Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Playhouse Theatre

 Last summer,I  booked to see Cabaret, starring Eddie Redmayne as the Emmcee, Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles,and Omari Douglas as Clifford Bradshaw.  That was a long time ago, when nothing seemed certain, and making any kind of booking felt light offering a hostage to fortune. It  crept up on me a little, and had I known ahead of time it was going to fall just as our government moved to an 'ignore it and  it will go away' policy on Covid, I might not have chosen this week, but such is life...  

The theatre has been completely reconfigured inside, there's now a central, circular stage, with seating behind as well as in front  of the stage, creating the feel of a club. In addition, the first few rows of the stalls have been replaced with cafe style tables. There are art-deco style, monocled masks on the walls (I can't remember from my previous visits, I think they are covering up the Roman style Ox skulls that used to be there) - it's very thorough.

The booking e-mail sending tickets also gives you an entry time, encouraging everyone to arrive early to allow time to visit the bars and pre-show entertainment. My entry point was the stage door (who knows how the actors get in!)  so one goes in to a rather utilitarian corridor, to the first of the bars,(and a complimentary shot of schnapps (or a bottle of lager or water) where a live pianist played,

On the main level, the second bar, in decadent white and gold, murals on the walls (destined, no doubt, were we truly in Wiemar Germany, to be condemned in the near future as degenerate art)  with dancers on a platform over the bar, live musicians, as well as a champagne bar.

And all this before you get to your seat!

Then - the show itself.

It's good. Very good. 

Eddie Redmayne is superb as The Emcee - almost clownish in the opening number, (sporting a fetching little party hat) and gradually becoming much darker, and colder, as the show continues, including an angel of war or death for 'Money Money Money', moving to a more conventional, if grimmer, appearance towards the end of the show.

Jessie Buckley didn't appear at the performance I saw, the Sally Bowles role was played by her understudy, Sally Firth (according to her mum, who I bumped into in the foyer during the interval, it was the first time she'd appeared in the role) 

The rest of the cast is very strong - Ellliot Levey and Lisa Sadovy, Her Shultz and Fraulein Schneider were particularly strong, and Omaro Douglas as Bradshaw was also excellent.

Booking information here, (the cast is changing from the end of March, Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley are leaving)  but I think that the production is good enough that it will be  well worth seeing even without them!

There are some photos of the show here, and of the redesign of the theatre here 

The Dresden Dolls

I'm generally more about theatre than gigs, but I'm a fan of Amanda Palmer's music, so when I heard that she was reuniting with Brian Viglione to play some Dresden Dolls gigs in London, for the first time in 12 years, I decided to try to get tickets. 

And, due to a less than optimal booking system I wound up with 2 separate tickets in different parts of the auditorium, but despite not sitting with my friend, I still had fun!

Amanda Palmer

Brian Viglione

The gig was at the Troxy, which is a beautiful Art Deco former cinema, built in the 1930s, and still has lots of original features, and reminded me of the Forum, in Bath, a little, but it also has deeply uncomfortable seating, with really narrow pitch between rows...

The Troxy

Still, lack of leg room aside, it was all good! Lots of familiar songs, including  a cover of Pirate Jenny, and a rendition of 'Coin Operated Boy' which was greeted with huge enthusiasm. There were also a couple of new songs, and an impassioned plea from Amanda to all her US fans.

Amanda and Brian, with their message to their American fans

I had a good time, and I'm glad I went. 

Zoë Keating at Kings Place

Several months ago, friends of mine pointed out that the wonderful  Zoë Keating would be giving a concert in London in September , and suggested that we should meet up an go, which, naturally, I agreed would be an excellent idea.

I had stayed with my friends the previous night, which was an added bonus - we got to eat cheese, and snuggle the cat, and catch up, and drink gin. (apparently I have led them astray, into the word of gin).

When we got to London we visited the British Library's 'Treasures of the British Library' exhibition, and went to Forbidden Planet, and spent dome time in a pub on the South bank (where we had good beer and mediocre food) 

Then for the main event!

King's Place is a new venue to me, and it is rather nice - big atrium, adjacent art gallery and National Newspaper) 

Thanks to my friends, we had excellent seats - dead centre of the third row, which was great.

