Book Tour: Stories of Surrender

For last night, I booked at Conway Hall, for a concert called Sing Like a Vagabond - Shouts and Cries of Victorian London. Tickets were free, but you did have to book.

Of course, when something is free and I'm going on my own, you know my plans can change.. Well now, I did think it funny that the one free, solo, and therefore changeable, event that I was going to this week.. coincided with Bono's stopover in London (at the Palladium) on his book tour; he's promoting his autobiography, Surrender. Which, of course, I have already - plus the audiobook. Couldn't resist, given that Bono himself narrates it. Anyway, tickets for his live appearances went on sale a month ago. Could I get one?! Not a hope - Dublin sold out in five seconds, London in seven, I hear. (They are smaller venues than usual for U2 concerts - not that U2 is actually playing on this tour, he has a few stand-in musicians.)

But lately, there have been ticket drops.. so I checked when I woke on Sunday. And would you credit it, London was advertising about eight tickets.. literally shaking, I booked the closest I could get to the stage - Stalls, Row M. Had the wrong password for my Ticketmaster (TM) account, of course.. but managed it, in the end. (At this stage, only the London one is convenient.) And then - I wept tears of joy and relief. Goes to show - never give up. Oh, and the ticket comes with a free copy of the book.. Lordy, at this stage I'll be gifting everyone a copy for Christmas!

Well, I kept an eye on the chat forums on u2.com - people were worried about their tickets being delivered, but mine came through to my phone in good time - on Monday, as I recall. Mind you, I could foresee a problem - for security reasons, they couldn't be screenshotted (heh). Which meant you had to access them live on the night. And even if you kept the TM app open, if you hadn't accessed it for a while, it went back to the main page, and you had to reload the ticket. And my internet connectivity isn't great in that part of town.. Now, they do advise that you should add it to your Google Wallet in the event of losing internet. So I downloaded that and clicked the button on the ticket that says "Add to Google Wallet". Nothing. I tried and tried, but although my Google Wallet said something had been added, I could not access it from there. They do say something about just holding your Wallet to the scanner, so perhaps it would've been ok - weird interface though, if so.

Well, that was all I could do. As the event drew nearer, I headed off for something to eat - again, I could catch a bus from near O' Neill's, so ate there, ordering at the bar again. And checked the TM app, just to have everything ready. Just as well I did - the damn thing had logged me out! I had had to change my password, so had to look it up - now, I wouldn't have fancied doing that at the theatre, tight for time and in the pouring rain.. so I got the ticket out again, which, as I say, was all I could do. Speaking of rain, it had been forecast - but it was only as I left the pub that I saw it had started. Not torrential, but persistent.

It continued to rain on me pretty persistently while I waited for the #73 - which didn't come at anything like the time Google Maps predicted. 10 mins I was stood there, getting wet - no sign at all of the alternative option, the #390. Anyway, I finally managed to get on the #73 - which was packed. Hate getting buses in the rain - they're crammed, stuffy, everyone damp. Downstairs was completely full, so I ended up upstairs - right at the front. Not that I could see anything, the windows were all steamed up.. not a hope now of arriving at 6.30 either, which was the time stated on the ticket, although I knew from the forums that the event never starts before 8 or so. Which tallies with my experience of U2 as well.

The bus terminated just a short walk from the theatre - yay. So it didn't take me long to get down there. Where - it was chaotic. Pretty much the whole place had sold out, remember - although there were still last-minute tickets at the box office if you were around, and moved quickly - the UK is great for that. Only a few, mind. Well anyway, the venue had sensibly divided the crowd into several queues, depending on where you were sitting - all the queues were really long, I might add. I asked one of the ushers for the Stalls queue - she pointed to the one snaking down Little Argyll Street. So off I went.. and walked, and walked, to get to the end.

