COPENHAGEN



For photos, go here...

REKINDLING THE DREAMLIFE

Went and saw Tower Bridge for the first time - only took me 4 months to do it... and continuing on this touristy theme, Alan and I spent a whole afternoon at the British Museum... Decaying corpses + spooky masks = much fun...

Every Wednesday nights, there is an Acoustix night at The Bedford in Balham... I was invited to go along and see some great new talent on show.. and I was not to be disappointed... First of all, The Bedford is one of those impressive all-purpose-super-pubs with entertainment aplenty.. There a several bars on several floors, and they even had salsa lessons on the 2nd floor... However, the 3rd floor was where all the action was.. in this small intimate room.. tea-lights softly illuminating the place... It was an eloquent little set-up...

There were to be four acts in all.. but I was quickly captivated by the immaculate voice of one Haley Glennie-Smith... She was no 'superstar' with the guitar, but her voice.. wow.. what an amazing voice... I really do think it's just a matter of time before she gets picked up by a major label... Her song writing was also solid, without being fantastic.. but that will come in time.. it always does... I can't explain how inspiring it is to go to nights like this, and see all these budding musicians try out their thang... One can only hope to be up there someday.. doing one's own thang... and maybe.. just maybe.. do a mraz...

SYMBOLS, CYMBALS, CRUMBLE

Dolls is a film by acclaimed Japanese director, Takeshi Kitano, who has starred in numerous other movies over the years (eg - Johnny Mnemonic, Battle Royale)... It is not the easiest of movies to watch (read: it's a little slow, kids), but the imagery and symbols used to convey its primary theme of everlasting/unconditional love were hauntingly beautiful.. Three stories are delicately interwoven into a series of personal anguish and the end result is an emotionally brutal one... When I walked out of the theatre, I felt a little cheated.. I could not work out why it ended like it did.. but I have now come to accept that it just is... 3 and a half dead butterflies out of 5...

Proms is a summer-long festival of classical music held at the awe-inspiring Royal Albert Hall... It is apparently a bit of an institution over here during the warmer months (it's in its 109th year!), and for 70 nights straight, the public are invited to stand in the 'promenade' (the arena) of the grand hall, to see the orchestra perform... For a mere £4 (and an hour or so of waiting in line), we were able to go right up to the stage, and be treated to some fine performances... The orchestra, conductor and special guests/soloists change on a nightly basis, and on this occasion we heard Mozart's Idomeneo, Prokofiev's Cello Concerto performed by Li-Wei (Chinese-Aussie), and a Symphony by Sibelius (in E flat major, mind you)... The highlight was undoubtedly Li-Wei on the cello.. At first, the piece reminded me of Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger, but that quickly changed to a psychedelic chain of musical intonations... The charismatic Li-Wei played with passion throughout, and the whole thing was just dream-like...

After netball last night, I made a quick dash to the city to catch the Socceroos vs Republic of Ireland game... The sports bar was dominated by Aussies, but the few Irish present sang out a cruel cry when Morrison poked the ball past Schwarzer late in the game to win it for them... Viduka had scored early in the 2nd half to break the dead-lock, but the Aussies could not hold off the fast finishing RoI... There were some positives to come out of the game for the Socceroos, like Bresciano's strong performance in the midfield.. but overall, the huge gaping hole left by Kewell's absence was there for all to see - there were absolutely no signs of creativity... Back to the old drawing board, Frank...

A MARK, A MISSION, A BRAND, A SCAR

I found out about Dashboard Confessional playing here a few weeks back, and that was totally by accident.. There hadn't been much written about the gig in any of the guides, so this was a lucky thing... I was joined by Paul and Edurne, who had not listened to any of the songs, and relied purely on my musical taste... Good on you guys! :)

The venue was the famous Astoria.. There was actually a last minute change as the Mean Fiddler (right next door to Astoria) was deemed too small for the hundreds of revellers who turned up early to line up... When we arrived, the line was some 150 metres long.. winding it's way to Soho Square... We decided to grab a drink at a nearby bar and wait for the crowd to subside...

When inside the Astoria, the floor was already full and overflowing, so we had no choice but to go to the terraces.. The support band, Snow Patrol (and Crimea earlier), were playing a solid set, and the view was not so bad... We must've been about half way up, and dead centre of the stage... The whole place reminded me of The Metro in Sydney, just a few times bigger...

