Flamenco: Light & Shadow & Film: 28 Years Later - The Bone Temple

Last night, second of four Meetups in a row, back with La Isla Flamenco Club, olé! This show was called Light & Shadow, and happened in The Gold Bar in the COLAB Tower (walkable, lovely..) - tickets from We Got Tickets. Also available from Eventbrite. I managed to get an Early Bird ticket, but they soon sold out - regular and student tickets were still available up to last night.

There were other places I could have eaten.. but none as cheap as Nando's, nor so exceptional that I'd choose them instead. Third time in a row, dearie me! So, off I set - in unpredicted rain - and got there in decent time. I was sat upstairs:

Delish, served in good time - what more could you want? Afterwards, it was only a five-minute walk to where I was going.. apparently. I skipped dessert all the same - time'd have been too tight. I travelled backstreets - Google Maps said something about climbing stairs, but lo, I was still on the lower street level when I came to the alleyway off Park Street that was apparently my entrance:

And so in to a seating area, with a pool table, gold curtains at the end (leading,as you would imagine, to the performance space), and signs for toilets:

The walls were decorated to look like what I eventually figured out were safety deposit boxes - wallpaper, I guess, but I wasn't sure. Anyway, when I found the nice lady with the clipboard, she explained I could go through and get a drink from the bar in the performance area, then come out and wait here - they were doing a soundcheck and weren't ready for people to go in yet.

So, off I went to the bar - where, I have to say, I met the most spaced-out looking barman in a beanie. Anyway, when I asked for a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc, I seem to have shocked him - he checked that I knew it was 250ml, then asked whether I wouldn't just rather have the bottle? (That would have worked out £2 cheaper.) I persisted that I'd just like a glass, for now at least - so he said he'd keep the bottle aside for me, and I could decide later, and pay then - I didn't have to pay now. (But please, he said, pay before you leave, or I'll be in trouble!) So I took my glass and left.

When it was time, I went in, meeting the organiser at the desk - I think they might have been selling fans and stuff. She remembered my name from previously, which was lovely! I took a table as near as possible to the front - all were named after Latin dances. Mine was the "Tango". I'd finished my drink, so popped up to the bar to get the second from that bottle that had apparently been put aside. Found him, he recognised me, I reminded him I was drinking Sauvignon Blanc, he went off to refill my glass.. came back with a glass of red. I corrected him.. someone else got me a glass of what I wanted. This time, I had to pay for it. Never did see the guy in the beanie again - but hey, I got one free glass!

When I got back to the table, a couple were sitting there as well - they excused themselves, but as I said, obviously there weren't enough tables for everyone to sit separately! And ay ay, when the music started, I was absolutely transported.. One percussionist, one singer, one guy on guitar and keyboard - and a dancer:

I took a couple of videos - and it's a tragedy that they don't open properly on this platform! This was so good.. You know, I'm still 50-50 about buying a place in Spain, and this sort of show does nothing to persuade me otherwise.. the piercing song, the insistent beat of the dancer's shoes..

Went to the loo at the interval - where the artwork was eyecatching:

And after the break, an outfit change for the dancer:

And another - why not?

And so happily home - and the rain had stopped:

Too tired to blog last night though - it's been a helluva week.

Today, third Meetup in a row, that postponed trip with The Hideout to see 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.. where we hoped to find out what the deal was with the weird, tracksuit-clothed people who popped up at the end of 28 Years Later, led by Jack O' Connell. Again written by Alex Garland, and again it stars Ralph Fiennes as the doctor studying the plague that has struck humanity, and Alfie Williams as the young boy who's taking his chances in the big, bad world. And just wait for the cameo at the end from another previous star.. The venue was finally announced as the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square - thank goodness, there was talk of it being at Picturehouse Central, and after the last time, I wasn't keen on a repeat! Booked to eat in Bella Italia beforehand, as usual - brunch, we were meeting so early! There was a later showing we could have gone to, you know..

