Thursday 20 July 2017

Comedy: Tez Ilyas & Concerts: U2 (Iberia) and Hanitra

Hello. I feel slightly frazzled, and (co-worker) James' cold isn't helping. Thank you, James.

Oh, what a week. So - returned from Ireland on Sunday, and on Monday night (prior to flying out again on Tuesday), I went to see Tez Ilyas. On one of those £3.60 tickets. My mother thought I was bonkers, in between flights, but then, I've never claimed to be sane.

It was to start quite late, at 9pm, and I hung on in the office until after 8, having a sneaky drink of wine. Bus then, up to the Pleasance Theatre - I'd just missed one, and ended up cutting it quite fine. The walk from the stop was familiar, squirrelled away among housing estates where I had to take staircases. And there, at the end, was the theatre, just across the road. Up the stairs to the venue itself - box office on the left, bar on the right, as the helpful sign shows. I was counting on them starting late, as they always do, and was not disappointed - the lady at the box office told me they weren't quite ready yet, and I was to wait in the bar.

In the event, they were a full 20 minutes late in starting. Which gave me time to have a packet of crisps - I didn't fancy any more wine. I plonked myself on a seat under the stairs, and watched everyone milling around impatiently, the usher frantically on his walkie-talkie, and every now and again positioning himself on the stairs to block people going up. Seems there was a technical issue. When we finally filed in, we were asked not to leave spare seats - it was pretty full.

Last time I saw this guy, he was in a suit. On Monday, he dressed down, in a t-shirt and baseball cap. Nuts, I think he was funnier in the suit. Anyhoo, he was doing an Edinburgh preview, and it really showed - the laptop on the table was there to show a slideshow that he kept forgetting the contents of. Now, the guy is funny - and this show would've been fine, if it were free - but I did find that the stories that he made out of his material were very long, ad the punchline had been too diluted by the end. I was glad to get out of there, and honestly, won't be paying to see him again.

10:20 when we got out - ouch! By the time I got home, it was late enough that all I had time to do was search for one of the handful of European adapters that I know I have squirrelled away somewhere. Sadly, not one of them could I find, so I'd have to buy yet another at the airport (for my phone charger, you know). At least I was packing light, for only one night away - the weather forecast showed I wouldn't even need a coat. Of course, I had printouts of my flight itinerary, and the all-important U2 ticket for Tuesday's concert in Barcelona; the latter caused some stress, when first I couldn't log into my Ticketmaster Spain account, then they couldn't display my ticket, for some reason - they could email it to me though, and all was well.

An early start, and I wore jeans but packed a skirt. Glad I left so early - it took me about three hours from the start to when I'd finally navigated my way through Terminal 3 (handily, there's a luggage shop just outside security, so the adapter issue was sorted - which also relieved me of some change). A quick breakfast in Caffe Nero - seems that everything they do is tasty: their new chicken and bacon toastie is delicious! That, and a quick trip to the loo, just left me enough time to get to about the end of the boarding queue, and the nice lady at checkin had given me a seat up front. I treated myself to a glass of wine (choice of chenin blanc or chardonnay) from the trolley - I see that BA don't take cash onboard now, interestingly! Oh, and their location map has Stansted in the wrong place..

Benvingut a Barcelona, brilliant sunshine (they were having a heatwave). Already too hot, and I was still in the airport. An enormous trek to Arrivals - at least I was travelling hand luggage only. Wisely, I'd researched my trip to the hotel. Now, both of the last times U2 has played in Barcelona have been on top of Montjuïc, but the last time was in Palau Sant Jordi, and I stayed on the airport side of the hill (no accommodation on top). Travel was a direct bus from the airport. This time, however, they were in the Olympic Stadium, and I was on the town side, in Poble Sec. Cheapest (apart from walking) - and simplest - was the Metro, so I headed for the ticket machines. One working out of seven, with a worker standing beside it, because practically every one of the clueless tourists in the queue needed help. A special Bitllet de l' Aeroport (€4.50 one way) takes you anywhere on the subway network.


