Now, the venue for this was Rossotrudnichestvo.. which definitely sounded Russian. Extensive investigation yesterday afternoon revealed it to be something to do with cultural relations, and extensive poring over Streetview revealed that it isn't on Kensington High Street proper, but on a side street leading off it. And yay! there's a direct bus there from the end of my road - the 49.
I left in good time - always a good idea with buses, Google tends to underestimate the journey time. Traffic was slow crossing the river - as ever, there was a good view though:
The bus dropped us just down the road from where I needed to be, and it wasn't hard to find the place, on the sidestreet, just past Aubaine cafe. The office block I wanted had a large crowd of people huddled in front, in the cold, waiting. It occupies the first floor of an office block, and all we could see through the glass entrance was an unoccupied reception desk, and a flight of stairs. A sign on the window said the doors opened at a quarter to - which it now was. Door wasn't open, though. And there we stood, until an unassuming chap wandered over and pressed the button beside the door. There was a beep, and he pushed the door open.. ah. Clever, eh?
Upstairs, we crowded into a small lobby, had our tickets taken and names checked off a list, and were told we could leave our coats on the racks - very musically, as all the hangers were metal and kept clinking off each other. There were also toilets. Refreshments had been promised, but were but briefly glimpsed behind a door that said "No Entry". Bah humbug..
The doors to the gallery / concert room were finally opened, and we filed in and grabbed seats. It's lined with more of the evocative Russian paintings we could see in the lobby:
As I waited, I noted that there's a Russian festival on..
Gee, I was wondering why so much Russian stuff was coming up this week!
The concert started a bit late, but at least the announcements were in English! The organisers were reasonably aware that not everyone there was actually Russian, and the mc reassured us that the main performer had been instructed to speak in English - he is actually English, it seems, but prefers Russian. And in due course, they filed in, in lovely, colourful, shiny shirts - and the obligatory long black boots:
Well, it was great! I was so glad I came. Some of the tunes were familiar to me, all sounded appropriately Russian, and we were joined by a singer:
Seems as though she does this professionally - her cds were on display at the interval, beside the Russian dolls on the side. And she's performing tomorrow, apparently, as part of the festival. Frankly though, I was amazed to hear she performs regularly - although she was very charming, and her voice was very sweet, it was also very a small voice.
Back to the balalaikas, and we were educated on the finer points, and the different ones available - like other stringed instruments, they come in a range of sizes:
I was so glad I came - the music was fantastic, they were really entertaining, and it was so lovely to hear the crowd join in on the ones they knew. Even when we didn't know the words, we clapped along merrily, especially to Kalinka, at the end..
When we did get our hands on the refreshments, at the interval, there was a long queue for the free stuff - and a crowd mobbed the lobby to buy Russian bread. Back to the freebies, there was so much alcohol that, as someone remarked behind me, "We can get smashed!". Copious glasses of white wine - shots of vodka at the end of the table, if you preferred. Or why not both? These were accompanied by boxfuls of pastries, supplied by a Russian bakery. Not bad at hospitality, these folk! and quite a discovery, for me. I'd be happy to come to something else here.
A very cold wait at the bus stop across the road probably felt longer than it was - and although it didn't run late, I had to be up early today, so no time to blog when I got home. Tonight, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts (LDAM), continuing the Russian theme with a performance of Uncle Vanya, at the Almeida - their second trip, and a Q&A after. If I stay - it does run very late, although I'm working from home tomorrow.
Tomorrow evening, I'm back with the Man with the Hat and London for Less Than a Tenner for a comedy night for a change, at the Star of Kings. Wednesday, I'm headed to a Trans-Siberian March Band concert at Rich Mix, with the London European Club - again, I was interested in going with LDAM that night, but they're going to the St. James Theatre, whose legroom is a bit tight for me; I did ask whether she had any aisle seats, but by the time she got back to me, I'd found this other event. What the hey, Miss Atomic Bomb didn't sound great anyway.
On Thursday, I'm back at Rich Mix for a concert by Iness Mezel. - I've signed up for that jointly with London European Club and the World Music Meetup. Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.. we're off to the final night of the Clare Drama Festival on Saturday, in my old school - followed by the Crick Crack Club on Monday, who are back at Soho Theatre for an evening of storytelling entitled UniVerse - as ever with these, booking essential; they always sell out. On the 15th, I'm with Let's Do London - for Less! (the Man with the Hat's other group) again, as they head to Cyrano de Bergerac at Southwark Playhouse - another of the Man with the Hat's preferred venues, and another good one.
On the 16th, I got a cheap ticket to a concert by the Coppell High School Band, at the Central Hall, Westminster. A new venue for me! Cool, I do like to keep discovering them. On the 17th, Kensington Classical Music is off to a concert by the Trio Isimsiz - you had to get your own ticket, though, then pay extra to join the group at the concert. Huh. I'll avoid them, and the extra charge - have to be discreet though, I believe it's a small room! It's at the 1901 Arts Club - another first for me.
On the 18th, I'm joining Spooky London for their monthly spooky pub night! Wherever it is. If I actually go. And on the 19th, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, for an event entitled Seven Princesses - at Rich Mix, which will be my first event there with them.
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