Saturday 15 October 2011

Discovering that scoring a photo pass does not get you through London traffic

Last Friday night it was off to Shepherds Bush to see Love and Money for a one off show in London. I was a little bit in the doghouse with Mrs B as we were already pre-booked for a Ski reunion weekend, at an Oast house near Hastings.  What saved my bacon (apologies to any passing vegetarians) was that through a mutual acquaintance the Lead Singer organised a Photo pass for, gulp, little old me and The Beast,  allowing us to play with the big boys…..Not enough to convince Mrs B to join me but enough to take the pressure off about arriving late for our weekend...

I was so impressed that James Grant took the time and
trouble to organise this for me,  well above and beyond
 the duty of your average Lead Singer of a pop group.

Skip to the bottom if you can't wait for the results....

The concert was split into two halves – the first half was dedicated to the performing of Dogs in the traffic – Love and Money’s third album.  While the second half saw them cover their second and most commercially successful Album ”Strange Kind of Love”  - Shame on you if you have never heard of them - a most under-rated group….

Dogs in the Traffic – just happens to describe the first part of my evening – getting to the venue.
I set off from Canary Wharf at around 5pm, expecting the 11 mile journey to Shepherds Bush to take 45minutes….four miles and one hour later, I was stuck in Friday night motor misery, as a crash on the Euston Road had ground the rush hour traffic to a standstill….

Aaaaarrrgggghhhh………..

didn’t the traffic gods know I had a photo pass…?  

Of course they did, which is why I was sitting going nowhere.  This is, after all, the BlackLOG.

At least it was warm enough to have the roof down on Carruthers*  which helped to keep me a little bit calmer than I would have been.  It looks odd screaming and pulling what little hair you have left when enclosed in a car. (There may even have been some four letter words but with no witnesses coming forward, I’m admitting nothing me lud….)   

* I may have failed to mention that ElleGee has gone** and been replaced with an almost identical car, only with a 2 litre turbo diesel in place of the very underpowered 1.8 petrol engine – Yes Teach, ElleGee was a terrible name but I did manage to keep using it.…Inspired by your comment that I would not keep it up…

** Hard to believe but ElleGee reached three years of age and despite good service was discarded like an unwanted shoe.  Although to be fair we liked him enough to have the same black exterior and red leather seats on the replacement….

Once the clock struck 6pm (I have a complete aversion to paying the congestion charge and I’m normally adept at skirting around the outside of the charging zone) I managed to wriggle down a side road and tried to cut across central London,  only the Tom Tom kept trying to pull me out of the congestion zone.  I had originally set it to avoid the congestion charge but could not seem to turn this instruction off – despite my heated argument with the Tom Tom trying to explain to it that “once you have crossed the zone entrance you don’t get a rebate for leaving” and then, rather more slowly,  telling it that “you don’t actually get charged after 6pm”…. The result was me trying to guess a direction to avoid hitting the static traffic whilst still continuing to make my way in the general direction of Shepherds Bush….The upshot of this rather stuttering and haphazardly-directed journey was an average speed of less than 5 miles an hour  - I could have walked it quicker.

Some simple maths

11.5 miles / 2 and a half hours  = 4.6 miles an hour

I finally arrived at the venue at 7:30pm but since it was allocated seating this was not the end of the world.  The only issue was that my normal parking area had long since been filled up so I had to hunt around a bit and park in a different area….

The second album  “Strange kind of love” – kind of relates to the actual show itself  

As already discussed, Mrs B was otherwise engaged and my attempts to lure people along at first appeared to be successful because I had a number of initial positive responses.  One by one, however, people discovered life got in the way.  This left me and The Beast to face the evening on our own.  The upside of this: The Beast got his own seat…..

It had never been my intention to try and compete with the professional photographers, so I was happy to take pictures from my seat – which happened to be the fifth row so not too far back. After I picked up the Photo pass I was initially challenged about my Rucksack (The kitchen sink) before I entered the  auditorium – a quick flash of the photo pass and that was my first obstacle cleared.  I settled in my seat, luxuriating in the extra space that was available to me. I was next to the aisle which was a bonus as it gave me clear line of sight to the stage.  I settled back and waited for the band’s arrival.