Rainy Night in Soho, indeed! It was Biblical. And it poured on us for 15 minutes before we even got around the corner, and could see the theatre:

The queue snaked across the road - which made it interesting for any hapless drivers that braved it! And so finally, after 25 minutes in the pouring rain, we approached the theatre.. where a nice man in a hood was taking note of people's seat numbers, which he scribbled on PostIts, and handed to us! Very handy, I have to say - we weren't allowed phones inside, you see, so this was in case we couldn't remember where we were sitting. He worked for Yondr, the company that was handling the phones. Well, wouldn't you know it, just as he'd taken down the number, the internet died on my phone! Cue me waving it around frantically as I approached the ladies with the scanners - managed to get it working again, and had to retrieve my ticket again. Knew it'd happen. Anyway, it just worked in time - I got scanned, they told us to turn off our phones as soon as that was done, and the Yondr people were right behind them, with nice, fleecy pouches to drop our phones into. Which fastened with electronic tags, much the same as you get attached to clothes in shops. And which I carried around with me from then on.

Inside, I headed for the Stalls - passed a little kiosk, but someone said there was a bigger bar inside, so in I went. And that's where merchandising was. So I started with that queue, spent my money, then got a drink at the bar - not having to queue, by virtue of heading down to the far end! Took me a while to find the entrance to the auditorium - I'd never been in the Stalls here, before! Remembered my seat number, thank you - and she directed me to the side. And oh, I was lovely and close.. I mean, I know it was Row M, but this was closer than I've been at most concerts. I mean, Bono was actually a few inches tall, when he came on stage! As the American-sounding lady beside me remarked to her companion - ah, if only she could take a picture. Mind you, I believe some people got around the phone ban - probably snuck in extra phones. Not that I saw any myself.

We were to be particularly vexed at the phone ban when we started to see people we recognised. And you'll never guess who the first was.. a chap in black, in a baseball cap and glasses, was chatting to friends or whatever, in the next section over, row right in front of me. It was the Italians sitting on the other side of the Americans who noticed him first.. and damnit, they'd brought their books and I hadn't! Well, it'd only have got soaked anyway. So, off they went with their books and a pen.. Grr. And when they came back, one of them was so chuffed - as he said to someone in English, when he told Bono he was Italian, he autographed it in Italian for him..

Speaking of books, someone in front of me spent the time before the show busily reading his copy. As that lady sat beside me remarked - I wonder whether he'll get it finished before the show starts!

I wonder where the VIP section was - there obviously was one, because the other VIPs all arrived at roughly the same time. Oh man, we had fun.. first we saw Bob Geldof and Paul McGuinness arrive together - they were sat somewhere in front of me, and came down the aisle next to where I was. Then a huge cheer went up, and we all jumped to our feet - was it Bono? Nope, Noel Gallagher had just arrived, and threw his arms up in the air, as if the crowd were there for him. Cheeky beggar. He arrived with Ali (Bono's wife), mind - they didn't sit together though; he was in the centre section, she was three rows in front of me. Not the closest I've been to her, mind - she was right in front of me at a U2 concert, some years back.. Ah man, it was worth being in the Stalls! People we didn't actually see, but who were also namechecked as being there, either by Bono or on the U2 forums, include his and Ali's elder daughter, Jordan, Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, who gave U2 their first record deal, and producer Brian Eno, who's worked with them. And as the guy behind me remarked, jeez, when Bono comes on stage, he'll have to beg for attention - everybody's turned the other way!

We were all turned the right way by the time he did come on. As several people on the U2 forums have wondered - what can you say about this? We were speechless afterwards. An excellent Guardian review says it well - this wasn't a concert, although it had songs. Mostly, the songs were snippets, reworked versions. He came on to City of Blinding Lights - I remember this swiftly became my favourite U2 song when I heard it. Until they brought out even better ones! Next was an acoustic version of Vertigo. And oh, his description of writing what was to become U2's first single.. even in an abbreviated version, I Will Follow exploded into the room. I remember once hearing that Noel Gallagher was really jealous of U2's back catalogue.. he must have felt that last night..

