Concert: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble

Ah goodee, another day, another Meetup with the Man with the Hat. First time with him to Kings Place - and he recommended the cafe there if we wanted to eat. Now, I have been there a number of times, and noticed the cafe, but never had eaten there yet - and since I was working from home (a wise precaution, heading all the way up there), I decided I'd give it a shot.

Actually, it didn't take that long to get there - train, then Victoria Line to King's Cross. Handy I remembered my tip from before - if there's a huge queue at Victoria to enter the Victoria Line, pass it to the District & Circle Line entrance, and cross over from there. Much faster. Arrive at King's Cross and get lost (I recommend having a maps app on your phone at this point, and was very glad I'd charged said phone). Best tip I can give for York Way (where King's Place is located) is to exit for King's Cross Station - but still not sure where exactly the best exit is. Anyhoo, found my road, crossed, and soon came to King's Place - you can't miss it, it's that big glass building on the right.

Felt weird not to be picking up my ticket myself. Anyway, I made my way through the foyer - it's been a while since I was here, and I had to remind myself where the cafe was - keep going, it's at the end, on the left. Their menu changes daily - yesterday was Caribbean Wednesday, and I fancied the jerk chicken they had on the menu, which came with couscous. I also fancied a brownie. Had to ask for wine - they do stock it, but out of sight. Took a seat at that long table in the foyer.. the wine was a bit insipid, the chicken was fine, but the couscous was amazing! Highly recommended.

I was just moving on to the brownie when the Man with the Hat appeared, all surprised that I got there before him. Ah well now, if you will tell people things, you have to expect some of them to listen. So then he disappeared to get tickets, and I made my slow way through a brownie that took some eating. I was about halfway there when he returned with a typically enormous wad of tickets (he had both groups there again). And as if by magic, he was rapidly surrounded by people claiming the tickets. Somebody once called him the Pied Piper - yep, I can see it. Wave the tickets, they will follow..

So, apparently, in the meantime he'd secured a table by the canal, and stuck onto it one of the Meetup signs he's taken to carrying about his person. So I took my half brownie and headed out there - hadn't done this before either, and it was just lovely. Houseboats, barges passing, water flowing by - a little breezy, and you needed a coat, but very pleasant. In due course, of course, enough people arrived that he had to drag over a second table. And lots of chairs. And there we sat, chatting convivially - not him, he was diligently manning the foyer, to make sure everyone got their tickets - until showtime. When I downed my remaining wine and headed off.

The concert halls are downstairs. We were in Hall One, which has two doors - East and West. We in the London for Less Than a Tenner group were all in Row O, second from the back; the view was perfect though, this isn't a large hall, as halls go. The Let's Do London - for less! group, who'd paid more, were sat closer to the stage. And some of us who'd split up to go through different doors.. ended up sitting beside each other. Which led to anarchy at the interval, with some rebellious members deciding at random which door to leave and re-enter by..

Programmes were free, which, for a cheapskate like me, is always nice. And so I knew exactly what we were listening to. The music was capably provided by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields chamber orchestra, and started with Mozart and Brahms. Ah, it's been a while since I listened to Mozart, who was my first favourite classical composer.

The Brahms took us nicely to a half-hour-long interval, during which some went to the bar upstairs and some stayed in the downstairs bar. Well, it was chilly outside by now, and the upstairs bar doors were open.. I found the second half noticeably livelier than the first: Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes, with something of a sense of humour about it, was followed by a Hungarian composer I hadn't heard of - Erno Dohnányi.. from the style of music, I'd have guessed he was Hungarian, even without the programme bio. And thus the concert concluded on a merry note.

As usual, we convened where we'd got our tickets, and after a brief wait for stragglers, some of us schlepped off to the Star of Kings, just down the road. Downstairs was manic, but our fearless leader had secured for us a long table in the upstairs function room, signs on the table indicating we'd booked the place till midnight (!). Nice, cosy function room it is too, sofas at the end and its own bar (non-functional, as usual, although some of us wondered how well it was stocked..).

Not all stayed to the bitter end, but - after a vigorous discussion that ranged from philosophy to Finnish saunas - we did better than in a while, with a whole five of us lasting to 11:50 (inside) and a bit later (outside). Well, it wasn't too cold. And a brisk walk got me back to King's Cross in time for the VERY last Tube back to Vauxhall, where they were waiting for us to leave so they could close the Underground station doors, the remaining beggars were getting desperate, and I just had to wait a couple of minutes for a train. Still, what with having to be up early today to come to Guildford again - and indeed earlier, to get some work done - blogging wasn't a priority. But here we are, finally. (And a good day is being had in Guildford, with sunshine and lots of birthday goodies from generous folks.. I'm on the chocolate cake now and moving on to a cupcake dessert. Or ice cream. Or biccies..)


Tonight, I'm headed to yet another classical concert, in St. James' Church Piccadilly, with Kensington Classical Music - who aren't charging an extra fee, for once! Better make it sharp though - it's a 7 o'clock start.

Tomorrow, I'm with London Dramatic Arts to see Giving, at Hampstead Theatre (and given how hard it was to avoid them there the last time, I'm glad I bought my ticket with them this time! Still, now I know where the back door is..) Avoiding them should be easier on Saturday, when they're going to Blue / Orange, at the notoriously chaotic Young Vic. And so am I - on a ticket bought independently. I'm seated upstairs, they're probably not - should be ok.

On Sunday, I'm on my first walk of the year (finally) - Free London Events and Talks has a walk entitled Fire, Pestilence and Plague. I'll cry off if it rains.

On Monday, Henning from the London European Club is running a topical talk on UK and the EU - A Troubled Relationship, at the Devereux - deja vu, my very first Meetup with him was a talk at the same place. Should be interesting, what with the referendum coming up next month.

On Tuesday, the Man with the Hat is taking Let's Do London - for less! to see Last of the Boys, at Southwark Playhouse - indeed, he's also got a bunch of them going to the other show there, The Toxic Avenger, the same night! I've already seen that one, of course. And I can guarantee attendees a great night..

On Wednesday, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, at The Forge, for a storytelling evening entitled The Howken Field, by Nick Hennessy.

On Thursday of next week, I'm with Henning again, who's headed to a mixed bill by Nederlands Dans Theater, at Sadler's Wells. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend.