bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area events of note:

thursday, november 20th

bishop allen

passion pit

electric owls

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, november 21st

robyn hitchcock

performing 'i often dream of trains'

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, november 22nd

sondre lerche

@ the paradise

sunday, november 30th

18th dye

devon williams

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 2nd

nada surf

delta spirit

jealous girlfriends

@ the paradise

tuesday, december 2nd

owen

caithlin de marrais (rainer maria)

el may

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, december 3rd

viva viva

darker my love

the strange boys

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, december 4th

jukebox the ghost

@ the middle east upstairs

friday, december 5th

mercury rev

dean & britta

@ the paradise

thursday, december 4th

sebastien grainger & the mountains

eksi ekso

@ tt the bears

friday, december 5th

constantines

tim fite

@ tt the bears

friday & saturday

december 5th & 6th

wfnx miracle on tremont st.

with franz ferdinand,

vampire weekend, black kids,

airborne toxic event, & more

@ the orpheum

saturday, december 6th

tigercity

taxpayer

lifestyle

midatlantic (bleedin' bleedins)

@ great scott

saturday, december 6th

noah & the whale

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, december 7th

bazaar bizarre boston!

(with djs, including brad 'nac)

12-7pm @ the castle, park plaza

monday, december 8th

love is all

crystal stilts

reports

@ great scott

monday & tuesday

december 8th & 9th

letters to cleo

midatlantic (on the 8th)

modern society (on the 9th)

@ the paradise

tuesday, december 9th

radar bros.

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, december 9th

jeremy enigk

dave deporis

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, december 11th

stella with michael showalter,

michael ian black, & david wain

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, december 13th

neil young

wilco

everest

@ the dcu center, worcester

sunday, december 14th

bon iver

@ the wilbur theatre

wednesday, december 17th

the broken river prophet

quincunx

shepherdess

@ great scott

sunday, december 21st

hallelujah the hills

aloud

nassy

ad frank & sarah rabdau

@ great scott

monday, december 22nd

tristan da cunha

tom fitzgerril

neptune

@ great scott

sunday, december 28th

akron/family

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 30th

caspian & constants

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, january 1st, 2009

one happy island

cotton candy

(mark robinson & evelyn hurley)

the smittens

cathy cathodic

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, january 4th

glasvegas

rails to russia

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, january 8th

forest henderson

the new collisions

the lights out

sir q

@ great scott

saturday, january 10th

head automatica

radio 4

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

illinois

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

the raveonettes

@ the paradise

sunday, january 18th

frightened rabbit

@ great scott

saturday, january 24th

vic chesnutt

elf power

@ the middle east

tuesday, january 27th

annuals

jessica lee mayfield

what laura says

@ the paradise

friday, january 30th

andrew bird

loney dear

@ the orpheum

friday, february 13th

los campesinos!

@ the paradise

tuesday, february 24th

tapes 'n tapes

@ the paradise

visit tourfilter for more shows

Thursday, April 01, 2004

On London, At Last

A whirlwind of work and near-constant activity flew by in a flash. It's been over a week since I returned from my trip to London, and it was a few Wednesdays ago that I wrote about part one of the His Dark Materials stage play. Here it is weeks later with barely a UK update. I'm going to remedy that run-down of the rest of my trip across the Atlantic. A little bit of catch-up, if you will...

Wednesday evening it was a walk back over the Thames to the Hayward Gallery for the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. I met up with new friend (and fellow BSP fan) Cindy for drinks first at the Royal Festival Hall, then over to the gallery to see the best display of pop art I'd ever seen in person. Pieces I'd only seen on postcards and posters came to life in their original size... it was fairly blown away by the up-close complexity that came across in work that looks so simple when smaller. There were many paintings I'd never seen that I just loved, things I'd wished I could get prints of. And y'know, I never knew that his 'Radio' piece was three dimensional. Now I do.

I was also struck by his different phases, not just by how much he changed over time, but how much he didn't change... there were pieces from the 80s that very obviously and directly referenced his work in the 60s. I really loved the look into his process... seeing the original comic books he based his early work on, seeing notes and pencil sketches, and even a list of his favorite words. (naturally, "Neato!" was in there). Tried to snap a cell-phone photo of the list, but got the security guard smackdown. Closing time came quickly, so we had to leave without a visit to the gift shop. I'd have to return.

Thursday night was a bit of a bust... my plan to head over to comic shop Gosh and a meetup with some unmet acquaintances was squashed by the jetlag. Tried for a brief post-work nap which turned into a four hour snooze-fest. Needless to say, lots of reading was done that night.

Friday arrives, my first full weekend in London begins, and I'm determined to get my sleep schedule on track, or die trying. Well, if one can die while sleeping. Which one can. Knock on old, dark English wood. Some pints at the pub with co-worker Jason and his brother, then an early bedtime were in order. I wanted to be bright-eyed and braced for...

Saturday! Now we're talkin'. I wake in the late morning feeling finally, thankfully, normal. My eyelids opened effortlessly, I'm up and out the door for a light breakfast and a tube ride to the British Museum. Just across the street, there sits Gosh, the relatively small but super-stocked and well-organized comic shop that was recommended to me by someone on the V. Picked up both issues of DC's New Frontiers (flipped through and adored the artwork) along with the latest issue of Powers (because I have no patience when it comes to Powers... sorry, Matt). But enough with the new, it's time for the seriously old... into the museum I go.

Wow, it's big. And beautiful. And yes, there's an arse-load of ancient stuff inside. I was especially into the Japanese art display they had going on, as I've got a bit of a far eastern fixation, especially when it comes to Samurai-centric stuff. Lucky me, they had a full suit of armour, a shining sword, and a sparkling saddle and stirrups. Could have wandered that part of the museum all day. I mixed in peeks at the Greek and Roman artifacts, along with the extensive money exhibit as well. Great stuff, but I had to cut my visit short because ...

