Concert: Cranes + worriedaboutsatan

I usually book concert tickets months and months in advance and spend just about forever looking forward to them.  To illustrate, this week I booked tickets to Muse on September 11th next year but I’ve resolved to only start counting down the sleeps after New Year.

So imagine my surprise when I visited my favourite band’s MySpace on Thursday and realised they were having a concert last night! It was all very exciting and I booked tickets immediately.

My favourite band is called Cranes and I’ve been a huge fan since 1993.  Naturally, I have all of their albums including the rare and obscure ones.  This is the third time I’ve gone to one of their concerts – the first time was in June 2004 and the last one was in October 2008 when they released their latest album.  (Click for reviews of the Cranes concert in 2008 and the review of their latest self-titled album Cranes).

The concert was at the Luminaire in Kilburn which is an okay venue but they obviously haven’t heard of the credit crunch or current financial crisis.  The cost of one lager shandy (only half a pint of lager in that plus lemonade!) and a Red Bull was £6!!  There was nowhere to sit in the venue and huge pillars everywhere blocking the view of the stage so I can definitely say that the venue didn’t warrant the prices of the drinks.  Or I should say drink – we decided not to buy more after the first round.

 

Please excuse my terrible photos!  I’m often able to get great results with my little point-and-shoot camera but last night was not one of those occasions!  In fact, the only usable photos of Cranes were taken by Stephen!!!  :(  Unfortunately, I was afflicted by terrible photography at last year’s concert too!

The support group was called worriedaboutsatan, a wonderful minimalist electronic duo from Leeds.  I really enjoyed their show and bought two of their CDs.  Their show was interesting as they had a full backing film to go along with the music.  They were good!

Cranes’ sound can best be described as belonging to the shoegazing or dream pop genres.  The lead singer Alison Shaw has a dreamy, girl-like voice and their music is moving and melancholic.  I really love their music.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this concert as much as I enjoyed the others.  They had a couple of problems with the sound at their last concert which seemed to happen again at this concert.  The mic, bass and guitars seemed too loud and the sound just wasn’t harmonious.  There was also something wrong with the amplifier or something, as there were a couple of grinding, screeching noises towards the end of the concert.  The set list was also disappointing.  They played most of their sedate, quiet songs which is fine if it is a seated concert but not nice for a whole evening if it is a standing concert.

So in the end, it was a little disappointing which I guess is also okay.  You can’t always go to absolutely brilliant concerts!  Which reminds me, I still need to post about the Pixies and Shpongle concerts in October!

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DC: The Holocaust Museum and Smithsonian

After hours of walking in the hot sun, it was an absolute pleasure to arrive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  There was a long queue to get in and heightened security too as it was shortly after the fatal and tragic shooting that took place there on June 10th. The employees were friendly though and the queue went quickly so I was inside in no time. 

It was free to get into the museum but I wasn’t able to get into the main exhibit The Holocaust.  About 1.7 million people visit the Holocaust Museum each year and to get into the main exhibit between March and August, you need to either get there first thing in the morning to book a slot or there are a limited number of passes that you can book online before your visit.  Advanced passes are not required between September and February.

I was not disappointed though as I was able to go to the From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide exhibition on the second floor.  You may know that I am interested in the topic of genocide and run another blog too where I post about topics such as war, genocide and humanitarian crises.  You can find my blog at A Passion to Understand.

As always, click on any of the photos for enlargements

I found the exhibit to be fascinating.  As you walk in, there is a display running right along the wall that chronicles and describes the situations in Rwanda, Bosnia and Sudan.  There are also screens and other interactive devices giving eye witness accounts of these conflicts.  It was a chilling but very rewarding visit and made me even more determined to carry on blogging about and researching these events.

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In what seemed like no time at all, I made my way back out into the sun and I made my way towards the Smithsonian Institute which is "an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States" according to Wikipedia.  Quite apart from the fact that all of the museums are free, I’d say that the Smithsonian is worth visiting just to see all the beautiful buildings!

There was the Freer Gallery of Art and the National Museum of Natural History across on the other side.

The building that most captured my imagination was the Smithsonian Castle which houses the Institution’s administrative offices and the information centre. 

I also loved the High Victorian styling of the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building.

Look at that exquisite brick, glass and metal work!

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My final stop before reaching my destination was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

I didn’t go inside but I did walk around the stunning sculpture garden.

I was quite taken with Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Washington, DC, 2007.  This is a lovely idea where people can write out their wishes and attach it to the tree.  I was just too satisfied to wish for any at that moment.  “Satisfied” isn’t the right word but it comes close.  I was already at peace.

There were two other pieces I quite liked too and they were Barry Flanagan’s The Drummer and Henry Moore’s King and Queen, 1952-1953.

Such lovely art! It makes me quite keen to rush off and visit an art gallery again soon!

I visited the USA in June 2009 and I absolutely fell in love. I visited New York and Washinton, DC and hope to go back for Christmas 2010. To see other posts from my trip, click on the tags below.

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Liverpool: Quiggins Centre Revived?

Like a phoenix rising up from the flames, it looks like the Quiggins Centre in Liverpool has been revived.  Quiggins was a quirky little shopping centre made up of loads of little alternative, counterculture shops.  Every time I visited Liverpool in the nineties and beyond, my stepmum and I would go along to Quiggins.  Of course, being a Doc-wearing, black-clad coffin kid, Quiggins was the ideal place for me back then and I absolutely loved it.

Quiggins Entrance, originally uploaded by Paul Holloway

Quiggins was under threat of closure for years and years.  I don’t quite understand the legalities of what happened but I believe that some greedy land developers wanted the land that Quiggins was on and it was eventually closed in July 2006.  We had heard that it had reopened and were looking for it when we visited in December but we weren’t successful.  Imagine our happiness then when we saw the following sight on Thursday morning:

This is not the official Quiggins Centre and Wikipedia says that although it houses many of the old occupants, it is not actually associated with the owners of the original centre.  Take a look inside though; it is full of the magic and wonder that we remembered from the old Quiggins Centre:

Grin @ Quiggins

See that t-shirt at the top left?  The black, long-sleeved one?  I would have looooved that back in the day, before Trinny and Susannah told me not to wear clothing with high necklines.

Isn’t it just quaint and kooky? 

On the first floor, there is a vintage dress shop and a dress designers.  I really like that black mini dress on the right.  What a pity I’m not as teeny weeny as I used to be!

Grand Central Hall used to be a Methodist Church and the main hall was amazing.  They were currently building more shops in the main hall but at one stage, I looked up and was so glad that I did.

It’s not a great shot but the photo on the bottom right shows what the hall looked like in its former glory.  Having little stalls and shops there definitely changes the look of the building but if they can maintain some of the features like the organ and the ceiling then it will all be worth it.  I’m also hoping that they will refurbish the gallery and allow people to sit upstairs again. 

It was good to see the old Quiggins traders again.  I didn’t buy anything on that day but seeing as I usually hate shopping and shopping centres, it was good just to browse and to enjoy it!  (Oh, I know I’m a grumpy so and so but seriously, Amazon was launched with me in mind!)

Go to Liverpool, visit Quiggins!

Quiggins Centre, Grand Central Hall, Renshaw Street, Liverpool.

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