I had decided on a couple of strategies:

Not to use flash; and
to shoot single shots rather than rely on constant shutter

This was mainly to make sure I did not annoy the people around me. 

Psht, Psht, Psht, Psht, Psht, Psht, Psht, Psht

can get pretty annoying when it is constantly in your ear….So Mrs B informs me anyway…..

The Beast can’t help getting a bit over excited at times.

The down side with single shot is that you have to work harder to get a good picture, as the light at a gig is constantly changing….The upside is you don’t have to sort through thousands of failed shots….

Part way through the Dogs in traffic set a steward came over and asked me about The Beast.

I said I had a photo pass and went to get it –

“No problem” he said as he wandered off.

I felt a bit cheated  as photo passes are not easy to come by.  I continued clicking and enjoying the show until after the interval when the group moved onto the “Strange Kind of Love Album”.

Another Steward popped up – rather like the shop keeper in Mr Ben....

Over officious steward - “Can you come with me sir?”  

Me - “It’s alright I’ve got a photo pass…”

Over officious steward - “Yes but you’ve broken the three song rule, sir.”

Me  - “What three song rule?”

Over officious steward - "The photo pass only allows you to take pictures during the first three songs of the set."
Me - “Huh?” No one told me…

My legs went all wobbly for a second, especially when he talked about having to delete some of the pictures.

But I decided it was best not to argue and to keep it nice and polite. Showing him a copy of the email from James Grant probably saved my photos from being deleted.

Phew….

But he still insisted that The Beast was going to have to go in the Sin Bin until the end of the gig.

Gulp….

Thank god I had been through the same process with the, somewhat more illegal, Mega Mini Beast a  couple of months ago….So I knew it would be stored in a nice safe warm room….

When I  got back to my seat the gruff Scottish*** guy in front of me said -

"Ah thut yud bin threwn oot man”
Thanks to Mrs B for providing the scottish accent  

*** in truth I would estimate that  90% of the audience had fairly strong Scottish accents – Damn foolish English (For once I was happy to fall back on my Scottish roots – have I mentioned that I got married in a skirt …sorry Kilt?) really don’t appreciate good music when it is set in front of you…

No Mrs B …. No Beast. How could I go on …?  (I told you it was a Strange Kind of Love….).

….Quite easily actually - I lost myself in the music.

I would love to say that the nostalgia brought memories flooding back from years ago but when I had contacted Mr Grant and said I still listened to his music on a regular basis I wasn’t kidding, Love & Money, Friends Again (an early version of the band) and James’s solo work has never been far away from the play button of first the record player, then the CD player and more recently the Ipod.

One thing that had changed in the years since I last saw Love & Money live was James.  He was a lot more relaxed with the audience - chatting to us as if we were old friends, talking about some of his experiences including:

Being thrown off the Tina Turner tour  when he introduced the band at a show by saying,

“We’re not Tina Turner. She’ll be along in a wee bit.”

Hardly the crime of the century and personally I hope it was Tina’s management who had a sense of humour loss rather than the Octogenarian.

Discussing his cold and describing his need to blow his nose on stage as not very Rock n Roll, before going on to mention the reason why rock stars never leave the stage for toilet breaks (I have a feeling that we once saw Ray Davies - Lead singer of the Kinks - leave the stage for a toilet break) was the use of incontinence pants …..I think he might just have been joking….

They announced they were releasing a new album next year and more tours  

Oh, sh*t. 

Absolutely brilliant news but I had promised Mrs B that it was a one-off and my last chance to see them….even going as far as promising Mrs B that I would join her at the ballet if they ever toured London again, something I had sworn I would never attend….Fortunately Mrs B hadn’t actually enjoyed the ballet that she failed to get me to attend and had no intentions of going again…Phew a bit of a lucky escape there…..    

 As I walked away from the gig, having retrieved The Beast, there was a mixture of elation and a certain amount of sadness…. Was this the first and last Photo pass I would ever get? I hope not….

I then had a small problem to deal with -  in my excitement and all the confusion of being stuck in traffic and running late, parking in a new street and then hurrying to the venue I kind of forgot where I had abandoned …left the car…..  

Find out next week if I actually made it to the weekend or if I really put myself in the doghouse….
  