Zoë then played a mixture of new and older pieces, giving us a brief introduction to each, and taking the opportunity to thank everyone who  provided or offered help (BA lost her Cello and luggage, on the flight from Germany. Apparently it finally arrived just an hour before the concert, so she had spent a lot of time trying to crowd-source a suitable cello an electronics).

It was very good, and came to a close with a little Beethoven.

For those of us who then hung around in the foyer, there was the added bonus that Zoë came out and chatted to us, briefly.

If you are not already familiar with Zoë's work, check out her web site (zoekeating.com) and buy the CDs.  You can thank me later.

The Impossible Girl

Last weekend I went to London. I'd pledged via Songkick for Kim Boekbinder's first UK show, and the gig was on Friday night. 

The show was at the Sebright Arms, which seems to be a pretty nice pub, quite apart from the cool musicians in the basement.

I met up with friends Mike and Sue, and some lovely friends of theirs.

She Makes War opened the gig - I hadn't heard of her, but I enjoyed her music. (and it turns out she is based in Bristol, so I may be able to see other gigs in the future.

And then ... The Impossible Girl herself!

Who played lots of songs from her new album, The Sky Is Calling, (which you should all buy, if you haven't already done so). I've been listening to the album a lot since it came out, and thoroughly enjoyed hearing it live.

What made it even more fun was that Kim was obviously enjoying herself so much. In addition to the music, she told us about bonding with Laura (SheMakesWar) over cheese, and about having a place on Mars names after her.

And at the end of the gig we all got to meet and chat with her, and get lovely posters. 

And it was a relatively early end to the gig, so we had time to had about and chat and drink after the gig, too. 

Lots of fun. 

In Which There Is Music (With A Typewriter)

Back in June, I backed a Kickstarter for Marian Call's European Adventure Tour. Because I like her music, and I hoped it might turn out that she'd be playing somewhere near enough to me that I go go and see her. But in my response, when I signed up, I did also say I might be able to host a house-concert.

Typewriter (and Ziggy the deceased cat)

Then, just over a month ago, I got an e-mail from Marian to ask whether I could host. I said yes, and we then e-mailed back and forth a little to arrange a date, which turned out to be Tuesday, 30th October.

So, on Tuesday afternoon, Marian, Patrick and Scott arrived, and there was time for us to chat, and to eat, and for Scott and Marian to set up in one corner of my living room, before guests started to arrive.

Marian Call and Scott Barkan

After half an hour or so of chatting and mingling Marian started her show - with 'Good Morning Moon'.

Jayne hat for Jayne song!

Marian

During the rest of the evening we also heard 'Dear Mr Darcy', which I think may be my favourite song on the album, ( not least for the wonderful line "I've been dropping hints like bricks on you"), the Avocado Song, and of course, "It's Good to Have Jayne on Your Side", complete with Jayne hat, and lots of audience participation!

Marian has a great voice, and I love the combination of witty, geeky, lyrics and 'folky' music. I also really loved the intimacy of having a show in such a small venue (and of course, on a personal level, having it in my own house meant no pesky travelling or queueing!)

In addition to accompanying Marian, Scott also performed some of his own songs, from his album 'Little Days'

Scott Barkan

It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed meeting the other fans who came to the show, all but one of whom were complete strangers to me!

Here's a taster for you - lots more of the music to watch,listen to and buy on Marian's  website.(and a couple of others on my youtube channel

If you have a chance to see Marian play, take it. You won't be disappointed.

(More of my photos here on flickr, plus further pics here from another guest, Andy.)

In Which There Are Many Happy Things

The full title of the post should really be "In which there is family, and art and museums and friends and Rock and food and beer and meeting people and brownies and lots of fun" but that's a little too long.

You see, Wednesday was the day (night) that Amanda Fucking Palmer was performing in Manchester. when the tickets first went on sale, I had to decide between the London and Manchester shows, and picked Manchester because although it involved more travelling, I got to combine the gig with a visit to my brother, and to introduce him and his girlfriend to Amanda's music, which seemed like a good idea!

