Ah, at last! A Hard Façade gig I could get to. About time they scheduled one for when I was here, and hadn't anything booked! :-) It's been ages.. last year, as I recall, since I saw them live. Months, I believe, since they played live either. Ironically, I found this the hardest yet to get tickets for - our co-worker, Jon, who's in the band promised to bring them in.. then they weren't ready.. I finally got one the day before, at lunch, when Nabeel, who used to work with us, brought them. Phew!
Yesterday was a hard day for me. As usual, I didn't get to bed in time, or get enough sleep. Then work turned unexpectedly hectic, when the guy who was supposed to be telling me what he needed of me finally caught up with me, and landed me with a load of work to be in by Monday! So yesterday was a long, long day. I worked late, to get as much as possible done, to make Monday as easy as possible for myself. So by the time I left, it was after 7, and with the guys onstage at 8.45, and on the other side of town, I needed to go straight there.
I grabbed a sandwich from Tesco as I passed, and ate it on the Tube - which, mercifully, wasn't too packed by this time. Goodness knows, I had time - nearly half an hour to get to King's Cross. I have been to Surya before, and vaguely remembered to take the King's Cross Station exit - then you just have to take Pentonville Road, which is kind of straight ahead. When we were discussing it at work earlier in the day, someone described it as being downhill. Eh, not until the return journey it's not - it's actually quite an uphill slog. From that direction, anyway!
When I finally panted my way up to the venue (well, as I say, it'd been a long day!), I met the band, coming out. Turned out they were going for food. So I accompanied them all the way back down the hill. Oli wanted to try Foodilic, a little place we passed that he'd always been curious about - so we did. Some went for the extensive salad bar - having just had a sandwich, I decided to hit the dessert shelf, and picked out the last slice of chocolate roll. We all thought the takeaway prices were very good value. And we went back to the venue (or just across the road - it was a pleasant evening) to eat it. My chocolate roll was delicious, and the salad got the thumbs-up too.
Then it was inside, show my hard-won ticket, and get my wrist stamped - she insisted on there, rather than my hand; the ink turned out to rub off quite easily. I got a glass of wine, and gingerly made my way downstairs with it to the basement music venue. I positioned myself by the wall, and listened to what was left of the set of the first act - Brittle Empire. Quite good - the lead singer has an unusually melodic voice though, and I wonder whether this is the right music for him. Hey-ho: as they were packing up, someone came over and said I'd obviously enjoyed it, and did I want a free cd? Hmm! So I am now the proud possessor of a Brittle Empire cd.
As Hard Façade prepared to go on, co-workers and ex-co-workers gradually arrived. I did like Jon's sartorial choice of a red bandana - v striking! And soon, we were off - for a fairly brief set, six songs according to the playlist at their feet. Only one of these was new - as had been explained to me beforehand, it's not like they don't have more new material, but it just ain't quite ready yet.
I think they enjoyed being back - I know I enjoyed hearing them live again. They were a little rusty, but that's what you get for not playing for a while. The new material they played showed promise, but just needs a little polish. And they're developing in confidence. I believe they even made a small profit from this gig! ;-) Onwards and upwards.. and maybe one day, I can wear a Hard Façade t-shirt to their gig, instead of a U2 one.
Towards the second half of their set, I was feeling uncomfortable - it was stiflingly warm, and I wished I could sit down. So the minute they finished, I scarpered upstairs. Except, when I got to the top of the stairs, I nearly fainted. Stepped outside, and felt alternately faint and nauseous. Really bad, in fact. Oli's girlfriend kindly offered me her bottle of water, but it was really some cold air that I needed - and as I explained to her, I'd better head home. Might've been something I ate - more likely, it was just all the rushing around for the last couple of days, and my irregular diet. I went and sat at the bus stop around the corner for a few minutes, till I felt well enough to make my careful way downhill (thankfully) to the station. And with the cold night air, by the time I got there I felt much better - still, I was wary all the way home. And too exhausted last night to blog!
But I did take it as a good sign that their song "Make My Day" was running through my head on the train home. And I'm already looking forward to the next gig!
I've had a really lazy day today - well, anyway, I had it in mind to go to a film, so I had to do out my list of what's on. In order of IMDB ratings. Top of the list was a Bollywood comedy called Piku, about an only daughter, sorely tried by having to look after her 90-yar-old father with bowel trouble. And then they have to do a long road trip. The trailer looked really good.. until I saw the male romantic lead, and thought - ugh! Not that he's so ugly, but he pulled a disgusting face in one scene, and that was it for me. Next on the list are three films, tied at 8.2 - but when I saw that one of them was Wild Tales, I looked no further. I've seen this trailer - it's produced by Almodóvar, and it shows. Looks hilarious. Nearest showing to me is in the Curzon Soho - so I'll wander off there in a bit, grab a bite in Chinatown..
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