It was buzzing inside, but they made me up a table in the corner, and a smiley, friendly server made sure I was taken care of. It's quite intimate, the space broken up into lots of nooks and crannies. The decor is Italian rustic, terracotta floor tiles, an Italianesque fountain beside me. Other tables are beside fake windows.
I chose garlic bread to start, followed by a chicken escalope in a white wine sauce, topped with ham and cheese. I had a side of mushrooms in garlic butter, and a carafe of pinot grigio.
The garlic bread was very tasty- plenty of garlic butter- although it was the wrong kind of bread, with too thick a crust. The main course was lovely, and came with a small portion of vegetables. The mushrooms were delicious, the wine excellent. But the highlight was the chocolate cake, served with a hot chocolate fudge sauce that gave me a reason to use up the scoop of cream! Oh yes, I can see why the queue extended onto the road as I left - I was lucky to beat the rush!
Eventually, I made my way to the concert- slightly earlier than last night. Same entrance, but up the other stairs for the other side, for once. So, I was halfway between the I and E stages again.
Oh, so close. I was a bit worried about the very small child sitting behind me with her dad, but jeez, once we began to stand, she was right there with us, jumping around like a mad thing.
setlist
- The Blackout
- Lights of Home
- I Will Follow
- All Because Of You
- Beautiful Day
- Zoo Station
- The Fly
- Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
- Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Intermission - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me)
- Elevation
- Vertigo / It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (snippet) / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (snippet)
- Even Better Than The Real Thing
- Hall of Mirrors (snippet) / Acrobat
- The Showman (Little More Better) (snippet) / You're The Best Thing About Me
- Summer Of Love
- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
- Get Out Of Your Own Way
- New Year's Day
- City Of Blinding Lights
- One / Hear Us Coming (snippet)
- Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way
- 13 (There Is A Light)
encore(s):
For the second night in a row, I think Bono was impressed with the audience reaction- justifiably, and well done them! And a funny thing happened during his stint as MacPhisto- he looked right in my direction, pointed and gave a thumbs-up. Perhaps he recognised me from previous shows- there've been a few now where I've been near the stage. Now, there's an awesome thought..
Speaking of whom, MacPhisto's speech tonight was interesting. He challenged us to recognise him, then said, "What, haven't you ever seen a politician?" He then told us about his latest recruit, Mr. "Bossanova" (Bolsonaro), the far-right politician who's just been elected President of Brazil.
Pride, as usual, saw the guitarists make their way to the sides. Tonight, Adam was right at the end of our flight of stairs- and Lord help anyone trying to keep the aisles clear, as they rushed to get a picture. He was nearly close enough to fall on top of. The song, last night dedicated to John Hume, was tonight dedicated to both him and David Trimble, who won the Nobel Peace prize, 20 years ago this month, for the Good Friday Agreement. One of the things that Brexit is putting an end to.
I'm glad to see they found the pre-British version of the video for Get Out of Your Own Way, rather than just cutting it short. As last night, the parting message was to trust each other, regardless of what happens with the border. Another amazing concert- and the crowd tried to sing 40 as we left, before being shut down by the piped music. As we made our way home, several different U2 songs could be heard from different quarters. And oh, the icy air was sweet after the heat and sweat of the arena.
I've now used up most of my cash, glad not to be left with any weird NI notes that aren't accepted in Britain (Danske Bank, anyone?) Tomorrow, I'm taking the train down to my mother for a week - makes more sense than jetting back and forth to her! Hope I make my connection in Dublin- I should have an hour, but Dublin can be troublesome to get across.
On the 5th, I'm back up to Dublin. U2 again, dont'cha know? Staying in the Clayton again, which is a hop, skip and jump from the 3Arena, where there are concerts on the 5th and 6th. Would you believe, not even I could swing a ticket for the 5th - well, I'll just rock up on the day, and hopefully I can get something at the box office. I have heard of such things happening. I've had stranger things happen!
On the 7th, I fly back to London (BA) - purely so I can work on the 8th, before flying back to Dublin that night! Was supposed to be Cityjet, but they've now ended their flight schedule after this month - so now I'm going Ryanair. Same hotel, same venue, same band - on the 9th and 10th. I fly back on the 11th, exhausted, and finished with U2 concerts for the year!