As promised last week the return of some regular features

Show me the sunny
Monitoring our way to a fortune (or not) with our Solar Panels -
KW Produced so far –  3012 (My target was 3000 for the year, so I was delighted that we had made it with almost a month to go…)

This has earned us (including saving on electric and gas) approximately £1,500 for the year.  Not bad considering the weather has been pretty pants this summer ….The end of September and early October weather saving the day….  

Record of the week
Love And Money - Shape of things to come
Love And Money - Candybar Express (The Shep Pettibone Mix)(1986)
Love And Money - Looking for Angeline
Love & Money - Cheeseburger
Friends Again - Sunkissed
Friends Again – "State Of Art"
Love and Money – Wanderlust
Friends Again - lucky star (1984)
James Grant - Winter

I woud have loaded more songs if I could have found them - go listen to the tracks, be amazed that you have never heard them before - rush out and track the music down and add it to your collection....

Watch of the week
The regular section in support of Joe (Stunt Cock) and his growing watch business Xupes. Joe mentioned that they had been getting a number of hits via the BlackLOG.

Xupes has been trading for over 2 years and  Joe has recently developed some great contacts in the trade which enables him to pick up surplus stock and sell them at great prices. Mrs B is a regular purchaser from his jewellery section, going self service once she finally realised that her husband is not the jewellery buying type…



Video link for the watch
This is your chance to acquire an excellent condition mens automatic Tag Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen Ltd Edition Stainless steel on navy blue crocodile leather strap and stainless steel deployment buckle. The dial is blue/white. This is the mens model. The watch is in excellent condition with slight wear to strap. Complete with Box, manuals, and guarantee with original receipt dated 15th June 2002. 12 months Xupes warranty included. Also known as CAW2113.LE6183. Xupes Ref. X125

Photo Finish
Hope you enjoy The Beast properly unleashed at a gig  at last

James Grant - Lead Singer

"Candybar express"

Paul McGeechan - Keyboards

"Don't be afraid of the dark"
"Pain is a Gun"
Douglas MacIntyre- Guitar

"Temptation Man"
"Razorsedge"

Fraser Speirs on harmonica

"Papa Death"
"Keep Looking for the light"

Gordon Wilson - Drums

"Lips like ether"
"Halleluiah Man"
Ewan Vernal - Bassist

"Sometimes I want to give up"
"Axis of love"
"Pray for Love"

Douglas MacIntyre
"Cheeseburger"

"What time is the last train?"

Fortunately with two sets you get two endings,
so I could get closing shots even though I
 didn’t have The Beast at the end of the gig...


"Walk The Last Mile"

In memory of Bobby Paterson 1956 - 2006


Hope to see you next week (please remember this is a BlackLOG week, which may run for more or less than your average  run of the mill 7 days) in which we find ourselves embroiled in a murder mystery – Has Mrs B finally come to the end of her tether with me and snapped?

24 comments:

  1. I don't think you made it to the Oast House near Hastings!
    Anyhow, you are correct, I have never listened to this band. I will look them up on YouTube and report back my findings next week.
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant photos. Especially the 2nd last. You do realise you had me reading the line "Ah thut yud bin threwn oot man” out loud just to see if I could sound scottish. No wonder the cat thinks I am nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's never a nice thing having to deal with London traffic... even when it's not congested!

    Glad you were able to make it before it was all over though, and get off a couple of nice shots before they locked away the Beast.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Scarlet Blue said...
    I don't think you made it to the Oast House near Hastings!
    In which case did Mrs B murder me and am I channelling through you from the other side via your PC…or is this just a desperate attempt to make the BlackLOG more interesting than it really isn’t……Dahn, Dahn Dahnnnn…. tune in next week to find out or should I end with an EastEnders style Duff, Duff, Duff drum beat – no, no, no the BlackLOG is not nearly shouty or miserable enough to carry that off….

    Anyhow, you are correct, I have never listened to this band. I will look them up on YouTube and report back my findings next week.
    Sx

    I don’t think you will be disappointed but if you can’t find it you can use the jukebox on the side of the BlackLOG

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mynx said...
    Brilliant photos. Especially the 2nd last. You do realise you had me reading the line "Ah thut yud bin threwn oot man” out loud just to see if I could sound scottish. No wonder the cat thinks I am nuts.
    You can’t leave it on a knife edge like that….did you think it made you sound Scottish? Think Grounds man Willy in the Simpsons….

