Concerts in London/UK: buy pop/rock/jazz/classical/opera tickets


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< Up	Life / Entertainment / Concerts
UK concerts


Sections:	Introduction
	Free concerts in London
	Pop/rock
	Jazz
	Classical music
	Opera
	Further information
	Links

INTRODUCTION

Watch concert performances in the UK.

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FREE CONCERTS IN LONDON

(1) Free outdoor concerts

Below is a list of free outdoor concerts in London's parks and open spaces at weekends (Friday evening and Sunday evening, or on Bank Holidays) during summer 2007.
For events in parks, people often bring a rug and a picnic. Deckchairs are available at some locations (a fee may be charged).
Make sure that you wear suncream if sitting out in the sun. For safety reasons do not carry bottles or other glass objects.
Please make sure that you check the website link shown to check the location and times (sometimes concerts may be cancelled).
Further details about some of the larger events can be found in the Ideas/Events section.

Regent's Park bandstand

Concert in Regent's Park

Deckchairs

JUNE 2007
Date	Time	Location	Description	Website
Fri 15 Jun	5-7pm	Emma Cons Garden	A Band Like Alice (bluegrass)	click here
Sat 16 Jun	12-9:30pm	Southwark Park	Carnival de Cuba (Cuban)	click here
Sat 16 Jun	1-7pm	Bernie Spain Gardens	Pulse (Central/Eastern European)	click here
Sun 17 Jun	12-9:30pm	Southwark Park	Carnival de Cuba (Cuban)	click here
Sun 17 Jun	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	Indigo Saxophone Quartet	click here
Sun 17 Jun	2-5pm	Greenwich Park	Bromley Concert Band	click here
Sun 17 Jun	2-7pm	Bernie Spain Gardens	Celebrating Sanctuary	click here
Sun 17 Jun	12-6pm	Trafalgar Square	Korea Sparkling Summer Festival (Korean)	click here
Fri 22 Jun	5-7pm	Emma Cons Garden	Cuban music (Cuban)	click here
Sat 23 Jun	12-6:30pm	Leicester Square	West End Live (West End shows)	click here
Sat 23 Jun	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Band of the Hampshire Constabulary	click here
Sun 24 Jun	12-6:30pm	Leicester Square	West End Live (West End shows)	click here
Sun 24 Jun	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	Barber Ensemble	click here
Sun 24 Jun	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Toni Kofi (jazz)	click here
Sun 24 Jun	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Bristol East Band	click here
Fri 29 Jun	5-7pm	Emma Cons Garden	Alice English (vocal)	click here
Sat 30 Jun	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Virtuosi GUS Band	click here

Rise 2007: The Noisettes ...

... and Jamelia

JULY 2007
Date	Time	Location	Description	Website
Sun 1 Jul	12-7pm	Regent's Park	Camden Bangladesh Mela (Bangladeshi)	click here
Sun 1 Jul	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	Majestic Brass	click here
Sun 1 Jul	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Most Wanted (jazz)	click here
Sun 1 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Halton Blue Concert Band	click here
Fri 6 Jul	5-7pm	Emma Cons Garden	Ghosts & Monsters, Hooverville (funk & rock)	click here
Sun 8 Jul	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	Amaryllis Saxophone Quartet	click here
Sun 8 Jul	2-5pm	Greenwich Park	Greenwich Concert Band	click here
Sun 8 Jul	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Chris Garrick (jazz)	click here
Fri 13 Jul	12-9pm	Waterloo area	Waterloo Carnival	click here
Sat 14 Jul	12-7pm	Bernie Spain Gardens	Turkish Fest (Turkish)	click here
Sat 14 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	St Helen's Youth Brass Band	click here
Sun 15 Jul	12-7pm	Bernie Spain Gardens	Turkish Fest (Turkish)	click here
Sun 15 Jul	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	Kitsch in Sync	click here
Sun 15 Jul	2-5pm	Greenwich Park	Crystal Palace Band	click here
Sun 15 Jul	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Peter King (jazz)	click here
Sun 15 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Southend Wind Orchestra	click here
Sun 15 Jul		Finsbury Park	Rise: London United	click here
Sat 21 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Hertfordshire Concert Band	click here
Sun 22 Jul	2-3.30pm	Kensington Gardens	The Ladies Palm Court Orchestra	click here
Sun 22 Jul	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Tammy Weiss (jazz)	click here
Sun 22 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Bourne Concert Band of Woking	click here
Sat 28 Jul	12-8pm	Crystal Palace Park	The Bowl Festival (South London bands)	click here
Sat 28 Jul	1-9pm	Hyde Park	Diaspora London Music Village (worldwide)	click here
Sat 28 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	St Albans City Brass Band	click here
Sun 29 Jul	12-8pm	Crystal Palace Park	The Bowl Festival (South London bands)	click here
Sun 29 Jul	1-9pm	Hyde Park	Diaspora London Music Village (worldwide)	click here
Sun 29 Jul	2-5pm	Greenwich Park	Beckenham Concert Band	click here
Sun 29 Jul	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Bheki Mseleku (jazz)	click here
Sun 29 Jul	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	2nd Rossendale Scout Group Band	click here

Bowl Festival at Crystal Palace Park ...

... Ashok performing on stage

Paprika Balkanicus (from the Balkans) ...

Fuerza Vallenata (Colombia)

... at Diaspora London Music Village 2007

AUGUST 2007
Date	Time	Location	Description	Website
Sat 4 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Aldbourne Band	click here
Sun 5 Aug	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Liane Carroll (jazz)	click here
Sun 5 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	AD Concert Band	click here
Sun 5 Aug	3-9pm	Burgess Park	Carnaval del Pueblo (Latin American)	click here
Sat 11 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Household Division Association Band	click here
Sun 12 Aug	12-8pm	Gunnersbury Park	London Mela (Indian/South Asian)	click here
Sun 12 Aug	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Pat Clahar (jazz)	click here
Sun 12 Aug	2:30-5:30pm	Hyde Park	KlezFest (Jewish)	click here
Sun 12 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Aveley & Newham Band	click here
Sat 18 Aug		Richmond Riverside	On the Edge	click here
Sat 18 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Welwyn Garden City Band	click here
Sat 18 Aug	7pm-	Haggerston Park	Proms in Haggerston Park	click here
Sun 19 Aug	2-5pm	Greenwich Park	Invicta Concert Band	click here
Sun 19 Aug	2:30-5pm	Regent's Park	Samara (jazz)	click here
Sun 19 Aug		Richmond Riverside	On the Edge	click here
Sun 19 Aug	2-6pm	Bernie Spain Gardens	Capital Age Festival (older people)	click here
Sun 19 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Chalgrove Brass Band	click here
Sat 25 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	East Sussex Concert Band	click here
Sun 26 Aug		Notting Hill	Notting Hill Carnival (Caribbean)
Sun 26 Aug	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Tilbury Band	click here
Mon 27 Aug		Notting Hill	Notting Hill Carnival (Caribbean)

Sumaya perform gypsy music near Richmond Bridge

... and Brecha play Cuban-style music at On The Edge 2007

SEPTEMBER 2007
Date	Time	Location	Description	Website
Sat 1 Sep	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Becontree Brass Band	click here
Sun 2 Sep	3-6.15pm	St James's Park	Croydon Symphonic Band	click here
Sat 15 Sep		South Bank	Thames Festival	click here
Sun 16 Sep		South Bank	Thames Festival	click here

Military bands can be seen during events such as Changing the Guards at Buckingham Palace (daily during the spring/summer, every other day during autumn/winter), Trooping the Colour (see: Ideas/Album/TroopingTheColour), the Lord Mayor's Show (see: Ideas/Album/LordMayorsShow) or at Remembrance Sunday (see: Ideas/Album/RemembranceSunday).

Buskers often perform on the streets around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. You can watch them for free, but they will ask for voluntary donations.

(2) Free indoor concerts

Students from the music colleges in London give free concerts:
Royal Academy of Music: http://www.ram.ac.uk/events/index.html.
Events usually take place in the college buildings on Marylebone Road, near to Baker Street underground station (map).
Royal College of Music: http://www.rcm.ac.uk (select Events and then London lunchtime concerts).
Musicians from the Royal College of Music perform each Wednesday in the Central Hall of the National Gallery (on the north side of Trafalgar Square; map) from 6-7.30pm (to check this, see: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/calendar).
Royal Albert Hall: http://www.royalalberthall.com/ignite/ignite.aspx
Free concerts in the Café Consort during the summer on Friday lunchtimes.

