A Gig Review well overdue

(Written months ago, yet hidden away in the drafts folder til now)

London activites have taken a place on the back burner of late as work seems to have taken over my life somewhat. However I managed to make it to an impromtu gig in the dark depths of Borderline, off Tottenham Court Road, to see an American band who have just released their debut album. Young The Giant have the sort of energy on stage that makes you want to get right on up there and bang some pots and pans together just to be a part of the jamboree going on on stage.

Described as Alternative Rock, a which really gives you very little sense of what they are about, this fivesome have a powerful, epic sound that would be just as effective on a big stage at a festival as it was on a small stage in a cosy London Venue. In fact, at times it was a case of too many big fish on a small stage as there were a few heart stoppping moments when it looked as thought the lead singer was going to be delivered a hefty black eye by the enthusiastic guitar thrusting of the lead guitarist.

Sameer the lead singer has an incredible voice; sometimes sounding like Brendan Flowers, sometimes making long strong notes, and sometimes singing with a beautiful softness that shows his voice can do more than just create these loud and slightly ethereal sounds made even more echoey by the help of a special mic.

Despite being officially indie, the bassline created by the lively drummer and the addition of an energetically handled tambourine by Sameer, throughout the entire gig I was jigging up and down in a manner more in keeping with a gypsy swing gig than a rock one. For me Young the Giant managed to pull off the right amount of rock to enthuse the crowd with power, but for those of us that would not normally choose to go to a full out rock/indie gig, they had the energy, quirkiness and musical variety to keep my bouncing until the last chord struck and the band bounced off stage with the same energy they entered with.

Arty Farty

From ethereal wedding dresses in an old power station in Wapping I moved onto animalistic nakedness in an old Crypt in St Pancras for Totem Body at the Crypt Gallery. The main reason for checking out this exhibition was that my friend's boyfriend is one of the featured artists and, more importantly, it was a great opportunity to get up close and very personal to to the very much naked body of said friend!

Totem Body is a showcase of the work of 15 artists, all of which use a diverse range of media to explore the human body and its indigenous and tribal aspects. The gallery itself is a great space, with that familiar musty smell of decrepit underground chambers and still bearing remnants of broken tombstones to remind you of the fact you are actually in a crypt underneath St Pancras church. I'm pretty sure one of the rooms is actually still in use as a family tomb which is a little creepy, but adds to the effect I suppose. 

I really enjoyed the variety of styles on offer, ranging from the monograph prints of animals by John Simpson, to the tribal totems by Janet Waring. I particularly liked how she mixed typical tribalish objects such as feathers, shells and wood, with the odd household item, sometimes as utilitarian and banal as rubber gloves or a toenail brush! 

Janet Waring's Totem complete
with rubber gloves

A dashing monograph by John Simpson,
with the main subject being a good friend of mine! 

The highlight of the exhibition was of course the fact that my friend was hanging up (with it all hanging out...) on a wall in a crypt in her birthday suit. But I don't think it is due to this bias that John's prints were actually my favourite of the whole exhibition. It is more because the rustic simplicity of the wood effect prints really appealed to me, and the amazing likeness to life of his animals was really rather impressive.

My favourite of the prints.

My first trip to Wapping

London really is (and perhaps always will be) an unknown entity to me. No matter how much I try to explore, there are always new places to go and new things to see. My mind boggles! I suppose it is the nature of a big city with a dynamic cultural scene, and you can't be expected to know every little things that's on offer, so I shouldn't take it to heart.

So another new discovery for me this week was Wapping. Who would have thought that a stone's throw from Canary wharf and the rest of the imposing City skyline is a little haven in the form of the canal basin in Wapping. I think it's beauty was enhanced somewhat for me by the gorgeous weather, the peaceful birdsong and the fact that there was a raucous sailing lesson going on. The shouts of excitement of the enthusiastic young sailors was slightly infectious, and to see them happily splashing around in little Pico's - the boat in which I learned to sail - added some pleasant nostalgia to the appeal of the scene.

After cooing over some fearless ducklings learning to swim in the sleek green waters of the canal, we moved onwards, as we were really there to visit the Wapping Project - an imposing reminder of the former life that Wapping led as a maritime hub before its decline in the 19th century.
The Wapping Project is a rejuvenated hydraulic power station, with many of the pipes, pulleys, hooks and other paraphernalia that were once in use still hanging in their original places, adding to the maritime and industrial feel while simultaneously managing to look like modern art. And art it is I suppose, as aesthetics are key here and art is the order of the day, (as well as food and drink judging by how packed out the restaurant was by 7pm). The feel is glamour meets industrialism, and it works a treat.

