will be mock printing presses spewing out reams of paper. Words will shout out from every surface, all making Pop Up Pirates a walk in wardrobe of letterforms.
With Pop Up Pirates and the CIA, Mothership Group is once again displaying the collaborative outlook and verve that has given all its projects the story and atmosphere that have proved so successful. And this time, they may be pushing the boundaries further than ever…
Oh, and a plus the site's got a 4am license so expect some full on parties!
For more information contact Danny Payne on 020 7684 8618 / 07970 886 873 or danny@mothershipgroup.com
Ben Sherman held an intimate Madness gig last week and one die hard Madness fan went above and beyond to blag her way into the event. Vicki Lee gives you her version of events in this week’s blog entry.
Photographer Emilie Bailey
Ben Sherman X Madness Gig - The Flowerpot, London - 5th May 2010
Bloody hell, this gig was hard to get into and once there I realised why. The Flowerpot is a small pub in North London, only holding approximately 200 people. Once you take into consideration the Ben Sherman lot, the Madness lot including friends and family (which there appears to be an awful lot of) there’s not many tickets left for us, the die hard fans.
Standing at the front with other fans and the many, many photographers, you couldn’t help but make friends quickly in the tiny space. And what else is good for making friends quickly? Alcohol - which there was plenty of thanks to the free bar. The bar staff all looked suitably turned out in their Ben Sherman shirts and there was a sneak peek at some of the items from the forthcoming clothing collaboration, as a white polo shirt bearing the Madness ‘M’ amongst others hung from the walls.
Looking dapper decked out in Ben Sherman shirts and polo shirts, the band made their way through the crowd to take the stage for a strong, hit laden 17 song set. However, with a certain Mr Chas Smash notably absent, it was left to Thommo to take the mic for some muttered ramblings before giving a calm rendition of the old battle cry which would send the crowd berserk - ‘One Step Beyond.’
With that, playing for a good hour or so, Madness stomped through the hits such as ‘Embarrassment‘, ‘My Girl’ and ‘The Prince’ and new fan favourites such as ‘Forever Young’ and ‘That Close’. The crowd danced so hard the floor felt like a bouncy castle and we were so close to the stage we were in danger of being hit by the Violin Monkeys’ instruments, spending most of the gig ducking a jutting trombone. Before the gig, I wondered how they were going to get the whole band on the rather small stage but it worked really well. Although, Thommo and Chrissy Boy did take to the bar using it as a stage extension. Suggs made a brief political statement before ‘The Sun and The Rain‘ and changed the lyrics to ‘Iron Shirt‘ to sing about putting on his Ben Sherman shirt - blatant, yet clever, advertising. Chrissy Boy did his ever popular “Showtime” shout before the band threw themselves into ‘House of Fun‘, ‘Baggy Trousers‘, ‘Our House’ and ‘It Must be Love‘.
Turning their backs on the crowd as opposed to leaving the stage, Madness turned back to give us an encore in the form of ‘Madness’ and ‘Night Boat To Cairo’. With that, they made their way back through the crowd and we made our way back to the bar for some much needed refreshments.
Cheers, Ben Sherman. It was awesome!
Last Saturday Alex Wookie,Reading Brand Ambassador and Golden Hours frontman captivated the crowds of the Wilmington Arms on Exmouth Market,
Scott Cecil our Lakeside BA and Mod extraordinaire joined in for a night of great music, great location and free beer!
Take a look at his review of The Golden Hours and the wonderful musical evening he experienced thanks to the
Saturday Night at the Wilmington
The Wilmington Arms in Farringdon, sister establishment to the famous Hawley Arms in
It could be considered that there may be something about the place that spurs performers on to bigger and better things. That certainly could be the case with Golden Hours, the latest four-piece band from
The Golden Hours are a band that you will do well to remember. Enigmatic, euphoric indie rock is one way to describe them; well that’s how a NME reviewer would.
I’m not on the NME payroll, so I’m going to go with blooming marvelous.
In a set that was short and sweet, the 6 songs that were offered up to the room created a taste to leave you wanting more, after all, isn’t that the golden rule of showbiz?
The stand-out song of the night was also the opener; Wash the Night Eyes was a slow burning yet frantic 4 minutes of sound that showcased the bands ability. They performed this and the next song, Pioneering with a maturity and precision that masked the fledgling stage of their career.
Doomsday was another song that a veteran band would be proud to have in their repertoire; this was sandwiched between Blind, Invisible Lives and Spider Days all of which carried the gig along with a good pace.
As the band packed away, I was left wondering how long it would be before The Golden Hours name will be up outside venues more suited to hosting bands of this caliber, my guess…not long.
In fact, The Hoxton Bar and Kitchen is next up on Tuesday 6th April and it is certainly another step up the ladder for this ambitious foursome.
A quick mention for The Shills who put on a performance that was visually disturbing yet musically brilliant. They were equally as impressive tonight and will also undoubtedly be gracing bigger stages than this.
One last thing, the fact that the band were looking mightily dapper tonight may very well of had something to do with the man behind the sticks. The drummer/vocalist is none other than Ben Sherman’s Brand Ambassador Alex Wookie!!
