Inside the bakery

Residents in Bloomsbury square could have been forgiven for thinking that they’d been transported back in time, as hundreds of bright young things attending the V Day Ballroom Blitz queued outside the Bloomsbury Ballroom last night. Looking very dapper in their fantastic re-creations of 1940’s outfits, attendees enjoyed a night of decadent Glamour with a twist of modern rock.

As hosts of the event, Cakers turned out in their finery with pretty frocks, lipstick and nylons (that was just the boys!) zoot suits and trilbies … What a good looking bunch we are! We were joined by The Enemy who played an electrifying set after spending a few hours watching the football. Re-creating the community spirit of the 1940’s in a packed ballroom, bonding with the audience, who were happily punching the air and singing along to their sheer raw passion and energy on stage.

The Rumble Strips, true to form blew the roof off, with their trumpet ensemble playing a fantastic modern ska set and despite having a worry that they had no 1940’s outfits, naturally turned up totally looking the part. The Thirst scooted all the way across London from a Rock against Racisim gig and made it on stage just in time to kick off the event – they loved it so much they stayed and partied with us until the early hours with Bloc Party playing some inspiring tunes on the decks and reminding us just how good the 80’s were!

Hugo and Lawrence from Popstars kept the main room going all night between bands with some great Electro Dj’ing and Dave Berry entertained us all throughout the evening dressed like someone out of clockwork orange.

The Cake live team did themselves proud with a chill out room to die for - a fabulous re-creation of a 1940’s German cabaret bar, where showgirls and magicians mingled with the crowd.

The Broken Hearts played a Burlesque Dj set throughout the evening, ringing through their mixes on a telephone and sporting the kinkiest little gold lame air hostess outfits you’ve ever seen. To set the scene, The Marjorie Belles started the celebrations with some original 1940’s tunes… And yes we got the Chattanuga choo choo (who knows how to spell that?!) Finally the showstopper came from ex Tricky singer, Martina Topley Bird, whose new critically acclaimed solo album is out next week.

There are a few Cakers feeling rather sorry for themselves today, having enjoyed the debauchery of such an amazing night, so be gentle with us please! (Professional to the last the Cake team’s party started after the main event of course!)

But why you ask did we do all this?… Well apart from the 1940s fashion trend currently hitting the high street, and our love of all things indie, we actually had a message to convey! Last night we took the first steps to changing the perceptions of youth volunteering in England. Our client v, launched 150 new youth volunteering projects for 16 – 25 year olds, a program called vinvolved, with opportunities in areas as diverse as music, sport, environment and the community.

We had over 7,000 entries for tickets to the event and well over 500 lucky people, made up from existing volunteers and newcomers to the creative and inspirational young volunteering scene, attended the gig.

To find out more go to www.wearev.com.

Check out Pot Noodle’s latest genius piece of advertising. Following on from the Moussaka Rap, I Wish… is a parody of the 1980s power ballad complete with rolled up jacket sleeves and heartfelt staring into the middle distance. Nice to see Pot Noodle back to its irreverant best!

Cakers pulled on their walking boots and took part in Living Streets London wide movement ‘Walk to Work Day’ for the second year running this morning.

We discovered a whole new side to the journey to work by leaving the traffic jams and crowds behind to walk in the sunshine. Camden Council provided each walker with a stepometer and a scrumptious (but healthy!) breakfast feast when they got to the office. Pure California supported the event by giving everyone who walked to work a free smoothie for their efforts.

Intotal, the company took a massive 192,406 steps, which works out as 96.203 miles. We saved 10 Kg of CO2, that’s around 10 bags of sugar in weight!!!

To make the walk a bit more interesting the walkers took photos on their journey. Darragh Ooi won the prize for best photo and will now receive a scrumptious box of organic fruit and veg once a week for 4 months!

The opening of a new Carling Academy is always a cause for celebration, which is why we rolled out a special version of Carling Supports specially for Sheffield, home of the newest Academy.

Carling Supports was successfully launched on a national level in 2007 and gives unsigned bands a chance to taste fame and fortune by playing at their nearest Carling Academy. They can also gain a supporting slot for a headline act in the venue.

To celebrate the opening of the Sheffield Academy, we ran a localised version called Carling Supports Sheffield. The aim was to raise awareness of the venue among local bands, music lovers, on trade outlets and the media.

Over one hundred bands from all across Yorkshire entered the competition, with hopes of being on the first bill of Carling Academy 2 Sheffield. Sixteen bands were chosen to perform at showcases in pubs and bars across the city, where they played to an independent panel of judges. Standards were high throughout, with a wide variety of music styles on show. Plans to choose four finalists proved impossible; a slight bending of the rules made the decision a little easier and five top quality acts made it through to the main event.

Shot Dead, The Magi, Tiananmen, Vegas Child and Silent Film Project rocked the 400 strong crowd with music ranging from indie pop, through rock and punk, to heavy metal, with each band bringing a different sound to the evening. Having over 400 fans turn up to an unsigned music showcase highlights the health of the Sheffield music scene and the quality of the acts that played on the evening; it’s great for Carling to now be part of it.

For more information and images from the Carling Supports Showcases, take a look at the Carling Supports website.

Much April fools fun was had in the media yesterday, from President Sarkozy deciding to have leg extensions to the creation of a thought controlled iPod. However, the top one has to be the flying penguins created to promote the BBC’s iPlayer. Well done BBC…