Midweek Mayhem

 

This June, I will have lived in London for six years after moving down from Bristol. It took me a couple of years to settle in properly, and there was definitely a while when I really didn't quite 'get' London at all. Happily, the longer I stay here the more I enjoy it and yesterday is a great example of why I'm loving London so much. 

I took the Wednesday off work to spend the morning hanging work for my photo exhibition on Friday. Sadly, this was much less glamorous than it might first appear, and mainly involved annoying the loyal customers who frequent Brockley Wetherspoons at 9.15am. Once I'd finished banging nails into walls I then hopped on the train to take a few more photos for my Thames Path series. I spent a couple of hours wandering around in the sun on a nice leafy stretch between Hammersmith and Barnes, snapping away and daydreaming about being able to afford a riverside property. 

I nipped back to Brockley, then up to Clerkenwell to meet my girlfriend to visit Clerkenwell Design Week (which bizarrely isn't on for a week, but only three days?). We pressed ourselves into a human-sized 'pin art machine' by Lulu Guinness, then drooled over cool furniture for a bit. Once we'd finished taunting ourselves looking at swanky furniture we couldn't afford we celebrated with a mojito at Café Kick in Exmouth Market followed by a great pizza at Santore.

Usually at this point in the evening I'd be reaching for my pipe and slippers, but I'd won free tickets to a Guardian New Band of the Day gig in King's Cross. We missed Rumer unfortunately, but managed to catch Summer Camp and Wretch 32. Summer Camp were very cool, good awkward twitchy dancing by the singer with sunny indie-pop tunes.

I've always been a bit more of a hip-hop fan though after growing up on the mean streets of Royal Leamington Spa and Wretch 32 was quality. We all crammed into a tiny basement, with almost half the space taken up by his band. You know it's going to be pretty special when someone has two drummers and it didn't disappoint. I've seen a few hip-hop acts over the years (Gangstarr, Roots, Jurassic 5, Peanut Butter Wolf, Ozomatli and probably some others I've forgotten) and it doesn't always quite work for me when you see it live. Wretch 32 is a great performer and front man though, loads of energy and swagger and his band were amazing.

All in all, not such a bad Wednesday really, even if I am a bit knackered today as a result. There's plenty of frustrating things about London, not least spending my tube journey this morning pressed into someone's armpit. But, at the same time it's full of pretty amazing opportunities if you've got the energy and the inclination.