Electric Ladies of the 80s @ Islington Assembly Room... @toyahofficial @LeneLovichBand @Islington_AH @Hazel_OConnor

Last night Darren treated Stuart and I to a night watching the Electric Ladies of the 80s show at the Islington Assembly Room in London's glitzy Upper Street.

The much-delayed gig, sadly no longer including Hazel O'Connor having had a stroke, starred Toyah (Wilcox) and Lene Lovich.

Lene was up first. Still mad as a bag of frogs she put on a great show dancing around and whooping like a banshee.

Then after the break came Toyah. Who, it has to be said, really knew how to whip up a crowd. She was engaging, funny, self-aware, self-deprecating, and in fine voice.

We laughed and sang along. Great fun.

Little known fact #1: LL released a cover of “I Think Were Alone Now” 8 years before Tiffany did.
Little known fact #2: LL wrote the lyrics to “Supernature” as made famous by Cerrone in 1977.
Little known fact #3: TW recorded the demo of "Slave to the Rhythm" for co-writer Simon Darlow before it was sent to Frankie Goes To Hollywood to hear. They did their own demo but turned it down to then be given to Grace Jones who had the hit with it. TW is now going to release STTR was a single this summer.

Set Lists:-

Lene Lovich:

Blue Hotel
I Think We're Alone Now (Ritchie Cordell cover)
Maria
New Toy
Supernature (Cerrone cover)
Say When
Lucky Number
Angels
Details
Home


Toyah:

Drone (Intro)
Thunder in the Mountains
Good Morning Universe
Echo Beach (Martha and the Muffins cover)
Brave New World
It's A Mystery
Rebel Run
Space Dance
Slave to the Rhythm (Grace Jones cover
Sensational
Neon Womb

I Want To Be Free

Encore:
Will You (Hazel O’Connor cover)
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover)

 

Birthday Trip…

I said to Stuart as a present we can go anywhere in the world for his birthday. So I put a map up in the kitchen and said throw a dart and that’s where we’ll go. 

So we’re both looking forward to two weeks in July behind the pedal bin. 

Turn(er)

(Un)Happy Father’s Day…

Time Out gives you the option of opting out of marketing emails about Fathers Day (this coming Sunday?). And Mothering Sunday too if you wish. Thank you Time Out.

Precious few other marketing emails do. Block, block, unsubscribe, unsubscribe…

Sorry to see you go…

“My father has recently died. I find emails from you about Father’s Day distressing. You have no opt-out option other than to go. You have lost my future custom. You mutton shunters.”

Grace Jones : Up Close and Orchestral "She was a star the whole night through. A brilliant star. A brilliant shining star" @gracejones @gracejonesofficial @southbankcentre #MeltdownFest Review —>

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see the star that is Grace Jones burn brightly on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall on London's glitzy South Bank. With a full orchestra, she was simply dazzling.

There to open her own curated Meltdown, and a rather tame 75 minutes late (she has been 3 hours late before), Ms Jones appeared at the top a staircase dressed in black suit and bathed in a deeper shade of blue. The audience gave her a rapturous reception. As she belted out the first words of Nightclubbing the place went positively wild.

Over the next hour and fifty minutes she plundered much of her back catalogue, and some new songs to boot. We were on our feet for pretty much the entire show.

Every song welcomed a change of lighting, a change of costume, or a change of Philip Treacy hat. It was a bit like a West End show where, "tonight the role of the diva will be played by Miss Grace Jones."

She commanded the stage and strutted about like she owned in.

She was exceptionally well behaved throughout though. None of the tantrums we've seen over the years*. Although towards the end she was perhaps a little over-excited and rather muddled the words of some of the tracks. "I've not done my homework", she coyly confessed to the cheering crowd. We didn't care. We can forgive here that and much else besides. She was a star the whole night through. A brilliant star. A brilliant shining star.

The most dramatic bit: Hurricane. She sang it facing across the stage into a hurricane fan with full-on special effects, lighting, debris and flowing costume blown horizontal by the wind. Marvellous.

The best bit: Hula-hooping all but bear-chested to Slave To The Rhythm

By 10:30pm she had to finish(?) but got us to join in with Pull Up to the Bumper acapella as she left the stage.

A top night.