Not knowing what I was coming to the Wapping Project for it all seemed rather mysterious as, having paid our five pounds, we were ushered through a door into a darkened room, atmospherically lit and inhabited by a solitary boat and its boatman. The former boiler room has been flooded by the fire brigade for this particular installation, and the results are very effective. Lit only by a line of light-bulbs set just above the water level so as to double their warm glow with their own reflection, the old boiler room was transformed into an inviting chamber of intrigue. Dominating the space is the main attraction, a huge inverted dome of white silk worn by the glowing blue torso of a mannequin lighting it eerily from below.

We exchanged our shoes for wellies and hopped into the boat (in my case very unelegantly) and the boatman pushed us off and gently rowed us around the room, allowing us to see the structure from all angles. It was a peaceful experience and eerie too, as the atmospheric music and the stoic silence of the boatman made it all rather mysterious. The clear reflection of the dress in the water was occasionally disturbed by the ripples from the oar and the boat's smooth movement. 

Waves are key to this installation - suitably titled Yohji Making Waves -  as the dress is in fact one of the designer Yohji Yamamoto's famed wedding dresses, set up in this way to portray how his designs diverged from the conventional fashion lines, thus making waves among his contemporaries in the fashion world.

Despite not knowing all these details before I experienced it, the overall effect was awing all the same, and I came out feeling soothed in some way, as well as intrigued to know more about the background. I don't think it mattered that I went in without prior knowledge because the installation is powerful enough alone to make its own statement. The Wapping Project is definitely worth a visit, even if just to have a drink at the funky wine bar. And I definitely intend on returning to Wapping for a proper explore as the history of the place sounds pretty fascinating - smugglers and executions and all. 

Cultural Dilemma #1

So it turns out I'm not really a museum person. Not that I'm adverse to museums - I have wiled away many a happy school trip running around with a clipboard trying to complete all the assignments/sketches/questions as quickly as possible in order to go and check out the fun stuff like the shop, the launchpad, or the giant dinosaur skeleton in the atrium - but I just can't seem to find that inquisitive part of me that wants to read every single placard about every single toothpick, toilet bowl or shoe sole that ever came out of every century that ever came to pass. I think of myself as more of a browser in these things. I like to dip in and out and only read about the things that fascinate me the most. Like the bed of Ware for example. The hugest bed in history, and currently residing in the V and A museum, having been of historical interest almost as soon as it was made. I am slightly ashamed to say that this was the most memorable object from my museum visit today. But let us not belittle the importance of this bed. It made it into a Shakespeare play after all, which just goes to show its significance; you know you've made it if you are alluded to by Shakespeare.

But back to the topic of browsing museums. I came to the conclusion today that a museum to me is a bit like shopping in TK Maxx. For one you need to give yourself a fair whack of time if you are going to do it properly, and in order to do it properly you have to be really in the mood to persevere trawling through item after item of mediocrity (or appalling ugliness) before lighting upon a real gem that makes the entire visit worthwhile. And gems you do find, in both TK Maxx and museums.

Despite my visit to the V and A this afternoon being a little on the brief side, I did actually leave with the feeling that the visit was worthwhile, if not for the most conventional of reasons (the bed of ware being one of them). Due to my unemployment status making cash somewhat scarce, I rejected the offer of a photography exhibition for a mere £7.50(!) and  opted for a tour of the free part of the collection. Despite making a rather whistle-stop tour around the majority of the artifacts, I was struck, as I always am when in such buildings, by the awe inspiring and almost eerie solemness that pervades grand and cavernous museums. It is a half comforting, half humbling experience, hearing your footsteps rebound in the hollow silence that intermingles with the distant echoes from the busy atrium. So for me it seems, it isn't what is on display at a museum, or the knowledge to be gained, so much as the experience of escaping the hustle and bustle of the city outside, to ensconce oneself in the soothing and shady halls, feel the coolness of the marble on your skin and the comforting permanence and security of the past and its relics surrounding you.

Youth Unemployment

So swings the pendulum of life. After weeks (perhaps even months) of neglecting to live like a tourist and complaining about my working life taking over all other aspects of my existence, I find myself in a spell of unemployment. It will probably be short-lived, but for now the delicious prospect of idleness and all the possibilities such a gift of time offers, fills me with anticipation and promise of adventure. Time is quite literally my oyster.