We didn't stand, mind, except when he came on, and for a standing ovation at the end. But some of us sang along for every song.. But it's not all music. As people on U2 Conference have said, these shows are very faithful to the book. And mostly, it focuses on Bono's relationship with his father. I loved the scenes he acted out from the Sorrento Lounge, part of Finnegan's pub in Dalkey, Bono's local - he used to meet his father there, apparently. And we get a lovely insight into their relationship through the chats he describes. Oh, and he's a terrific mimic. What gets me, mind, is when people are surprised how funny he is - they obviously haven't been paying attention. Wait for the anecdotes about his father meeting Princess Diana - or the stories about Pavarotti. Absolutely hilarious. You don't have to try to get to the tour for them - read the book! Listen to the audiobook!

He gives his father the last word too - one of his favourite songs, it seems, was Torna a Surriento. And wow, if Bono doesn't give us the unaccompanied version, belting it out with gusto - I never realised his voice was so strong! Well, watch this space - I hear a rumour that last night's show was filmed.. we might see it made available yet..

Got our pouches opened on the way out, retrieved our phones, returned the pouches, and made our separate ways home - once we figured out our exit from the back alley we were disgorged into! Oh, and by the time I finally made it home - it was pouring on me again. My coat is literally soaked through - thank goodness I'm wearing completely different clothes today.. Anyway, I wanted to give this post due care and attention, and it ran too late to do that last night.

Tonight, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) at the Coliseum, for a performance of Yeomen of the Guard, by Gilbert & Sullivan. And knowing the steepness of the steps in the Balcony - and the irregularity - and what with my stairs phobia - I've done my best to get a seat at the side, so I can use the handrail to get down. Oh, and an aisle seat, what with the restricted legroom.. So, a very musical week.

Then I'm back to Ireland again. On Saturday, UL is hosting a PhD reunion, with a tour of the campus and, crucially, free lunch. And I'll be using the occasion to catch up with an old friend and, hopefully, find out what finally prompted him to quit lecturing at last, more than 10 years after I did, considering he was bullied even worse than I was! The event is in one of the newer buildings, which I looked up on the campus map - and shared with my friend. Not easy to find - I had to Google it!

Planning a film on Sunday.. and coming up is Aisha, just releasing this weekend, which centres on a young woman in Direct Provision (Ireland's asylum processing system). Looks like a hard watch, focusing as it does on a severely criticised system, which can see asylum seekers stuck for years in limbo, while their claims are processed..

Certainly headed to a film on Monday - I wanted to see Triangle of Sadness last month, in the BFI Film Festival, but it was sold out. Well, it's made it to the mainstream - and now that the listings are (partially) out, I'm going to see it on Monday in the Vue Islington, which is the closest venue to me. It's a comedy in which Woody Harrelson is a cruise ship captain, cynically presiding over a group of scathingly depicted rich folk - and then they get shipwrecked on a desert island. Oh dear, how shall they fare?! ;-) Cheaper if you buy online, so I did.

On Tuesday, I'm with UITCS again, for a double-bill at the Park Theatre. Part of the Make Mine a Double series, where you get a discount for booking two or more. Next week sees a comedy double - Anything With a Pulse, about dating, and Pickle, a Jewish comedy.

Wednesday - oh dear, I'm just not sure. There are a few things coming up that I'm iffy about.. at the moment, I'm leaning towards Chess Community Wednesdays, with the London Chess Community. But I booked with them twice before and cancelled, so am reluctant to do it again - watch this space.

Next Thursday, I'm back with TAC for Haunting Julia, at The Questors Theatre, a new one to me. A ghost story, goodee! Written by Alan Ayckbourn.

On the 25th, back with the Crick Crack Club for The Beast in Me, by Daniel Morden. At King's Place. Fantastic!

On the 26th, I have my Christmas get-together with Helen! We're planning a Christmas bonanza - first to the Magical Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland, where we must also have a stroll around the Christmas markets, and get some alcoholic hot chocolate. Then food - then we're on a Tootbus night-time open-top bus tour. As booked on Wowcher.