    ReplyDelete
  6. JOutlaw said...
    It's never a nice thing having to deal with London traffic... even when it's not congested!
    I don’t mind it normally – you kind of get used to it…Beats taking the tube, with the rest of the rat race….

    Glad you were able to make it before it was all over though, and get off a couple of nice shots before they locked away the Beast.
    Thank you, as I said the three song rule sucks, the better shots were after they relaxed and settled into the groove…

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like a great concert. Hope you found the car and made the ski trip in time.

    Who in the world made up the three song rule? That's so unjustified.

    ReplyDelete
  8. One Bad Pixie said...
    Looks like a great concert. Hope you found the car and made the ski trip in time.
    You will have to wait to for the next episode and see if I am now walking everywhere and if I made it to the reunion

    Who in the world made up the three song rule? That's so unjustified.
    It’s like most rules – there for a good reason i.e. stop the press standing in front of the fans and blocking their view and to stop people blinding the band with flash throughout the gig...but not great when it is implemented without taking into account circumstances....i.e. not using flash and not standing blocking other fans...

    ReplyDelete
  9. After spending the past month in Los Angeles, I no longer have all of my sanity due to traffic. Gross.

    Loving the (mostly) legal pictures and SUSPENSE :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just read this entire thing with in a British Accent in my head. BlackLog > Standard American Dialect.

    I am so sorry about the 2+ hour stint in traffic - UGH. However, you made it to your ultimate goal.

    And next time, I certainly hope that the stewards treat your photo pass with the importance and exclusivity that it deserves.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Beast did an excellent job.

    I would have worn that photo pass on a lanyard around my neck until it decayed - I HAVE A PHOTO PASS, LOSERS, is what I would proclaim.

    Also, now the only thing I can think of is diaper wearing rock stars. Thanks for that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. First off, good on Mrs. B to let you off the leash for a night out with The Beast! Good woman, that Mrs. B...I like her!

    Next...congrats on the Photo Pass, that, my camera happy friend, is pretty sweet!

    And onto the photos - they are, to say the least, outstanding...very impressive...and worth being mighty proud of!

    Seriously, these photos are top drawer! I’m reaching into cyberspace and giving you a high five and a pat on the back - do you feel that!

    Very fine work, Mr. B, very fine indeed!

    Oh...and let The Beast in on a little of this blog loving, after all...he’s part of the team!

    Cheers, Jenny
    PEARSON REPORT

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brooke said...
    After spending the past month in Los Angeles, I no longer have all of my sanity due to traffic. Gross.
    Brooke I think you might actually have manage to go insane – are you mad you must be the only person in the history of blogging to write out L.A. in full ....

    Loving the (mostly) legal pictures and SUSPENSE :)
    I suspect the reality will never live up to the hype – I am curious myself to find out if I survived and if I did have I still got a car – It’s almost like I make it up as a I go along, rather than the reality of forgetting what happened next.....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jas said...
    I just read this entire thing with in a British Accent in my head. BlackLog > Standard American Dialect.
    That’s impressive* – because I’ve lived here all my life (46 years and possibly still counting) and I have yet to perfect the accent.....

    *although I do hope that you remembered to drop into a Scottish accent for the

    "Ah thut yud bin threwn oot man”

    – if you are struggling to master the old Scottish twang my advice is to drink a whole bottle of Scotch in one swig, it might not improve your brogue but you will have certainly stopped worrying about it and be concentrating on finding a bucket or white porcelain thrown....


    I am so sorry about the 2+ hour stint in traffic - UGH. However, you made it to your ultimate goal.
    Driving very slowly through London with the roof down and a mad panic expression permanently etched across your face is an interesting experience....I’m not sure I would recommend it though

    And next time, I certainly hope that the stewards treat your photo pass with the importance and exclusivity that it deserves.
    I hope there will be a next time as I went to a Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera – probably long before your time) gig this week and felt almost naked without The Beast. I don’t think it helped that I didn’t wear any clothes....

    ReplyDelete
  15. Suniverse said...
    The Beast did an excellent job.
    He sure did

    I would have worn that photo pass on a lanyard around my neck until it decayed - I HAVE A PHOTO PASS, LOSERS, is what I would proclaim.
    I’m thinking about getting it framed...does that count?

