Gig guide…

On Monday evening Sue and I went out to a 'gig' in North London. We went to see the Willard Grant Conspiracy play at the Garage in Highbury. The concert was opened by Rachel Goswell who is new to me but definitely has a lovely voice. I bought her CD at the gig, her first solo album since leaving the Mojave 3.

WGC came on later and played some old and new songs from their extensive back catalogue. Unfortunately they had too much amplification (you could feel your chest vibrate with the base). It really didn't suit their style of music. The venue also was too smoky, noisy and uncomfortable for us so this along with Sue's jet lag made us decide to leave before the end. We are just getting too old for going out on a 'school night'...


On Saturday we went out to a very different concert, this time at the Barbican. Before hand we went to Warterloo and the IMAX theatre to buy tickets for the new 3D film Polar Express. We are going to go with Chris, Carol and their three girls. It is supposed to be absolutely magical, even better in 3D.

After buying the tickets we wandered along the south bank of the Thames past the Millennium Wheel and to the Marriott for a glass of wine whilst sitting and watching Big Ben. Everything about London in winter at night is bright and sparkly and very picturesque.

Before the concert we went looking for a different place to eat, and we found it in a tiny vegetarian-Mediterranean restaurant towards Old Street. I think I am surprising myself, as it wasn't bad.

We went to see one of our favourite bands, Lambchop, play accompaniment to a silent movie, Sunrise - A Song of two Humans. The band came on and sat facing the screen in front of the audience. They had an eight-piece band, which is a small part of the overall loose collective that they can draw upon. The film was absolutely wonderful, both modern and archaic at the same time. Stunningly filmed in a stylish and uncomplicated way that shows how the skill of the director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau overcame the limitations of the technology in 1927.

The music of Lambchop initially seemed out of place with and old film, but soon you realised that it actually complemented the way the film was not about a particular place or time, but about the people involved. Much of the music written for this film became the basis for their double album AWCMONNOYOUCMON.

This was more our kind of scene...