Absolute Radio has announced that there will be a cosy concert by the band Elbow in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London, ahead of its summer of live music programming, ‘Absolute Radio Live’. You can assume that there will be only “elbow room” available, and fans in attendance will be restricted to a very exclusive VIP list!!

The concert is part of a series of Absolute Radio events in unusual locations, including the first rock gig in The Houses of Parliament with Biffy Clyro, stopping the traffic in Regent Street for a performance from Madness and Elton John at the Union Chapel. The Elbow gig will take place on 26th May and will be broadcast on Absolute Radio on 5th June from 7pm to 8pm. The recording will be repeated on Absolute Radio’s digital station Absolute Radio 00s.

It’s not just Absolute Radio who are seeking out wacky and weird locations for gigs this summer. Selfridges is partnering with NME to support Project Ocean, a campaign celebrating the beauty of the world’s seas and highlighting the issues surrounding overfishing. As part of this promotion, the department store has invited NME and music venue KOKO to stage a series of Club NME gigs in its Oxford Street store’s Ultralounge, which has been transformed into The Dive Bar in aid of Project Ocean. The free concerts will take place on Friday evenings at 6pm, kicking off tonight with Swedish new wavers The Sounds and followed by Camden’s Bones on 20th May, Spark on 27th May and Young Rebel Set on 3rd June.

Of course this is not the first time that musicians have performed in bizarre locations. The Party at the Palace pop concert in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee was launched with Queen’s Brian May performing “God Save the Queen” on the roof of Buckingham Palace!! This mimicked the original rooftop gig over thirty years earlier on the afternoon of 30th January 1969 when The Beatles surprised a central London office lunch crowd with an impromptu concert on the roof of their Savile Row Apple Records headquarters.The escapade was eventually cut short by the police who objected to the noise – obviously the “party poopers” were not fans of the Beatles!! The group (with a little help from keyboardist Billy Preston) had managed to entertain Londoners on adjacent rooftops and the streets below with a run-through of songs they had been rehearsing with a vague album in mind. Their five-song set included “Don’t Let Me Down”, “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “Get Back”. The rooftop gig had a particular significance and resonance as it was the first live concert since the Beatles stopped touring in 1965 and sadly was to be their last!!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU………What’s the strangest location for a gig that you have attended? Or alternatively suggest a wacky location for your favourite band, and we’ll pass your thoughts on to their management company!! You might simply wish your favourite group or solo artist to have a presence in your house, without the intrusion of the roadies and groupies……

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