Concert: The Pioneers

Tonight, booked with TAC to see The Pioneers in The Forge. Last I heard, it was closing down - I guess it's under new management. Looking for somewhere to eat beforehand, I saw there's a restaurant at the venue, which overlooks the concert floor and you can sit there and eat during the concert! which would have been nice. They were booked out until the weekend, though. Looking at the map of the area, I spied La Patagonia, an Argentinian steak restaurant, five minutes' walk away - so I made a reservation there for 6pm, when they open.

Wow, I never realised Camden was walking distance - from the place I'm about to leave. (sniff*) The evening was fine, so I headed off, arriving slightly before they opened - I waited politely until they switched the sign on the door to "Open". Had my choice of tables. The decor is pretty standard, from my experience of Argentinian steak restaurants - but with more pictures of footballers than of bulls! The specials looked good, but I was really torn between the chicken, marinated in butter and garlic, or the lomitos al champignon (beef medallions in mushroom sauce). Went for them in the end, on the grounds that I usually have chicken, wherever I go.

OMG It was so good.. the sauce so rich, the meat tender, the accompanying potatoes delicious. I'd just had bread and butter to start, and that was lovely, warm and crusty - funnily enough, with butter marked as coming from the Netherlands! Whew, it was a struggle to finish - but it was a labour of love, and I managed it. Predictably, the white wine list is shorter than the red - but I had a gorgeous sauvignon blanc. Two, in fact. Not cheap - they never are - but you won't find better steak. She suggested dessert (hah! where would I squeeze it in?). I had a concert to get to anyway.

I ended up joining a queue - inside, it was clear to see that the place has been completely remodelled. Sure enough, you can see the diners in the gallery - downstairs, the main part of the floor is clear, with limited seating around the side.

I got a drink - more expensive than the restaurant - in the bar, at the back (left of the above photo): wasn't in time for seating at the side, but I managed to get a seat right at the back, complete with table. And I was so glad I had - it was nearly two hours more before the band deigned to appear.

The music was cool. But I was almost ready to leave by the time they came on - really, I would have if they'd been 10 minutes more. And I got the distinct impression that everyone around me was a bigger fan than I was. People were recognising the songs - I wasn't. By the time they'd finished the main set, I was more than ready to leave - and I did, as they were beavering away at the encore. Hey, I wasn't the first - the couple beside me left something like 10 minutes after they came on stage! but that's more a function of the delay, and of the venue, than the actual performance. It's a venue that suits die-hard fans - which is great, and good luck to them. But that wasn't me, this evening.

Tomorrow, with Up in the Cheap Seats for an opera at the Arcola, as part of Grimeborn - this is No for an Answer. Hardly ever performed, it seems - I hope there isn't a good reason for that..

On Thursday, it's also looking like film - what was coming up was a documentary, again in the Curzon Bloomsbury, called Iraq's Invisible Beauty. Ah, but.. Squaring the Circle, which is highly rated, doesn't seem to be on that day. And guess what? Barbie comes higher-rated than what I'd planned to see! Again, the trailer looks excellent - stars Margot Robbie, with Ryan Gosling as Ken. Lots and lots of pink. Showing in - you guessed it - Curzon Bloomsbury - at lots of times, which should work well with my removal to my new flat that day.

Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again. Film is looking like Talk to Me - now, this is curious, because the trailer looks really familiar, but when I watch it, I don't remember watching the film - fair enough, but does that mean it's a re-release? The release date is last year, so it'd have to be recent. Anyway, it involves a group of friends conjuring spirits by means of an embalmed hand. Produced by A24, the SFX were apparently done by a couple of brothers famous on YouTube! Showing at a decent time in Limerick Omniplex, which is handier for shopping. And ironically, The Hideout / London Movie Club are seeing the same film in London that day! Pity I can't join them.

On Monday, as I won't have started a job by then, I've signed up for A Summer's Day in Hyde Park, with Paul and Tim's Greater London Talks and Walks. Hope the weather is kind..

Next Tuesday, back with TAC for a play called The Grain Store, set in Stalinist Russia, and showing in the Mack@Mountview - yay, for once, something closer to my new place!

And on the 2nd, back at last with The Horror Book Club. It's been a while since they were doing anything I was interested in - but I can hardly miss this, a meeting about The Fog by James Herbert. He remains my favourite horror writer overall, and the best descriptive writer I've ever read - to the extent that he literally changed the way I look at the world. And would you believe it, the club has, apparently, never done anything by him! This is, actually, the book that got me back into horror after an absence of years, during which I was traumatised by my reading of another of his, The Rats.. So, well, I can't miss this, can I? And I've just come across a reading of The Fog by Christopher Lee.. listened to the first part already.