Sunday 23 June 2013

Who are you?

Afternoon Frock Fans!

It's a breezy old day in N8 - sunshine & showers, showers & sunshine, on repeat.  I'm happily full after a veggie roast at The Railway Tavern.....so large I couldn't finish it all....and believe me, that's saying something!

I was lucky enough to be given a free ticket to see The Who's Quadrophenia concert at the O2 last Saturday. 

I'd seen The Who twice before (once on the never-forgotten holiday we won to Los Angeles for the Tommy concert, then to see them at the Hollywood Bowl) and at a tiny little venue in Shepherd's Bush (that for the life of me I can't remember the name of) where I went to a fanclub event and they turned up and played two foot away from us.  Amazing!  We headed up the unfortunately named "Entertainment Avenue" first, to Las Iguanas for a meal & cocktails.  "Entertainment Avenue" is basically a huge street of places you wouldn't really want to go to....or at least I probably wouldn't.  I had never been to the O2 before and had no idea it was so close to a certain stop on the Jubilee Line that I'd been to on more than a few occasions.  As easy as it might be to get to, I'm not sure I would choose to go back again in a hurry.  The security at the venue seemed to be a bit slack....our two bag searches would have missed anything of any security risk whatsoever! 

So.....on to the gig.......having free tickets and not knowing the layout of the venue, I had no idea what it would be like.  We walked up and up and up (etc.) into the gods of the stadium....so high up that we practically got nosebleeds.  I havn't had a problem with heights really for a long time....until that night.  Terror struck and within 5 mins, I nearly had to leave due to vertigo and sheer panic that someone might fall over the edge to their death, with not a single barrier to stop their fall!  I sat rigid in my seat for the whole show, terrified to leave for a drink or to go the toilet...incase I never made it back again!  The Who were without a doubt fantastic, certainly aren't the embarrassment that some bands of their age/ilk are these days, and went down a storm.  I was surprised that they didn't do the obvious Who classics in their set or their encore, and was surprised that they included "You better you bet" which I think was only liked by one person ever....me!  Loved the tributes to sadly departed band members, which I'm sure resulted in many a teary eye in the stadium.  Unfortunately the height issue did rather spoil the whole night for me, along with the drunken fat old bald specimens that are everywhere these days!



As I'm actually nearly having a panic attack even writing about the O2, I'll move on.....

Rain did rather dampen spirits at the Sounds so Good session yesterday afternoon.  We trekked to the back end of beyond, to The Stags Head in Haggerston (land of hipsters and men who don't wear socks with their shoes).  Loved the pub - it's proper old school with lovely bar staff and a nice beer garden - but the rain came and went so often, we stayed put indoors most of the time.  As we arrived, so did lots of scooters but they went as quickly as they came.  I'd have liked to have a dance in my lovely new dress from Retrobates Vintage...but I didn't want to have a dance on my own.  A shame.  I'd go again but perhaps when the weather forecast is a bit better!


Sunday 9 June 2013

Roses of the Stone sort...and more

Hello June.  Hello some sort of a Summer!  Not quite warm enough to get overly excited that the attrocious weather has completely left us but nevertheless....

The June events page on Facebook has looked promising and we're now on the countdown to Stockholm Part Deux too.

Last weekend saw an evening out in the rarely visited Islington, for cocktails & tunes. Firstly to the Rattlesnake where I had something that I seem to remember was nice but what it was, I'm not sure, and then to some awful chain place where I had some apple crumble cocktail concoction. Next to the Mucky Pup (no, I'll never find it again guaranteed but it's apparently opposite a school where they filmed the "Another brick in the wall" video) where we listened to friends djaying alsorts of delights from "Vengeance" by New Model Army to"Oh Bondage! Up Yours" by X-Ray Spex.  A nice little pub but strangely quiet for a Saturday night - certainly not due to the music but probably the fact we had a sudden burst of sunshine and people stayed outside while they could.

Sunday saw a quick visit to Soho, to visit one of my best friends who deserted me for the seaside - darn you Lee Thomas!  A cheeky rose' in my lovely French House, followed by a swift mooch round Dean Street Market where we discovered that meringues are popular and taking over from cupcakes!  You'll find out these interesting facts from reading my blogs, I can tell you!

Next up....AMAZING Espresso & Tiramisu Martinis at the Fifty Five Bar in Camden, and then on to the private view of "Set in Stone" - an exhibition of Stone Roses photos by Ian Tilton, at the Proud Gallery.  Nice pics, nice beer, nice venue.  You won't get any in-depth reviews on here kids.

Talking of the said Stone Roses, the world and its' Mother seemed to be at their gigs in Finsbury Park this Friday/Saturday.  Not one for big gigs, toilet queues and very possibly drunk middle-aged men with their shirts off, I stayed at home and listened to the gigs from the comfort of my own living room.  Very strange to hear all the words to lots of the songs being carried on the wind, and to the crowd singing along....but quite nice all the same.  I couldn't, however, say the same when Coldplay played last Summer!

and to today.....lunch in the UpMarket in Brick Lane, followed by the 10th Anniversary Art Car Boot Sale which was absolutely rammed with a capital R!  Peter Blake & Tracey Emin had sold out, probably long before we got there, and Billy Childish was nowhere to be seen, but it was a nice day nevertheless, with nice people, and Pam Hogg with her spectacular hair.  Celebrity points for spotting Richard E Grant & Kevin Rowland (dapper as ever).  I always wonder what the hell we would have talked on about on our tea date.  I will never know or be able to report back to you dear readers. (That's tea with Kevin Rowland by the way, not tea with Richard E Grant).

Ciao for now kids xx