On Thursday 10th November, I was invited to join in on the launch of #ibislates, a gig series to be hosted by Ibis Hotels to take part all around the UK. This specific night was their first, and it was in collaboration with the Roundhouse in Camden, so all the musical talent was locally sourced. We were going to be listening to the sounds of Jay Johnson, Estee Blu, Soma sound and DJ Nikita Chauhan ( a BBC1Extra DJ I might add)
I had to arrive at Shoreditch London City Ibis to check in at 2pm and get prepared before our bloggers and influencers meet and greet at 3pm.
After checking in, I scoped out the hotel, checking out what they had to offer. I was given a complimentary stay alongside the launch party, so of course I had to get blogger happy and take some pics of the room etc...
Upon arrival to the room, that was situated on the 9th floor ( superb views - I might add) there was an Ibis Tshirt and canvas bag full of goodies from a toothbrush & toothpaste to tictacs and a usb. Not to forget the tattoo arm sleeve that was of course for later that night. The room was immaculately clean as so was the bathroom. I also liked the little finishing touches such as the sachets of Galaxy Hot chocolate and a very fancy Highland spring water.
The lighting was so ambient and peaceful in the bathroom
This little wonder smelt amazing!
Here were some of my goodies from my Ibis canvas bag
Oh and not to forget - the lovely, freshly baked warm cookies that we received upon arrival to our room also - what a treat!
So here we are at 3pm, sitting down and having a meeting about how the day was going to run. All Bloggers and influencers were introduced to each other and we were all given a specification sheet, a set of guidelines and also information on how to take part to win some amazing gifts! The competitions were based around which blogger could get the best content from the night starting with the interviews and working your way to the next morning's breakfast. Our meeting only lasted around 30 minutes maximum, so I had from 3.30pm to 4pm to get a great selfie for my Instagram!
And here it is! Well worth the 30 minute time limit I reckon ;)
We also received these Lanyards that of course showed we were exclusive to the party but also privileged us all with 5 alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks for free. How nice! #ibislates
Now that It is 4pm, we are welcomed to the Sweet Bed Room, where the lovely Natasha Culzac will be interviewing all the artists of the night as well as asking questions sent through via their live facebook link. I was able to come in and watch behind the scenes. I also managed to get a sneaky picture on the bed before the whole thing kicked off.
Here I am before the interviews started....
The first to be interviewed was Jay Johnson, a musician and songwriter from South East London. Listening to his interview I found that he used to busk on the streets of London before given a chance to play at The Roundhouse and now he is a Roundhouse Resident Artist and is working on his EP at Abbey Road studios.
I managed to catch him at the lift after his interview and grabbed a sneaky picture ;)
On our way down to sound check! The whole day consisted of using these lifts. Good job they were always working! From 4pm to 6pm, Interviews were taking place in the Sweet bed room on the 10th floor, whilst artists rotated between that and Sound check on the ground floor. So, me being me and wanting to get all the footage I could possibly get, I was up and down between Sound checks and Interviews and managed not to miss a single thing!
Here I am at the bar... the red brickwork was gorgeous and lit up - it created such a warm atmosphere in the room. I also loved the coasters for their drinks... they were mini vinyls!
Still setting up and the artists are still warming up.
Another infamous lift picture! Back up to the 10th floor for some more interviews in the Sweet Bed Room.
Next up was Estee Blu, A Singer Songwriter based in London who immediately for me mimics the sounds of Jhene Aiko. She embraces genres such as jazz and gospel through neo-soul and r&b. During soundcheck, she did her own version to Rihanna & Drake - Work and she rocked it! She was also Westfield present's artist of the month in August 2015.
Here we got to meet DJ Nikita Chauhan, she was due to start her set from 10.30pm and once I heard she was a BBC1Extra DJ, I knew she was going to be good - and she was!
Next up was Soma Sound ( sadly I didn't get an image of them in the interview room - however I was able to film mostly everything and live streamed it that night to all of my followers) They are an energetic percussion group based in London and were born out of the music collective at the Roundhouse.
We were told that there would be canapés at 6pm. So after the last interview in the Sweet Bed Room, we took another lift journey downstairs to await the much needed food.
And it all started from here... bare in mind another 10 boards of food came out after this, and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to start us all off.
Everything was kitted out for #Ibislates from the plates and coasters, to t shirts and pillow cases, they really had the whole event well advertised! I am also gutted that I didn't ask for one of those cushions! It could have been a great piece of memorabilia from the night!
Rocking out waiting for the night to begin! They had all these fun props such a blow up guitars and microphones and millions of celeb faces for us all to just goof off! They also had a huge frame - so we could all have some fun with our cameras!
This was me either getting frustrated that my phone kept dying ( because someone forgot the portable charger) or trying to stay as active as possible on all my social medias. #Ibislates also had their very own snapchat filter made especially for the night!
I met some really lovely bloggers and vloggers! These two were both called Sam and were both vloggers! It is so amazing to work in this kind of field and meet so many different people from all over the UK! They also became the winners of a free gig with Roundhouse - so congrats to these two!
This is where the night began...
First Jay Johnson played his acoustic sounds and guitar strumming....
Estee Blu killed it with her version of Work by Rihanna and Drake - very soulful!
Soma Sound beat hard down on their percussion instruments and showed us what music is really all about. The band consisted of Alley ( bass, guitar and vocals) Dave (guitar), Momoko (drums), Aaron (keys), Kaidi (sax) and Regan (percussion).
and after 5 Strawberry and Lime Kopparbergs I decided to call it a night!
In bed with Ibis.
Sweet Dreams
x
I just want to Thank Ibis Hotels (especially London City) and Roundhouse for an amazing night as this was my first bloggers event and everything was perfect! It definitely was a night to remember!
For more information about the artists mentioned see below;
Jay Johnson
Estee Blu
Soma
