I saved hundreds watching a tribute band over the real thing July 15, 2026 Tired of spending hundreds on stadium gigs, Damien Gabet set off on a long, dark journey to Cheltenham to watch a System Of A Down tribute band. It might have been better than the real thing We can all recall a piece of music that, on first listening, irreversibly rewired our minds. I can vividly [...]
Everything’s going to sh*t. Here are 25 of the best dystopian novels July 15, 2026 The genre has roared back onto bookshelves and best-seller lists. Harry Owen asks why we keep returning to this bleakest of genres – and recommends some top dystopian fiction Dystopian fiction is once again lining the bookshelves of Waterstones. And is it any wonder? All good dystopia really hinges on its ‘plausibility’, the writer concocting [...]
This is what proper British pub lock-ins used to be like July 14, 2026 If you’re under 60, you’re unlikely to have experienced a proper British pub lock-in. But there was a time when it was a cornerstone of a good night out, a rite of passage and a membership to an illicit club. Andy Blackmore tries to remember the good old days A few decades ago, this country [...]
How to become a (successful) vintage watch collector July 13, 2026 Every watch obsessive has a dream: mine is a 1964 Rolex Daytona 6239. Sadly, even addiction has boundaries and the only way I’ll ever own one is if I sell my house. Thankfully, I can console myself with the knowledge that there are other less-coveted timepieces that, even in these interconnected times, occasionally fly under [...]
Who is scrawling poetry on London streets? And why? July 10, 2026 London’s self-styled street poets are scrawling messages on walls and pavements. Lucy Carter tracked down the creators Walk down any central London street and you’ll spot them: pithy statements scrawled on paving slabs, walls and hoardings. They often take the form of simple white words, signed off with an Instagram handle. These pavement poems are [...]
Inside the Gumball 3000, the world’s most outrageous motoring event July 4, 2026 Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin has teamed up with the world’s most outrageous motoring event, the Gumball 3000. Adam Hay-Nicholls explores the rally’s wild history, its improbable legends and its enduring appeal Sports cars and watches go hand in glove. Synergies of precision timing and craftsmanship are used to cement the credentials of each brand, whether [...]
Inside the trippy French vineyard owned by ousted Claridge’s billionaire July 3, 2026 Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst have designed pieces for Chateau La Coste, France’s totally surreal vineyard, the vision of the billionaire who formerly owned Claridge’s. Adam Bloodworth on the trippiest Provençal escape Resting on the side of a dirt road at Chateau La Coste, a vineyard and country estate half an hour outside of Marseille, [...]
‘It’s military precision’: meet the chefs crafting summer’s £6k corporate hospitality dishes July 2, 2026 Inside the race to create summer’s poshest corporate hospitality dishes Later this month, the thrice-Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan will be serving Cornish lobster with pickled gooseberries, oysters with chicken glaze and Miso-roasted cod with smoked roe. In many ways, it will be the same as any other day for the 57-year-old from Southampton. At his [...]
‘Dangling perilously off a horse’: can an ordinary bloke play polo? July 1, 2026 It’s a sport associated with kings and aristocrats. But as Rivals popularises polo, can self-titled ‘normal guy’ Adam Bloodworth get into it? in City AM The Magazine, Summer edition, he saddles up with the England captain to find out With all of my body weight resting on my right foot, to my horror, I appear [...]
I’ve taken the best train trips in the world. Here are my 5 favourites July 1, 2026 From the Highlands to the Andes, Luke Abrahams explores the world’s best train trips and asks why, in an age of speed and screens, slow travel still holds a unique allure Since I was a child, I’ve loved the rhythmic sway of a train. The sedate pace, the repeating wallpaper of landscape rolling past the [...]