Concert: A Sip of Spain

This evening was the second Spanish night, the first of two Meetups, in a row - although this first one is obviously one of those commercial groups, formed to promote an event - La Isla Flamenco Club advertised an evening of flamenco, folk, & copla in Bistrot Walluc (tickets from Eventbrite). Now, this turns out to be a fondue restaurant - it doesn't appeal to me massively as a proper meal, so I discovered it's not far from the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch, and booked there again for beforehand! The bistrot, however, offered a cheap first drink if pre-booked, so I did.

And lo, with a free afternoon - I finally fitted in a haircut! Rush, I always go to, and they're excellent. I had the usual musical buses game, where my bus decided it was finishing at London Bridge, so I meandered up the road to wait for the next option to take me the rest of the way, only to discover it was the same number.. I then had a 7-minute walk, in what was torrential rain. My phone was doing the most interesting things, thinking the raindrops were taps. By the time I finally got there - in time for my booking - I was drenched - as they took my coat, I warned them to watch out, it was going to drip..

Had a very pleasant time there - and by the time I left, the rain was at least lighter. I discovered that the Blues Kitchen was within walking distance - and although I was given the option of sitting in the salon for a bit before I left, I said I'd try and get into the Blues Kitchen a bit earlier - they'd bumped my hair appointment up a bit, so I was quite early for this! I was glad to get in out of the rain, and they said yes, they could seat me immediately. One of the hosts recognised me from Wednesday, but still predicted my drink wrong.. Anyway, I was again most excellently fed, again had a ginger martini. Pity how they gave me the rush when I wasn't ordering anything more, but understandable, I guess..

A shorter walk brought me to Bistrot Walluc. Heh, reminded me of Folklore, a bit, all cluttered and cramped. I ran into the musician, María de Huelva, who seated me in the front row and gave me a drinks token, which I used as soon as someone materialised behind the adjacent bar. Damn cheap offer (£2.68), although subsequent drinks were £6, also not bad. My though, I was very glad I hadn't eaten there - nothing against the food, which for all I know was terrific, but it was so cramped, there were no proper facilities for eating, just a few small bits of furniture that you would be sat near if you said you wanted to eat. A barrel, a small side table - that sort of thing. Plus, they didn't get the food out until the performance had started - and it started quite late! 

Ah though, it was worth the wait. We started with some copla - now, I'd never heard of this, but she explained that it was popular during the dictatorship, not so much for a while afterwards, but was now growing in popularity again. Personally, I loved it - highly dramatic, as it seems to be. Then there was the more familiar flamenco, then some folk music at the end, with what look like traditional instruments - a three-hole pipe, for instance?! They played dance music at the end, optimistically encouraging us up to dance in the miniscule free floor space - some actually did! I passed - not only was it cramped, but hey, I'm Irish, we don't dance..! The other performer, Yumi La Blanca, did a terrific job on percussion and flamenco dance, so close to me I had to pull my feet in.

I tell you this though, I'd love to come to more things here.. they're talking about putting something on every month, and if they do, it'll definitely be on my radar.. this is the kind of Spanish music I most love. Hell, it had me thinking again of moving to Spain..

Tomorrow, second Meetup in a row, and first of two films in a row - I'm off with Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) to Nuremberg, a representation of the famous post-World War II Nazi trials, starring Russell Crowe as Hermann Goring and Rami Malek as the psychiatrist brought in to assess the mental state of the prisoners. They're seeing it in the Gate Picturehouse - and our resourceful organiser has booked Gold restaurant for after, for those interested! Crikey, it's 11.5 years since I was last at this cinema..

And on Monday, I'm thinking of heading to Dragonfly, on my own.. it's the story of an elderly woman (Brenda Blethyn) needing care, and the next-door neighbour (Andrea Riseborough) who steps in to save the day: possibly with ulterior motives.. Closest showing to me is in the Garden Cinema.

On Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for a play called Jurassic, at Soho Theatre.

On Wednesday, headed with TAC to Maybe I Should Stop, at the Drayton Arms.

On Thursday, the Crick Crack Club is in action again, in the form of Ben Haggarty, who's performing The Blacksmith at the Bridge of Bones, at the Story Museum Oxford. Happily, they livestream it - available for a week afterwards - so I'm free to go with UITCS again that day, who are headed to Sadler's Wells for Ballet Black, performing Shadows. Eating beforehand in The Wilmington.

Then, two days with MRL, three with Meetup. On Friday, we're off to Pillion - showing in the BFI, this is a love story between a man and a handsome young biker.. starring Alexander Skarsgard (most memorable for his role as vampire Eric in True Blood, woo!) Booked for the Archduke again beforehand..

Next Saturday, we're going to Winter Wonderland! Oh, I've been to this so many times on my own, it'll be great to go with a group.. we're all going to The Ice Palace, then skating is scheduled - not my thing, I'll be going to Cirque Berserk shortly afterwards. Then we hang out together, doing whatever..

On the 30th, back with LoMAZ for a LoMAZ unlimited - they generally limit their numbers, but have the odd event with unlimited numbers. British Museum - on this day, focused on a Nordic Noir exhibition - and afterwards to Penderel's Oak.

And on the 1st, off with CT to Shake It Up - The Improvised Shakespeare Show, at the Hen & Chickens.. My sometime travel companion is coming too, and we're eating at La Pasta beforehand - handily, it's quite a late show, which gives us plenty of time.