And on the 27th, I'm back with Discover London, for a walk entitled Secrets of the Riverside Part 1: Tower Bridge to London Bridge. These events are good - I'm delighted to be back on one!

Concert: Taboo

The Stansted Express wasn't running again last night, damnit. So I was back on the National Express again - must have just missed one, because almost no-one was queueing when I arrived! The bus came in due course, I gave the driver my bag and filed on with the others. Have to say though, this wasn't as successful a journey as last time - the WiFi quit as soon as we pulled off, I couldn't understand a word the driver said through the tannoy (so it's a good job mine was the last stop!), and at some point the aircon seemed to switch off. What with the lack of fresh air and the constant braking and jolting as we got into the city, I was feeling quite ill by the time we got off - and was glad when we did! despite the lashing rain, that soaked my coat, my jeans, and my case by the time I finally got inside. Bah humbug.

Today's interview went OK, I thought - except that I discovered that the company describes itself as completely remote. I must have made a face, because he hastily confirmed that there is an office I could go to if I wanted. Honestly, who would've thought it was so hard to get a non-remote job?! Anyway, tonight, I booked for another Zoom talk - this was run by a new group to me, The Garden Talks (TGT), and the talk for the evening was Are We Living in the Age of Persecution? Which promised, hopefully, to be more interesting than the last online talk I attended - on canals! But just at the end of last week, Up in the Cheap Seats announced an outing to see Taboo, a charity 25th anniversary concert, celebrating the original musical by Boy George. Taking place at the Palladium, and better than half-price tickets from Show Film First! So I thought that sounded rather better, and booked it. Similarly priced tickets available with London Box Office for today. 

I had to catch two buses - both of which came early and deposited me ahead of time! Heading in, it was weird to be asked for my vaccination cert, which is no longer the case in Ireland - so there I was, fiddling around first for that, then for my ticket. Which SFF had the good sense to email me earlier in the day, complete with a nice, fat barcode to be read. We had all decided to go for the Royal Circle, so I headed up to the bar..

(BTW, I find the photos even better on my new phone, with less glare!) We all found each other in due course, and chatted away happily until we went in. Where we were very happy with our seats (although I had my usual trouble with the stairs):

It started a bit late, and there was some speechifying beforehand.. it was in aid of the Terence Higgins Trust, and Shelter. But when it did finally start, we were treated to a truly camp, truly 80s experience. The character of Boy George was instantly recognisable, in his classic 80s outfit - less so was the real Boy George, everyone wondering which he was! To be fair, there was an awful lot of makeup, wigs, and general mayhem, which would have made it hard to figure out much. Julian Clary was easier to spot! Oh, and I was rather glad to be upstairs, with the audience interaction that was going on..

The house, it was said, was sold out - and at the interval, it certainly seemed so:

The show resonated more with me when they sang Culture Club numbers I knew - but with none of us having seen the original musical, or knowing the story, this abbreviated version ended up being a bit confusing, as the story skipped several important points, making straight for the musical numbers. Ah well, we kind of got it. And we finally figured out which was Boy George! (Still not sure whether he appeared in the first act, though.)

A few of us were sat together, and came out together - unfortunately, there were so many exits that we were never all going to find each other after! But hey, it was fun - and we had Karma Chameleon in our heads, headed back. And I had to change buses again - although it'd have been helpful if Google Maps hadn't wanted me to change at a bus stop that is closed for roadworks!

Tomorrow, I've plumped for something I've seen advertised a lot, but never attended - again on Zoom, this time it's a Free Tuesday Sing-a-long for Health and Pleasure, courtesy of Global Music Fusion & Arts.  As advertised by Free Stuff and Free Events - which might just be the first thing I've done with them. Happens weekly, apparently, lasts an hour - the words are on-screen. Could be good.

