July 21st - Day 94

"Thank you for listening" are not the first words I want to hear upon arrival at a gig, especially if the next person who comes on stage says, "That was the final act". This was Park Sounds in Canada Square Park - advertised to be going on until two, but annoyingly finishing at one thirty-five. Can I be bothered to write about something I missed? Yes, okay. Showcase. Twenty emerging artists (five per weekday). One winner unveiled on Friday. The emerging artist I saw disappearing was soulful singer Olivia Leisk who, despite leaving the stage with aplomb, didn't make it through to the final. So I was left with the dilemma of whether to count the few chords I heard Olivia play as I was approaching the stage, as my music for the day.
I was saved by live music at my local pub The Ivy House - an obscure venue in Nunhead of unexpected reknown, of which more another time. And a little more to be added for today soon (honest) but I'm tired.

August 5th - Day 109

The sight of a man with a cabbage hat upon his head, espied through a window, sauntering out of the back room of the local pub, may not to many people be seen as a sure sign that live music is nearby. But fortunately I knew that this hat belonged to Hugh Metcalfe, founder and compere of The Klinker. And not surprisingly, but fortunately nonetheless, it was he who I saw under the hat. The Klinker has functioned for 27 years in various inner-city venues north and south of the river (mainly north). Currently, and maybe uniquely, four venues across town hold Klinker evenings (klinkerzoundz.com). I don't know how to describe The Klinker, so here are some words from the flyer: improvisation, film, music, contraptions, poetry, rattle, burnt toast, chandeliers. And perhaps more pertinantly, "Right strange with a twinkle".
This evening I arrived quite late and for a few minutes, as I watched Hugh and a couple of colleagues rambling around the stage plugging and unplugging instruments, it not being apparent whether they were setting-up or packing-up, I thought I may have missed the evening altogether. Eventually, however, Hugh picked up his acoustic guitar (he performs too - guitar and violin tonight) and he, a drummer and an electric guitarist became Fuck Off Batman, described in the flyer as "monosylabolic batmanic freakrock". I was thinking something like thrash-thrash, or rude-thrash-impro (when Hugh wasn't passing the time during a song repeatedly shouting out the word "Fuck", it was because he was repeatedly screaming the word "Shit"). Hugh said after the set that he "really enjoyed the bits we weren't playing - the bits between the tracks".

August 30th - Day 134

I went down to The Boho Bar this evening and was miffed to discover that tonight's music was provided by Lisa Lore, not because she's no good - she's great, a "neo-blues tripfunk wordsmith" (lisalore.com) - but because she was performing the last time I went here too. I decided to check out an open-mic night in Greenwich, but, going past the local (The Ivy House), I heard live music and suddenly a trip to Greenwich seemed a bit of an effort. The band, a rocky outfit called Siberia performing their own riff-heavy stuff alongside covers of Whitesnake, Pulp, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Golden Earing, were the entertainment at a buzzing multi-aged school reunion.

March 19th - Day 335

Rajinder, "mind melting psychic fuzzer", above, and Lion Lies Down, "psychedelic drone/noise explorers", below. Also on tonight's Transient Constellations' bill at The Ivy House in Nunhead tonight was Dieter Muh, "post-industrial esoteric titan(s)", Poppy Jackson, "transformative rituals and threshold territories" and Plurals, "epic drone/noise wranglers". Noise Wranglers. Now there's a name for a band.