Sunday 17 August 2003

Kenwood Lakeside Concerts and Picnics

AL had a great idea that it would be lovely in the current climate to to one of these Saturday picnic and concert evenings being held at Kenwood - she decided we should go and hear Bjorn Again, the Abba tribute band that frequently plays at the Venue, New Cross (I have previously seen them there). I started emailing people to find out who wanted to go. Had a flurry of emails with TD who seemed keen - right down to getting directions and meeting times and other such details, when tragically AL informed me that she had misread the brochure and found that actually a Queen tribute band were playing on the particular Saturday we were going to go. On imparting this new found knowledge the lines went very very quiet.

AL's colleagues had originally thought she was mad to be getting excited over a tribute Abba and thought that a tribute Queen was a vast improvement. Personnally I couldn't quite decide which was better but was erring on the side of Abba purely because of their recently new found cool thanks to the gay scene (I was still happy to go but had decided I couldn't tell anyone where I had been). Still can't decide - Abba or Queen - which is naffer?





We didn't actually see the band because we opted to sit in the restricted viewing section (i.e. not paying £10 per person to sit in the enclosure) with many others doing the same. Was suprised there weren't more Queen fans there - very mixed audience - sometimes felt they hadn't read who was playing at all had just decided to come for the mass picnic. I had expected to see more of those droopy rock teenagers with tour-dates teenagers and aging rock dudes and chicks.

Having been brought up on a diet of Queen, the Bee Gees and the King Singers (little known fact about the muso-snob that is bails, or rather was bails when I first met her) Bails knew all the words and could recognise the songs after the first couple of notes - something that only someone who has listened to the music for some time, and come to know it intimately, can do. How have I never known this before?! Big stadium anthems rocked the Kenwood hillside. Somehow we all knew enough words to sign along. And the set was rounded off with the Bohemian Rhapsady and We Will Rock You set to fireworks.

All this week I have been looking for Mars in the night sky but still haven't managed to see it.

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