Oh, but TFL could learn something from the Barcelona Metro, with internet access throughout, even in tunnels! Took the airport line to the end, in glorious aircon, then changed lines, disembarking at Paral.lel. This is on the junction between Avingude del Paral.lel and Carrer Nou de la Rambla, which is the street I wanted. Glad I had Google Maps though, to tell me which direction to go in. And what a shame I hadn't known that the lift to the street was actually at the side I wanted. Anyway, off I set, in brilliant sunshine and oven-temperature heat; I got a tan line on my legs where my jeans ended, just in the 10 minutes or so it took me to find the hotel!


There was a gentle uphill incline, and it wasn't easy. No sign of Hotel Brummell either, or any other - when Google Maps showed me I'd passed it, I wondered whether it was the large, unmarked yellow building on the corner. Even popped in there, but couldn't figure out its function. As I came out, mercifully, I saw the hotel sign, discreetly hidden behind some leafy trees on the other side of the road. Checked in - lovely, friendly staff, I have to say! The receptionist might have taken some time to tell me about all the (expensive) activities they offer, but I was only staying one night, so there wasn't any point. Oh, they have it all - yoga, massage, bike hire.. I took the lift up to my room on the second floor, and opened the door to blissful aircon! Set at 18 degrees, they cleverly decided to set the bathroom temperature a bit higher, reflecting that you might feel colder in there. Dinky little motion-sensitive light, near floor level, beside the toilet too, for those middle-of-the-night calls of nature, when you don't want to turn on the overhead light. Overall, they have a lovely, minimalist decor - and I had a (very) small balcony!


Well, I hid in my room for a few hours - ventured into the stifling corridor (stifling because the door that led to the stairs down to the pool was open) to grab something from the vending machine just outside my door, as I was hungry. Unfortunately, I started with crisps, which aren't heavy enough to push through the flap to fall into the collection tray, so I had to grab a hapless receptionist to open the machine for me. Payment is through your keycard, which is preloaded with €10 - I also got one of these (could I resist?):


Okay, they cost €4. Never mind.. dark chocolate, incidentally.

Well, I finally decided to lie down for a bit - and this has to be a contender for the comfiest mattress I've ever experienced! Absolutely gorgeous, and the pillows at exactly the right height for tv watching - mind you, the only English-language channels were news channels. God, it was hard to drag myself out of there. Anyway, I couldn't stand to put on the jeans again in that heat, so out came the skirt, earlier than intended. I took one of the two small bottles of water they provided for free in my room, removed unnecessary heavy things from my bag, and - much revived - bravely set off up the hill.

 

Went well for a while, until I realised I wouldn't be able to come down that hill I'd just come up - not in the above picture, I'm talking about the dreaded Carrer de Margarit! Right, I determined, I'll just have to come down a different way. And that's when I saw..


Well now, I'd already established I couldn't go back. So, onwards and upwards it was.. thank God there's a railing, at least. I took it nice and slow - particularly at the bit where I had to brush aside the trailing branch, because I didn't dare to leave the railing. And, amazingly, I did eventually reach the top, and joined the sea of the faithful - as usual, no need for a map at this point, just follow the crowd:


Despite stern warnings about id, they didn't ask for any. Queued forever at a merchandising stand outside the stadium, determined to get me one of those red t-shirts. I see the shade is different for different sizes! A lot of Americans in the audience, this time. Heard Noel Gallagher start up as I queued - you know, I was never a fan of Oasis at the time, but it kind of grows on you. And then I made my way into the stadium, praying against all experience for handrails. Well, there were some - but I was still left at Row 29, to make my way down to 13 without assistance. Had a trip to the loo, then made my way down gingerly - I discovered that I was much better if there was someone on the steps in my line of sight, blocking them a bit: so I just paused whenever there wasn't. With all the people coming and going for drinks and snacks, I didn't usually have too long to wait.


Best seat yet, this year. No food near me unless I went back up the stairs, sadly - which I wasn't going to do. And now I have to give a shout out to the Barcelona crowd - I was quickly reminded why I keep coming here. They're just good for the soul! They were in fine voice, singing along heartily to the chorus of Champagne Supernova. And the first Mexican Wave of my concerts this year - it went around four times! Oh yes, this crowd were up for it, getting all excited whenever anything at all happened, and jumping to their feet while Whole of the Moon was still playing, just before U2 came on.

