Concert: One Voice, One Cello & a Mad Belgian

Last night, back with Civilised London for another of those free jazz nights at Wilton's. This time, it was One Voice, One Cello & a Mad Belgian! And yet again, I got caught up in stuff.. when I eventually escaped the office, I did note how much milder it was than the last time I was waiting for this bus! Mind you, it took forever to come.. during which time I revised my opinion somewhat about the temperature.

So, again I was the last of the group to arrive. The venue - wasn't exactly crowded, and we had what has pretty much become our regular table, right in front of the performers. I got myself some of their excellent house white - and we chatted about, you know, viruses, storms, and driving licences. Interesting times we live in - in particular, I now have a credit-card-sized driving licence! Ooh..

In Wilton's, the soundcheck was in full swing.

They seemed quite keen to start.. and duly did, with a Belgian lady on clarinet, and a bloke called Rupert on cello. Both in bowler hats. With clever, intricate lyrics and a melodic sound, they reminded me much of the Beautiful South. And it was quite lovely! Particular mention should go to the French songs that the "mad Belgian" produced on an accordion.. and the last song stayed with me for some time afterwards. Truly quirky, with a great rapport between them and an ease of talking to the audience, they were delightful to watch in performance - and I'd love to see them again.

Oh, and they give out postcards at the interval! In case you don't remember who they are. Cute.. I might have taken this home with me, if I hadn't just cleared my room of junk for a spot flat inspection!

We stayed on for one at the end - it wasn't late. The pub had felt cosy at the start - was starting to feel chilly later, with the temperatures dropping. Ah well, at least it wasn't too bad on the walk home. Mind you, after all that flat clearing yesterday, I was too tired to blog.
Tonight, back at Soho Theatre to see Dane Baptiste's comedy show, The Chocolate Chip.

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats at Sadler's Wells for a collaboration between Crystal Pite and her company, Kidd Pivot, and Jonathon Young, on an adaptation of a Russian comic play, Revisor (The Inspector General).

On Thursday, going to see Shoe Lady at the Royal Court. One that's generating quite a bit of interest among people of my acquaintance.

On Friday, I was holding off on deciding what to do until I heard for definite from my friends, who were supposed to be coming over. But one of them realised she needed her passport renewing, so they had to wait to do that before booking - and lo, the flight prices increased too much in the meantime. So now they're not coming this weekend - which leaves me free to go to a talk about the Camino, at Southwark Cathedral, courtesy of This and That! I know the organiser - it's about time I got to one of his events, and it'll be good to see him again. And I've always been fascinated by the Camino - perfect. (Interestingly, London Social Detours is going too.. and charging £3.50.)

And on Saturday, I'm headed back to the Lyric Hammersmith, for something called Love, Love, Love, written by the excellent Mike Bartlett.