Surreal events
Last night i went to a free event in London. There is a big venue that we used to use that has been shut for a year doing refurbishments and last night was their big opening party. It was possibly the most surreal event i've been to and that includes the other free event i went to with the Queen impersonator (the royal one not the band) and the fire eaters and the rope climbers.
6:00 met friends at the station. I booked 3 free places at this thing and brought 2 friends to share in the free food and drink. :-)
6:30 Arrived, put coats and bags in coat check. Started drinking the free cocktails (*think* it was vodka orange and grenadine). All 3 of us lost count how many of those we had. It was more than 6 each but after that i don't know. We also made friends with serving people so we could get the nice canapés. We acted in an almost meerkat-like way as we scouted the people with jugs to top up the cocktails and the trays handing out food.
7:30 this is the weird bit. We all (about 450 people) move into their main room and take seats. We are all well-lubricated with wine and cocktails. Female to male ratio about 3:1. Average age: 35. We are given a speech about the refurb etc and we clap politely and then....
PAUSE FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT
Journey South come onto the stage.
If you are now thinking "who?" then i applaud you. Journey South are two impossibly blonde and clean-cut brothers who were on X-factor (apparently) they appear also to have an album out.
Anyway they come on and play an acoustic set for us that last about 45 mins. Included are such stalwart favourites as "Let it be", "Wonderwall" and billy Joel's "Always a woman" interspersed with their songs that are sentimental poppy pap.
Amazingly the room is just drunk enough to be LOVING this stuff. One woman between songs shouts out "you're sexy" to the boys, another couple in the front row get up and start dancing for no reason in the middle of a song. The whole audience is singing the chorus of "Let it be". At the end the boys say we're great and that "it's always lovely to play for people who actually listen". Poor things!
After that there is more wine and food and people have gone back to discussing venue capacity and suitability for conferences/weddings/seminars. Apart from me and my friends who are discussing the food and love lives and various other subjects. At 9:30 the place is winding down and we reclaim our coats and bags and make our way out and home.
i have a picture on my phone of Journey South singing. It wasn't a complicated and elongated hallucination. Honest.
6:00 met friends at the station. I booked 3 free places at this thing and brought 2 friends to share in the free food and drink. :-)
6:30 Arrived, put coats and bags in coat check. Started drinking the free cocktails (*think* it was vodka orange and grenadine). All 3 of us lost count how many of those we had. It was more than 6 each but after that i don't know. We also made friends with serving people so we could get the nice canapés. We acted in an almost meerkat-like way as we scouted the people with jugs to top up the cocktails and the trays handing out food.
7:30 this is the weird bit. We all (about 450 people) move into their main room and take seats. We are all well-lubricated with wine and cocktails. Female to male ratio about 3:1. Average age: 35. We are given a speech about the refurb etc and we clap politely and then....
PAUSE FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT
Journey South come onto the stage.
If you are now thinking "who?" then i applaud you. Journey South are two impossibly blonde and clean-cut brothers who were on X-factor (apparently) they appear also to have an album out.
Anyway they come on and play an acoustic set for us that last about 45 mins. Included are such stalwart favourites as "Let it be", "Wonderwall" and billy Joel's "Always a woman" interspersed with their songs that are sentimental poppy pap.
Amazingly the room is just drunk enough to be LOVING this stuff. One woman between songs shouts out "you're sexy" to the boys, another couple in the front row get up and start dancing for no reason in the middle of a song. The whole audience is singing the chorus of "Let it be". At the end the boys say we're great and that "it's always lovely to play for people who actually listen". Poor things!
After that there is more wine and food and people have gone back to discussing venue capacity and suitability for conferences/weddings/seminars. Apart from me and my friends who are discussing the food and love lives and various other subjects. At 9:30 the place is winding down and we reclaim our coats and bags and make our way out and home.
i have a picture on my phone of Journey South singing. It wasn't a complicated and elongated hallucination. Honest.