Free wireless rocks. Am sitting here on the train typing away as the dull and dreary british countryside speeds past. Have just spent the last 4 nights down in London visiting friends, catching some live music, being a touristy geek, and generally taking a break from working for a few days.
Arrived on Saturday evening to attend a kiwi mate’s going away party which ended with me getting lost at around 5am after a warehouse party somewhere in Hackney Wick. If you’re from London then you’ll know that Hackney is not the sort of area you want to be wandering around lost in. Especially at the end of a very big night out. Although it only took an outrageously expensive taxi ride to get me back to the safety of my mate’s comfy sofa.
After spending most of sunday recovering, the next few days were a whirlwind of museums, galleries, flat whites, catching up on the old days, and sleeping on a very flat inflatable mattress. A particular highlight was the Imperial War Museum. It’s an exceptionally well laid out and informative series of exhibits that cover a number of international conflicts (although mostly dedicated to WWI and II) in objective detail. Plus there are a bunch of big tanks and guns and planes in the main entrance.
I Ended my stay by catching one of my favourite New Zealand bands, The Brunettes (who I have mentioned previously), play a Not In Kansas Anymore night. The gig was at Under The West Way, which is definitely an interesting place. It’s a tres trendy music and design studio building with a cosy bar on the ground floor that has a very homely atmosphere reminiscent of certain bars I frequented back in Dunedin.
The gig, as with every Brunettes gig I’ve been to, was quite simply brilliant. While playing to a british audience is an endless battle for home-famous kiwi artists touring over this side of the world, it’s clear the delightful mix of angst, pop, and candyfloss that The Brunettes are renowned for had won the small crowd over from the second song. Despite having just come off an exhausting tour of the US, they managed to play an exceptionally tight set bursting with energy and enthusiasm. And I swayed along with the rest of the crowd in a constant state of awe at the unfaltering beauty of Heather, the lead singer. They head off now for a lengthy European tour finishing back up in London in a months time.
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