Chris Carrabba and the rest of the band came on stage, and from the outset had the whole room bouncing with euphoric excitement... For those not familiar with Dashboard or EMO-music in general, all the songs are based on relationships gone wrong, or chicks pissing you off about something or rather.. all sung with gusto and sheer passion... Chris, in particular, has the voice of an apparent tormented soul.. The emotion is clear and the lyrics are laced with anger, but also a sense of fulfillment... I think this is the appeal of Dashboard, and as we found out that night.. the kids love this stuff...

They played all the favourites - The Good Fight, Saints and Sailors, Best Deceptions, and more... I wasn't sure how I would react to the whole crowd singing along, but I soon found myself screaming my lungs out...

Champion-less.. champion-less.. cham-pi-on-less...

I was only familiar with the songs off "The Places.." album, but had heard the "MTV Unplugged" album on a couple of occasions.. I found the crowd participation a little annoying upon listening to the CD, but in a live environment, it definitely added to the experience... I couldn't hear myself sing (if you can call it that), so sorry guys if I was a little off-key...

At times, it felt more like some sort of musical sing-a-long, rather than a rock concert.. Chris would stop singing for half the song and let the crowd take over.. and we all sang with the same passion - great stuff... The absolute highlights were Screaming Infidelities and Again I Go Unnoticed...

The setlist (not in that order):

Hey Girl
Rapid Hope Loss
As Lovers Go
Bend And Not Break
Ghost Of A Good Thing
If You Can't Leave It Be
Remember To Breathe
Am I Missing (apparently the first time they'd ever played it)
So Impossible
Swiss Army Romance
Screaming Infidelities
The Best Deceptions
Saints And Sailors
The Good Fight
Dog Catcher (Instrumental)
-- encore break --
Again I Go Unnoticed
Hands Down

BRIGHTON

Ok, it was the hottest day in UK history.. so we went to the beach... One slight problem - the nearest beach from London is 60 miles away... To be continued...

ON AND ON

Friday - Once more I was appointed as the tour guide, escorting Aari'n'Alice on the now infamous PLT (Pike's London Trail)... This walk starts at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, and then continues down to Westminster Abbey, where Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament is just a stone's throw away.. then we cross the Thames towards the London Eye, finishing with a northward journey along Southbank... As per usual, the sun was out, and the exquisite buildings were just crying out to be gawked at... A couple of surprises were in store that day - we managed to see the changing of the horse guards (which was totally unplanned), and we found a way to get inside the Abbey for free...

After a beer at the Elusive Camel, we parted ways and my next appointment was to see a show called On Your Toes at The Royal Festival Hall.. I was a little hesitant to go at first, but I'm more than happy to have seen this somewhat of a unique blend of dance and Broadway musical... The story is set in New York in the 1930s when the famous Russian ballet comes to town... Adam Cooper was simply stunning in the lead role, and although I can't say I'm a big fan of ballet, I can now sorta understand why people would pay exorbitant amounts to go see it... Despite people trying their darnedest to catch me fall asleep during the show, I thoroughly enjoyed it...

It was pimms all round outside the theatre.. and after we had finished discussing the intricacies of the ciseaux's and entrechat's that we had just witnessed, Shaun, Edurne and I wandered over to the On Anon bar in Piccadilly for Bruno's birthday bash.. Needless to say, he was already smashed by the time we got there, and I felt like I had a lot of catching up to do.. Several hours and just as many trips to the toilet later (trying to avoid eye contact with the token hand-towel guy is the new sport), I found myself getting into a cab with a few of the fellas who thought it best to come back to our place to continue the drinking session... I am not going to get into any more detail than that, but let's just say that it finished up with one Fernando being traumatised for life...

Saturday - 2 hours of sleep, and it was time to head back out for a tour of Buckingham Palace.. I had to tip-toe around the now defunct bodies lying in the hallway just to get out of the house... In auto-pilot mode, I somehow made my way to Green Park station to meet up with the others... It was another scorcher, and I knew the two 1.5L bottles of water would not be enough to last the day.. As expected, security was extremely high, and as I placed the headphones over my head (audioguide), I realised I did not know a thing about the place.. I mean, was I expected to see the Queen exercising in the courtyard or something?? As it turned out, there were no royals to be seen, but a series of majestically decorated State rooms.. as though each room was trying to outdo one another... My favourite part of the tour was an exhibition that commemorates the Queens 50th anniversary of her coronation back in 1953.. featuring Topolski's frieze which is a completely unique artistic record of the day...

