Blog: Records And Books

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On Saturday I headed into London town for some CULTURE. It began with a trip to Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross for the Independent Label market. Over the past few years I've read about this happening and wanted to go but never actually got round to it, so was Quite Excited about finally making it this time. I arrived to find everything in full swing, with lots of people (mostly people who looked a LOT like ME, to be honest) mooching around various stalls, some of which featured BEER. I got myself a DELICIOUS pint of QED Session Pale from London Beer Lab (it was ACE) and then set off for a stroll round.

I had come prepared to splash CA$H on lots of fun records, but soon discovered a tiny flaw in this plan: I had no idea who any of the bands WERE, except for a tiny number whose records I already had. It is a FINE old state of affairs - what are these bands THINKING of, when they are unknown to a hep young rocker like what I am? I mean, I listen to Greatest Hits Radio every week and I'm sure I've been to almost several gigs in the past three years, so surely they should be getting through to a core market like me?

I did spot a copy of the new Prolapse single out in the wild though, and also found Mr J Jervis on a stall for a quick chat, so all was not lost. And, as I said, the beer was BRILLIANT.

It was a GORGEOUS sunny day so I set off on foot for my next port of call, in ISLINGTON. I stomped off along the canal and arrived quite quickly at the ANGEL end of Islington, but then was reminded that it is a HUGE place and a massive stomp to the HIGHBURY end where I was going. Also, it is WEIRD because Islington makes almost no sense whatsoever, and somehow obliterates my sense of direction so that I always arrive from completely the opposite direction to the one I thought I was coming from.

Still, I got to The Hen & Chickens in good time and got myself a PINT... which was entirely the opposite of my ealier pint i.e. DISGUSTING. It was so awful that I had to be Very Brave Indeed and take it back, and got a much nicer pint of lager instead. PHEW!

With that drama complete it was soon time for the ACTUAL drama, which was Book Talk Book Talk Book feat. Ben Moor and Joanna Neary. It was the last show I needed to complete my Ben Moor Collection, and it was worth waiting for as it was BRILLO. It was very much in the same MODE as Ben's solo shows i.e. with nested stories referring to each other, lots of GOOD WORDS, and multiple sub-plots and recurring themes. Also it was v.funny and both ACTORS were GRATE, to the extent that everybody stuck around for a bit too long at the end, unsure if it had really finished or not. I think it had, but I might need to go again to check.

With that I set off home, only to find that my train back to Stratford had been cancelled "due to weather", according to the sign in the station. It was a small hitch in what had otherwise been a DELIGHTFUL day of CULTURE!

posted 19/7/2022 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

Hen & Chickens? *twitch*
posted 19/7/2022 by alex

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