That London

I don't usually blog trips up to That London, but seeing as I do it so infrequently these days I suppose it counts as a day out. It was the annual pilgrimage to the Lexington to see my favourite band David Devant and his Spirit Wife, but I thought I'd go up early to catch an exhibition or two.



On my way to Leighton House to see the Perez Simon Collection, I had to change buses from a 52 from Victoria to a 9 or 10. I did so at the Royal Albert Hall, so popped into the RCA to see the 50 years of graphic design exhibition. It wasn't very thrilling, mainly posters hanging from bulldog clips. At Leighton House, it was 6 quid to get in, senior concession, and I took advantage of the free audio guide. Photography was not allowed. Not all the pictures had audio descriptions, so a bit of lingering was needed between numbers. First was a pastel of Rossetti's Venus Verticordia, the only one by him. There was one Millais, no Holman Hunts, and lots of the second and third division Pre-Raphs: Burne- Jones, Alma-Tadema, Waterhouse, Albert Moore, Arthur Hughes, John Strudwick and of course, Lord Leighton himself. There weren't as many nudes as I'd expected, the main one was Andromeda by Edward John Poynter, said to be the first Victorian painting to depict pubic hair! The climax of the show was the large Alma-Tadema The Roses of Heliogabalus, along with a study for it and lots of drawings of the props used (Alma-Tadema's couch was also in the show, underneath a painting where it was used).



There was no cafe, so I headed back to Kensington Hight Street for a coffee at Cafe Tarte, by the bus stop, then hopped on to a Heatherwick number 10 bus, where I spotted a Cafe de Fred, just round the corner! At Euston, I remembered that there was a sex exhibition on at the Wellcome Foundation, opposite Euston station, so I hopped off the bus to investigate. This show was free but there was no photography here either. It was most amusing, with the original pencil drawings to The joy of sex, an orgone box and a Tijuana bible, alongside artefacts from ancient civilisations, India and Japan. The visitors seemed to be mostly young couples holding hands. It was my first visit to the Wellcome Collection - it has a nice cafe and bookshop so it's well worth another visit.



The 73 bus to Kings Cross took ages, it was gridlock outside Euston station. We'd arranged to meet at the Queens Head, but when I got there it was rammed with Friday night, after-the-office drinkers. I managed to get a pint of porter and drank it outside. Richard Grimsdale-Yates hailed a cab to the Lexington and we met up with Brian, Alison and Rob H. Then with a pint of Flying Scotsman it was upstairs for Dream Themes, and eventually The Dave Devant Band. After the encore it was a dash across the road to the bus stop and a 73 to Victoria with Bongo Pete, taking in the lights of Oxford Street and Regents Street. We caught the 1am train and I finally got home around a quarter to three!

Daily Moan #4: pubs with no beer

I'm kicking myself that I didn't leave for London earlier last night. Everything slowed down because of the weather (and no, I'm not going to moan about the snow!) and so I went straight to the 100 Club to see David Devant and his Spirit Wife. Or rather the two support acts beforehand. So, I could have gone to The Champion, the usual meeting haunt of Devantees, and enjoyed £2 pints of Sam Smith's finest. As it was, it was straight to the bar of the 100 Club, only to find that the two beer pumps were out of action (they had run out the night before) and the only drinks on offer were continental-style lagers for nearly four pounds a pint! Well, I can forgive the 100 Club - the legendary venue is under threat of closure. I first went there in 1965 to see Jesse 'Lone Cat' Fuller and his one-man band, and have returned many times since to see Devant, The Rutles, Wreckless Eric and many other fine acts.

This Moan should really have been entitled 'Bars with no beer', because the places I have a beef with are venues such as Brighton Dome, Komedia and the Latest Music bar, all of which sell overpriced lager and you're lucky to find even a bottle of proper beer. At the Dome recently, where I went to see Robin Ince's excellent 'Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People' the bar had on sale just Carlsberg or Manger's cider (at some exorbitant price I expect)! They do sometimes, mostly during the Festival, have a barrel of Dark Star on the counter, but not that evening - and the interval was too short to pop over to the Waggon and Horses for a pint of Harvey's. Please music bars (I don't even bother with trendy young persons' 'cocktail' bars), please please offer proper beer to your more discerning punters, preferably sourced from local breweries!

If you were wondering why I didn't post a Moan yesterday and laugh that I already failed my New Year's resolution even before New Year's Day, it was because I was busy writing stroppy letters to Virgin Media's Complaints Department. More on that in due course, I shouldn't wonder. Meanwhile some videos of a fantastic Dave Devant set, with new songs, stories read from My Magic Life and the Baron Gilvan taking on the role of Spectral Roadie are now appearing on Youth Tube.

Tunbridge Wells

dd_forum_6.jpg
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

The No. 29, from vibrant metrosexual Brighton to genteel Royal Tunbridge Wells, must be one of the great bus journeys of Britain, wending its way via Lewes (past Harvey's brewery) and Uckfield though the spectacular South Downs and leafy Weald. The occasion was a rare gig by David Devant and his Spirit Wife at the Forum, a former (very grand) toilet on the edge of the common. I alighted at the Pantiles and after checking in at The Swan Hotel, a tavern I can heartily recommend, £60 a night via Late Rooms. [Foz? complained later that his 'boutique' hotel had no tea-making facilities or trouser press, and breakfast comprised dry foreign bread, salami and cheese!]. After a quick visit to the friendly tourist office to get a map, I met up with Peter Chrisp on the High Street and after a visit to a second-hand book shop, where he purchased a copy of Cuban Pete sheet music (with uke chords!) we had coffee in Blends (where the proprietor was the spitting image of Nigel Havers), thence to the Duke of York for a pint or two of Harvey's. Supper proved difficult to find - we were turned away from Pizza Express and Zizzi, but found refuge in an Italian tapas bar called Soprano, where we overordered and observed the pink-wigged hen party opposite! So, stuffed, it was on to the Forum where we caught the end of a set by locals Mr Tom Williams and the Boat, featuring a lady violinist (anyone remember Curved Air?) and harmonica. Then it was the band we came to see. The boys launched straight into 'Cookie' (I think) and powered through a blistering set, Mikey in half glittery costume and cape, Foz? in a monkey suit (I thought he was a teddy bear a la Mark Wallinger until the head made an appearance during the encore, during which he played Mikey's pink uke). Despite being their first gig since the 100 Club, everyone was on top form, and it was a great set. Apparently the band had torn up Mikey's setlist and substituted their own, much to The Vessel's delight. The Forum was full, but very few old faces - Mr Peekaboo was Mr Solo from Brum, and he videod the whole thing on his new gadget. Dai Laffin was there too with a large contingent, and I met a couple from Shoreham.

Next morning, after a hearty breakfast of Alpen (too sweet!), toast, tea and 2 eggs, baked beans, mushrooms and tomato, we met up with Foz? and took the 29 to Isfield where we had 2 hours before the next bus to play on the Lavender Line. Lady Angela, a Peckett Class R2 0-4-0 saddle tank No. 1690 originally from the Gypsum Mines in Nottinghamshire, was waiting in the station, so we jumped into the open-air truck to ride the mile or so to the end of the line and back. We stopped a couple of times on the way back for a photographer to take snaps for next year's brochure - hope we'll be in it! After larking about in the signal box, we had a pint of Old Hookey in the Laughing Fish and jumped back onto the 29 for the ride home.