The idea of unemployment, to someone who has been lucky enough never to have been unwillingly placed in such a position for longer than a week or two, is really rather glorious. Made especially sweet by the fact that the past 4 months have been a crazy haze of at times long and unsociable working hours and frequent six day weeks - "normality", apparently, for those who work in the TV industry, but life consuming all the same.

Knowing how much I was looking forward to some time off, I am determined to make the most of it. And after watching Julie and Julia last night, and then proceeding to fritter away the next 4 hours of my life by watching the entire series so far of Made in Chelsea (and I wish I could pretend it was all for the sake of background research for work), inspired me to set myself a similar (if less rigorous) goal to Julie of Julie and Julia (mainly to stop myself from getting addicted to any more ridiculously-terrible-but-addictive-in-their-ridiculousness TV shows.) I want to make the most of living in London and actually having the time to appreciate it. So, the challenge is set; to grab by the balls all that London has to offer and check out at least one new London sight/activity/venue/show/event/exhibition/whatever(!) every day that I'm here and unemployed.  Let's see how that goes! I'll keep you posted....

Like an American Tourist

I got the chance to enter true tourist territory when a good friend washed up in London from the distant shores of Staten Island and desired my company for a day out in London. Thanks to the over scrupulousness of Stansted airport’s passport control and the unreliability of its rail service, it wasn’t until about 1pm that we headed out with high hopes of all we could achieve in the 4 hour window left open to us in which to ‘do’ London. Despite my assertion in an earlier post that Big Ben is a major if not the emblem of London, my dear New Yoiker, despite being a very intelligent lass, had not heard of this fabled Big Ben. Apparently she had heard tell of a certain “Ben grande” thanks to a Spanish acquaintance, but not having heard of it before she was not entirely sure if her direct translation (of Big Ben) were correct. Now that is taking tourist in London to a whole new extreme!

So some serious London educating was needed. And if only I were better equipped to offer it, being little more than a tourist myself. I endeavoured to do my best however and we began the tour in Covent Garden which delivered as usual. There were still the remnants of Christmas decorations floating around, which helped to brighten up the grey old January day, and despite the miserable weather a few hardy living statues were lining the street as well as a performer wielding what looked to be a chainsaw...? One mulled wine later (mulled wine seems to be making numerous appearances, but only because it’s short-lived season must be made the most of) and after a moment enjoying the soothing tones of a string quartet, we headed towards the river on foot. With the help of an improvised map, cunningly created by taking a photograph of one of those handy pillar things that are dotted all over London, we managed to navigate our way riverwards, smoothly incorporating Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and many other very important looking buildings that I failed to enlighten my companion about regarding their function, history, or relevance.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were domineering as ever and inspired the usual awe and happy snapping. Sometimes I need to be reminded of the beauty of my city, and the panorama along the Thames never fails to hit it home. 

With time a ticking, we could only fit one more stop into our afternoon of explorations, and we chose to visit Abbey Road, which, being a terrible Londoner as already mentioned, I have not only not visited, but also had no idea where this famous cultural landmark is situated. (St john’s Wood for those of you who don’t know ). By the time we got there darkness had descended which somewhat hindered our attempts to get the perfect photo of us crossing “that crossing” in a suitable Beatles-esque style.  Just to complicate matters, Abbey Road is a surprisingly busy thoroughfare; so many a speeding van was halted by our various endeavours to strike the pose slap bang in the middle of the road.



This was about the best shot we got...not very traditional, but hey.



 Judging by the amount of tourists that must flock there every day, I am surprised that London savvy drivers don’t try to avoid Abbey Road.

Quite a fitting post

Although on second thoughts I suppose if I had to drive a van all day every day I would quite enjoy the spectacle of foolhardy tourists making the dash to get their photo before they are run over by a motorbike, and be quite amused by the various ridiculous poses deployed on the crossing. In fact, Abbey road Studios clearly appreciate the entertainment factor involved in such ludicrous re-enactments of the crossing’s 5 minutes of fame because they have set up a webcam allowing you to watch the goings on at this newly declared heritage site live, at any time, day or night. See http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/ Hallelujah, I need never be bored at work again!

Like the true tourists that we were, a visit to Abbey Road would not have been complete without turning graffiti artist and signing the white wall outside the studios; a blank canvas just waiting to be written on by Beatles fans. Apparently the studios repaint the wall every month and the process begins all over again. I like that the Studios are down to earth enough to allow such defacement of their property month after month, and it certainly adds to the touristic experience. Quite frankly:





Happy Snapping



Glorious afternoon sun on Southbank

A brisk winter's afternoon on Southbank

A foggy morning in Gunnersbury Park

City Speed

London Underground

Night falls