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ventaWell, it's been a while, hasn't it? Every so often I genuinely intend to get back to posting regularly (because my memory no longer works desperately well, and I appreciate old entries here telling me what I did). But then... life gets in the way, and so on.
Plus how do I catch up? I think the answer is: I don't. Let's just dive in. It's not like I have any major news, anyway. Still alive, still in Ealing, still programming for a job, still living with ChrisC. Still foisting fiction on the world, https://www.elizabethguilt.com for details (I use a pen-name because my real surname is hard).
There is - was - a band called Allo Darlin'. They went their separate ways in 2016, with a big farewell tour, and that was that. Then earlier this year, there was news! A one-off gig! one night only! to celebrate ten years of the Ramsgate Music Hall. There was something of a frenzy of ticket purchasing.
[This draft got neglected halfway through, so "Friday" here is - eep - October 27th]
On Friday, I went into the office, the better to shoot out and leap on the 17:20 from St Pancras down to Ramsgate. Obviously, an outstanding query with the IT support desk managed to rear its head at 16:45 and almost made me late, but I threw myself heroically onto the train. Like Indiana Jones, only less dramatic. ChrisC and I just had time for a(n adequate) burrito in Ramsgate before doors opened.
I had assumed Ramsgate Music Hall would be a Victorian-ish era music hall pressed into service as a gig venue. It isn't. It's a rather boring, narrow building you could almost not notice. Inside, it's tiny: just a single room with a slightly-raised stage, stairs down to the loos and up to the bar, and a lift wedged in between.
So, we wombled in and chatted to friends. And then the support act started.
You may remember, from WGW days, I have a rule: everyone gets three songs. The support was.... well. Possibly ironic. Possibly doing it on purpose. But from my point-of-view, cringey and inappropriate, and I just wanted to get out. The instant the three songs were over, I shot upstairs to joinzenithed, S, E and N because talking to them was massively more enticing.
Ramsgate Music Hall has an (otherwise) appealing set-up whereby the stage footage is streamed into the upstairs bar. It's good-quality video and audio and everything. Sadly, since we were trying to avoid the show downstairs, this was less helpful. I fear I may have yelled in S's ear a lot.
Eventually, the flashy-light band-on-stage warning light went off in the bar, and we piled downstairs. The main room was, by then, quite full so I ended up at the back... which is fine by me, because I have now acknowledged that I just don't care that much about being able to see a band. I'm there to hear them.
Allo Darlin' were great. Four (verging-on-five, when the guest violinist appeared) of them onstage... but. But. The audience were quiet. Hushed. Reverential, almost. Ramsgate Music Hall (like the lovely Luminaire, peace be upon it) has stencilled signs on the wall advising that if you want to chat to your mates, you should be in the bar. I approve. Even so... the gig seemed quiet. Not quite what I was expecting for SURPRISE REFORMATION OF MUCH-LOVED BAND!!. It was nice, but not overwhelming.
The following day (ChrisC and I stopped in a generic chain hotel in Ramsgate) was lovely. Breakfast with J, R, and S in a nearby lovely cafe (having fallen over E & N on the way out of the hotel). Then we got news that S (a different S) and Zenithed had emerged from their hotel and were heading to a cafe... So ChrisC and I basically cafe-crawled until it was time to go to the Tunnels.
We only knew about the Tunnels courtesy of Zenithed, anyway. Ramsgate, having had the rare accolade of being bombed from the sky during World War One had some local people who campaigned and schemed and negotiated to build tunnel-shelters as soon as the prospect of WW2 began to lumber over the European horizon. Although the scheme was downsized a few times, Ramsgate still ended up with a very substantial, well-designed shelter system. The tunnels today are... well... empty tunnels. In many ways there isn't a lot to see, but the guide we got was a good speaker, and full of interesting information, and I really enjoyed the tour. There's a museum-y bit you can self-serve afterwards, and all in all it was a jolly nice way to fill in the early afternoon.
ChrisC and I did the thing you are 100% supposed to do at the seaside (ate fish and chips), and hopped on a train back to London in time to pause for a pint and make it to the Islington Assembly Hall. To see... Allo Darlin' again. After the announcement of the Ramsgate show, they'd also announced a London show (and, as it turned out, a Ramsgate matinee - some people I know did all three, but I decided that wasn't for me).
The Islington show was much bigger - the hall has a much larger capacity - and somehow the celebratory atmosphere that had previously seemed missing arrived. People sang along, and cheered, and danced.
I had done no revision for these gigs, and hearing songs I loved but hadn't ever expected to hear live again was delightful, and nostalgic, and life-affirming.
The band mentioned onstage in Islington that they were thinking about writing some new material. One of the world's politest heckles sounded from the back of the room.
I think you should record another album
In case that was too demanding, the heckler clarified:
I mean, not tonight.
