Slower

Felt like a more leisurely day today….we had a lie in and then did some sorting of all the cards and bits of paper we’ve been accumulating, and catching up with diary and email. Then we headed over to a show at noon called Breathe which was a puppet and live looped film performance told from the perspective of an acorn becoming a seedling. It was a good idea, and they had great props and film techniques, but we both found the musician member of the team somewhat irritating and, no other word for it, smug. Somehow she drew your attention away from the action unhelpfully.
From there we drove over to Coburg House Studio open weekend and had a wander around all the stalls and studios. Bumped into hazelh and mrhazelh there, on a quick trip out for some art viewing. K bought a crocheted hanging plant holder but otherwise we didn’t get anything, then had a walk around the shore wondering about what we fancied for lunch. We ended up going to Portobello and sharing a souvlaki flatbread and delicious Greek salad before walking along the prom. The sea was flat calm and the tide in, and despite the lack of sun it wasn’t cold, but I wouldn’t have been spending the day on the beach like quite a few people were doing!
We drove home, stopping for some cake at the supermarket, then put our feet up and had a pot of tea and the cake whilst we watched some Olympics.
Before we knew it it was time to go over to George Sq to see David O’Doherty do a gently funny show with bits on his trademark tiny keyboard. We got wet as it was by then raining fairly steadily, and we had to queue in the rain which wasn’t great but at least not for long. It was laugh out loud funny, all nonsense style stuff about everyday things but well crafted. We sat on the end of a row to make a quick getaway to run up to Bristo Sq when that was finished and straight into a comedy/magic show by Pete Heap. I’d forgotten but K said we’d seen him before, years ago, and I’d had to go on stage and shuffle a loaf of sliced bread (I remembered that bit, just not his name!). He was very good….daft laconic comic style, but quite simply mind blowing tricks….absolutely no idea how he did any of them!
I then had to dash again over to the first night at The Hub with CR whilst K went back to the flat. Once again like last year it was hosted by Nicola Benedetti and brought together an eclectic mix of musicians (some from last night’s concert) to play individually and then jam joyously at the end. I caught this last moment as they finished playing and the yellow streamers were cannoned over them and the audience. This year was a bit different to last as they were filming it for Sky Arts later this year and so there was a lot of technical set up and faffing around between sets, so it felt less like chats and spontaneous performances by friends and more like a series of separate sets, but the musicianship was again incredible.
They didn’t end till midnight then a dash home in the rain to a late bed!