On Wednesday, my first Meetup of the year with Civilised London! And as usual, it's dinner - yum! We're off again to Little Georgia, meeting beforehand at The Crown.

On Thursday, heading with London Classical Music and Theatre Group - and I was lucky to see it, what with Meetup not even suggesting the event when I was looking for something that day! If it hadn't been for some mention over the last couple of events with them, of some event happening this week.. Anyway, we're off to see the LSO at the Barbican - wildcard tickets sadly sold out by the time I booked.

On Friday, headed with the London European Club to the Puppet Theatre Barge, for a performance of The Red Balloon!

On Saturday, back with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners, and Laurence Summers - got the last spot on his Passage through Pimlico walk! which, as he was telling me on Tuesday, is through a not very well-known part of town! Well, this one should at least be warmer, being in daytime.. and we're getting lunch after.

On Sunday - Crick Crack is back! Now, this is an interesting one - Japanese ghost stories, the event is called The Game of Candles, with each story represented by a lit candle, which is blown out when the story is completed. Taking place at the British Museum, Tim Ralphs and Sarah-Liisa Wilkinson performing. Sold out now - they're only doing half capacity.

And next Monday - another interesting talk by TGT! This one is What Conditions Create Witch Hunts? Have to say, Meetup seems to have awoken from the doldrums..!

Concert: Jake Bugg

Tonight, I booked to see Jake Bugg at the Palladium (yes, another that used to be walking distance..) Honestly, I'd never heard of him, but he sounded ok on YouTube.

After a bitter weekend, I headed back here for the arrival of the Beast from the East. Couldn't believe it when I looked out the window this morning to see lying snow - so rare in central London! The roads were clear, at least. But OMG it's cold - never got above a couple of degrees all day. So I wrapped up really well - was still frozen heading for the bus, which made it very vexing that one passed as I waited to cross. Only a few minutes to the next, but I was so glad when it came. Ironically, I got off one stop early - there was some confusion, owing to the driver stopping before the stop, and again at it, and I was facing backwards, so couldn't see what was happening. Never mind, the extra walk wasn't too cold - despite the fact that it was snowing again - and I did grab a paper en route.

Some confusion when I arrived - a huge crowd trying to get in, and one valiant usher, standing on the front steps, bellowing - something. Full marks (and a round of applause) for effort, zero for comprehensibility. Finally, someone said something that made sense - people in the stalls were queueing to the left, those of us in the Upper Circle just to the left of them again, and entering between the two lit signs. So I got in without too much hassle - ticket on my phone, mercifully; I just had to enlarge it, so they could zap the barcode.

Straight up to the bar, then - and I was to be glad I had a paper, considering that, while all we'd been told in advance was that doors were at 7, it turned out that the house wouldn't even open until closer to 7.30, support was at 8, and Jake himself from 9 to 10.15. A short set, I mused - well, I'm more used to big acts that go on for over two hours. But they have bigger back catalogues, of course.

Got a rather decent pinot grigio while I waited - and I was to be glad, afterwards, that I stood in the bar for as long as I did. When the house opened, I went in - delighted to see mini railings, in the style of the Opera House, that meant I could reach the front row without difficulty. Unfortunately, although my seat was comfy, the legroom was a bit of a squeeze - particularly after hours of sitting there. And a double rail in front of me obscured the view a bit - but not much, as I could peer between the rails.

So. Our first act was a pleasant young lass called Georgie, who entertained us for something under an hour. And then Jake came on, without much fanfare, and entertained us for, actually, an hour and a half, I think. A fellow to swap his guitars and bring him drinks - and adjust the mic when he decided, near the end, that he'd rather stand. Nobody else on stage with him.

As I remarked to the usher on the way out, I'd never before heard of him, and was quite impressed. (Turned out she'd never heard of him, either.) He has some of the catchiest melodies I've heard, which made the evening a real pleasure - really clever lyrics, too. Actually, he's got something really good. His most unique feature, however - and I don't think even his die-hard fans would argue with this - is his voice. He has a normal speaking voice - but when he sings, he has a voice that is the incarnation of Elmer Fudd..