Setlist

Nightclubbing [Iggy Pop cover]
Walking in the Rain [Flash and the Pan cover]
Born Black [New song]
My Jamaican Guy
I've Done It Again
Demolition Man
War No More [New song]
Love Is the Drug [Roxy Music cover]
I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
Williams' Blood
Amazing Grace [John Newton cover]
Slave to the Rhythm [with band introductions]
Hurricane
Pull Up to the Bumper [Acapella]

(Sadly, no La Vie En Rose on this occasion)

*Back in 2008 at the Electric Picnic in Ireland we'd seen Grace Jones do a set. She had turned up 25 mins late - not too bad as we came to discover in the later years - but the crowd was a little restless. When she had finished her set and left the stage we didn't immediately cheer for an encore. Off stage and over the microphone she raged and told us all "to fucking fuck off". Love her.

With The Essex Crew on The South Bank…

Great day out Saturday on the glitzy South Bank. Seeing the fantastic Middle for the second time at the Dorfman Theatre by the equally fabulous David Eldridge. And then an afternoon (and night out) with the Essex lot. Better friends you could not ask for.

Jerusalem @ Apollo Theatre...

Last night Stuart and I went to see the revival of Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre in London's glitzy West End. It was a long play with three acts, two intervals but gripping and very, very funny throughout. A sort of 'Shameless in the Woods'.

We'd last seen in in 2010 at the same theatre.

In Jerusalem, Mark Rylance portrays Johnny Byron, a local man who finds himself in high demand in all corners of the community and not for any good reasons. The story takes place on St George’s Day in which a fair has arrived in town for all to enjoy – but with everyone wanting a piece of him, it is only his child that wants him to go on the rides. The local police are after Johnny to put him behind bars for what they perceive to be the activities of a modern day Pied Piper. Elsewhere, the local council wish to have him evicted from his home; Troy Whitworth is lookind for his lost daughter and wants to provide Byron with a good beating. Even his friends are in on the action, wanting to get hold of him so that they can provide him with the normal cocktail of booze and drugs.

The staging involved live chickens, a live tortoise and a goldfish and several real trees surrounding an onstage caravan. And a lot of blood.

Rylance is superb. Highly recommended.

Farewell Torremolinos…

It’s been a real tonic having a week away. 

On way back home now - refreshed and a bit sun-kissed. Thanks guys. 

Beach Day, Bar Night…

Yesterday we were chilling on the beach. Well, when I say chilling…. It was a toasty 29C.

We spent pretty much the whole day there. Scorcio. When it all got too hot Stu & I went for a swim. No one else was in the water so we thought it must be really cold. But it wasn’t it was lovely.

A few metres off shore a woman started waving at us from the beach. “Ignore her” we thought. Then we heard what she was saying. “JELLYFISH!!”
The penny dropped. That’s why no one was swimming. We motored back to beach!

Back at the hotel after showering and putting on our glad rags we met up with boys for sundowners on the roof. By 10pm we had headed up the steps into town for some supper before hitting the bars. Aqua and Men’s Bar.

A couple of honeymooners from our hotel - James and Craig - joined us too.

Oh and we were all given free shots at Aqua. All good fun.

Malaga…

Yesterday we all took a little day trip to Malaga. Just a 25 mins train ride up the coast, it’s a bigger town than Torremolinos, has an historic centre, a palace, a cathedral, lots of old streets and a nice centrally located park.

We were there to see the Pablo Picasso museum though. All squashed faces and discombobulated bodies. I think they have missed a trick by not calling it Eyes To The Right - but maybe that’s just me.

The weather was hot, the town pretty cool, but the exhibition merely luke warm. Some nice stuff, a couple of famous works, but few of the really big hitters. PP works are many, spread far and wide, and much sort after. So it was unlikely any one museum could house it all. We enjoyed it though. Especially the smiling owl.

After the art came the tipple. And the tapas. We ate near the centre and enjoyed some people watching to boot.

The heat rather got the better of us by 5pm so we headed back to Torre for a brief siesta then out to meet Matty for 9pm dinner at El Gato on the seafront.

I bumped into Philip and Nigel en route which was as much a surprise as it was a delight.

The food in El Gato was good. But the table management less so. We were each rewarded with a free glass of wine and a free starter for our wait which more than compensated for any delay. The bookcase of tapas went down particular well.

A lovely day out which giggles, tipples and nibbles. Just what holidays are all about.