Well, I did manage a much-needed lie-in - but not the overdue blog post. Made my way out to catch a bus - only to see a notice, applying all weekend, about diversions owing to works on Jamaica Road! Hmm.. on balance, and with my bus showing increasing delays, I decided on Tube. Also decided it'd be wiser to walk to the station - and sure enough, crowds at all the stops along the way, and not a single bus passed going in my direction. The Tube was crowded - but I got a seat once I changed to the Northern Line at Waterloo.

Lo, I arrived to brunch 10 minutes early. No problem getting seated, although they got really busy soon afterwards, and were sitting people upstairs - of course, nobody wanted to sit outside in the cold. I had chicken fries to start, as usual - and decided to change to carbonara (with chicken) for my main. When it came, the waiter asked whether I wouldn't ever change it, FFS - jeez, I don't think I've ever had this dish here! Anyway, the chicken was lovely and tender, but the sauce was bland - I don't think I'll have it here again.

And so to the cinema, where the organiser had messaged to say he'd just arrived, and the upstairs bar was closed, so they were in the Costa in the lobby. Ugh, I hate Costa. Well, there we met, although there was hardly any seating, so we all just stood around - there was a large group, today. I grabbed some chocolate - and with us there for an hour, my back was killing me by the time we finally headed in. It's confusing - we were in Screen 1, but there was no sign for it - we guessed that was what "Circle" and "Stalls" referred to. And why we all seemed to be seated in the Circle is beyond me. Similarly, my ticket had me in Row DD, someone else's in Row FF - which we couldn't find. I climbed all the way to the back looking for mine - finally sat in Row D instead. Happily, nobody came to claim my seat.

(Interestingly, the organiser had mentioned that they'd told him the bar didn't open until 15 minutes before showtime - but it was closed when we passed through on our way to the Circle, so I thought I'd ask the usher. Who had a different story, of course - she said it only opens when there are enough people. I indicated our large group.. to which her only response was that they sell alcohol in Costa anyway. Yeah, wouldn't that have been pleasant, carrying a drink around with nowhere to sit.)

Well, at least the seat was comfy. The trailers looked like a bunch of crap, not to put too fine a point on it - and I was in something of a mood by the time the film started..

Which makes it all the more remarkable that I loved this film so much. Mind you, it wasn't until I came out afterwards that I realised I'd been tense throughout - the pace is relentless. And there's so much going on, so many different storylines.. yes, we learn as much as we could ever have wanted about the tracksuited people, and perhaps more than we'd like. And the start of the film is ultraviolent - you have been warned. Mercifully, that more or less ends after a while. There's a lovely change of pace as we return to the doctor's character - he's progressing with his analysis of Samson - and wow, both of them cross paths with the leader of the tracksuited people! The climax of that.. is jawdropping, and it wouldn't be fair for me even to hint at it. And as for the end of the film.. heh, I bet you won't expect what happens..

Terrific plot development - many people are saying this is the ending they would have wished for from the previous film: but I guess they had so much character development to do, they needed this extra one. A third film is in the offing - very obviously hinted at from the end of this, and from both films, we have several unanswered questions. Very much looking forward to that, much more now that I've seen how this film has developed. I nearly rated it a 10 - but I'm a little careful with my 10s actually, and have quite specific criteria for them: specifically, could it have been done better? In this case, not much, but yes, a little - so I rated it a 9.

We gathered for a chat in the lobby afterwards - I got the impression the bar was now open upstairs, but who'd bother? (So I'm guessing it certainly only opens in the evening.) I didn't hear of anyone rating it less than a 7 - one person changed up from a 6. And then some people went to eat, and some of us repaired to the rather deafening All Bar One after the film. Our "Super Organiser" had apparently booked us some tables upstairs - they weren't quite ready, but they were sufficient for the size of the group. Mind you, it took ages to get served, and was still deafening - and I wasn't the only person to leave before the end of our two-hour booking.

Happily, the roadworks only block one direction it seems, so I got home by bus.

And tomorrow, back with Rewind Tours of London for his Death, Disease and Fire Walking Tour. We shall see how similar it is to his Hallowe'en walk.. Similar start time to today's, but I had more time to write this evening, huzzah!