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Published: January 21st 2008
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Inside The O2 Arena
To see Prince. Led Zeppelin's concert in December was held here too. Monday 27th August Today was a Bank Holiday, lucky for me as it gave me another day to ease back into London. Em and I rode out to Putney, checking out a potential flat, before carrying on to Richmond Park just up the road. We were in a bit of a quandry as jobs, flats, contracts and travel were all up in the air at the moment making it hard to make plans about the next 6 months. After a lot of umming and ahhhing we decided that we needed a bit more time before we could move out. But alas, twas too late, a Kiwi couple were already at the Clapham pad and were due to sign the contract later that day.
Enough troubles for the day, were had some of the best tickets in the house (2nd row!) to see Norah Jones play at the Apollo Hammersmith, one of the more famous music venues in London. Norah was one of Emma's favourite artists and her albums got a regular playing in Tom Price. The Apollo was an old, large theatre style venue and had played host to just about every big act from the Beatles to ACDC.
This Crappy Photo
Almost got me killed, the security for Prince were so strict on photos! There would be no rocking tonight though, that wasn't Norah's style. Her sultry voice was in fine form and it complimented her jazz influenced band to perfection. She definately looked the goods too (so Emma tells me) and had a certain shyness rare amongst artists of her calibre. M. Ward, the support act was great too, and he joined in at the end for a few closers as well, the last of which was Norah's most famous song "Don't Know Why".
Tuesday 28th August Norah Jones last night, Prince tonight. It beats watching the tele! Prince played 21 shows straight at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, each of them followed by an after show party. The man certainly has stamina! We got to the huge (formerly known as the Millenium) Dome at 6pm ready for action, but was told the support wasn't starting until 7.30. Oh well, gave us a chance to look around the vast complex which was filled will bars, restaurants and surprisingly, (for a Tuesday night) people. We did the English thing and had a snagga casserole which was swimming inside a Yorkshire pudding and then migrated to some funky inflatable chillout igloos. Yes,
you heard correctly. These inflatable igloos were set up for people to go in, take off their shoes and lay back while listening to some relaxing vibes. Gotta love it!
Once inside the Arena (which was like a sub-dome inside the big dome) we discovered the seats we had weren't that flash. Even though we were quite close to the stage, we were on the side away from most of the focus. Not to worry, the seats were only £27 and it came with his cd. The support act MIA, an English hip hop group, were so bad that by the time their set was finishing they were getting booed off the stage. Haha! Prince took his sweet time, but we knew it was getting close when we saw a rather suspicious speaker box being wheeled in underneath the stage. The little man sprung out of his box and didn't shut up for about 2 hours. He screeched, wailed and strutted around the Symbol shaped stage along with his exceptionally soulful band and a couple of very lovely backing singers/dancers named "The Twins" (which he is reported to be "dating"). He pumped out about 20 songs, including hits such
as When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette and Purple Rain. The sax player's solo was a highlight and although I'm not the biggest Prince fan in the world I had to appreciate the little guys exceptional talent. He really did know how to put on a killer show. 2 encores finished with a cover of "Nothing Compares To You".
Wednesday 29th August Went to see The Bourne Ultimatum at the Clapham Picture House. Spun out seeing some familiar London sights in the movie such as Waterloo Station.
Saturday 1st September Em jumped on the train for an hours journey out to Cambridge to meet some potential nanny job employers. She was sick of her fill in teaching job, going to a different (and often crap) school each day. The family lived in a beautiful 500 year old home on the outskirts of Cambridge and had one boy with Autism who needed care, and had another 2 kids who both played piano and violin quite well. They both really liked each other so it was looking good that she would get the job.
Sunday 2nd September Today we rode up to Queensway
Ice, which was right near Hyde Park, for a spot of ice skating. We'd been meaning to have a go for ages. On the way there we found ourselves riding down a road where all the flash government consulates are, with armed guards protecting each entrance. Once on the ice, I discovered Em was what is known in the industry as a "fence polisher", too scared to leave the edge in case of a stack. I was a speed freak, and it didn't take long till all the skills acquired at Ice World came back to me. One thing I never learnt to do though, was to stop. A slight misgiving but quite important apparently. At the end of the day, neither Em nor I fell over once, which was quite disappointing, because to me it means I didn't go hard enough. What's a trip to the rink without a few scrapes and bruises?
Afterwards we walked the hidden shops and alleyways around Queensway before grabbing some food and drinks and crossing the road back into Kensington Park. We hired a deck chair (£1.50/hr I found out after grabbing one, nothing's free these days!) overlooking one of the lakes
and relaxed for an hour or so before pedalling home.
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