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Rather late LJ-ing this, but I did my day-trip to London back on March 15. It wasn't quite as productive a visit as I probably would have managed ten years ago, but I greatly enjoyed the shows I was there to see, so it was well worth the trip.
I flew into Stansted airport and took their express train into London. By the time I got there, it was around 10 AM. My original plan was to squeeze in some shopping at a few specific places like Dress Circle, and maybe take a walk around St. James park to watch the birds. In the real world, I hadn't slept at all on the overnight flight and was barely more than a zombie by the time I got to my hotel. I made a token effort - had a quick stroll around Covent Garden and scoped out the location of my first show - but ended up back at the hotel to crash after barely an hour-and-a-half.
I had a 3:00 matinee of "Make Me a Song". There was hardly anyone there. If there were more than 20 people in the audience, I'd be surprised. I can only vouch for about a dozen that were in rows around me or in front of me, but there were some sitting back behind that I didn't turn to count. It's a real pity, because those of us who were there really, really enjoyed it. The performances were all excellent - especially Gareth Snook in the "role" of a pseudo-Finn in several songs, and Louise Dearman, who got all the best power-house songs. I do now have a huge crush on Ian "H" Watkins, who is apparently a "name" for being in some famous pop group I've never heard of. He's a cutie, and his "What More Can I Say" is probably the song I've listened to most from my recording (*cough*) so far. Anyway, it was everything I could've hoped for, and it was a real thrill to get to hear Finn's music live.
After the show, just enough time for dinner, then a cab over to the Menier Chocolate Factor for the Lauren Kennedy concert. This was general admission, and man was I glad I'd been warned to get their early so I was near the front of the line when the doors opened. The seating was just bench seats, mostly, and the last dozen or so people who straggled in really had to work to find somewhere to sit.
The concert itself was such a thrill. Lauren was soooo energetic and fun, the songs were all great (mostly from the new album, but a fair number of Jason Robert Brown songs mixed in.) The big thrill of the night for me, though, was that her second "special guest" of the evening was Philip-freaking-Quast!! I mean, DUDE! Philip Quast! And he sang "Letting You Go", which Lauren may get to claim she recorded first, but Philip's CD came out first, so that was my first encounter with a song that I *adore*... and I got to see him perform it live. OMG... I was absolutely verklempt.
Anyway... so, that was it. My flight out was at 9 AM the next morning - I had a little tension early because I woke up half-an-hour late and then found out that my freakin' Tube station didn't open until 7:15 on a Sunday and I had no cash left to pay a cab and I still had to make a 45 minute train trip to get to the airport and I had visions of the absolutely horrible checkin experience we had on the way back from Paris that took more than an hour... but I got to the gate a good five minutes before they started boarding, so it all worked out. :)
I had a 3:00 matinee of "Make Me a Song". There was hardly anyone there. If there were more than 20 people in the audience, I'd be surprised. I can only vouch for about a dozen that were in rows around me or in front of me, but there were some sitting back behind that I didn't turn to count. It's a real pity, because those of us who were there really, really enjoyed it. The performances were all excellent - especially Gareth Snook in the "role" of a pseudo-Finn in several songs, and Louise Dearman, who got all the best power-house songs. I do now have a huge crush on Ian "H" Watkins, who is apparently a "name" for being in some famous pop group I've never heard of. He's a cutie, and his "What More Can I Say" is probably the song I've listened to most from my recording (*cough*) so far. Anyway, it was everything I could've hoped for, and it was a real thrill to get to hear Finn's music live.
After the show, just enough time for dinner, then a cab over to the Menier Chocolate Factor for the Lauren Kennedy concert. This was general admission, and man was I glad I'd been warned to get their early so I was near the front of the line when the doors opened. The seating was just bench seats, mostly, and the last dozen or so people who straggled in really had to work to find somewhere to sit.
The concert itself was such a thrill. Lauren was soooo energetic and fun, the songs were all great (mostly from the new album, but a fair number of Jason Robert Brown songs mixed in.) The big thrill of the night for me, though, was that her second "special guest" of the evening was Philip-freaking-Quast!! I mean, DUDE! Philip Quast! And he sang "Letting You Go", which Lauren may get to claim she recorded first, but Philip's CD came out first, so that was my first encounter with a song that I *adore*... and I got to see him perform it live. OMG... I was absolutely verklempt.
Anyway... so, that was it. My flight out was at 9 AM the next morning - I had a little tension early because I woke up half-an-hour late and then found out that my freakin' Tube station didn't open until 7:15 on a Sunday and I had no cash left to pay a cab and I still had to make a 45 minute train trip to get to the airport and I had visions of the absolutely horrible checkin experience we had on the way back from Paris that took more than an hour... but I got to the gate a good five minutes before they started boarding, so it all worked out. :)
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