I drove up to Manchester in the morning, and was able to meet R for lunch (unfortunately, my visit coincided with the only-available-about-twice-year-and-very-useful training day he needed to do, so he couldn't take the afternoon off, which was a shame, but such is life. R works at the BBC, at Salford Quays. It was odd for me to visits the Quays, as they have changed almost beyond recognition since I lived in Manchester - the area was almost all industrial wasteland in my day...

After lunching, I went to look around the Imperial War Museum North -which has exhibitions relating to modern warfare, and in particular to the impact of war, so there were exhibits about victims of shell shock, and trench warfare, and about prisoners of war, and victims of concentration camps, (and those who were involved in liberating them) as well as about more recent events such as the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks. Not an uplifting experience, but both interesting and thought-provoking.

A little later, after nipping back to R's house to drop off my stuff and park my car, I got a tram into Manchester and spent half an hour in the Manchester Art Gallery. I only had time to visit a small part of it, but it was nice. They have some lovely Victorian decor - I liked the fishes and bees, for instance...

There are also some quite nice pictures - I didn't get as far as the Lowrys, but I did see the William de Morgan tiles, which were always a favourite of mine, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of old and new art - the butterflies are by an artist called Claire Brewster, and are all cut from ordnance survey maps... I liked them a lot!

I didn't get to stay long, as the gallery closes at 5, and I then had to leave, after which I met up with R and his girlfriend, J, for supper (an American themed meal, involving milkshakes)

and then it was time to head to the cathedral. We went via Sinclair's Oyster Bar, which is a lovely looking half-timbered building (built in 1720, and moved a few hundred yards, after the 1996 IRA bomb and subsequent redevelopment of the area) We had some rather nice beer, and met up with my friend Hellie, who was also heading the the gig.

And so - the main event!

AFP watching the stage

I have been to Manchester Cathedral before, for services, but never for a gig - it made for a pretty awesome space.

 Once inside, we spotted Laurie Pink and Essers (which was good, because it turned out that Twitter had been hiding their DM's from me, when we were trying to work out if we could meet up!)

They had cunningly spotted that there was space to stand around the side of the stage, where there was a good view! So we did standing there, too.  There was some brass band going on at the other end of the nave , then the vicar came to welcome everyone. I suspect he doesn't get massive applause and cheering on a Sunday morning, generally...

Friendly vicar says hello

Jherek Bishoff

Then there was music. Jherek Bischoff played - including a piece called 'Cistern' which, he explained, was written in an empty, underground water cistern and rarely performed, but the cathedral seemed an appropriate space to try it in (for the record, it really, really, worked!)


After the second opening act, Amanda Palmer started her own set (having introduced the others) with an a capella version of 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley', sung from the top of the (medieval) rood screen, above an array of painted angels. It was stunning.

She then came down onto the main stage and was, well, Amanda Fucking Palmer. Most of the show involved songs from the new album,  Theatre is Evil, but we also got 'Leeds United'..

It was an awesome night. We didn't stay for the post-show ninja encore outside the cathedral, on account of having to catch the last tram home, but even without it I was on a high.

And when we got back to the house, R revealed that he had specially baked some chocolate brownies for me, as a bleated birthday treat, and he & J stuck candles in them and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me at midnight, which made for a lovely, if slightly surreal end to the day. (plus, I got a whole lot of delicious brownies to bring home)

(more photos, as usual, on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmarjorie/

In Which There Is Music (and Half-Pony, Half-Monkey Monsters)

On Saturday night, Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm were performing at the Colston hall, in Bristol, and I went along to see them (and to help out with the Merch table)

As anticipated, it was a whole lot of fun. I arrived early and got my very first 'Access All Areas' pass, (sadly not an awesome laminate such as JoCo provided for the Fabulous Lorraine, but one must, I assume, start small and work one's way up, with these things...)

I met up with Kerrin, who is a long term fan, who acts as a roadie for Jonathan and Paul and Storm during UK tours, and with Angela, another hard-core fan, who had travelled from Switzerland for the UK gig, and who was responsible for the whole licorice penises thing, and Angela's friend Lena. We chatted, and ate swiss chocolate, and discussed licorice penises and panties (as one does).

And then we went up to the hall, to find seats and sell T-Shirts, before the gig started.