Later on in the afternoon, I joined Shaun for a house party that some of his friends were holding.. It was to celebrate Singapore National Day, and the food served most definitely showed... I kept myself amused by listening to people speak in their heavy Singaporean accents.. but when that got boring, I started talking to this guy who happens to be the back-up conductor for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester.. His only job is to make the trek up north every so often to sit and watch the primary conductor and learn from him.. study what he does.. It's like me getting paid to learn how to play guitar properly.. Imagine that! Well, it was a good night all round, and it was topped off by one of Shaun's friends giving us a lift back into London... We stumbled home at close to 3am...

A NIGHT AT THE BARFLY

Be it mega arena extravaganzas at Wembly (JT) or open mic acoustic nights at the local pub down the road, 'Timeout' magazine will list every single gig that London has to offer.. My Tuesday ritual of scouring through the gig guide has proved fruitful in the past, and as usual, there were several shows I wanted to see this week... There was Bright Eyes playing at Shepherd's Bush Empire, but I thought that could be a bit too depressing... Another that stood out was a triple bill at The Barfly at Camden.. and although I didn't know too much about the artists playing there, it turned out to be the best £5 I've spent all summer...

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Patrick Park

Patrick was the first act, and he was the one I was most interested in seeing.. He was dubbed the next Ryan Adams.. so I knew he would be at least half decent... His voice took 2 or 3 songs in getting used to, and he seemed a little nervous at first.. but once he (and the audience) settled down, we were treated to a groovy mix of alt-country and folk-pop songs... His guitar playing reminded me of Nick Drake.. and the songs were very much in the style of Elliot Smith... The standout songs were Home For Now and Love Is A Bomb, which both appear on a EP that I promptly bought after his set - Under the Unminding Skies... His songs are catchy but under-stated.. which is what I love about them...

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The Veils

I saw these guys as a support act to Jesse Malin about a month ago.. but that was purely a 2 piece acoustic set... This time the whole band was there, and they surely did rock the Barfly... Finn Andrews, the lead singer, is an interesting character.. and is probably headed for stardom... His demeanor on stage reminded me a lot of Daniel Johns when he first started out... No one can doubt the power of his voice though.. It is uniquely raspy.. and tortured.. and it's hard to believe that he's still only 19... Guiding Light is their current single, and was probably the highlight... I haven't been able to figure out the titles of the other songs.. but all were exceptionally performed in front of a small audience... I guess I would classify them as bluesy-moody-rock.. and the closest band I can compare them to is Powderfinger...

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Bell X1

I didn't know a thing about this headlining band from Dublin.. and naturally, I wasn't sure what to expect... By the end of the night though, I felt like I was their biggest fan... It wasn't hard to bop along to the fetching melodies and bittersweet lyrics.. reminiscent of Radiohead in their early years... I was greatly impressed by the ease the band as a whole displayed, while at the same time, it felt like they were bleeding their hearts out... But then again, these guys have been around for more than 10 years, while the other 2 acts are just starting out, and still very much in their experimental phase... Songs like Next To You, and I'll See Your Heart were quirky and just full of joy.. while Tongue had a very Coldplay sound to it... All in all, it was a great night, and I'm so glad that I have this opportunity to see and hear some excellent music almost on a weekly basis...

WHERE'S PIKE?

Some minor changes to the schedule... My movements for the next couple of months:

Aug 23-25: Copenhagen

Sept 3: Flying to Graz, Austria

Sept 4: Train to Vienna

Sept 6: To Salzburg by car (hopefully picked up by a friend)

Sept 11: Back to Vienna and flight to Singapore

Sept 12: Arrive in Singapore

Sept 12-16: KL, Malaysia

Sept 16: Back to Singapore

Sept 17-28: Sydney

After this, I will head to Bangkok for a few days, before coming back to London in early October.. I've had to cancel the Munich leg, as I want to stay in Sydney longer.. and I will hopefully get to see John Mayer at the Hordern on the 27th.. fingers crossed!