Plus how do I catch up? I think the answer is: I don't. Let's just dive in. It's not like I have any major news, anyway. Still alive, still in Ealing, still programming for a job, still living with ChrisC. Still foisting fiction on the world, https://www.elizabethguilt.com for details (I use a pen-name because my real surname is hard).
There is - was - a band called Allo Darlin'. They went their separate ways in 2016, with a big farewell tour, and that was that. Then earlier this year, there was news! A one-off gig! one night only! to celebrate ten years of the Ramsgate Music Hall. There was something of a frenzy of ticket purchasing.
[This draft got neglected halfway through, so "Friday" here is - eep - October 27th]
On Friday, I went into the office, the better to shoot out and leap on the 17:20 from St Pancras down to Ramsgate. Obviously, an outstanding query with the IT support desk managed to rear its head at 16:45 and almost made me late, but I threw myself heroically onto the train. Like Indiana Jones, only less dramatic. ChrisC and I just had time for a(n adequate) burrito in Ramsgate before doors opened.
I had assumed Ramsgate Music Hall would be a Victorian-ish era music hall pressed into service as a gig venue. It isn't. It's a rather boring, narrow building you could almost not notice. Inside, it's tiny: just a single room with a slightly-raised stage, stairs down to the loos and up to the bar, and a lift wedged in between.
So, we wombled in and chatted to friends. And then the support act started.
You may remember, from WGW days, I have a rule: everyone gets three songs. The support was.... well. Possibly ironic. Possibly doing it on purpose. But from my point-of-view, cringey and inappropriate, and I just wanted to get out. The instant the three songs were over, I shot upstairs to join
zenithed, S, E and N because talking to them was massively more enticing.Ramsgate Music Hall has an (otherwise) appealing set-up whereby the stage footage is streamed into the upstairs bar. It's good-quality video and audio and everything. Sadly, since we were trying to avoid the show downstairs, this was less helpful. I fear I may have yelled in S's ear a lot.
Eventually, the flashy-light band-on-stage warning light went off in the bar, and we piled downstairs. The main room was, by then, quite full so I ended up at the back... which is fine by me, because I have now acknowledged that I just don't care that much about being able to see a band. I'm there to hear them.
Allo Darlin' were great. Four (verging-on-five, when the guest violinist appeared) of them onstage... but. But. The audience were quiet. Hushed. Reverential, almost. Ramsgate Music Hall (like the lovely Luminaire, peace be upon it) has stencilled signs on the wall advising that if you want to chat to your mates, you should be in the bar. I approve. Even so... the gig seemed quiet. Not quite what I was expecting for SURPRISE REFORMATION OF MUCH-LOVED BAND!!. It was nice, but not overwhelming.
The following day (ChrisC and I stopped in a generic chain hotel in Ramsgate) was lovely. Breakfast with J, R, and S in a nearby lovely cafe (having fallen over E & N on the way out of the hotel). Then we got news that S (a different S) and Zenithed had emerged from their hotel and were heading to a cafe... So ChrisC and I basically cafe-crawled until it was time to go to the Tunnels.
We only knew about the Tunnels courtesy of Zenithed, anyway. Ramsgate, having had the rare accolade of being bombed from the sky during World War One had some local people who campaigned and schemed and negotiated to build tunnel-shelters as soon as the prospect of WW2 began to lumber over the European horizon. Although the scheme was downsized a few times, Ramsgate still ended up with a very substantial, well-designed shelter system. The tunnels today are... well... empty tunnels. In many ways there isn't a lot to see, but the guide we got was a good speaker, and full of interesting information, and I really enjoyed the tour. There's a museum-y bit you can self-serve afterwards, and all in all it was a jolly nice way to fill in the early afternoon.
ChrisC and I did the thing you are 100% supposed to do at the seaside (ate fish and chips), and hopped on a train back to London in time to pause for a pint and make it to the Islington Assembly Hall. To see... Allo Darlin' again. After the announcement of the Ramsgate show, they'd also announced a London show (and, as it turned out, a Ramsgate matinee - some people I know did all three, but I decided that wasn't for me).
The Islington show was much bigger - the hall has a much larger capacity - and somehow the celebratory atmosphere that had previously seemed missing arrived. People sang along, and cheered, and danced.
I had done no revision for these gigs, and hearing songs I loved but hadn't ever expected to hear live again was delightful, and nostalgic, and life-affirming.
The band mentioned onstage in Islington that they were thinking about writing some new material. One of the world's politest heckles sounded from the back of the room.
I think you should record another album
In case that was too demanding, the heckler clarified:
I mean, not tonight.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-26 05:11 pm (UTC)Also hello! It is always lovely to see you here even if infrequent.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-26 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-25 12:36 am (UTC)Perhaps the heckler simply didn't want a live album of a gig they'd attended?