I'm going to start with it - this was far and away THE concert of the tour so far - I know Dublin is still to come, but this will take some beating. You know, I curse them when I hear they're playing on top of Montjuïc, but it does have a couple of advantages: you get a bit more of a breeze, and the fact that there's no accommodation up here means they don't have a residents' restriction on how late they can play. So they didn't start until 9:30, which meant they could break out the spotlights, which looked amazing - in particular for the first four songs, when they haven't booted up that screen yet. To see the place bathed in red for Sunday Bloody Sunday - that was special. For the first time, I wished I was in the habit of taking photos at concerts..

Setlist:


An emotional one for me - not only during Bad, but even during I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which never has that effect on me, did I well up. And a LOUD one! Bono quite rightly remarked from stage that this was the noisiest crowd ever. (One of the happiest too, from what I could see.) He left us to sing a couple of songs - the crowd was aching to take over. I felt for Bono, actually, who was constantly gulping water during the show - can't have been easy, not only in jeans but also a leather jacket. He spent some time profusely thanking the stage crew for managing to get this together so they could play this date - I'm guessing the reason for the lack of gigs on this tour is that they only have one stage set-up. Usually, they have three - one that they're playing on, one being dismantled after the last gig, and one that they're assembling for the next one, all simultaneously. However, I guess they only have one of these high-res screens.

Paul McGuinness was in the crowd that night again - I bet he's proud. And good news - Bono dropped a suggestion that the new album, Songs of Experience, might be with us by year's end! Now, he's not the most reliable of sources - but the odds are good of a tour next year. Renew those memberships, folks - the presales are invaluable. I didn't get this ticket on presale - I actually couldn't log on for hours after the public sale started, and was convinced I'd lost out, but then tried on spec just before lunchtime - and got a ticket!! One of the best seats of all concerts, too. I guess no-one else had been able to access the website either. And hey, third time lucky - I finally got under that flag of the Syrian refugee that's passed around the stadium, and could help to pass it along! Sadly, it only made it halfway around - unlike London, where they ran it across the empty bits, it couldn't go across here, where there were railings.

And it was worth the trouble, the expense, the heat. Barcelona always is, but this in particular was one of the concerts that made me remember why I'm a U2 fan, why I keep schlepping along to all of these concerts around Europe, why I keep coming back to Barcelona. One of those that makes a impact, one that makes me long for the next one. And how lovely, they ended with that song they're debuting from the new album, so that was the song that stayed with me afterwards. Roll on the next, I thought, as I gathered my things.

Coming down, I just followed the main road - mind you, it was a lot longer, and I'm not sure I could have borne to come up that way, in the heat. Funicular next time! (As we finished after midnight, that wasn't an option for coming down.) Gratefully staggering into my room, I stopped at the vending machine, for a decently cheap bottle of ice-cold water, at a very reasonable 60c. Yep, great hotel this - mind you, at just under €200 for the night I was there, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Neither was I forking out €15 for breakfast, so I just made my way straight to the airport next day.

The nice lady at checkin the day before, seeing my itinerary, and that I was flying back the next day, had asked whether I'd like her to check me in for the return flight as well - which handily meant I could skip checkin this time, and go straight through security. A food court on the other side offers three options - Mexican (unoccupied when I arrived), Italian, and Chinese. I queued at the Italian for about 10 minutes before realising that the queue started on the other side. Ordered beef ravioli for what was now brunch - you had a choice of sauces, and I chose the carbonara. Despite me asking for no cheese, he got distracted and sprinkled some on anyway - but it was very tasty. Drinks and desserts available at the central island, where you paid - if by cash, through one of those machines I've never seen anywhere else: but it worked for me.

Arrived early at the gate - which was unfortunate, as they boarded us late, for some unspecified reason. We then waited for a Very Long Time before we could take off - and would you believe it, back at Heathrow, we had to wait again, for a plane to get off the stand we were supposed to be occupying. So we were 20 minutes late getting off. And, of course, I had that awful queue for passport control that I never have to bother with at T2, thank goodness. Shopped on the way home, for something for dinner - but when I got there, would you believe, someone had nicked my baking tray, which I must've forgotten to lock in my cupboard when I last used it, last week! So I needs must run out again, to Argos - who were frusratingly busy - to buy another.