Paul and Storm opened for JoCo. Appropriately, they opened with 'We are the Opening Band', which was derailed when Angela orchestrated a certain amount of throwing of panties...

They also treated us to the wonderful new 'Write Like the Wind (George RR Martin')

and of course there was a song about pirates . .

After the interval, Jonathan Coulton took over - as always, he was fun and geeky. And soldiered on, despite a broken guitar string (which caused a capella 'Madness' songs by Storm) and Paul's nose-panty incident, and some slightly over-enthusiastic audience participation!

It turns out that the cake is a lie (who'd have guessed?) and I was a little disappointed that no-one seemed to have brought jaffa cakes, but one cannot have everything!

We sold a lot of t-shirts and CDs, and I had a lot of fun, enjoyed meeting some new people, (and some who are not so new) and finally got home, very tired, around 1 in the morning.

I would have preferred it if I had then been able to go straight to sleep, rather than then being kept awake by a very loud altercation between two of my neighbours. I may not have caught all the nuances, but it seems that Emily may have been gossiping about 'her', and apparently this needed to be addressed. At 2 a.m. At great length. *sigh* Still, who needs sleep?

More videos from the JoCo gig are up on my YouTube channel, if the ones here aren't enough for you!

In Which there is a Dead Codebreaker and and Live Cellist

I  booked a ticket a while back, to see Zoe Keating, at her one London show, Then this weekend I had a mild panic for fear I would be too ill to go (The panic was mild only becuase I had no energy to panic properly) However, come Monday I decided that if I was well enough to go into work, I was damn well well enough to go to London to listen to music.
I am not sure whether the logic of that decision would hold up to rigourous examination, but it seemed reasonable at the time.

I had prebooked an afternoon off work, and a rail ticket, so I arrived in London at around 3.30, and decided to head across to the Science Museum, which currently has an exhibition celebrating Alan Turing's centenary.

It was a small, but interesting exhibition. As well as the obvious points, such as Turing's work at Bletchley Park during the War, and his tragically early death after his conviction for homosexuality, the exhibition included some information about his childhood friendships, as well as about his work at Manchester University following the war.

One striking piece of information, new to me, was that 2 of the papers which Turing wrote during his time at Bletchley,  were not released publically until April this year, apparently becuase it was felt that the work they contained was sstill too relevant and too important.

Which is astonishing.

After looking round the Turing exhibition I wandered into a few other parts of the museum. I admit that the section about vetinary history left me rather cold - it's hard to get interested in toothrasps and horse drenching bottles. I liked the Wellcome medical history gallery better, although possibly not for the right reasons. It is full of tableaux and dioramas, peopled by manniquins which appear to be rejexts from even the most undiscriminating shop display. The tableaux themselves range from an oddly unconcered Roman with an arrow in the neck, to a modern operating theatre, but are arranged, apparently at random. They also have some interactive exhibits where you can try out some psychometric tests, but without being told how you score, or what the normal reaction might be. I should like to think that the whole exhibition might be an elaborate psychological experiment..

The random Roman bath-tub was nice, though.

I then wandered back downstairs, pausing to take a look at the microscope made for George III (it has cherubs, and semi-naked ladies on it) and at Mr Babbage's Difference Engine, then I took a wrong turning past the Daleks  (they label them as being V2 and other early rocket engines, but you only have to look at them to see the truth =>;) and I found myself unexpectedly face to face with George Stevenson's 'Rocket'

It's pretty impressive. And I like how they keep it next to the Apollo 10 Command Module, and a few other bits and bobs of a similar kind.

There are Steam-Engines and Beam-Engines and great big Jet Engines, and bicycles and biplanes and all sorts of other fascinating things. It reminded me why I like this museum, and that I ought to come more often!

But, like all good things, the museum visit came to an end, as they like to close it in the evenings, so I took the hint, and headed out to Hackney, and the  Vortex Jazz Club, where Zoe Keating was playing.

The venue is small, and was very full. Opening for Zoe was Ruby Colley - a composer / violinist who, like Zoe, uses a computer to allow her to accompany herself.

She played a short, but fascinating set, which left me feeling that she is a name to watch - I shall certainly be keeping an eye out for any future performances.

