Wednesday 25 February 2004
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
Jazz Cafe
So there was a little mix up and it looked like I wouldn't get a ticket BUT saved at the door by chap with a spare. Most disconcerted by the bouncer laughing uncontrollably all during the lacking-ticket fiasco, made me feel quite out of sorts. Stood for an hour with the space gradually filling and filling. Lots of men, some women. Not a bling crowd, not a heavy drinking crowd. Solid fan crowd, followers from time. Was trying to stand in the middle - not too near the stage but not behind anybody too tall. Sadly a group of six GIANTs came and stood next to me (good foot taller than I am) and once the music started there was no way to win. The crowd bounced. CL rapped. Pete Rock played the decks. The fans went wild, in a very male, intense kind of way. They hadn't played together for 10 years. We were witnessing a reunion. It was goood.
12:09 AM
Saturday 14 February 2004
Lost In Translation
Marble Arch Odeon
Its one of those you either love or hate. People have said its over-hyped (it probably is), its boring, has no story and makes you hate the idea of going to Japan. I liked it. Foreign cities, especially when you can't speak the language and the culture is very very different, can make you feel like this. LIke being outside and looking in, not connecting with anyone on any level, having purposelessness in your wanderings. There were beautifully composed shots - very neatly and simply defined like japanese prints. It was quietly played. Not much dialogue. Not much happened. But you felt the feeling of not wanting to be in a hotel, that it was impersonal, that the significant others were wrapped up in their own thing, that the people you did come in contact with were superficial and therefore unimportant. It seemed to be all about details - and certainly wasn't about action. Loved the scene of the japanese friend singing the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen on karoke.
11:30 PM
|
|
