Echo and the Bunnymen at the Palladium

The Palladium is obviously a quite prestigious venue for the Bunnymen to play to their loyal fanbase. Trouble is, after this performance i am not sue I will go and see them again.

The support act was an American troubadour. Very decent voice, but the songs were just a bit dull. Lacked impact.

Then on come Echo & the Bunnymen. They have a terrific back catalogue of songs to play. And with one exception, they sounded great. The exception unfortunately was lead singer Ian McCulloch. Will Sargeant on bass guitar sounds perfect, but is now a very portly gentleman indeed. Ian on the other hand looks amazingly good for his age, given he is nearing 60. From a distance and with the aid of his trademark dark glasses he could pass for nearer 30.

But sadly he sounded really rough. Not being able to reach the higher notes is fine. But it was the lower ones that beat him. Throughout he sang horribly flat. Sorry, but it may be time for the band to hire a new lead. Funnily enough that support guy had the voice but no songs. A match?

Suede

Went to this one with a couple of friends from work, a tiering of age groups with me in my fifties, Jonathan in his forties and Andy in his thirties. But all of us like Suede. Well Andy is closer to obsessed with them as the peak of Britpop, ahead of Oasis or Blur in artistic terms.

First up were the Horrors who I really like and have seen before as a headliner. The guys were less impressed

Then onto the main act. And Suede now really are a good act. Brett Anderson has moved into a higher league as a strutting front man. And could pass for a much younger guy. He also absolutely made Andy's day (maybe even year) by coming down into the crowd and singing right next to him.

Oh and a propos nothing, below is a photo from my office window at sunset.

Chemical Brothers at Alexandra Palace

My first time seeing the Chemical Brothers indoors. And I managed to persuade my mate Thibault to come to this gig too, although i think he was as tempted by my offer of pizza afterwards as by the show. which is a pity because you always get a very sophisticated light show from the Brothers. They didn't disappoint.

Weekend in the West Country

Nearly New Year and finally I get round to posting from September. But at least the photos remind me of warmer sunnier days. So this was a weekend visiting my friends in Bath. I was out Friday night, so I arrived to start the weekend with Saturday lunch in a pub. Just with rather better views than in London.

 The afternoon's entertainment was a visit to Dudmaston Hall. The West country doesn't lack for grand country houses making use of the rolling hills for fine landscaping.

 And even deep into September there were plenty of blooms in the gardens

Sunday brought a trip to Lacock. This is a National Trust property with several layers of interest. To start with there are the remains of the Abbey, which are superbly scenic, especially the cloisters.

The Abbey had at this point a modern art installation to enjoy. This is supposed to have the effect of rippling silk.

The Abbey was adapted to become a fine country house which is well worth a circuit.

 Then there rare the grounds and gardens to enjoy.

 And finally (well ignoring the photography museum sine Fox Talbot pretty much invented the  photographic process at Lacock) there is the village itself, pretty much in tact from Georgian England and so much used for period dramas, notably Downton Abbey. They just have to get the cars out.

Now this is England's only grade one listed pier. As you can see, by Monday the weather had become a little more "moody". This is a Victorian pier that was nearly scrapped altogether, but was instead taken apart, renovated and now is a pleasant tourist attraction, complete with a very decent fish restaurant which we took advantage of for lunch.

And final leg of my West Country tour - Clevedon Court - an attractive old house with a fiercely sloping garden beyond from which one gets lovely views.