Then, Zoe started her set (with a slight delay in starting, due to a computer issue). I can only say that her music is even more stunning live than it is recorded - and she's a witty lady, too. And despite the crowded, overheated room, the uncomfortable chair, and the nagging anxiety that I might miss the last train back, I lost myself in the music for a time.

and, although I was forced to leave before the set ended, I did not miss the last train home.

Ode Warrior!

On Wednesday evening, I went to see Mitch Benn and the Distractions, at the Rondo Theatre, in Bath. It's not the first time I've seen them, and of course I also enjoy hearing Mitch on the The Now Show.The Rondo is a teeny tiny theatre - I believe it seats around 100 people, so even if you're seated at the back, you're still very close to the stage!

I really enjoyed myself. I've seen Mitch several times before, so I had very high expectations, which were more than met! And I persuaded my friend Cheryl to come along, and I think I've converted her, too. Her review is here.

There were lots of new songs, including an excellent song about love (and allergies) written and sung by Kirsty Newton, and another about the Queen Mother's love of Jamaica...

Mitch wrote a song during the interval, (featuring the Titanic memorial cruise, and the extradition of Abu Hamza) which would have been impressive had it been pre-written, and was at least doubly so having been written in the 20 minutes or so of the interval.

I particularly enjoyed Mitch's Eurovision song (here - listen), which reminded me of what Flanders and Swann might have done if they had been allowed to use rude words, and of course, one of my absolute favourites, "I'm Proud of the BBC"

If you find Mr Benn is performing anywhere near you, go see him. And if he isn't, go and listen to the Now Show on Radio 4, and search for him on youtube.

You won't regret it.

(tour dates and stuff here http://www.mitchbenn.com/

[Edited to add: Can't BELIEVE I forget to mention the song about Quantum Mechanics! There was a song about Quantum Mechanics, people!]

In Which I am Fascinated

Back in August, Nail Gaiman tweeted about the shows he was enjoying at the Edinburgh festival. One of them was 'Fascinating Aida' - and he exhorted all his readers to go to see them. I hadn't heard of them before, but when  looked I them up, I saw they were due to play in Bath on 30th October, so I bought a ticket, and so, on Sunday night, I found myself in the Theatre Royal, not entirely sure what to expect, but hopeful I would have a good time.

The current line-up consists of Dillie Keane, Adele Anderson and Sarah-Louise Young (the newest member). The show was great -modern, topical cabaret.

The opening song "Companies Using Nifty Tax Systems" (enjoy those initials..) was followed by the wonderful Dogging (very much NSFW) which included Ms Keane's warning "For those of a sensitive disposition.... what the fuck are you doing here"  I loved the show, and also got a good deal of pleasure watching the older ladies sitting next to be going gradually from incredulity to hysterical laughter!
A little later in the evening we were treated to the song 'Cheap Flights' (after which the current tour is named) at which point I realised I had seen them before. Very funny.

All too soon, the evening came to an end. The final song was dedicated to Bath itself, "your Roman ruins are extensive, but your pumproom teas are too expensive"...

Watch the videos, they give you a far better idea of what these women are all about that I can. and in the event they play anywhere near you, go to see them, You won't regret it. (unless, of course, you are of a sensitive disposition!)

An Exciting Weekend - Part 2. In Which There Is ROCK

Amanda Fucking Palmer’s gig was at ‘Heaven’, a club in Charing Cross – doors opened at 6, and I got there at about ¼ to 7, which was handy, as it turned out that that was more-or-less when the music was due to start.

Amanda came on, in her underwear, to announce the first of the two supporting bands, The Jane Austen Argument, and to acquire various shiny things for her crowd-sourced costume.

I haven’t seen the JAA before, and only knew of them from hearing ‘Bad Wine and Lemon Cake’ on Amanda’s ‘Down Under’ album,   but I would be very happy to see them again…

Sadly they only had time for a few songs, then Amanda was back to introduce the second supporting band, Bitter Ruin, who of course I have seen before, several times. They performed ‘Trust’, and ‘Chewing Gum’ and ‘The Vice’ , and it was all good.

And did I mention that I bumped into Roz Kaveney, and @Raliel (both of whom I’m met before, but neither of whom I’d arranged to meet up with).