So, I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy the albums. But hey, the late, great Leonard Cohen - whose Suzanne was played as we waited for him to come on, and was one of my highlights - had the voice of a frog, so it's hardly fatal. Certainly, a fairly packed house was adoring.. and took the opportunity, at every lull between songs, to yell "We love you, Jake!" Yeah, I think he got the message after the first dozen or so times. Towards the end, as he started to take requests, they switched to yelling song titles. And it was lovely, finally, to see people in the stalls start to get up and jive to the music - I believe Two Fingers, the only one I knew in advance, was the one to start that off! Nice, too, to have a proper fan beside me - she obviously had her favourites. Yeah, I'd happily go to see this guy again - he knows how to work a room, and he has the material.

Cold, cold, cold on the way home - it's years since I could feel pinpricks all over when I got in and started defrosting. Thank goodness, I was just in time for Tesco. Wrapping up again for the rest of the week, methinks. Tomorrow, an opera in Sanskrit..! without subtitles. Satyagraha is at the Coliseum, and is about Gandhi. So I should figure it out - could do with the Sanskrit scholar from last Tuesday's play! Gosh, it's ages since I've been there..

On Wednesday, Summer and Smoke (Tennessee Williams) at the Almeida. Does include actual cigarette smoke, and a gunshot. North London Friends are going, but I'm going independently. Sold out now..

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - and Meetup - at the Bridge Theatre, for what I hear is a stunning performance of Julius Caesar. You get the choice of being part of the crowd - I'm not. Modern setting.

On Friday, back with North London Friends, at Hampstead Theatre, for Acceptance.

On Saturday, Up in the Cheap Seats, and Beginning, at the Ambassadors Theatre. For once, not an official ticket for this - got better value with What's on Stage!

On Sunday, I found another Southwark tour - excellent! The "Family Friendly Liberty of the Clink" tour is run by Walking in London.. therefore Funzing.. and Londonist is involved somewhere too. Hard to keep track of everyone involved in walks. The standard code (crazy_fun) is still giving 10% off on Funzing's website.

Next Monday, London European Club is headed to Monologue Slam, an actors' showcase at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.

On the 6th, Up in the Cheap Seats is at Sadler's Wells for a performance by Ballet British Colombia.

On the 7th, Let's Do This is off to a jazz evening at Two Temple Place. Beautiful venue - should be a lovely evening.

On the 8th, Walking Victorian London is running a walk around Il Quartiere - Tales from Italian Clerkenwell. Excellent - I've had my eye on that for a while. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.

And on the 12th, London Dramatic Arts is at Caroline, or Change, at Hampstead Theatre. As usual, too expensive for me, and I got my own ticket, at about half the price. She's only going with one unnamed guest - maybe she won't go at all!

Concert: 2Cellos

Yesterday was one of those days of sunshine and showers. I remember lashing rain around lunchtime - which cleared, quite quickly, to blue skies scattered with fluffy clouds. It amazes me how quickly the rain passes here.

And then someone returned from the kitchen, to say there was a rumour that shots had been fired outside parliament. So, everyone was on Google, of course, to find out what happened. As the rumours clarified, we could hear sirens pass outside - we're not very far from Westminster, here. But London is like a sponge, absorbing whatever happens to it - it barely affected us, other than those sirens, and a helicopter buzzing low, around and around over the city centre all evening.

The evening sky was absolutely beautiful, pink from the setting sun mixing with the blue. And to think some people were just going about their business on what turned out to be the last day of their lives. London will go on - it always does. And it will be stronger, after this. But I'm so sorry for the unlucky people who were just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, when a maniac decided to take out his bad humour on them.

