I warn you in advance, this is a longish entry so you might want to make a cup of tea and get comfy :)
Well, after seeing Dave Matthews Band (DMB) at an indoors venue I managed to see them a few days later at an outdoor venue, London’s Hyde Park where they provided support to Bruce Springsteen. It was pretty much a Springsteen gig, a lot of people around me had no idea who DMB were but I have a feeling a fair few of them left with plans to either buy some CDs or, more likely, to head home and download them from some torrent site or another. To be fair to DMB I guess because they knew that it was The Boss people were there to see, their set was a little muted than the previous one I saw at Brixton but no less enjoyable. For one thing I very much enjoyed being outdoors and feeling some air blowing around, unlike the sauna like conditions of Brixton. Scores on the doors… DMB indoors 10/10, DMB outdoors 8/10
The Boss… I realise now why he has earned that title. 59 years of age and what a performer! For three hours he enthralled and entertained a crowd of who knows how many thousands. My legs were screaming out in pain by the end of his set yet he looked like he still had another hour or so in him before he was thinking of flagging. I don’t think anyone went home feeling short changed, except perhaps those who had come to see James Morrison, goodness me he was terrible, he was everything I disliked about James Blunt and then some but the girls seemed to like him…typical!
Monday and Tuesday saw me laid low with an upset stomach and a high temperature but Tuesday was Kings of Leon at the O2 and considering I had bought those tickets back in November there was no way I was missing it. They were every bit as good as I imagined they would be. Caleb had an intensity in his eyes that reminded me a little of early videos of Jim Morrison. The incredibly lovely Jen accompanied me to see KoL. It was quite funny, I met Jen about 18 months ago in a bar, it was a FaceBook organised group event. I remember seeing her walk in and my heart went Whoa! I then proceeded to get drunk (as usual) barely recall speaking to her and that was that. I tried to coax her out a few times but she was having none of it (nor was her boyfriend) but it didn’t stop her from being scrummy. We’ve maintained intermittent contact on FaceBook but nothing so you’d notice. So of course I was petrified at the thought of seeing her again let alone having to spend time alone with her at the KoL gig. That was until we met at the tube station, after about 10 seconds it was as if meeting up was a regular occurrence and so the gig and the evening were hugely enjoyable and Mr McPot, before you email me and ask, No, there is nothing going on and nor is anything likely to ;)
I obviously hadn’t scared Jen too much as she also accompanied me on Wednesday night when we went to the Roundhouse to see Jamie T who was supported by Slow Club. I think we both looked quite shocked when we saw that the majority of the audience were under 17 and barely over the age of 14! I felt like a teacher supervising a school disco. I was probably a marginally cool english teacher, Jen was more than likely that cool art teacher who made you feel that you could draw until you actually got hold of a pen and paper and realised that you couldn’t even manage match-stick men…or perhaps that’s just me!? Slow Club, I felt, got a raw deal from the audience who didn’t seem to appreciate them that much but given their age (the audiences) that’s not surprising. Jamie T was not at all what I expected. So much energy. I left very impressed but feeling very much older than when I walked in.
And so Thursday rolled around and it was back to Hyde Park to see Blur. What a beautiful day it was too, perfect for lounging in the park. Truth be told, I was never really a fan of Blur when they were all the rage. It’s only been in the last year or two that I’ve actually listened to their lyrics and realised quite how clever they are. Having seen them live I can now say I was wrong to dismiss them all those years ago but as they say, better late than never! Hypnotic Brass Ensemble were great despite constantly telling everyone to go to HMV to buy their album, don’t they know everyone downloads things these days? But seriously, it’s well worth a listen try hmv.com if you don’t fancy a walk down the high street. I was slightly disappointed with Crystal Castles. Kelly, from San Francisco, went to see them a few weeks ago and raved about them and indeed their album is great but sadly on Thursday the sound system let them down, muffled vocals spoilt everything :(
And so we get to Friday, no music just a relaxing day at home catching up with the news. Murray didn’t make it to the final of Wimbledon, perhaps now all those people who disliked him will like him now he’s lost. What I am curious to know is where do all those tennis fans go for the 50 weeks of the year that there is no Wimbledon? Wimbledon fortnight and I can’t help but see at least one person a day with a tennis racquet in hand but any other time, no one… I demand a public enquiry into who is kidnapping all these tennis fans. I’m starting to think that Henman Hill/Murray Mount is hollow and they all hibernate underground waiting for July to come around once more.
Someone introduced me to the work of Douglas Coupland yesterday by way of some Couplandisms and thanks to Amazon Prime
Right, if you have made it this far thank you for persevering and I think you deserve a nice cup of tea! I’ll stop here and give your eyes a rest, together with my fingers. Check back soon for more whitterings :)
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