Photos courtesy of Lou Paul.
March, a new month and a new allocation of allowance to spend at Ben Sherman. After the initial excitement of wanting as much as possible when we had our first allowance, I decided on a much more calculated approach as to what I would pick up from the
Well, that plan went out of the window as soon as I clapped eyes on a truly stunning 3 button slim fit blue tonic suit. Bada-Boom, Bada-Bing.
Easy come, easy go. With the suit and some cufflinks bagged up I left the store knowing it would be another 3 months until I could safely step foot in-store with out worrying about my overdraft.
Matt B may bring you the latest and greatest in plastic toys and Alex may get exclusive interviews with Didz and Brett Hammond but I bring much more to the table then both of them put together. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, what I have for you is even better than a plastic toy interviewing Didz Hammond,
I have (Drums Please)…The Signatures and Stifford Clays Social Club!!
The Signatures, for you squares not in the know are one of the best Northern Soul bands this side of the
The 10 piece band were on form tonight tearing their way through a set list that includes dance floor fillers such as Beggin, On My Way, Tainted Love, Landslide and Turning My Heartbeat Up. The hour they were on stage for went far too quickly for everybody’s liking, especially for Mitch and Jay, our very own dance floor extraordinaire’s. Watching these two dance is like watching Evil Kenival, you really want to give it a go, but it’s only going to end in disaster. So I stuck with what I know. Drinking and shuffling my feet to the music.
After all I am ze Ambassador, I can’t be seen messing up on the floor.
The band finished to a rapturous applause and the DJ’s kept the music going well into the night. The drinks flowed and the sambuca shots started. A good time had by all and only 2 months till the next one, 22nd May, Thurrock Civic Hall, Blackshots, Grays be there or not be there, the choice is yours.
The button-down blog introduces Matt,our 2nd Brand Ambassador for 2010.
Not only has Matt provided us with lets face it, an amazing illustration based on our London Conference. He has also dropped us a couple of lines about the Droplet Launch that he attended this month in
Check out Matt’s lovely ensemble and have a wander back on to our e-Shop to get the look!
London Conference
Well... January was a hectic month, amongst its highlights- opening my solo exhibition, a week in sunny (ok, not so sunny in this instance)
Myself and the other Ambassadors met at the event in Shoreditch along with staff, representatives, designers et al from across the company for a presentation of the Ben Sherman ethos, a journey in to Mod education, a sneak peek at the looks available in 2010, and some of the best tasting chocolate brownies known to man. For me the most poignant memory of the day (other than deeply considering how socially acceptable it would be to start dancing to The Who during one of the showreels) was the passion and enthusiasm with which the design and marketing teams approach their work, and the excellence of the results speak for themselves.
Illustration by Matt B
“Droplet” Launch
Saturday 6th February saw me heading south once again, this time
For those of you that don’t know, over the last 10 years “designer vinyl” toys and ornaments have become highly collectable items. Often produced in limited editions, sold in ‘blind-boxes’ and including rare variants and designs, the figures are predominantly marketed to adult collectors and hard to find specimens can boast pulse raising price tags.
The Droplet is a 2.5" vinyl toy, designed by Gavin Strange AKA JamFactory and produced by
Making its debut in May 2008, the success of Series 1 online and in toy stores all over the world, led to a second series now, comprising of 5 new designs.
The launch was held in Park Street’s FIFTY FIFTY store with an accompanying exhibition of droplets on the lower floor that had been customised as one off pieces by specially selected artists and designers including Pete Fowler and Nick “Wallace & Gromit” Park.
Photos by G-Han
On a nearby wall, a projector cast a looped animation and a feed of Twitter updates sent using the dropletlaunch ‘hash tag’ which kept the crowd amused until the doors opened at 6pm. As the hoards of punters flooded in they were handed droplet decorated cupcakes and while they bought their way through the toys, t-shirts, and tote bags, there was a giant droplet replica left blank by the door with a collection of pens for people to sign or doodle on as a sort of guestbook (an offer I was quick to take advantage of!)
With people desperate to get their hands on the sought after mustachioed King figure, the whole launch batch of 15 cases sold out in just 58 minutes leaving Mr. Strange overwhelmed and delighted, while satisfied customers swapped their “gots” for “needs”.
As for me, I didn’t go away empty handed, but I’ll have to join the fanboys watching JamFactory’s online shop for the second batch if I want to get one of those Kings!
We have some great seasonal reductions available at the minute. And they're numbers which will see you through the chillier days we're now encountering more and more frequently. Our long sleeve check shirt and swing coat are HQ favourites. So take advantage of the opportunity to shop guilt-free and get clicking. The sale will end Friday!
...an auction of Very Important Plectrums.
Inspired by Ben Sherman's musical heritage and plectrum logo, the auction is a celebration of iconic artists and their plectrums. All proceeds will be donated to charity*.
Artists include Biffy Clyro, Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Kaiser Chiefs, Kings of Leon, Klaxons, Paul Weller, Pete Doherty, Radiohead, Silverchair, Supergrass, The Raveonettes and many many more.
Click here to be taken through to our VIP page for further information.
*Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and The Straits School Times Pocket Money Fund in Singapore