Anyway, I was off to join the London European Club (LEC) at a concert by 2Cellos. Hadn't heard them before, but I figured this would be good.. and I could walk to the London Palladium: probably handy, after what had happened earlier. Not, perhaps, a day to be on public transport. Had some panic, looking for the booking confirmation in my email inbox - it turned out that I should have been looking for "2Cellos", rather than "2 Cellos". En route to the theatre, I passed an American-sounding reporter, doing a piece to camera. "Major incident", was all I heard..

Google said a zig-zaggy route through Soho would be the quickest, so that's the way I went. Got to the theatre about 7:10 - the show was to start at 7:30, and the multiple queues outside were taking up half the road. There were multiple doors, you see. I picked one that seemed to have a sign for the box office overhead - yes, he said, it's in here to the left. I picked up my ticket, then headed for the downstairs stalls bar, where the organiser had said she'd be. Bought an overpriced wine (£9 for the pinot, honestly..) I couldn't see any groups that looked like them, so texted her - well jeez, if I hadn't just passed her!

I was the only other one who made it to the bar - I felt sorry for her, having been there so long on her own! Anyway, we stayed and finished our drinks - we were directly across from the merchandising stand, but I wasn't tempted - and then made our way upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was less of a climb than I'd anticipated - and there was a quick way into my seat, without having to navigate lots of stairs in the auditorium. Not only that, but I needn't have worried about the famed steepness of the steps - I was delighted to see that they do the same as the Opera House, with mini-railings everywhere.

Good job I'd heard a barman mention that there'd be a support act, and the timings. Can't say I was enamoured of the support - he was a decent singer and pianist, I just didn't take to the material. Decent view of the stage, from my side seat, mind..

After his act, I knew there'd be a 25-minute interval, so took myself for a wander - alone; if the others in the group did as well, I didn't hear about it. On the way back, I treated myself to a champagne popsicle - sorry I did! It was a devil to eat, taking ages to melt enough to get out of the carton - and when I did manage it, it tasted of hardly anything. Not recommended.

2Cellos themselves finally came on at 8:20. Not just them, though - they were accompanied by 50-odd of their closest friends, in the form of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra! The reason for this, it seems, lies in the subject of their latest album; Score has them reprising various tunes from motion pictures. Some of which I knew, some of which I didn't. Now, it was beautiful - but I did wonder at the point of them being there for that section, since the majority of the sound came from the orchestra behind them!

About halfway through, they changed tack - and we had a rock concert for the rest of the night, with the orchestra providing little input. Ah now, THIS explains why they've become so popular - they really demonstrated their skill in this section. The song of the night for me had be Thunderstruck!

With their skeletal cellos, they cut dramatic figures on stage - and I forget the names, but one in particular just absolutely loves the limelight. While his compatriot sat sedately in his chair, this guy - another cello strapped to him with a specially designed harness - literally breakdanced while playing! He was up and down that stage - he put on flashing, red devil horns for Highway to Hell - he was constantly posing for photos from the side. And both were urging us to clap along, to stand. A real rock concert, in fact!

My first rock concert of the year, then - terrific night, which I'd love to repeat sometime. Oh, and I do approve of their new haircuts - much better than some you can see on YouTube. Terrific concert - although the couple in front of me were most irate; seems they had seen them in Italy, where they'd done more than one encore! Ah well, it was nice of them to go out on With or Without You.

There hadn't been an interval during their act, so I hadn't seen the others again. Made my way home - not a long walk. On the way, I passed a club with a flurry of flashbulbs outside - seems someone famous had just arrived. Couldn't see who it was, though.

The helicopters are still there, today. Tonight was another Funzing talk, with London Speaks Sessions, LDN Talks @ Night, and London for a Tenner or Less, on The Science of Hypnosis. And then, wouldn't you know it, Henning from the LEC advertised.. Hypnosis - Altering Consciousness! With Pint of Science. (What is it about today and hypnosis?!) Anyway, I do enjoy events with Henning, and I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours in advance without penalty. So I did, and booked the other instead. And tomorrow it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.. Not sure what I'm doing next week, as someone in our team at work is visiting from another office, and we might be doing something with her. Watch this space..