Concert: Sondorgo & Marja Nuut

When I saw this concert advertised by the London European Club, I thought I'd give it a shot - never heard of either act, but they sounded ok on YouTube. So I booked, and today looked up how to get to LSO St. Luke's from here - as with yesterday, bus only would have taken more than an hour, so bus and Northern Line it was; the 35 or 345 to Clapham Common, Tube from there to Old Street, and we were to meet at The William Blake.

Clapham Common station - one of the narrowest Tube platforms.

Worked fine as far as Old Street - and I was worried about the many exits from there, but really, if you know where you're headed, they're very well signposted, and I had no trouble taking the correct one. (3 for Old Street south side, where the William Blake is, and it'd be exit 4 for LSO St. Luke's itself.) I had a considerable amount of trouble leaving the station though - now, I've never in my life been so unfit that a short flight of stairs - or a ramp - left me so breathless I practically fainted. But for the past month, that's exactly what has been happening, and which I've put down to work-related anxiety attacks affecting my chest, which has always been weak. Well, at least I can predict them now, and know to take a discreet break, at the head of the stairs, to get my breath back. Looking forward to being able to bound up them again, as I used to.

The William Blake wasn't far down the road - goodness though, it's huge! I decided the best course of action was to order a drink, then had a snoop around and couldn't see the group - turned out they were snuggled away in a corner, behind some tinsel. Well, when I found them I joined them, and we chatted away till it was time to leave. Which was when I realised I still had most of my drink left. Bugger, that's the fastest in a long time that I've downed a large wine..

You couldn't really miss St. Luke's, floodlit psychedelically as it is. Well, we went in, shuffling through great piles of fallen leaves, and there we separated, as we'd all booked our seats separately. Mine would be on the balcony - just as well I had the seats to lean on for support, when I got up there. An usher moseyed along after a bit to say that they hadn't sold out, so if I wanted to move seat - or sit downstairs - that'd be just fine. For the moment though, I stayed where I was - I was sat to the side, just over the stage, and with just one performer on stage for the first half, I didn't miss anything.

Our first performer was Maarja Nuut, who gave us about an hour of what you might call mood music. It was beautiful - very charming, very winsome, with overlaid tracks of voice and violin creating a harmonious whole, and merging forest - and later, desert - images projected on the large screen behind her. She wore a lovely, powder-blue dress, with a pleated skirt that only displayed itself fully when she spun in a sort of waltz. Really, a lovely start to the show.

At the interval, I came downstairs - didn't see any of the group, and made a beeline for an empty quarter of the stalls that I'd noticed from upstairs, sitting inconspicuously at a remove from everyone else. I'm glad I didn't take a seat in a busier part of the stalls - a lot of people seemed to arrive just for the second half, and seats that had been empty suddenly began to be filled. Oh, and they put away that screen:

Now, the act for the second (and slightly longer) half was Sondorgo, and they were considerably livelier - which caused me to wonder that they had been put on the same bill. So, Hungarian folk dances made up a considerable part of their set.. and I was to be glad I'd sat downstairs, which allowed me to see the whole thing, as sundry audience members, itching to get moving, decided the side aisles were the place to do it, and set to enthusiastically dancing and clapping along there. Kudos to them, and to the ushers that didn't stop them. Special mention, of course, to the whole section of audience that formed some kind of dance ring, over the side. And to the one guy, bopping along beside them with no interest in joining in. And who could forget the couple I'd been sitting beside for the first half, who couldn't restrain themselves, becoming the only ones on the balcony to leave their seats..

Oh, it was glorious mania - look out for these guys if they pass your way! Not only manic Hungarian dance though - they had one spectacular piece, and I wish I knew what it was called, but it was so sensual in its rhythms - these guys are really good, and you could not have stopped me from joining in the standing ovation at the end. What a fantastic concert - great idea from tonight's organiser!

I didn't see anyone I knew as I was coming out, either. Ah well, it was a great night all the same. Tomorrow, nothing much appealed on Meetup, when I checked, except a walk - Carpe Diem is following the route of the Circle Line overground. But they're not due to finish until four, and I have an interview at 3! Wish me luck.. no, instead of the walk, I had a look to see what cheap tickets were available, and have booked one to a show at the Drayton Arms in the evening, purely because it was the closest advertised. It's called I'm Doing This For You, and apparently we get served vodka and cupcakes. I can live with this. I might need a distraction.

On Tuesday, I was signed up for the proverbial free comedy in Hammersmith - with the usual suspects: Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, London Live Comedy, and London for a Tenner or Less (one of the Funzing Meetup groups, although I see Funzing now have their own Meetup group!). But you know, I only use that free comedy gig as a placeholder - I'm happy to go, but equally happy to cancel if something better comes along. And then I saw something had! Walk About London is doing a Christmas Lights Walk (aww!). Never actually done one of these - and this turns out to be the only date I can make! Well now, not missing that. Booked through Eventbrite, with a discount if you mention Meetup. Excellent! (Interestingly, I got an email reminder just this evening - for Once in a Lifetime, at the Young Vic, which I apparently booked for Tuesday. Whyever did I book that, I wonder? I have no memory of it. Sod it, I'd rather the walk anyway.)

Not changing what I'm booked for on Wednesday - back with the Man with the Hat (it'll have been two whole weeks!). With tickets exactly on the £10 border, he's taking both his groups (London for Less Than a Tenner - not to be confused with the one mentioned above - and Let's Do London - for less!) to Southwark Playhouse, where we're going to see Licensed to Ill - a musical about The Beastie Boys (woo-hoo!). The title is taken from their first album, apparently.

