How ‘authentic’ Arsenal are bringing north London culture to the United States
North London is Never Far Away.
At 10.30pm on Tuesday night in downtown Los Angeles, the motto underpinning Arsenal’s tour of the United States rings true.
Stationed in a red-brick warehouse block, The Beehive is swarming with close to a thousand fans, local influencers and Arsenal-supporting musicians as they celebrate Islington’s Finest — with a special cocktail even brewed for the occasion.
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London DJ Siobhan Bell has repurposed the new shock-yellow kit as a two-piece outfit for her performance, while former players Gilberto Silva, Lauren and Ray Parlour mingle with supporters after doing a live podcast with fan media sites Arseblog and ArsenalVision.
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Antslive, who fronted the video to launch the away shirt alongside other up-and-coming artists and first-team players Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, is kitted out along with his hype man, who is orchestrating the crowd. The 23-year-old’s breakout track, Number One Candidate, will have only come into most fans’ consciousness as the soundtrack of the kit release.
Antslive’s affiliations became known to the club when his song went viral on TikTok, reaching over 1.4 million views. It helped that in the video, which saw him galloping past the Italian Dolomites on horseback, he wore a vintage Arsenal shirt and sported an Ian Wright-inspired gold tooth and flat cap.
If that sounds like doing things differently then that is because it is — which is why Arsenal saw him as the perfect partner for the launch.
The club is making a concerted attempt to cater for U.S. fans, now their primary international audience. Arsenal America is the umbrella group that brings all the
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