Alexandra Palace is hosting a massive sleepover soundtracked by Max Richter
Comprising 204 individual tracks, SLEEP is an epic, 8 hour and 30 minute-long lullaby created for listeners to fall asleep to, and has previously been performed live at overnight events in a bunch of iconic global settings, including Sydney Opera House, the Philharmonie de Paris and The Great Wall of China. The events – and the mammoth task of preparing for such lengthy performances – were also captured in a documentary of the same name, directed by Richter's creative partner Yulia Mahr.
And now it's the turn of Alexandra Palace to host more of his truly special all-nighters. The north London music venue will be hosting two performances of SLEEP this September, marking the first time the piece has been performed in London since 2017.
The concerts will start at 10pm and finish at around 6am as the sun rises, and audiences will be provided with beds and bedding, as well as being served a light breakfast at the end of the night.
Fancy bunkering down in the Grade II-listed Great Hall for the night? Tickets for the event are on sale now via the Alexandra Palace website, with prices starting at £249.75 (steep for a concert, yes, but not unreasonable for a one-night stay in one of London's fancier hotels, which is how we prefer to think of the experience!)
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
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Rebel Fred Perry became UK exile and served in US Air Force in WWII after he was ostracised by Wimbledon snobs
FREDEMPTION Rebel Fred Perry became UK exile and served in US Air Force in WWII after he was ostracised by Wimbledon snobs Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ANDY MURRAY will soon become only the second person to be honoured with a statue at the All England Club. And having ended a 77-year wait for a British men's singles champion at Wimbledon, few would argue against Murray deserving the bronze likeness which will be unveiled at the 2027 Championships. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 11 Fred Perry was the last British man before Andy Murray to win Wimbledon Credit: AFP 11 He secured three Wimbledon crowns but was exiled from the UK Credit: Getty - Contributor 11 He had a string of relationships, including a romance with Jean Harlow Credit: PA:Press Association Yet even Murray's inspiring life and career - including three Major titles, two Olympic golds and a Davis Cup - pale in comparison with the only previous player to be handed this accolade, Fred Perry. As the first man to complete a career Grand Slam, a three-time Wimbledon champion, a winner of eight Majors and four Davis Cups, you'd imagine that Perry was feted and honoured by the tennis authorities and the British establishment while at the peak of his powers in the 1930s. Especially as he had been a world champion at table tennis, as well as the undisputed king of the lawns. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. READ MORE ON WIMBLEDON Wimbledon 2025 Djokovic in tough battle NOW, Gauff and Zverev CRASH OUT, Draper THROUGH Not only was Perry a working-class man from Stockport and the son of a Labour MP, he was also a fashionista, a lothario, a heart-throb, a rebel and, ultimately, an exile. He dated Hollywood sirens, including Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow, he married four times and, after emigrating and taking American citizenship, Perry served in the US Air Force during World War Two. In an age of intense class-based snobbery and of strict amateurism in tennis, the elitist plum-suckers in the Wimbledon boardroom decided that Perry was a lad from the wrong side of the chalk lines. When he turned professional in 1937, Perry was stripped of his All England Club membership, went on lengthy world tours and settled in the States - where he felt far more accepted than in stuffy pre-war Britain. 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But after a comprehensive victory over Australian Jack Crawford to win his first Wimbledon title - celebrated with a Centre Court cartwheel and a leap over the net - Perry suffered one of his most memorable instances of All England Club snobbery. While soaking in a bath after coming off court, Perry claims he heard upper-crust committee member Brame Hillyard tell runner-up Crawford that "this was one day when the best man didn't win". Hillyard then draped Perry's Wimbledon tie - symbolising his membership of the All England Club - over a seat rather than presenting it to the champion in person. Perry later wrote in his autobiography: 'I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life. Instead of Fred J Perry the champ, I felt like Fred J Muggs the chimp. 'Some elements in the All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association looked down on me as a hot-headed, outspoken tearaway rebel, not quite the class of chap they really wanted to see winning Wimbledon, even if he was English.' 11 Perry was a fashion star as well as a sporting hero Credit: Alamy 11 He went out with Marlene Dietrich Credit: Rex 11 Perry's first marriage, with American film star Helen Vinson, lasted five years Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 11 Andy Murray will follow in Perry's footsteps with a statue at the All England Club Credit: Getty Images - Getty And Perry certainly wasn't the only British sporting great of his era to become ostracised by snobbish attitudes. Harold Larwood, the great England fast bowler and hero of the Bodyline triumph over Don Bradman's Aussies in 1932-33, became a scapegoat for the diplomatic crisis sparked by the ruthless tactics of his upper-class captain Douglas Jardine. Larwood, a former Nottinghamshire coal miner, would never play for England again and ended up emigrating to, of all places, Australia. Perry, who inspired Great Britain to four consecutive Davis Cup triumphs, was far more popular with the public than his sport's top brass - and not least with women, who loved his fashion sense, including his on-court penchant for tailored white flannels and blazers. He would, of course, go on to make millions from his Fred Perry fashion range - with its laurel wreath logo - which is still thriving to this day. As for the ladies, Perry would marry four of them - including the Hollywood actress Helen Vinson and the model Sandra Breaux - before he settled down with Barbara Riese, the couple having two children and enjoying a 40-year marriage until Perry's death in 1995, aged 85. He was finally accepted back into the fold at Wimbledon during the last 25 years of his life, broadcasting for the BBC before his statue was unveiled in 1982 - to Perry's intense pride. 'I never thought I'd live to see the day when a statue was put up to the son of a Labour MP inside the manicured grounds of Wimbledon,' he wrote in his memoirs. 'There will be a few former members of the All England Club and the LTA revolving in their graves at the thought of such a tribute paid to the man they regarded as a rebel from the wrong side of the tennis tramlines.' Murray, who often felt his Scottishness was held against him during his early days at Wimbledon, never really knew the half of it. 11 His name lives on as the clothing brand Credit: Getty 11 He was briefly married to Sandra Breaux Credit: AP:Associated Press 11 The Stockport native was also a world champion at table tennis Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd
Metro
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