Perhaps
you live in a cave or under a rock. Otherwise, most likely you know that I was
in London, England last week. It was a quick in n' out. Fly out of Boston Monday
night, arrive at Heathrow Tuesday morning, then fly back Thursday evening. Yes,
I am crazy.
It's
not often that you get the opportunity to do something that will occur
only once in your lifetime and you know it. This was one. My friend for 48 years,
Robert Spileos is an avid Kate Bush fan. So much so that he joined the fan club
many years ago. He must be clairvoyant. It turns out that fan club members received a code to use when tickets for a 22 night stand at the Evertim Hammersmith Apollo went on sale. Tickets sold out in 15 minutes. Robert planned to buy 1 ticket and go by himself. I told him if he was able to procure a ticket, to get one for me as well. I would join him.
He got the tickets. We went. It was one of the most memorable concerts of my lifetime. I've been to a few. There are no photos from the concert here. Ms Bush made a special request to those lucky enough to be attending the shows, please no iphones, cameras, ipads etc. She didn't want anything to detract from what happened on stage.
I now understand why. Our eyes barely strayed from the stage, making sure we wouldn't miss the spectacular visual event unfolding. We strained to hear every note, every word sung or spoken so that we would miss nothing on the auditory side. Kate's voice sounded like honey. And her vocals were augmented by 5 back-up singers. Add sound effects that went from prerecorded voices to sounds of birds singing and helicopters. It was not an ordinary concert. It was a spectacular, an extravaganza. It wasn't ordinary, it was Kate Bush.
I can't put it all into words. This review in The Guardian last week is spot on; kate bush "before the dawn"
Overall, London was very, very good to us. The entire trip was not ordinary. It was magic. Did I dream it?
Here's what happened in condensed form;
heathrow, express to paddington. tube to queensway. thistle kensington gardens, bayswater rd. that tub is trying to kill us. the victoria 10A Strathearn Pl W2 2NH. Kalamaras, Inverness Mews. Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill Road, the cabbie who took 15 pounds even though the meter read 16.80. salt caramel fudge, clotted cream fudge. Kensington Palace, Barclay Bikes, Buckingham Palace. Maharajah, Queensway St., Eventim Hammersmith Apollo, Before The Dawn, free earplugs, Ms. Bush, Gent wearing the English Settlement t-shirt, the 4 beautiful people who gave us the papers shot from the confetti blaster. Del Casa, Queensway St. (Thanks Yusef. sorry we didn't make it for lunch). Chrissie Hynde on the Beeb. David Cameron says "effin" to a group of Scottish railroad engineers widows on the Beeb. Trafalgar Square, Lord Nelson, the blue cock, Royal Guards Museum, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, House of Commons/Lords, The Eye, The Thames, Denisa at Thistle, Huxley's Heathrow (thanks Marta. I hope you got the weekend off). met folks from Germany, Albuquerque, Dallas, Ireland, Poland, Greenland, Morroco, Afghanistan, Rafak from Nigeria, Surrey and more. The Circle, District, Central, Bakerloo, Piccadilly lines. home again
I managed to take a few snaps in the short time we were in London. I hope you like them.
Some of our fine feathered friends relaxing in Kensington Gardens.
The Queen is dead. God Save The Queen
Even in West London, Red Sox Nation
Down in the Tube Station at (nearly) Midnight
Lovers of Today
Man in Black in repose
That's it for now.
