Monthly Archives: April 2012
Call it what you want!
It’s the concert I have been waiting and wanting to attend for ages and I really didn’t know what to expect but Foster the People were off the scale.
Brixton Academy was rammed full of people (lots of fit young FTP look a likes in the audience) and the energy levels were very high.
For a group with one album and 10 songs honestly raised the roof. The guys were so energetic and enthusiastic it was infectious.
I was so pleased to see just the 5 of them on stage and a vast array of instruments set up. All of which they played with aplomb. Each band member was playing numerous instruments at the same time and they used their obvious talent to extend and rework the tracks from Torches.
Disobeying health and safety instructions (!) the whole audience was up dancing, singing and jumping about.
For a group that aren’t that well known (at least amongst my peers) it would seem they have a huge following. They’ve had to add extra dates to the London tour and all dates are sold out.
I was in seventh heaven when they performed Helena Beat but the finale of Pumped Up Kicks was mind blowing. I’d love to see the boys record and release that version as it was intense and so fast. It had the audience hoarse.
At the end if Pumped Up Kicks the lead singer Mark Foster (my mate and quite fancy the bassist Cubbie (in white in the pic above)) dived on the stage and finished his last refrains surfing across the crowd.
A brilliant night and I would say a night I won’t forget.
And I haven’t even got to the geeky dancing they were doing (which Enda has mastered 
) or the fab white lava bubbles they sprayed over the audience.
Brilliant!
;
All New People
Last night we went to the Duke of York theatre in the West End to see Zach Braffs play All New People.
The play is written and starring the
Scrubs star and has a limited run in London.
It’s a play about four people whose circumstances bring them together. It’s a single set, single scene piece with no intermission (it’s not long at 90 minutes).
The reviews haw been either very good or very bad and I can see why.
The play is interesting and uses a good mix of media to tell the stories of the four characters and there are places we’re you really laugh out loud.
Sadly this isn’t enough to keep the momentum going and the play stumbles in sections. There are points where you wonder if the play should simply have been a 30 minute TV play as it does tend to be over before it’s begun. It feels like they made it longer to accommodate the audience.
The cast are very good and the inclusion of the woman from Torchwood is interesting as she has a complex character to play and pulls it off.
Braff seems to have stereotypes himself into the role of Jewish bumbling male but let’s face it that’s what he was good at in Scrubs.
It’s a fun play and has some interesting twists but it could have tried a little harder. The theatre was packed but I guess that was all the women who wanted to see Braff (who does stage door appearances after every performance!).
Not bad. Could try harder. 7/10
FtP 6 days and counting
Call it what you want but I am really looking forward to Fridays concert at the Brixton Academy 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ssfD75lKRiY
Kite surfing, that’s surfing with kites!
This week Richard and I have enjoyed a much needed break in the sun. We did say we may not come down to Spain this year but given everything that has happened, the amount of work we have and the stuff that continues to test us, we decided it would be great to get away if only for a couple days (… down at Fraggle Rock!)
As if to give us an indication of what was to come our plane landed a full 30 minutes ahead of schedule due to the head wind. I understand from twitter (@keith1974) etc that the weather in the UK has been gale force winds and heavy rain. We’ve not experienced any of the rain but we have had a fair bit of high winds and as the apartment is on the coast there’s been no escaping it.
This hasn’t deterred us though and like most places this part of the world adapts to the conditions. Very quickly the beach filled up with fit young men donning wet suits and heading out into the Costa del Sol with their windsurfers and kites. It made for quite a spectacle.
I did pop down to the beach on our first day to take some shots etc but decided not to stay too long as there were approximately 50 kites pulling the guys around at great force and when they land on the beach you really don’t want to be anywhere near them!
It’s great to watch though as the winds were at such a pace the kites were literally carrying the kite surfers out of the water and flying them over the surf at quite a speed. Brilliant for the adrenaline junky.
We have spent our time relaxing and fitting into our normal Torrox Costa routine of late lazy breakfasts, walks along the promenade (it’s a couple kilometres long), a bit of retail therapy, nice lunches, siestas and tasty meals at the local marinderos. This time however we sat inside due to the winds!
A lovely weekend with friends
Rob's favourite street!
We have just returned from a lovely weekend in the Midlands with friends.
Rob and Chris kindly invited us to theirs and we took a drive up on Friday. What followed was a hilarious yet chilled weekend exploring the Midlands.
Iron Bridge
There really are some lovely spots around there and whilst visiting we went to Blists Hill Victorian Village, Benthall Hall, Iron Bridge and Dudmaston Hall.
Whilst at Blists Hill we had to calm down a young boy who got himself stuck in the Funicular Railway – I have never heard a child scream so much! It didn’t take long to reunite him with his mum but I guess to him it must have seem like days had passed!
Victorian Merry-go-round
Rob and I got ourselves a little giddy on liquorice sticks and sherbet dip from the Victorian Confectionary and Chris managed to find some old treacle toffee which kept him quiet for a while.
Tilly
Chris and Rob were lovely hosts as we the lovely Tilly, even thought we threatened it we didn’t catnap her and bring her home (we don’t think Brandy would appreciate the introduction of a younger model).
Chris and Rob larking about at Dudmaston
One the way back we stopped in to see Carol and Dave who also live in the area. We have not seen them for a couple of years and it was lovely to catch up.
We got him late but at least we have had today to get ourselves sorted before jetting off to Spain for the rest of the week
The French Cat
Shouldn’t that read “chat”?
What a gorgeous book. This would look lovely on our coffee table
