EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 Preview
Robert Spellman previews the EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 held from 15 to 24 November featuring Pat Metheny, Jamie Callum and Dave Holland. The reliably fantastic EFG London Jazz Festival is…
WOMAD 2024 Review : A Reliable Friend
In returning to Womad 2024 there’s an echo of that joy felt in childhood, of revisiting a favourite place where all will be well. You’ll have a blast and feel…
Nature’s Imprint: A Journey Through Time And Art Review
Robert Spellman reviews Nature’s Imprint: A Journey Through Time And Art an exhibition at the Whitebox gallery space of the Bankside Hotel. Neatly curated in the below-ground Whitebox gallery space…
Exploring Amsterdam by I Amsterdam City Card
Robert Spellman explores the Dutch capital via the I Amsterdam City Card You know what they say: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well, that old maxim certainly applies…
A to Z Guide to Summer UK Music Festivals 2024
We do excel at music festivals here in Blighty and this summer’s offerings more than pass muster. So give the tent a once-over and pick a party or two from…
A Michigan Road Trip
Robert Spellman discovers amazing diversity on his Michigan road trip. Well, this was a hiccup: arriving at Detroit’s Motown museum and nobody home. The weather had done its bit –…
Haarlem Things To See: Almshouses, Frans Hals and the Zuiderzeemuseum
Robert Spellman travels to Haarlem city in the Netherlands and discovers a city rich in culture and a laid-back attitude. I’m at a point now where “could I live here?”…
Bog Walking In Estonia and the European City of Culture
Robert Spellman goes bog walking in Estonia and visits Tartu, European Capital of Culture in 2024, and Narva on the Russian border. Never had I heard the word “bog” uttered…
WOMAD 2023 Review : Sitting and Dancing
From Peru to Ghana, intermingling the UK’s multicultural beat, this year’s world music festival certainly lived up to its billing. Read Robert Spellman’s WOMAD 2023 review. “What acts are you…
Indo + Caribbean: The Creation of a Culture
Robert Spellman reviews the new display, Indo + Caribbean: The Creation of a Culture at the Museum of London Docklands as well as its June Street Party. To coincide with…
Executions: Museum of London Docklands
Robert Spellman reviews Executions, an exhibition looking at public executions held at the Museum of Docklands London. Hanging. Burning. Beheading. Drawing, hanging and quartering. During London’s 700-year history of public…
Executions: Museum of London Docklands
Robert Spellman reviews Executions, an exhibition looking at public executions held at the Museum of Docklands London. Hanging. Burning. Beheading. Drawing, hanging and quartering. During London’s 700-year history of public…
K-Music Festival 2022
Down at the V&A at the moment is an unmissable exhibition called ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’, which showcases the vibrant world of South Korean popular culture. Also running is London’s…
UK Music Festival 2022 Guide
The UK music festival 2022 season is upon us and the weather is hotting up. Glastonbury aside, there are still plenty of tickets for everything listed below, so whether you…
Bob Marley One Love Experience at Saatchi Gallery
London Begins at 40 Music Editor Robert Spellman reviews the new Bob Marley exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. The best experience to be had at the Bob Marley One Love…
London Music Gigs Round-Up
Summer’s fading but the beat goes on. There are some fantastic shows to take you into the autumn, so London Begins at 40 music editor Robert Spellman has compiled an…
Music Album Releases in July
London Begins at 40 music critic, Robert Spellman, casts his eye across some of the latest music album releases in July, so you can enjoy music in the comfort of…
London Live Music in July, August
As the doors finally creak open to the capital’s music spaces, London Begins at 40’s music columnist Robert Spellman offers a selection of London live music in July and August…
15 UK Music Festivals 2021 Guide
Robert Spellman has rounded up 15 UK music festivals this summer that are due to go ahead covid-permitted for Travel Begins at 40. The idea of a summer music festival…
The Clash: London Calling at the Museum of London
Forty years this December The Clash released London Calling, UK punk’s greatest – or second greatest long player (depending on your poison) – and an LP as famous for its sleeve…
Jakobsweg Ischgl Michelin Stars in the Alps
Rob Spellman heads to Ischgl Austria, noted for its ski-soaked partying, in Summer and discovers a culinary treat worthy of many a Michelin star along the Jakobsweg. Even a simple…
Stanley Kubrick The Exhibition
Robert Spellman visits Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition at the Design Museum London, an extensive retrospective on the work of one of the twentieth century’s greatest filmmakers. The phrase “he’s done…
Aberdeenshire Holidays: Wildlife, Castles & Whisky
On a trip to Scotland’s northerly region Robert Spellman discovers in Aberdeenshire holidays the most wonderful wildlife, great castles and whisky galore. In 2017, an eminent travel publication conducted a…
Chrissie Hynde: Adding The Blue
Chrissie Hynde is best known as the lead singer of The Pretenders, but her latest book, Adding The Blue, demonstrates her talent as an oil painter. Words by Robert Spellman. …
