General Election 02/07/24 - 07/07/24

I made it through work on Tuesday but was very much still in recovery mode and we got a rare take-out in the evening, then had another early night. I was in on Wednesday evening too: housemate L was back from Australia and I got to watch one of October Drift’s monthly livestreams actually live for once, as well as do a crossword with N.

Thursday was the day of the unexpectedly-called General Election and I voted on my may home from work- I’m a massive election nerd and this one promised to be memorable, so (having just about caught up on my Glastonbury sleep debt) I put myself to bed early for 2 or 3 hours, then got up just as the results started to come in and stayed up all night watching parts of the country that have never been anything but blue turn a patchwork of colours and various prominent Tories losing their seats. It was fun messaging other friends who were also still up and, whilst there wasn’t any of the sense of optimism and excitement of 1996, there was at least a sense of profound relief.

Knowing I was likely to stay up, I’d arranged a rare WFH day on Friday, then headed out in the evening to the MOTH Club for Alien Chicks’ EP launch. They were supported first by Sulk, female-fronted post-punk youngsters, then House Arrest who they were playing up a friendly rivalry with and got people moving- Alien Chicks provided exactly the kind of glorious sweatfest that I love them for.

N was working over the weekend: the last shows of the year although he’d not been very well all week, so hadn’t been going in as much. On Saturday I had a nice chat to my Romanian friend A and then did some work in the morning, before meeting ex-colleague A over in West London in the afternoon and we had our usual meander around Portobello, stopping in for some food and a drink at various places along the way.

I headed up to Camden for a gig afterwards: it was at the Camden Eye, right by the station, which I’d not been to before. Like everywhere it was showing the Euros and I accidentally watched the drama of England’s quarter final penalty shoot-out glory waiting for the upstairs gig space to open. Two bands I really like were on the same bill and it opened with The Velvet Fuzz, who were good although the vocals could have been more audible, then came The Havocks, a mostly female group who threw in a few covers, including X-Ray Specs, maintaining the unpolished punk vibe, and then Gingerella were headlining. I enjoyed the music but it was one of those rare gigs where I turned up and everyone else was 25 years younger than me: the gig space was just one small room with nowhere to hide, I had a couple of awkward band interactions and I got super-paranoid about how welcome I was, which stayed with me for quite a while afterwards.

On Sunday I went down to the National Gallery to see the Last Caravaggio that was on display there, then headed up to my old flat to hang out with M & E- M fed me lunch and we did a crossword together when E finally went for a nap. I left in time to do a shop at the local Sainsbury’s, then headed home, where, unusually, I had the house to myself. I was taking the opportunity to cook dishes full of onion and chilli (as N was doing his own thing foodwise while he was recovering) and had Family Zoomtime in the evening.

08/07/24 - 14/07/24

I had D&D online on Monday evening and then on Tuesday N&I had an M7 meet-up with F and MW at a South Asian restaurant called Kricket in town, which was lovely. Wednesday was taken up at work my taking a very-long term guest to the council, although it went reasonably well, and then I cooked and did a crossword with N in the evening. I actually managed to join some colleagues for the Thursday post-work drink for a bit and then headed over to Omeara for a gig: first on were Tropic Gold, a heavy trio with a lot of backing track, then came Bobby Wolfgang, who I think I was seeing for the first time under his own name- it had the same set up and muscular energy as Strange Bones, although musically it didn't especially hook me. As often, he was on the bill with Calva Louise, who I was catching for the first time in a while and energised me, although it seemed to be over far too quickly.

After work on Friday I headed over to Rough Trade East, where Stone were launching their album: there was over an hour of hanging around in the hot shop before they came on; they played the album all the way through, although it seemed somehow constrained, then when they finished off with a few old favourites, the atmosphere and energy shifted to another level. I was easily able to pop from there up to the Macbeth in Hoxton for another gig: I caught the last half of Pave*, a female-fronted group from somewhere up north, who were heavy with floaty vocals. I was there for The Velvet Hands, who played next and threw in a couple of new tunes.

On Saturday N & I travelled down to Twickenham to take advantage of a rare-opening of Alexander Pope's grotto: a tunnel he built from his riverside mansion to his gardens across the road and then studded with all kinds of rocks, now the only thing that survives of the property and nestled beneath a school. We checked out the gallery in what remained of Orleans House as well, then walked along the river back to Richmond where we had some lunch. I did a shop on my way home, then headed straight back out again to Newington Green, where a little jazz festival was being help, with stalls that seemed like a mixture of bouji market and a car boot sale. We met up with T&A and Tom J and chilled out in the sun on the grass, but went home again after about an hour as I had Family Zoomtime (moved to not clash with tomorrow's Euros Final).

After dinner I headed up to Signature Brew, Blackhorse Road, where there'd been a little music all-dayer going on: the main bands were playing in the cavernous brewery building but were interspersed with more acoustic-y acts playing outside, where the tables were bustling. I saw Archways, who played an earnest and musical indie, then the ubiquitous Laurie Wright, who played at twice his usual pace to fit everything in and it sounded great, Permanent Joy (FKA Blondes) were the least-Liverpudlian sounding band from Liverpool I've heard, they played a poignant indie with impressive singing voices but I was mainly there for headliners Sweet Unrest who managed to get a real vibe going.

I worked in the morning on Sunday, then N & I went down to Victoria Park, grabbed a streetfood lunch, then walked along the canal to Haggerston and caught the bus home from there. I cooked in the evening, starting to make use of the impressive crop of rhubarb that my plant had produced, and we hung our with a crossword.