Somewhere to Rant
A random assortment of writing, photos, videos and whatever else takes my fancy.
Top Gear and Peter Kay - London, November 2010
November 6th 2010
After the concert and finishing our food, we headed back to the hotel. Whilst the sensible thing to do would be to go to bed in preparation for what we all knew was to be an early start the next morning; we in fact did the opposite. A prior trip to the shops had resulted in the procurement of a case of Cobra lager and a bottle of vodka. These were started upon with fervour as we discussed the concert and what we were doing the next day.
Our plan all along had been to visit a comedy club, and have a chilled out night watching comedians and a few drinks. Glen now decided that he wanted to go to a music club and was becoming more and more vocal in his protestations. Paul and I were of the viewpoint that we’d just spent the entire evening at a concert, and we didn’t want to go to see music again so soon. The arguments become more intense, until I said why don’t we just go online and see what was available for, what with it now being the early hours of the morning, later that night. I found a couple of events, but eventually it came down to the straight fight between two – Peter Kay and Bill Bailey.
Paul sat on the fence, Glen screamed and shouted for Peter Kay and I caved in and agreed. Tickets for Peter Kay were booked and at 4am we finally headed for bed. 7am arrived all too soon and it was time to get up.
Queasy stomachs, spinning heads and a distinct lack of sleep were all complained of as we set about preparing ourselves for the day. Glen suffering more then most, looking on the point of collapse throughout breakfast. At 9am we made the short walk to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre for Top Gear Live. Then we made the much longer walk to the back of the queue. Judging by the size of the crowd, I think half of London had decided to come along as well. The queue, progressed smoothly despite its enormous size. Time passed quicker as we realised that Glen had pretty much no idea what we were here for.
“Top Gear” he pondered. “isn’t that a TV show?”
‘Yes’ we replied
“But this isn’t that Top Gear. I mean Clarkson’s not here is he” the confused man continued.
“Er, yeah he is. They all are. We’re seeing a Top Gear stage show, basically the program on stage. Do you think we paid £65 just for a motor show?”
“A motorshow?!? So this is just like cars and shit?” he cried out sounding more confused then ever.
It was at this point that we got him to confess that he genuinely didn’t know why we were here. He’d just handed over the money on the assumption that whatever Paul and I decided that we’d book would be pretty cool!
We made our way through the motorshow to the back of the building, where we joined another huge queue to get into the Top Gear show itself. The Exhibition Centre is vast, with huge amounts of empty space, this despite stadium style seating had been erected for thousands, the stage itself being big enough for multiple cars to drive around and of course the entire back stage area.
The show itself was enjoyable, but I think suffered a little from being quite so huge. Of course they’d never be able to replicate the intimacy of the TV program but they gave it a shot. They chatted to people in the audience and we all got to participate in the Cool Wall. There were plenty of stunts, which while impressive got to be a little repetitive. After all there is only so long you can watch a car doing powerslides in a small area. That doesn’t mean it was not a great spectacle though. A trials bike riding and jumping over a moving JCB being a particular highlight. They of course had some staggering cars on stage as well, and once the show had finished we’d get to head back out in the main floor and see them close up.
Seeing all these amazing and exotic supercars was good fun. Certainly the opportunity to see cars like the Buggati Veyron; something that I’d be very unlikely to see elsewhere, was great. But the thought kept nagging me that what we were seeing was like seeing wild animals in a zoo. The Cheetahs in the sanctuary in Nairobi were magnificent animals, but when compared to those we say in the wild they seemed to be missing that spark. What I really want to see is these amazing cars on a track. Some of them are beautiful objects, but they were created to be driven hard, not just looked at.
We stayed at the show for quite some time before heading back to base, freshening up and then making the journey across London to the O2 where we would be watching Peter Kay. The journey was uneventful and we arrived in plenty of time to have a meal before the show. We had a Thai at one of the restaurants in the O2. The food itself was nice, but the service was terrible. Proper service with a scowl. The waitress wouldn’t answer questions about the menu, and when she eventually brought some water to the table; she spilt it all over and then disappeared. We has presumed she was grabbing a cloth, but nope she just covered the table in water and left without a word.