    Also, now the only thing I can think of is diaper wearing rock stars. Thanks for that.
    Should that be a diaper wearing “jock star?” .... Still if you think about it, as more and more ageing rock stars thrust aside their Zimmer frames and lurch onto the stage the demand for rockiepers will be on the increase – I just hope they don’t end up flooding the market with them....

    ReplyDelete
  16. Pearson Report said...
    First off, good on Mrs. B to let you off the leash for a night out with The Beast! Good woman, that Mrs. B...I like her!
    Since I don’t drink and most people stay well clear of The Beast until they are practically unconscious with little dribbles of sick coming down their cheeks, she knows that I won’t be straying....

    Next...congrats on the Photo Pass, that, my camera happy friend, is pretty sweet!
    The only problem now is how do I get my next one? It becomes a bit addictive.....

    And onto the photos - they are, to say the least, outstanding...very impressive...and worth being mighty proud of!
    Thank you, still floating about a bit – been a heck of a busy couple of weeks both at work and at weekends so struggling to process it all

    Seriously, these photos are top drawer! I’m reaching into cyberspace and giving you a high five and a pat on the back - do you feel that!
    Oh sweet, that was nice – now I know why Mcg keeps coming back for more head rubs

    Very fine work, Mr. B, very fine indeed!

    Oh...and let The Beast in on a little of this blog loving, after all...he’s part of the team!

    Cheers, Jenny

    Thanks Jenny, I’ll pass the message on, he’s resting between shots at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You want to know why I don't phone you - I don't need to - I know exactly what you and Mrs B are up to - I read the Blog!! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Big Sis said...
    You want to know why I don't phone you - I don't need to - I know exactly what you and Mrs B are up to - I read the Blog!! Xxx
    All I can say is it’s about time you made a comment and now I have shown you how to do it you have no excuse not to make more comments in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great shots! I used to shoot local bands at clubs, and the lighting was pretty challenging, but I REALLY want to get a photo pass for a major concert, just to see what I can do (even if I already know it's "fail miserably").

    ReplyDelete
  20. Allison said...
    Great shots! I used to shoot local bands at clubs, and the lighting was pretty challenging, but I REALLY want to get a photo pass for a major concert, just to see what I can do (even if I already know it's "fail miserably").
    Day music festivals provide a great opportunity to take photos of bands – only problem is the better bands don’t tend to come on until it gets dark...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Crazy story, bad ass pics, and cool watch!

    I'm only so late because I haven't sat down in front of my computer for two weeks & just got back from a long road trip to the south.

    What a ridiculous rule!

    I have a feeling you'll be running into more photo passes. You've already gotten this far. ;-)

    Let us know you're alive & well & have survived the wrath of Mrs. B.

    ReplyDelete
  22. LilPixi said...
    Crazy story, bad ass pics, and cool watch!
    Damn I was aiming for cool story, Crazy pics and bad ass watch...Oh well back to the drawing board

    I'm only so late because I haven't sat down in front of my computer for two weeks & just got back from a long road trip to the south.
    I admit I have missed you but as a free spirit I would not want to clip your wings....

    What a ridiculous rule!
    Only when it’s applied to The Beast

    I have a feeling you'll be running into more photo passes. You've already gotten this far. ;-)
    It won’t be for the lack of trying, I’ve already struck out on my next two gigs but I guess if it was easy it wouldn’t be worth chasing

    Let us know you're alive & well & have survived the wrath of Mrs. B.
    You will just have to wait until the next blog for that type of privileged information...

    ReplyDelete
  23. I've noticed that it can be a real hassle when you have to take pictures while a show (or wedding) is going on.
    Plus, it helps to take the lens cover off.
    And, you really shouldn't have had those four shots of Jack Daniels.
    Maybe that explains all the shots of peoples feet?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Al Penwasser said...
    I've noticed that it can be a real hassle when you have to take pictures while a show (or wedding) is going on.
    Plus, it helps to take the lens cover off.

    If everyone had to take pictures with the lens cap on it would be a great leveller to ability....

    And, you really shouldn't have had those four shots of Jack Daniels.
    Maybe that explains all the shots of peoples feet?

    Not so bad if you have a bit of a foot fetish....

    ReplyDelete

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