Blog: Three Corners Of That London

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A PACKED weekend commenced with a trip to Marylebone on Friday night, to play at a Freedom Of Expression night. I arrived to find Tim The Promoter and Ben Who Is Superman Revenge Squad already there, so we stood around and had a bit of a chat about ROCK STUFF and then did soundchecking. I went off to the Really Posh Chip Shop for some ... er... CHIPS, then went back and settled in to wait for the audience.

It would be a LONG wait, as hardly anybody turned up. Ben agreed to go on first, and he had a couple of locals that'd wandered in, but who left halfway through, two pals, me, Tim and his girlfriend Jenny. It didn't really matter though, as he was GRATE. I've heard a lot about him from Sources Various but never SEEN him, or indeed HEARD him. I was VERY impressed - he does this amazing thing where the music disappears under an AVALANCHE of words, songs become lengthy complicated but ACE great big long RAPS, or maybe POEMS delivered at high speed. It's difficult to describe because I've never really heard anything like it before, but i REALLY liked it.

Next was me, and as there were now only five other people in the room I ESCHEWED the microphone and played Totally Acoustically, doing THIS:

I Did A Gig In New York

The Peterborough All-Saints' Wide Game Team (Group B)

Professional, Competetent, Rocking And Tight

Sod It, Let's Get Pissed

It Only Works Because You're Here

The Lesson Of The Smiths

Mental Judo

Boom Shake The Room

Much fun was had, especially by ME, and I was GLAD to do Mental Judo in such a FITTING environment.

After it was over we all went downstairs - there was another act on, but as there were suddenly quite a few people in specifically to see her I didn't feel too bad about missing out, and instead had a LENGTHY discussion about COMICS with Tim (who, as with Mr R Johnston earlier in the week, was of a similar age and disposition to me and so was FULL of love for the early work of Alan Moore) and then ROCK GENERAL with Jenny, who it turns out is playing with me when I ROCK Croydon.

SATURDAY saw The Incline Of My Hill and I heading over to SOUTH LONDON to attend the housewarming DO of The Gibbs. We had a GRATE time - there was a SPREAD, there was BOOZE and there was a whole heap of lovely people who all got on SO well that the CHAT RACKET in the living room nearly gave me a headache!

Then on SUNDAY we all went as a household to the Waltham Forest Green Fair (Fayre?) in Walthamstowe. Last week we went to RISE in Finsbury Park which I personally thought was HORRID, but THIS was much more like it - loads of extremely VARIOUS people wandering around, an ORGANIC BEER stall, GARDENING stalls, and Schools Orchestras everywhere you looked. The only thing missing really was anybody who had a clue what was going on, so we spent the first hour or so wandering around trying to find out where The Men They Couldn't Hang were supposed to be playing. Eventually we found them waiting to go on after a School Dance Group performing an INTERPRETATION of a bit of Romeo & Juliet - the KNIFE FITE bit. I'm not sure if that was the BEST idea for something for East London Kids to be taught at the moment, but STILL.

There was about an HOUR of watching people set up gear and then The Men They Couldn't Hang (or "The Men What Couldn't Hang", according to the announcer) went on and were DEAD good. It was a PROPER festival set of LARKS, rousing TUNES and getting kids on the stage to play tambourine. It was a happy sun-kissed household who strode home, KNACKERED but happy after a VERY busy weekend.

posted 21/7/2008 by MJ Hibbett

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