Concert: Sufi Chants from Andalusia

When I checked Meetup for tonight, and saw "Sufi Chants from Andalusia" advertised for the World Music Meetup, I was hooked without having to see the YouTube snippet. Of course, I watched it anyway. And promptly went off and booked.

It was in St. John's Church, Smith Square - and, of course, the last time I was there I was travelling from the old flat. All the places I have to redo directions for..! Google Maps suggested mainly routes via Waterloo - ugh. When I restricted it to bus routes, it gave me three - two of which meant I'd have to walk across Lambeth Bridge. Which is fine - and not too long a walk - except that the weather was promised bad, and I didn't necessarily want to be crossing a bridge. So I picked the third - the #87.

Mindful of the delay on yesterday's route, I left extra early for today's bus trip! It was really crowded, and the driver let off all that would get off before letting us on - doubtless to make sure there was room for us all. I sat upstairs, but didn't get much of a view with the fogged windows. Still, as it happened, there wasn't any real delay at all, and the bus got me to Horseferry in about the amount of time predicted by Google.

Straight ahead, and the next left, down Dean Stanley Street. The church is unmissable, just at the end of the road, in a circular opening at the centre of crossroads. And coming that way, the box office is straight in front of you - just down the steps. I picked up my ticket, and made my way into the restaurant, straight ahead. I had about 45 minutes to kill, so decided to kill them here. It looks startlingly like the restaurant under the church of St. Martin in the Fields.. A delicious curry smell greeted me, and I was sad I'd already eaten - instead, I contented myself with a glass of white, and the paper.

I'd just finished both when the announcement came for people to head upstairs for the concert. You can enter via the restaurant - there are signs that direct you to a spiral stone staircase, at the top of which there's a door into the church proper. The usher there who checked my ticket, and saw I had a side seat, explained that, once the concert started, I could move into the central section if there were seats available.

..Which is exactly what I did - the central section can't have been more than half full! So I discreetly popped myself into a seat towards the side of the central nave, with a much better view than I'd had before, and watched an introductory speech by someone who works for LAFZ magazine, who apparently organised this concert - one of a series, it seems. The speech droned on for a bit, the Al Firdaus Ensemble huddled to the side, waiting. It was an age till they started..

Why do I love Spain so much, and things Spanish? Is it because of the Arabic influence? (Almost all of Spain was ruled by the Moors for hundreds of years.) Likely. Whatever the reason, I was swiftly transported - by musical magic carpet; it was absolutely sublime. I find the music hypnotic, the voices elevating it to another plane. I adore this music, always have, and found myself frequently moved to tears by the melodies.

As the evening continued, the seats began to be filled by people arriving extremely late! As much as an hour late, for the people who excused themselves past me - and then opened their snacks, and answered the phone to tell someone where they were sitting. Their open photography and filming of the concert wasn't even out of place - half the audience was at it! Including flash photography. And the guy a couple of rows in front of me must have worn out his arms - he filmed the entire thing on his phone! Well, nice to see such an informal event, I guess.

Anyway, I had the best evening. I'm so glad I live here, so glad I joined this group, which brings me to such great events. Despite not being great at actually meeting - there were no arrangements to meet anyone, and I didn't know any of the others, or see any signs. Par for the course, but it would've been nice to share this with someone.

I exited on the wrong side, and had to do a complete circuit of the church to get back to where I'd started! The bus stop was just across the road - accessed by a zebra crossing. The indicator board said there'd be a bus in about five minutes - which was lucky, because the next wasn't to be for over half an hour! despite the timetable promising one every 10 minutes or so. Had I missed this one, I'd have been on the Tube again..

So. Tomorrow I'm attending what will be my very first Meetup with the Spooky London group, who are running a convivial evening chat about vampires. And on Sunday, I'm with London's Secrets, Tales and Legends, for an enticing walk in Highgate, entitled The Village of the Damned: Ghosts, Drugs and Legends.