I loved both the opening bands, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more excited about seeing AFP herself…

It would be fair to say I was not, in any way, disappointed (well, except maybe in that I was quite a long way back, and a lot of much taller people suddenly appeared on front of me, so I did not have as good a view as I’d have liked, but that’s life J)

Amanda started her set dressed in a slinky sparkly blue frock, a feather boa, elbow gloves and a hat, none of which lasted long! Soon she was in corset and pink lame shorts

 She opened with ‘Astronaut’ and continued with songs both old and new – Missed Me, for instance, Guitar Hero, and several new songs, which she asked people not to upload just yet. There was a great rendition of Delilah, with Georgia of Bitter Ruin, and Neil Gaiman was lured up onto the stage to sing ‘The Problem with Saints. 

Tonight’s (or maybe this tour’s) band is called ‘Grand Theft Orchestra’ and included the awesome Una Palliser on violin, (she normally, it seems, plays with Shakira) Super Kate, (who belly danced) a 3–man horn section (stolen from Eric Clapton) and of course a number of other special guests..

Another of the guests was Tim Minchin, who I have seen on TV, but never live – he played a delightful love song; ‘You Grew On Me (like a Tumour)’ And then the final guest was Tom Robinson who quickly had the entire singing along with huge enthusiasm to Glad to be Gay.

 The encores included ‘Map of Tasmania’ and ‘Oasis’ and the gig ended with a mass rendition of ‘Leeds United’ – it would be hard to say who was enjoying it more – the gang on stage (including all the guests) or the paying customers, certainly everyone was singing, dancing, and generally having a fantastic time.

This gig has to have been the biggest high you can imagine – bottle the atmosphere and you’d make a fortune! 

After coming out of the venue, I was happy to see the wonderful cycling piano moving away, having earlier entertained the queues, no doubt (it was parked, by the time I arrived)

 
I am so very glad I was at this gig. And even on the tube going back to my hotel I kept getting little bouncy feelings of happiness, as I saw other gig-goers, with beautiful tattoos, or butterflies in their hair, or multi-coloured hair, wending their happy ways home.

And did I mention that there were at least 3 people dressed as the 11^th Doctor at the gig, and nary a raised eyebrow?

I didn’t get to sleep for hours, as I was still buzzing; I’m not sure I’ve ever been with so many people having all such a great time at once, before.

Which Involves Churchill, and Jason Webley

I could get to like staying in expensive hotels (especially when I don't have to pay). The Hilton Waldorf's breakfast would set anyone up for the day - possibly for several days.

After breakfast, E suggested that we go and visit the Cabinet War Rooms, which were the underground shelters from which Churchill and his government operated during the London Blitz, in WWII. At the end of the war, they were closed up (although it appears that they got some further use during the Suez crisis in the 50s) and then were opened to the public during the 1980s. They are currently run by the Imperial War Museum.

I'd been once before, when K and I were taken as part of a trip to London when we were children, but that was over 20 years ago, so I wasn't averse to making a second visit!

The museum includes some of the rooms used during the war, which in some cases were left untouched at the end of the war, and in others were re-furnished (using old photographs as guides) when the rooms were opened as a museum. I found looking at things such as the cutting-edge technology (an entire bank of switches and wires, to allow for transatlantic phonecalls, for instance) fascinating - a reminder of just how quickly technology has advanced over the past 70 years). It also left me feeling a little claustrophobic, and very glad that, unlike the various clerks and secretaries I don't have to send the best part of 6 years huddled in a basement barely seeing daylight!

The museum also includes a big museum about Churchill, including not only the war years, but also informtion about his childhood and youth (including one of his cavalry uniforms, demonstrating that he was quite slender as a young man!)

All very interesting. I left a bit sooner than E, on account of needing to get back to the hotel to collect my blongings and then get to the station to return home. I was rather startled to come upon Boris Johnson wandering through Churchill's bedroom. Due to my poor facial recognitian skills, he's probably about the only politician I would recognise on sight, as he is so distinctive-looking, but it is rather disconcerting to bump into any politician without warning!
Anyway, after getting over that unpleasant surprise, it was a relief to have a straighforward journey home, and to then have time to relax and make a meal before heading back out to Bristol to go to Jason Webley 's gig.
The pub where the gig took place was in Stokes Croft, which is not the best part of Bristol - I was a little nervous about leaving  my car, but the pub itself seemed fine, although when I went into the room the gig was in I was somewhat surprised to find that the room consisted of no seating,  and also no windows or aircon, so the room resembled a large, somewhat BASIC sauna....