So, with one thing and another, and having to rush out again yesterday evening - I fully intended to do the blog, but didn't have the time. In fact, having eaten, I realised I was going to be late for the World Music concert I'd booked for, in Sands Films. I was in two minds about going at all - well, I decided I would, and hopped on the Tube. I was counting on them starting late, as ever - they probably did, but had still managed it by the time I got there. When the song that was playing ended, I slipped in. Eleanor pointed me in the direction of seats in what looked like a pretty full room, and I got a seat on a bench at the side.

Hanitra is from Madagascar (although living in Réunion now, I believe?). Well, this was her first time in London, it seems, and Eleanor was doing quite a bit of translation for her. She has a lovely voice, and the music is mellow and catchy - I did find myself thinking that she could easily have slotted into a support slot in the concert, the night before. Most enjoyable - but not what I'd call memorable. And gee, home too late to blog again - at least I'd eaten!

Tonight, first it was free comedy in Hammersmith - with London Live Comedy and Hammersmith & Fulham Friends (soon to be closed down for lack of an organiser, I hear). Also hosted by Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and Discover LDN.UK. Then I booked another Funzing talk (as usual, with London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night). This is a talk about serial killers, as given by a forensic psychologist (Jennifer Rees) that works with the police, and who also gives terrific talks about psychopaths. Highly recommended! She's a terrifically engaging speaker, and looks far too young to be working in such a murky area. Unfortunately, now I've had to cancel - turns out that the much-anticipated first Meetup of the Man with the Hat's other ex-members' group, Love London for Less, is happening tonight, so of course I'm headed to that - we're going to the Icebar, where I've never been, meeting in Strawberry Moons beforehand. Should be interesting, and it'll be great to see old faces again. Never mind about the talk - although, despite being on the watchlist for the talk, I received no notice, Helen spotted that another instance of that talk has been scheduled for next month, and I'm booked for that.

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend - first to Dublin (from London City airport, a first for me), for U2's (one-and-only!) concert there.. then down to see my mother for a couple of days, flying back on Tuesday. That concert sold out ridiculously fast on public sale - I was lucky to be in the presale.

On Wednesday, I had booked free comedy in Greenwich - London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and London Art, Comedy & Culture Lovers. Then Funzing rode to the rescue, and I booked a Funzing talk entitled "Politics - WTF!" Appropriate, no? Anyway, I booked them on a once-only code "iwantfunzingagain". Or you could try "Funzing30" - both give 30% off, but are time-limited. But only just now, I checked.. and whoopee, London Literary Walks is back at last, with a Sculpture in the City walk. Thank goodness I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours beforehand without penalty.

Next Thursday, free comedy in Hammersmith again. So far.

So, that brings us to Friday 28th July, and it's off to Amsterdam, for my final two U2 concerts of the year (sniff). On Saturday and Sunday. Really, you have no idea of the organisation that went into all of this, back in January..! These were the only ones I couldn't get tickets for officially - bought them on Viagogo.

I fly back on the 31st, and saw an interesting Funzing talk advertised for that night - "Are We Living in the Matrix?" Well, I'm well overdue a free talk, with all of them that I've booked (every fourth free), so I contacted them to get a code to get this for free. Still waiting..! Despairing of them, I finally booked it on one of their limited 50% deals over the weekend.

On the 1st, I finally get to see Jennifer Rees again, when she's giving a talk on The Psychology of Criminals. With dim sum, great! (Had to stick with a 10% discount for this one - Fun_Day10 or Fun_Week10 are the ones you want for that.) And it's walking distance from me for once, in Covent Garden. Excellent.. and Helen has sensibly decided to come too. On which occasion she'll deliver all the stuff I couldn't fit in my bag, coming back from Twickenham!

 And I was just looking up what to do on the 2nd - and wouldn't you know it, at that moment the Pop-Up Opera sent me a mail with upcoming events. Une Éducation Manquée is a short, French comic opera, whose run finishes that day. All right then!
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