On Thursday, I'm back with Kensington Classical Music, for a concert at the 1901 Arts Club, to start off December. New venue for me, but nice and near Waterloo, so should be easy for me to get to.

Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend - flights booked up to February at this stage, but I'm not booking any more for now until I know what I'm doing long-term - and on Saturday, we're off to the UL Orchestra's Christmas concert.

Show: Symphony to a Lost Generation

Today's Meetup offering was a bit different - a completely holographic show, as advertised by the Arts, Culture and Alternative Events Group. World premiere. Also my first time with this group - although I've been a member for a while - and my first time in this venue. Gratifyingly, they offered a discount to Meetup members: quite a generous one, too!

The venue was LSO St. Luke's, a deconsecrated church in Islington. Google Maps informed me that I'd have to get the Northern Line from Clapham North (with its famously narrow platform) to Old Street, and walk from there - Streetview showed my way to lead me past a black, monolithic building that resembled the one in 2001: A Space Odyssey. To get to Clapham North, I could take a bus or the Overground - which costs the same as a bus off-peak, but without the potential traffic delays: so that's what I decided to do.

The Overground took me to Clapham High Street - from there, take a left to the main road, then left under the bridge, and Clapham North is on your right. Apparently, Oyster regards interchanges between these stations as a continuation of the same journey. Which is handy. In the Tube station, I was just in time for a train, which I hopped on. I was conscious that the Northern Line splits, one line going via Bank and one via Charing Cross, and that I wanted the Bank branch - but it turns out I needn't have worried; apart from at peak times, all trains from south of Kennington (including Clapham North) run via Bank.

Exiting at Old Street was great fun. There are four different subway exits - and a map, which shows where each leads. And after I ascertained that I wanted Subway 4, I had to retrace my steps to see which it was! Mind you, had I just looked straight ahead, I'd have seen the arrow pointing to Clerkenwell and St. Luke's.. Anyway, I headed out that way, and was immediately confused. My black monolith was covered in white sheeting! Dithered a bit, crossed the road and then crossed back again when I realised I was right the first time. So I carried on down the road, at a fair pace given that it was nearly time.

It hardly took any time to get there, anyway, and I scurried in the gate - dubiously, because it looked quite deserted. No people, no open doors even.. I'd advanced a bit when I noticed a sign for the performance, to the left; sure enough, that marked the entrance, and I scurried over there and got my ticket. Inside is, basically, a large empty space, which they'd filled with rows of chairs - I made my way to the second row from the front, where I'd booked a seat.

There was, as usual, no arrangement to meet the group - the organiser turned out to be the producer of the show, and did offer to meet people beforehand, but I was a bit late for that. It did occur to me - too late - that I could've let people in the group know where I was sitting, in case they wanted to come say hi. Anyway, the seat was nice and comfy, and despite the front row having shown on the website as sold out, there was no-one in front of me, no-one directly behind me, no-one in most of my row. Plenty of room, then!

The holograms are displayed on a 3D stage, hidden at the start behind a heavy black curtain, which is raised - and lowered and raised again at the interval - by two guys on the balcony. The show itself - Symphony to a Lost Generation - deals with the tragic loss of life in the First World War (of course, this is the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, among other things), and I've seen a ballet version previously. Well, something similar, anyway.

The holographic effect is interesting - kind of like 3D cinema, without the need for glasses. The fact that the characters are slightly suspended above stage level is occasionally disconcerting, and is one of the reasons that it would probably be better to sit a bit further back than I did, to get the proper effect. Similarly, I was sat to the side, which meant that some of the angles were off.

However, this didn't detract from what is a poignant story - showing us both the terror of zeppelins, of bombings, of vast destruction - and also the very human story of people who enlisted to participate in a great adventure, only to find themselves in a situation more horrific than they could ever have imagined. As well as those who were killed, we see something of what happened to those who were not - and that's more horrifying still. Beautiful, horrifying, moving - a memorable experience, the more so I find as more time passes since I saw it. Yes, I think I'd recommend this - two shows tomorrow (Monday), one on Tuesday evening, if you're interested. And I saw the composer / director come out at the interval to chat to the folks in the front row - which might be reserved for friends.

And so briskly back to the station, in a cold breeze, and with me bravely not having bothered with a coat. When I got back to Clapham High Street, I nearly missed my turn - it's not easily visible from the road. But I saw the Railway Tavern on the corner and figured it must be around there somewhere. And a helpful sign at Clapham North had said that Clapham High Street Station was on Voltaire Road - well, there I was.

When I made my way up to the station, however, confusion reigned - turned out it was shut, as no trains were running between Clapham Junction and Surrey Quays because of a broken-down train. So hey, I ended up on a bus after all - a check of the conveniently located bus map (right by the station entrance) told me I needed the 345, and where to go to catch it. One arrived not too long after I did - thankfully, because of the biting wind. Our wait was made a little longer, however, by the driver's refusal to open the front door to let passengers on until all passengers that were disembarking had done so. Same principle as on the Tube, of course, but the first time I've seen it on buses..

Well, tomorrow is another film. Handily, I already had the film list done for this week - just had to check ratings, which took long enough! And what finally came out top was a Hindi film called Sarbjit - the true story of a man arrested while crossing the India Pakistan border in Punjab one night, a bit drunk, and accused of being a spy. And his beloved sister's 20-year battle to free him. Looks good - unfortunately, it's no longer showing in my local cinema; in fact, the closest place showing it tomorrow is Cineworld Feltham! Well, you know what? The adjacent car park is, apparently, free from 7am to 7pm, and the drive looks easy enough. I've printed off directions - so off I go to the lunchtime showing tomorrow! (It's a bank holiday.) Jeez, that's three matinees in a row..