It was time to meet Jo & Shaun over at the London Bridge tube station, where they took me to the whoa-inducing Borough Market. Overwhelmed by the blend of aromas, and how just plain huge the place is, spread out underneath the southern end of the bridge. Super-fresh vegetables, cheeses, meats, all kinds of food. Some veggies I'd never even seen before. Nuts, candies, dried fruits, rich, aromatic coffee beans (which you could have scooped, ground, and filtered straight into a cup in front of you... I had the best Costa Rican dark roast of my life, hands down). The market was so easy to get to... if I lived here, I'd be at the Borough every weekend stocking up and getting caffeinated.

After picking up some real chunks of English chocolate for Amie (including some chili-chocolate... just to see the expression on her face when the burn kicks in), we wandered towards the riverside for a walk along the Thames. Down Clink street (so named for the location of the definitive London Prison in old times) to the river, past the relocated Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, by the museums and theatres, towards the massive London Eye.

This skyline-defying ferris wheel was built for the millenium celebration, and has been given longer life through popularity (i.e. the amount of cash it must bring in). On our way over I ducked back into the Hayward Gallery to pick up some Lichtenstein cards, but we had to rush to make our 5:00 "flight" (as they call 'em) aboard the Eye. The long lines moved quickly, and before we know it, we're taking in the bird's eye view of London. Freakin' gorgeous. Yet another perspective on the city that I'll never forget.

After the Eye, and a quick international call to Amie, we caught a red double-decker bus back across the river and up into Soho for drinks and dinner. Our destination was the Angel, a really comfortable, relaxing pub where we remained for most of the night. Many drinks and tasty bar snacks were had before we ventured over to Fopp for some cheap DVD/CD action (for Jo, not for me... curse you, evil exchange rate!), then down into the Leicester Square underground for a quick trip back to my hotel.

Jo and Shaun had generously invited me to stay over at their flat in South London, giving me a much-needed break from my hotel-life, so we caught the train over to Brockley station. We were entertained on our walk from the tube stop by some cringe-inducing karaoke drifting from a pub. I swear, the local dogs may have been joining in... it was so horrifyingly bad that we almost couldn't walk away... a siren-from-hell surely sang inside. We made it safely to their place, though, and after a bit of requisite email-checking, we dove into a perfectly nostalgic Housemartins TV documentary I'd never seen. I'd been dying to check it out since Jo told me of it earlier that day... I swear, that band was truly one of pop's best.

Next thing you know, it's Sunday morning. After a fitfull sleep I was treated to some near-perfect scrambled eggs courtesy of Shaun's cooking skills and yesterday's visit to the Borough Market. MmmmMMmm good, from my head down to my legs. Before long it was time to get touristy with it, so we hopped another bus to Lewisham where we boarded the D.L.R. That's the "Docklands Light Railway", and there's nobody at the controls, kids. Fully automated, totally computerized, passengers jockey for that prime spot at the front of the train for an unobstructed view of the rails ahead. Not an engineer in sight, and it's quite a novelty.

The trip was over quickly as we got off at the Island Gardens stop on the Isle of Dogs. From there we headed down into a foot tunnel that leads underneath the river Thames into Greenwich, namesake of Greenwich Mean Time, and home to the Meridian Line.

Past the Cutty Sark, through the Old Royal Naval College, straight into a riverside pub to escape the ever-increasing rain. After soaking in some atmosphere and a couple pints, it was onwards to check out the Meridian Line. It was still raining like hell, so rather than trek across the park to the Royal Observatory and the official exhibit, we decided to be underwhelmed by one of the "markers" that designated zero longitude. Oboy.

Time to get undercover again, so off to the sheltered Greenwich Market we go. Thanks to the asstacular exchange rate, I mastered the art of browse-but-not-buy... at least until I got to a stall with dozens upon dozens of little animal figurines made out of pistachio nutshells. I was on the hunt for a tchotchke (first time I've ever written that word) for Amie, and these cute little suckers would fit the bill. I picked out a few I thought she'd like, and we continued on.

After a bit of thought, and despite the weather, we decided to book passage on a riverboat and take in yet another perspective on the city. We timed it just right and jumped aboard at the Greenwich docks for the hour-long cruise upriver to Westminster. We toughed it out above deck, in the chilly wind & rain, for as long as we could. Got slightly soaked as we snapped a few under-bridge photos, and took breaks downstairs behind glass, looking towards the riverbanks. A great little ride, and very worth just 6 pounds... if and when I return to London, I'll do this again on a nicer day for sure.

We disembarked at the Westminster docks, right next to Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. My first time seeing them up close, and as engrained as their image is in our brains, it's still striking to take it in.

Past a statue of Churchill to the bus stop, we grabbed another bus to Soho, then a quick walk over to Wardor Street. Jo led us to a place called Wetherspoons for cheap lunch and a little less atmosphere. Still, even the "Denny's of London" has more accented dark wood moulding and antique furniture than your average U.S. eatery. Post-meal pints were had over at the Spice of Life pub, until we were frightened off by the imminent arrival of karaoke action (plus, we were kinda knackered). The time had come to call it a night, but not before we almost lost Jo in a foolhardy attempt to play hide and seek. (sorry, jo!)

After a long weekend of wandering London town, my gracious hosts and I parted ways at the Leicester Square tube stop, so it was back to the hotel for me. A bit of ironing and an early evening was in order, as my second week of UK-based work was looming ...

(last London update coming soon. go here for jo's words on the weekend, too.)

posted by brad at 3:23 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

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