Concert: Yantra

Tonight, back with one of my cheap ticket groups - TAC - for another concert at the Wimbledon Music Festival. This time, it was Yantra, an a cappella group, in the Trinity URC Church. Now, this is a seat-filling service, and on this occasion - as on another recently - they told me that I would be emailed a ticket by the venue on the day. Didn't happen that time - but today, I was emailed a ticket by TicketSource. Which is how I found out that I had a seat near the front, and that the ticket I had paid £3.60 for had a face vale of £30.. Not bad at all!

It's interesting, you know - I only attended this festival on one previous year, as it happens, and on that occasion, booked for a concert in each of the same two venues as this year. And so, reading the accounts back, I realised that this would be the easier to get to - and so it proved. Still Tube, of course. Now, Google Maps was telling me to go to Mansion House and catch a direct District Line train. However - tight for time as usual - I thought I might just hop on the Central Line at St. Paul's, which I'd pass on the way - I could change to the District Line later. Completely forgot about the Tube strike, which closed that line completely today, and which I suddenly remembered hearing about when I saw the closed gates at the station entrance! Not something I typically have to worry about, these days..

Well, on to Mansion House - and was I delighted that the next train along was direct to Wimbledon! Got a seat, of course - this is a good line for this. Unfortunately, it's also good at changing its destination, and after a few stops, we were informed that it wouldn't be going to Wimbledon after all. So a change at Earl's Court was in order - but I was still in good time, and the Wimbledon train didn't take long to come. This is also a good line for people to bring animals onto - we had two lovely doggy companions for a little bit of the journey! And finally, we crept into Wimbledon - the train always creeps in here, taking about five minutes from when you can see the station. But I knew that.

The walk wasn't too long, either - although I don't think that Google Maps' estimate took road crossings into account. (But it was much flatter than my last Wimbledon excursion!) I managed to get there with a couple of minutes to spare - I showed the nice man my ticket and he checked on the screen, to see which side I should go in - there's a partition down the middle, you see. And someone else showed me to my seat, and tried to sell me a festival program as we walked. Well now, I don't go by printed programs in general - and with the festival ending on Sunday, I think she was pushing her luck. I passed. Handily, there was no-one in my row when I took my seat - although the place was so sparsely occupied that the mc urged us to move closer, if we wanted..

Interesting pew configuration - don't really know what's up with it. Anyway, it wasn't long before they came on, the English chap - who seemed the oldest of them - seemingly taking the lead, reading from a script. They performed for about an hour, including an encore that was a reprise of the first piece - and showcased a mixture of traditional folk songs and medieval religious music. Polyphony was achieved by layering tracks of their own voices, and playing them alongside their live singing. Now, this is the sort of music that I'm not completely sure translates well to recordings - certainly, I wasn't initially impressed when I heard them, online. But wow, hearing them live is a whole different story! The mood switched from merry, with catchy folk songs, to intense - and in all, it was a moving experience. Soul food, for the end of the week! Adored the performance - still didn't buy the cd, despite the promise of a discount for cash..!

For my journey home, Google Maps helpfully suggested that I take the (ahem) Central Line. Now, they sent me the warning about the strike - it might help if they read their own messages! Never mind, I simply changed to the Circle Line instead, which got me as close to home as I could possibly go, by Tube.

Tomorrow, back with the Surrey History Meetup group - nominally - for yet another Zoom call. This time, it focuses on SHERF 2021 - a day-long conference based on the work of the Surrey Historic Environment Research Framework, and specifically on church archaeology. As promoted by the Surrey Archaeological Society. Don't think I'll quite be awake for the start, at this rate!

But gee, the London International Meetup finally advertised something good for tomorrow evening. They're off to a cabaret, at the Canal Cafe Theatre - this is Marie Lloyd Stole My Life! Now, TAC got me to a couple of shows here recently, at a cheap rate - pity they don't seem to have tickets for this! Never mind, I bought full-price, for once..

And on Sunday, back with London European Club - we're off to Immigrant Comedy (standup comedy in English) at the Camden Comedy Club. Tickets from Eventbrite.. two shows, we're going to the later one.