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Played netball last night... It had been more than 10 years since I last played.. and it's the first bit of real exercise I've had since being here.. (well, there was that football/soccer game one time, I suppose)... I played WD, and took me a whole quarter adjusting to the rules.. like I forgot that the WD can't go into the circle etc... In the end, we were comprehensively out-played, but I didn't think it was too bad a peformance on our part.. Most of us hadn't played for years, and the other team had a couple of monster dudes, that didn't give an inch against our girls... It was good to get the first game out of the way.. and it was so very fun... We should be much better for the run next week...

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Picked up tickets for Dashboard Confessional for Friday week.. It's at the Mean Fiddler which I haven't been to yet... Pretty excited about it...

HAPPY BLOGGIVERSARY

It's come and gone... and I totally missed it...

Last Wednesday, July 30th, 'the woof' officially turned one... That's a full year since ooee asked me whether I had seen her blog.. A full year since pike took his first tentative steps into this thing we call the blogosphere.. A full year since this very site you are reading right now was born... It's bewildering just thinking about how fast this past 12 months have gone.. One minute, you're scratching your head wondering what this whole blogging thing is all about.. next minute, you're on the other side of the world, with a wry, slightly twisted grin on your face...

It was good to read through the old entries.. It made me realise that this was exactly what I wanted it to be like when I decided to create one for myself... Ultimately, I wanted to update my friends and family back home on my adventures abroad.. but it's been much more than that... It has been a huge creative outlet for me, and it is so very satisfying to know that ppl are actually reading this rubbish... (but please do comment more often!)

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Ok.. my weekly wrap...

It's been a quiet one... On Thursday, a bunch of us watch a German movie called "Good-bye Lenin"... Before the movie, we had dinner at a Thai buffet place nearby (Angel).. Not such a great experience until Shaun pointed out that it was actually a vegetarian joint! After that, it made perfect sense that it all tasted like rubber (chicken my ass!)... The movie was quite enjoyable.. Daniel Brühl kinda reminds me of a Jake Gyllenhaal (Darko).. just a German version of him... Although I didn't quite agree with how it ended, it's highly recommended... Some very funny moments...

Friday, I caught up with Alice.. We took it easy - eating chocolate and watching TV all night... Next week's Sex and the City looks interesting... (and no, I don't watch it.. only when Alice forces me to.. :P )

The sun came out again on Saturday, and I got invited to a 'green' party at Hampstead Heath.. I walked along Oxford St desperately looking for a green shirt to wear, but then I realised I brought the Stones shirt over with me.. the one I got from Fong & Fun before I left... It took a while for us to find the party.. Hampstead Heath is a fairly large area, and without a map, it's pretty much impossible to find anyone.. Good thing we ate before we left the house... In the evening, we walked across to Kenwood House for an outdoor jazz thing, featuring none other than Diana Krall... Well, apparently she was there.. but we couldn't see or hear much.. We were one of many thousands that sat outside the fence and try to catch the show for free... Instead, I got a free Spanish lesson from Edurne...

Another gorgeous day on Sunday, and Shaun and I decided to check out the annual Red Bull Flugtag thingy at Hyde Park.. which involved 40 teams launching their homemade flying contraptions off a 6 metre ramp into the Serpentine (a lake at Hyde Park)... The only problem was that the rest of London decided to do the same thing... I've read that there were 150,000 people there, but I'm positive it was more like 1 million... After an hour of walking around looking for a suitable spot to see the loons jumping off the ramp.. we gave up and lay in the shade.. me reading a book, and Shaun sleeping... We did manage to see a bit of it near the end, but we were not close enough to take any decent photos (although I may be proved wrong), which is what we originally set out to do... Afterwards, we went over to Alice's place and finally caught up with Aari & Alice (the other one)! Was fantastic to see them... They had been on a 4 month tour around Eastern Europe... *jealous*

Oh, speaking of which, I have somewhat finalised my trip back to Sydney for Hubert & Denise's wedding... I will be flying out to Vienna on Sept 4, then to Singapore on the 10th, with a possible side-trip to KL, and then will arrive in Sydney on the morning of Sept 17, which is a Wednesday I believe... At this stage, I'm only going to stay for a week or so, but will try to meet up with everyone while I'm there...