Peter Kay just Rick-Rolled 10,000 people. That was my immediate thought when Rick Astley was introduced to the stage as the warm-up act. Well played Peter, well played. Our three reactions couldn’t have been different. I thought it was amusing. Paul returning from the bar did not have a clue who he was, and Glen was simply bouncing in his chair like an excited schoolboy repeating ‘it’s Risk Astley’ over and over again. It was brilliant just to see him so excited.
The show was great, with some real belly laughs. Some of the jokes went over my head, particularly a lengthy skit about Sky Plus and certain programs on ITV and Channel 4. As someone that rarely watches TV and doesn’t own Sky Plus I genuinely had no clue what the hell he was on about. However, Paul turned to me tears of laughter in his eyes and said “that’s just like it is at home”, so it was a hit with its intended audience. He then did another skit with misheard song lyrics and this time it was my turn to have belly laugh.
Peter Kay wouldn’t be my first choice of comedian, but credit where credit is due he does put on a fantastic show.
We headed back to Earls Court and ended up in a small bar/club not too far from the hotel. A great many drinks were had before heading back home and polishing off the rest of the Cobras and vodka.
Imogen Heap Concert - London, November 2010
November 5th, 2010
Sometime in February 2010, Imogen Heap announced that she would be putting on a performance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 5th. As it happens, I had already booked to see Imogen in concert later in February when I went over for my birthday. However, the chance of another weekend in London and to see my favourite artist in a venue such as the RAH was just too tempting. I also managed to talk a couple of friends – Paul & Glen into coming, and then we decided that we would make it a long weekend in the capitol.
Basically, I’d been looking forward to this weekend for a very long time!
Friday 5h November
We arrived in Earl’s Court just in time for lunch. After dropping the bags at our hotel we headed off to one of the locals for a pint and something to eat. There’s something special about that first pint, particularly on a holiday. The drinking of this pint generally occurs at a time when one would normally be sat at a desk in an office. That, combined with the thirst that has built from catching planes, trains and then the bustle of checking in all combines to this point where you can finally sit back with a couple of friends; lift that drink to your lips take a pull of whatever the local brew is… and relax.
And relax is exactly what we did. In fact we relaxed for most of the afternoon. Our initial plan was to head off a visit one or two of the museums. However, Paul and I have recently been to pretty much all of the big museums between us. Glen was not particularly bothered about visiting one and myself and Paul couldn’t agree on a destination we decided that we’d just have a quiet afternoon frequenting the local drinking establishments. In all honesty it was exactly the right thing to do. I hadn’t realised just how stressed that I’d become over the last few weeks. It was only as I sat back in a comfy chair, ale in hand and just chatting with my friends that the stress just melted away.
After a pretty decent meal and quite a few relaxing beverages we made our way back to the hotel to check in. On the way we made a quick detour and popped into the local bookies. The plan was that we walk in, look at the next race to run and each stick £5 on the first name that jumps out at us. Fiver duly placed, we watched the race. Of course, none of us had a clue what odds we had, what our riders colours were or even if it was a flat or a jump race. None of won of course, and that sent Glen into a little moan about how he’s wasted his money and the whole thing was pointless. Of course he was correct if looked at coldly, but it was just about doing something stupid just on a whim. If his horse had come in, he’d have been the first to jump up and down in celebration. For a whirlwind couple of minutes he may have been quids in. He leant forward watching the race, he cheered when it made a late surge, and in finishing second he very nearly won. Wasn’t that five minutes of rollercoaster emotions worth five pound?
Our hotel was the K&K George at Earl’s Court. We initially walked past when originally making our way there. We’d taken one look at it and decided it looked far too nice to be our place and headed further up the road. Between the three of us the place was very reasonably priced. The location is excellent, and the rooms comfortable and clean. There was a buffet breakfast included and that was excellent. My only reservation was the price of the hotel bar. We had a nightcap there and the round came to over £18, when in the pubs down the road the same round cost £12.
After freshening up, we were dismayed to see the rain start pouring. We booked a cab to take us to the concert. Taxis are generally one of the things that I tend to avoid when I’m away due to the cost. However, between the three of us the cost was minimal and we arrived right at the doorstep and more importantly bone dry.