There were two other performers - a band called, I think 'Big Hello'  which featured a lead singer who sang with his back to the audience, and a drummer & guitarist who rather drowned out their singer. Then there was a solo artist 'Cat Green Bike' who sanfg and accompanied herself on the ukulele, and who had a small but dedicated cadre of her own fans.

Both fine, bu I admit I was waiting for Jason Webley, and that neither of the support acts were so good as to make me forget thet!

Once Jason started, however, his gig was great!

I particularly enjoyed hearing 'Eleven Saints' and 'Dance while the world crashes down', and loved having the chance to go to a small, intimate gig (even one with no ventilation!).

We had about 2 hours of music, ending rather abruptly as the pub had to close (So no 'Drinking Song') - but such fun. I was absolutely knackered, afterwards, but so glad I went. Especailly as it seems that  Jason is unlikely to be back in the UK for some time. I was able to say Hi to Jason, and give him a hug, which was nice :-)

In Which There is Music and Much Driving, But No Keys

This weekend, I had one of the few (total:20) tickets to see Bitter Ruin play some of the songs from their work in progress, in their home in Brighton.

I've seen them several times before, most recently last June, in in Bath, and earlier last year when they opened for Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley's EvelynEvelyn show in London, and it seemed as though it would be a fun thing to do.

My trip didn't start well. Brighton is a long way away, so I planned to drive to my sister's place in Portsmouth, then get a train to Brighton. She & C were willing for me to stay there in their absence, and so the plan was to get the train back after the gig, sleep there, and have a leisurely drive home on Sunday morning.

Unfortunately Royal Mail let us down, and the keys to the flat which were posted to me on Wednesday (1st class, which is supposed to mean they arrive the following day) failed to turn up. Having stayed in until the post arrived (well after mid-day), I was not best pleased that the keys didn't arrive.

Having no option, I then drove to Brighton (which takes about 3 hours) where I inadvertently parked in the Worlds Most Expensive Car Park before heading out to look at Brighton.

The Royal Pavillion is one of the sights of Brighton. It was built for the Prince Regent (later George IV) between 1787 and 1822, and as it currently stands was designed by Nash, in the Indian style - the interiors are (mad) Chinoiserie, but I didn't go in on this occasion, as it's not cheap, and I didn't have time to do it justice.

I think perhaps we should be grateful that The Prince Regent did not allow his enormous debts get in the way of building such a lavish palace, as it gives us something most impressive to look at now! The pavillion was used as a hospital during WW1 - it must have been somewhat disconcerting, espcially for any poor soul suffering from fever...

After looking around the town a little I found a very nice restuarant and gorged myself on fresh whitebait, and wild mushroom risotto, then I walked along the promenade watching the gulls riding the wind, and the people on the beach.

I met up with 5 or 6 of the other people going to the show, outside Ben and Georgia's flat, and we all headed in. 

We all settled down on the living room floor, with glasses of wine (and little bowls of dolly mixture, supplied by our hosts) 

 Ben & Georgia played us a selection of the new songs which they are currently working on for their next album - I particularly liked 'Child in a Sea Cave'.                                                                                                                                                                 In between songs we talked, and they answered questions, then played more songs from the back catalogue, with more conversation and discussions in between.  It was a lot of fun!

When the show ended, Georgia took a picture of the bunch of us, before we left.

(Picture taken by Georiga )

Then there was just time for a little more conversation before heading back to my car for the long drive home. It was twilight as we left the flat, and the amusements on the pier were all lit up.

It was well past midnight before I got home, and my dodgy shoulder is complaining about all the driving, and I still have the problem of how to get my sister's keys back to her (once they finally arrive here!) but despite all that, it was fun, and I'm glad I went.

I would also like to go back to Brighton at some point, and spend a bit more time looking around the pavillion, gardens and so forth..