I was originally supposed to go to a talk about Japan, last night. But it proved so popular that the organiser had to book a bigger venue.. which wasn't available last night.. which left me free last night. (The talk was rescheduled, but I can't make the second date - never mind, it was free anyway.) Well, I had a look at what else was on, and it turned out that the World Music Meetup was hosting an event in Sands Films. Love the venue - and when I checked out the event page, I discovered it wasn't simply a concert. No indeed, there was music, poetry, and storytelling! Wow, had I looked closer I'd definitely have booked this in the first place - how lucky the other thing was cancelled!
I don't like the idea of driving to Rotherhithe, so that was out. Can't get a direct bus there either, from Clapham Junction - so the Overground works out cheaper, with a single fare. Also the quickest and handiest. I was in plenty of time - got there in just over half an hour, and made my way inside. Met a couple of people from the group, and when the doors opened we made our way in and found seats.
I adore this venue - as I always say, it's like a treasure trove, rails of period costumes peeping out from behind doors. Yesterday evening, a few more were opened, and we got just a little peek.. The library through which you enter contains shelf after shelf of reference material that they use to make the costumes.. the way to the "cinema" (where films are shown and concerts are held) is a maze, threading through piles of books and an assortment of curios. The seating in the cinema is an eclectic mix of sofas and armchairs, benches at the sides, all with different coverings - I think they've updated it a bit since I was here last; the coverings look fresher, at least.
There was a slight delay before the performers came on - first were Milos Milivojevic, from Serbia, on the accordion, and Nilufar Habibian, from Iran, on the quanun, a stringed instrument that lay on her lap as she played. A murmur of appreciation greeted the Egyptian/German singer, Merit Ariane, who came on a bit later, in a full-length gown, gold shoes peeping out from underneath the hem. The final one to take the stage was Anna Conomos, a Greek/Australian storyteller, appropriately dressed for an Arab-influenced evening, in ornate gold jewellery and harem pants.
The first part - lasting about half an hour - was a mixture of music, song, and storytelling. The music was Balkan - Serbian, Romanian. The singing was absolutely heavenly, a mixture of love songs and lullabies from the Middle East and Andalusia. The Arabic storytelling included questions to the audience - "What is the bitterest/sweetest thing?" "What is the sweetest melody?" Pomegranates were distributed to the respondents. Mind you, I believe they'd had some audio issues, and the storyteller's headset wasn't ideal - it looked a bit heavy for her, and seemed to be emitting a lot of noise; she considered not wearing it for the second part, but persevered.
At the interval, we wandered and mingled - there was free tea, coffee, and cordial, and of course you could explore. Untypically, most of our Meetup group congregated, and a rather interesting discussion was had about Middle Eastern politics. Gee, I do love that about London - so many opportunities to expose yourself to different cultures. I also heard a few people say how great it was to hear storytelling, that there was so little of it in London. And I did my best to alert them to Meetup's storytelling group, the Crick Crack Club. Unfortunately. they don't seem to have anything scheduled for the summer - people should, however, keep an eye on their non-Meetup site, which lists events from September. I see a couple are repeats of shows I've seen before; Telling the Blues and Myths Retold - Kali are terrific shows, both of which I've blogged about - highly, highly recommended. Check them out, on this blog and in person..
The second part was the tale of the "girl with the almond eyes" as in the title, mixed with music and song. A wonderful evening sadly came to an early-ish end, as we had to be up this morning. But I hope there'll be many more of this kind, in this venue, and with these people. The Overground drifted slowly back to Clapham Junction, and I did wish it'd hurry up a bit - it was past my bedtime, I was tired, I was hungry. A prolonged stop at the second-last stop, Wandsworth Road, was accompanied by an announcement - there'd been a trackside fire near Clapham Junction, and we weren't stopping there. Well hey, at least we got so far! So I hopped off, and although I had no idea which direction I was pointed in, handily enough the bus stop I made for, to the right of the station entrance, was for buses to Clapham Junction - specifically, the 77 (from Waterloo) or 87 (which I've taken from town on occasion). After a brief but chilly wait, a 77 it was. That's one advantage of living in London - there's generally a Plan B.
Tonight, 'tis back with the Man with the Hat and London for Less than a Tenner. He's headed to an reputedly charming pub (well, it has booths), for yet more comedy.. A new venue for me, and (shockingly) he's wearing a.. GREEN hat! Oh I know, it must be a nod to the strong Irish community in Islington..
Back to Ireland for the weekend, and back to the Man with the Hat again on Monday, when we're off to an award-winning play called Fury, in Soho Theatre.
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