FIRST GIG IN 600 YEARS TO COME TO GUILDHALL
GUILDHALL has seen its fair share of important cultural events over the years:?the trials of Lady Jane Grey, Thomas Cranmer and those involved in the gunpowder plot.
But only now is this hallowed hall to host the first ever rock concert in its 600 year history, in the miserable month of February next year, when Bryan Adams will take to the stage for the City of London’s charity appeal.
The Lord Mayor Michael Bear will be attending this unusual iteration of the many celebrations and rituals to have taken place at Guildhall over the years, with the show to be produced by Harvey Goldsmith and Don Black.
The target is to raise £200,000, with an auction to be conducted by Nick Nugent selling off, among other trinkets, an old necklace of Angelina Jolie’s. As for the masterminds of the shindig, you can count City lawyer Neil Murray among them: he’s been chairing the committee in charge of the preparations, while Canary Wharf Group, Stephenson Harwood, Eurohypo AG and Westdeutsche Immobilien Bank AG are sponsoring the party.
Tickets are on sale for a cool £600, with the money raised going to Coram, the children’s charity.
SCROOGE BRITAIN
Britain might be struggling its way towards economic recovery, but that’s surely no excuse for delivering a well-wrapped IOU to your loved ones this Christmas.
Yet according to research from uSwitch.com, 32 per cent of Brits say they have received just such a promise in place of a present at Christmas. Partners are the most likely to not get their act together in time, with 20 per cent saying they got an IOU?from their loved one. Yet only 15 per cent of Brits admit to giving them, so either a few disorganised gift-givers are disappointing a lot of people, or there’s a group out there not owning up to their Christmas flops.
Still, an IOU has got to be better than a lump of coal, right? Perhaps not, with commodity prices skyrocketing…
CARD FRAUD
Intrepid spoof reporter Stephen Colbert has issued a challenge to an unfortunate Goldman Sachs partner unlucky enough to mislay his credit card: come on the Colbert show to justify your bonus or he’ll read out your credit card number on air.
“This season, Americans are facing 9.8 per cent unemployment,” Colbert announced.
“And the only chestnuts they want to see roasting on an open fire are the ones attached to Wall Street Bankers.”
But if the unlucky banker complies, will Colbert justify his own salary, rumoured to be at $3.5m? Perhaps you have more in common with the well-paid suits than you think, Stephen.
CAPITAL MEALS
Time to stop bashing British food. A survey by tourist agency VisitBritain (soon for the fiscal chop, it seems) reveals that tourists’ primary reason for visiting London is to eat out at our fabulous restaurants. Food came first for 82 per cent, while 70 per cent came to shop and see old buildings and monuments. With tourists dropping £8.2bn in the capital alone last year, it seems they’re not disappointed either.