On the 12th, I booked for Macbeth, at the Wanamaker Playhouse. And then Let's Do This finally posted that date for the Shirt Tail Stompers at Wilton's - well, I couldn't miss that! Funnily enough, London Social Detours have now advertised the same thing (and are charging more, as usual) - there's a terrible rivalry between the groups, with the leader of the latter group thinking she has prior claim to the floorspace. Sparks might fly. Meantime, anyone want a spare ticket for Macbeth?
On the 13th, we have our monthly team outing - probably just the two of us, but hey.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) at last for Love Lies Bleeding, at the Print Room at the Coronet. Got my ticket from London Theatre Direct.
On the 15th, I'm going to try the Seven Deadly Sins Pub Naughty History Tour. Walking in London again. And it being a Funzing event (like all of Walking in London's) I scoured my old Funzing discount codes, and discovered that Funzing_Fb20 seems to be working again - for all of them I've recently booked! So, a 20% discount - better than any recently offered on their Facebook page. Then I'm back to Ireland again for the weekend.
On the 19th, News of the Strange, from the Crick Crack Club, at Soho Theatre. The club does have a Meetup group, but it seems to have gone dormant, and is no longer advertising upcoming events. Not that that stops the organiser from attending - I'm sure I saw her at Monday's event!
On the 20th, back with UITCS for Pinter at the Pinter - Pinter plays at the Pinter Theatre. Two long ones on this occasion - this is Programme Four: Moonlight & Night School.
On the 21st, back at last with The London Jazz Meetup, who are off to the London Jazz Festival for a concert by the Faraj Suleiman Quartet at King's Place. UK premiere, apparently!
On the 22nd, with UITCS at the Garrick for Don Quixote. The only cheap tickets left for this were terrible, so I went a bit upmarket. A bit - I'm still behind a pillar!
On the 23rd, I'm on a Paranormal Activity Tour - ooh! Now, for this one, we get ghost-hunting equipment, which could make it interesting - I don't fancy the dowsing rods, myself, but we'll see. Walking in London, again. Discounted, again. And this was after my loyalty discount - so I got it at better than half price! which is good, considering the price.
On the 24th, I'm off on my own to see A Small Place, at the Gate.
On the 25th of next month, back at last to Winter Wonderland! That evening, I'm off to Cirque Berserk - an annual tradition for me. The latest show is the cheapest, so that's the one I booked.
On the 26th, I'm back with UITCS for Programme Three of Pinter at the Pinter - Landscape / A Kind of Alaska / Monologue.
On the 27th, I'm going to see Company, by Sondheim, at the Gielgud. No tickets available for the upper levels on the official site - they must all have been bought up by resellers! Cheapest I found was with OfficialLondonTheatre, run by See Tickets.
On the 28th, I'm with Walking in London again for the Haunted London Pub Tour.
On the 29th, I'm back with UITCS at the National for Hadestown. Then back to Ireland again for the weekend.
On the 3rd of December, I'm back to the National for I'm Not Running.
On the 4th, I'm off to the Bush, for Drip.
On the 5th, LDN Talks @ Night and London Speaks Sessions (both Funzing) advertised a "Winterville" talk on The Science of Santa, where we get the scientific explanation of how he does it. Taking place at The Windmill. However, seems they meant the day before, when of course I'm busy. So instead I'm going to True West, with Kit Harington, at the Vaudeville. Cheapest tickets from the venue.
The 6th could be interesting - Hazel of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts, London Guided Walks (and, indeed, Walking in London) has a Christmas Carol Tour. Now, the last two events I booked with her turned out to be no-shows.. the first might not have been her fault, as she was advertising someone else's event, but the second, she just missed the ball on and left three of us standing on a street corner. We shall see whether this event happens, I guess! Now, it's technically more expensive if you book on Funzing - but if you have my discount ;-) it comes down to the same price she charges on her own site, without the booking fee! So I did it that way.
On the 7th, back with UITCS at the Royal Court, for The Cane. Got the very last ticket, phew!
On the 8th, with them again at the Orange Tree Theatre for The Double Dealer.
On the 9th, the Crick Crack Club is back at the British Museum for I Know Not, an afternoon of Sufi legend.
On the 10th, I'm off to the Bridge Theatre for A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter, by Martin McDonagh. Starring Jim Broadbent, this is a dark take on Hans Christian Anderson!
And on the 11th of December, I'm going with North London Friends to The Convert, at the Young Vic. Discounted top-price seats, it seems!
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