Free concerts are also often performed inside churches. For example:
St James' Church, Piccadilly: http://www.st-james-piccadilly.org (see: map)
If you enjoy listening to choirs or organ music, you may wish to attend an evensong service or an organ recital in a church or cathedral. At Christmas you can enjoy carol services.

There are regular free events (including both jazz and classical concerts) along the South Bank:
South Bank Centre: http://www.southbanklondon.com
Free events sometimes take place in the Barbican:
Barbican: http://www.barbican.org.uk

Many pubs put on free concerts on certain evenings.

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POP/ROCK

You can use the following links to book tickets for UK pop/rock concerts (gigs):
- Ticketmaster (pop/rock)
- TicketSwitch (pop/rock)

In London some of the main rock venues are:
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Arena
Apollo Hammersmith
Shepherd's Bush Empire
Brixton Academy
The O2 Arena

For more information about British pop/rock music, see: Britain/Music/Pop

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JAZZ

You can use the following links to book tickets for UK jazz concerts:
- Ticketmaster (jazz)
- TicketSwitch (jazz)

In London well-known venues for jazz concerts include:
Ronnie Scotts
Pizza Express Jazz Club
A monthly listing of jazz events in London can be downloaded from this link: http://www.jazzinlondon.net

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CLASSICAL MUSIC

You can use the following links to book tickets for UK classical music concerts:
- Ticketmaster (classical music)
- TicketSwitch (classical music)

In London some of the main classical music venues are:
Royal Albert Hall
South Bank Centre: Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room
Wigmore Hall
Barbican Hall (home of the London Symphony Orchestra)
Cadogan Hall (home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
Concerts are also performed in many churches/cathedrals.

For a list of classical concerts, see: http://www.concert-diary.com

The Royal Albert Hall (near Knightsbridge)

(c) BBC Proms. Photo: Chris Christodoulou

Inside the Royal Albert Hall

The Proms are a series of classical music concerts each evening between mid-July and mid-September at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Some of the concerts are shown on BBC television (BBC1 or BBC2) and most are broadcast on the radio (BBC Radio 3). You can also listen online even if you are not in the UK. These concerts have taken place since 1895 and have become a popular British tradition. The most famous concert is the Last Night of the Proms in mid-September. The traditional ending of these concerts includes Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major", Wood's "Fantasia on British Sea-Songs", Elgar's arrangement of the hymn "Jerusalem" and Britten's arrangement of "The National Anthem". It is an occasion famous for its patriotic atmosphere. For full details, see the BBC's Proms website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms or the Royal Albert Hall's website: http://www.royalalberthall.com

To be able to apply for tickets for the Last Night you usually need to buy tickets for 6 or more tickets for other Proms concerts. It is easier to buy tickets for a similar concert at the same time known as Proms in the Park. This takes place in Hyde Park (opposite the Royal Albert Hall) and in some other parks across the UK.

The Proms are so called because some of the audience stands in the 'promenade' area of the hall. About 500 cheap standing tickets are sold each day in the Arena (in the middle, close to the orchestra), and 350 standing tickets are sold high up in the Gallery (there are different queues for each of these). In 2006 these cost 5 pounds each (payable in cash only). They can be bought by anyone (not just students). These tickets start to be sold one and a half hours before each performance, but it is better to join the queue earlier, especially for a popular performance.

Last Night of the Proms (2 CDs)
Artist: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Date: July 2007

Last Night Of The Proms 2000 (DVD)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Chorus
Studio: Opus Arte Media Productions
Date: July 2001

OPERA

You can use the following links to book tickets for opera in the UK:
- Ticketmaster (opera)
- TicketSwitch (opera)

The main locations for or opera (or ballet) in London are:
Royal Opera House
Sadler's Wells
London Coliseum

The most famous annual opera festival in the UK is at Glyndebourne (near Lewes, East Sussex BN8 5UU; map)

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FURTHER INFORMATION

"Time Out" is a detailed weekly guide to what's on in London.
Click here to subscribe online to: Time Out magazine

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