Best street musicians in London?

May 20, 2013 1:54 AM

I'm in London for a visit and now it's my last week. Yesterday I was down by the BFI Film Centre and there were a couple of amazing street musicians (an accapella trio and a dude named Flaming Moth). On Holborn Friday evening there was a kickass drummer. So where else in London can I find great street musicians?
posted by storybored to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

There are busker spots all over the tube network.
posted by brujita at 2:05 AM on May 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Try Covent Garden
posted by vacapinta at 3:14 AM on May 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Strictly speaking it's illegal to busk on the street with the exception of Covent Garden and the tube, where buskers can apply for a licence. Try Brick Lane on a Sunday during the market too.
posted by jujulalia at 4:44 AM on May 20, 2013

Other spots I've seen illegal buskers include also the Columbia Rd. Flower Market, spots on the Southbank from Westminster down to the Old Globe, Trafalgar Square, the museum subway connecting V&A, Science Ctr etc, Villiers st, between Charing Cross and Embankment.

It *feels* as if there should be buskers in Camden Market, but I haven't really seen much going on there.
posted by vacapinta at 5:08 AM on May 20, 2013

The best street musician in London is the homeless youth who plays a traffic cone. You can usually see him at the weekend in Leicester Square or outside Charing Cross.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvwguKsqKKU
posted by mani at 7:40 AM on May 20, 2013

Response by poster: thanks for those tips, folks!

Tonight, another sighting: a rock band doing decent Rolling Stones and Beatles covers at the corner of Oxford and Argyll near the London Palladium.
posted by storybored at 2:58 PM on May 20, 2013