Passenger

A two gig week!

Passenger at the Apollo was much calmer than the manic Levs -

 and actually very beautiful and quite uplifting.

Levelling the Land at 30

Five years ago we saw The Levellers in the 25th anniversary tour of Levelling the Land 

It was an amazing night - 

so we were very excited to get tickets for the 30th anniversary tour.

The evening got off to an odd start when I drove us to the Apollo in Manchester -

it was in darkness!

A quick google showed that we were meant to be at the Academy - 

so we had a rapid reroute!

the gig itself was a mixed bag.

Punk folk group Ferocious Dogs were the excellent support - 

But the Levs? They didn't sound a patch on 5 years ago.

{Playing the CD on the way home just rubbed that in}

Yes the singing 80's protest songs is fun -

but I'm sorry to say that aging, chubby, topless, punk/crusty moshers 

are now getting rather sad.

The intro video of protests over the last 30 years provoked a big boo for Thatcher -

 but a bigger boo for Blair

and the whiff of the Corbynistas was strong.

A

All in all - a good enough night - but I dont think we'll bother with 35 years

Breaking the Code

Date night in Manchester

First the Christmas Markets

Then Breaking the Code at the Royal Exchange

{oh how we love a science play }

A revival of the excellent 80's play 

So much better than the dreadful Cumberbatch film

And so it begins.....

Winter's here -

Personally I'm on the countdown to spring

The Harry Potter Countdown

One month to go!

At the end of Reading Week

We've had Megs home for reading week -

Admittedly not a whole week 

{she does have friends to see and a busy social life}

but it's been lovely to have her at home

while she's worked on her essays.

Last night with us for a bit - so we had family tea at Frankie and Benny's.

The Entertainer

A London day to see The Entertainer - 

the last play in the Kenneth Brannagh season at The Garrick.

 (way back in April 2016) we had no idea where she would be at Uni -

so I'd only booked for two, with the idea that I could add an extra ticket later if need be.

As it turned out it was the start of Sheffield reading week -

 but Megs chose to spend the weekend with her best friend Jamie, before heading home.

The other issue for the day - 

when I'd booked I'd not thought about the Anonymous protests 

that have happened in London every 5th November for the last few years.

I was really concerned that trouble makers would spoil things

(the Garrick is right next to Trafalgar Square)

and I had no desire to be kettled!

But in the end all we saw was a protest march of Librarians -

and we all love Librarians!

So Al and I had a date day -

a lovely walk though Bloomsbury,

a morning at the British Museum

the play in the afternoon

and a walk up the Tottenham Court Road, 

hopping from bookshop to bookshop to coffee shop!