All a-Trembling

Fred and I had a fab time tonight with friends old and new. We were on the guest list for the Trembling Bells gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall since Simon, the bass player, is staying at ours tonight. A bed for a couple of tickets is quite a good deal (for us, mainly!)

Nick Pynn played a solo set, which was really inventive. One of many instruments he'd made and played was made out of a coconut shell - a cocolele, I think he called it.

Just as we spotted Simon in the audience, we were caught up in the whirlwind that is our friend Amy, who turned out to be a pal of Nick Pynn's. Simon had been given a lift to the gig by Nick. There was a lot of talking all at once. It's been a month or so since I'd seen either Amy or Simon so there was much to catch up on. But there wasn't time to chat - Mike Heron was due on stage and both Nick and Simon were joining him for some songs. It was a good set, especially the songs with the addition of Trembling Bells and Nick Pynn.

Finally, the Trembling Bells had their star turn. Unfortunately, the sound desk threw a wobbly with Mike's guitar, with some reverb, which they seemed to solve by switching down the guitar volume to almost nil. We realized this when we saw Mike perform a quite dramatic guitar solo in mime rather than in notes. The sound desk didn't appear to notice and only bumped up Mike's guitar volume when an audience member had a word. The Bells still played a cracking gig, but it wasn't their best. The sound let them down.

Afterwards, we were invited backstage to a small room with a fridge of beer, a grand piano (which wasn't played, sadly) and Stuart Lee, who'd arranged the evening of music. We chatted with Nick Pynn (very lovely man), Mike Heron, Simon and Amy. We revealed to Nick that we lived in West Norwood and he said that he knew where that was (most folk don't). A little later, we heard Nick declare from across the room, "They live in West Norwood." to which all faces turned to us. Bewildered, I was relieved to see a man with Nick shout, "I live in West Norwood." Joy all round! We introduced ourselves and then made a hasty exit, for the trains were about to cease for the day. Poor Simon was a little puzzled by the extra friend on the journey home. I think he was too tired to get into the West Norwood joy. Plus he didn't understand - he doesn't live in West Norwood. Our new friend promised to wave if he saw us again and we promised back. Hooray!