The Royal Albert Hall is on imposing building. Tucked tightly between the streets it completely caught me by surprise the fist time I saw it. I’d come from near the museums, just wandering the streets with my camera. I simply turned a corner and suddenly there is was. Other landmarks buildings make themselves known from a distance. The Capitol in Washington DC would be one such example. When I visited DC, the building dominated the landscape. No matter where you were on the Mall, the Capitol made its presence felt. Yet the Royal Albert Hall sneaks up on you and then fills your vision. It is a splendid looking building as well. A classic design with the arches and relief’s; yet with clever use of lighting and the glass entrance it looks surprisingly modern.
That feeling of modernity does retreat as you pass into the side entrance to the main hall itself. Small tight corridors were the last thing that I expected, and I was put more in mind of my old school then a world famous venues. Those thoughts disappear completely as you enter into the auditorium. We took our seats which were right in the centre of the ‘circle’, just a few rows from the stage. The huge cavernous interior, the boxes and seating surrounding the stage all beautifully lit, the giant cinema screen glowing overhead and the sounds of the orchestra warming up. This combined to leave an amazing impression, and give the feeling that this was not going to be an ordinary concert.
Some weeks beforehand, Imogen had made requests for video footage of nature. Her plan was that her and an editor would then take this and produce a short film. Imogen then wrote a score to be performed live alongside the completed film. The first half of tonight’s concert was to be the culmination of the project and with the first public performance of the film Love The Earth. Just to add a little extra pressure, the premiere was also being broadcast live on the internet.
Imogen, wearing a conductor’s outfit with ‘LTE’, came out and introduced the piece and the orchestra started to perform. The imagery was captivating and the music was arresting. I do not have the knowledge or the skill to critique the performance as a piece of classical music. However, I immensely enjoyed the performance, which at times reminded me considerably of Koyaanisqatsi. It was all the more impressive considering in how short a period of time the whole thing had come together. If I recall correctly the appeal for video was made when I was out in Kenya. Considering that the footage needed to be collected, watched and selected before finally being edited into the completed film and only then could the music be composed simply blows my mind. To go from an appeal to being performed in front of a huge audience in around 8-10 weeks is an amazing achievement.
After an interval, the 2nd half of the concert was a continuation of the Ellipse tour which I’d seen at the Shepards Bush O2 in February. Even though I’ve now seen her perform live on two occasions, it still staggers me that we as an audience actually witness the songs being created before us. Prior to the first concert, I had presumed that due to the vast amount of samples in her songs; that she would sing to a prepared backing track. Instead, we would watch and hear as she would produce small objects and start making and recording the sounds we hear in the songs.
On a personal note, I was delighted to hear ‘Let Go’ performed live as I wasn’t expecting it. She also played Speeding Cars and Goodnight & Go which also rank up there with my favourites.
The concert closed with an alternate version of Tidal, and finally Hide and Seek. It was an amazing evening, and after having both the performance of Love The Earth and then the concert afterwards, it could be argued that we in the audience had enough entertainment for two evenings. As you can probably gather I enjoyed the entire evening immensely. Glen and Paul both enjoyed the concert which in itself was a relief to hear as they weren’t familiar with her at all. Paul seemingly going as far as to not listen to any of her music until the concert itself so it would all be new to him. I can think of worse ways to be introduced to an artist then a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
After the concert we joined in with the giant procession making its way to Kensington Tube Station in the pouring rain. Despite the cold and wet conditions people there was a relaxed atmosphere as people discussed the concert. Eventually we found our way onto the tube and back to Earls Court. We found ourselves sat in a KFC, puddles forming around our feet from our rain-soaked clothes. I had to give a chuckle at the difference an hour makes. One hour earlier we were smartly dresses, and sitting in one of the homes of British Culture. Now an hour later we looked like we had been dragged in off the streets and sat in one of the least cultural places imaginable.
In all, one of the highlights of my year.
A Sketch from my sickbed
Simon - 1st December 2010
It's been more than a couple of years since I last did any kind of sketching, and this is the first time I've tried anything on the iPad. Two things - I wish the screen was pressure sensitive and boy am I glad there is an undo button.
