The Return of the Musical Neighbourhood Tour

Apr 22

The Return of the Musical Neighbourhood Tour

Adam writes…

This week sees our musical neighbourhood tours return to the schedule. These genre-busting musical expeditions have eclecticism at their heart. Rather than focus on one band, one composer or one style of music, we’ll let the streets dictate the playlist.

If it so happens that Bob Dylan stayed in the same hotel as Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, then they’ll both be on the tour.

And where would such disparate stars be found in real life? At the Savoy on the Strand. And the Savoy features on the Musical Covent Garden outing.

In Musical Marylebone, Judy Garland rubs shoulders with Carl Maria Von Webber. Organist Anna Lapwood shares the stage with Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett in Musical Kensington. Every musician, every style is welcome.

Visually, things are just as varied. From George Val Mayer’s masterpiece of Art Deco, Broadcasting House in Marylebone, to the French Baronial stylings of Arthur Bloomfield’s Royal College of Music in Kensington, the “scenery” is a veritable Greatest Hits album, too.

Musical Marylebone

Marylebone is home to the BBC. And from Teddy Bear’s Picnic to Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, we’ll delve into Auntie Beeb’s often bothersome relationship with music.

Musical Covent Garden

From the Royal Opera House to the theatre where Bob Marley became a legend. Then on to the oldest disc recording studio in Europe (1898) and the hotel where Bob Dylan held court in ’65. And where else would Rule Britannia crossfade into On The Street Where You Live? Only in Covent Garden. This London Music Tour covers the musical waterfront from Arne to Zappa.

Musical Kensington

On this tour, three great institutions will drive our narrative. Firstly, the Royal College of Music. We’ll look at its foundation and the role it plays in the cultural life of the nation. Then the Science Museum, where we look at ways that music consumption has changed in the 20th and 21st centuries. And of course, the Royal Albert Hall – Eric Clapton’s “second home” and the venue for the famous annual Proms season. (NB. The Royal Albert Hall operates its own interior tours. Visit their website HERE.)