Staying local

 on Saturday afternoon with Dean from Katmandino

 and Wills and his leg joining in the fun

 followed by Sunshine Savage

 and Serenity Plays

 and her backing singer. 

Another good night at the Harrison

 Even though Louis Joel Gilman's fingers were a bit off form and didn't really want to play all the parts, but he still managed to labour through his part and even did a little encore (albeit reluctantly) 

 George seemed to enjoy himself a bit more on stage even though he remained serious throughout 

and Robin was his usual self and threw in some funny anecdotes and jokes into his routine. 

Courtney Marie Andrews

They do like a bit of country in Rough Trade. 

Record Store Day

at the local Rough Trade with Isaac Gracie

 the Members (with Calle, who I saw the day before at the Dublin Castle playing with Danie)

 and Chris from the Members who deserves a special mention as he and I sometimes meet for a pint in a cheap pub somewhere in Hammersmith

Haley (who did four (I think) record stores on this day, and not all of them in London, so I guess she can be forgiven for her slight lateness)   

and Pictish Trail who spend a week getting to London from a small Scottish Island (I think he said it wad the Island of Egg or what that Eigg?) but should left a few days earlier so he would have time to get acquainted with his gadget (but he did make it all up with his people skills)

and Girl Ray who brought the afternoon of music and fun to an end.  

I came to video

Danie and her band, so I haven't any photos of her this time, but I did take a few of Notarolemodel who performed afterwards.  

There I was

standing in Parliament Square, trying to push world peace a tiny step forward

 for most of us know that war is not the solution to the problems we face in the 21st century (I know I just repeated the message from the photo there, but as I am listening to The Clash's London Calling played on BBC 6 music, it makes me all that more aware that some messages need to be repeated, just to sink in).

 And then we all heard a very energetic call for ceasefire (excellent, energetic version of the song, unfortunately I forgot who did the original)

 and a speech delivered by Francesca Martinez (got to love her for her energy).

and it made me think how come there are so few of us? 

Did we plan to combat the MPs one on one and we were afraid somebody might call in an unfair fight if we came in larger numbers?

Or don't we care no more?

Or don't we believe in changes?

My dear Londoner's, I'm terribly sorry, but this just won't do.

It really won't. 

We need to do something about the situation in this world

and there ain't no point in waiting

as tomorrow we might all be dead. 

At the end of the protest, in a feeble attempt to at least try and restore some order to my life 

 I went to listen to Lucas & King

and Roxanne de Bastion (who performed with a broken ankle and a huge smile) 

play to us at The Lexington

It was a long day

which started with a midday walk along the canal and through Regent's Park and through the back streets of Euston, past the good people distributing food to the hungry, homeless and wasted at Euston and past Friend's House to The Harrison in Harrison street where I just managed to catch the first act of the afternoon (Dan Korn and Joe Sharp).

The first duet was followed by another duet, the fast young fiddler Kieran Towers and his partner in crime Charlotte Carrivick who entertained us with some stories and a few jokes while tuning (and some songs with original names, it goes without saying )

and the third duet of the afternoon, Jolene and Hippy Joe (who somehow didn't make it to this photo), which seemed the sort of a duet that just had to be present on a day like this and at an event like this.

 Then came the first non-duet of the afternoon (I know just as you get settled in an say, ah, I get it, I understand how this is going), which was M G Boulter 

and his bass player (and a drummer who was lurking in the dark, so no really good shots of her).

 But then we were back to duets, with the dynamic duet known as 

the Silken Same.

At this point of the afternoon I received a phone call (which I didn't hear, but luckily I was also sent a text message) that there is a ticket waiting for me at the door of the Green Note for the long sold out Girls to the Front. So what should a man do? I packed my camera and walked the couple of miles to Camden where I unfortunately just missed Rhiannon Scutt (who I was told was excellent and definitely someone to look out for), but managed to arrive in time to see Sophia Marshall (and I do wish (as I am sure everybody else does) a speedy recovery to her sister)

and the dreamy sounds of Lyla Foy who followed her (are you still keeping track of who I have seen on this day?).

The evening at the Girls to the Front was brought to an end by Gitta de Ridder, but was this the end of the evening for us? No, of course not!

 This time I was lucky that the great patrons of the arts, the Parkin brothers from Liverpool, took me into their cab (I only had a bit of shrapnel in my pocket at this stage of the day or night, whatever we prefer to call it) and we all headed back to the Harrison to see the last band of the night, The Gator Dog Snappers

 who played some New Orleans music for us (which finally put a smile on my darkened soul) until they could play no more. So, after another brisk walk through King's Cross and Euston and the London's unwanted I caught a couple of night buses (as in a town that never sleeps, the tube does unfortunately go to bed at night)  home just in time to bid you all goodnight. 

As any self respecting

inhabitant of this planet we turned at the Don't Bomb Syria protest outside Downing street.

Of course, some of the trouble makers who were desperate to bomb something, no matter where, were there and we told them what we think of them (but in the end they went and did it anyway).

 Once the protests were over some of us went to meet up with Robin Elliot

and Jack Harris (who just could't get his head round what is happening in the world today) for a bit of music to heal our souls and some inebriating substances to drown our sorrows. 

Holly Holden

and her band warm us up

and then Jeffrey Lewis entertained us for the rest of the evening

(oh, and I just had to include a photo of the bass player from Los Bolts on the blog)

The smooth vocals

 of The Isle of CC

and George Pelham at Acklam Village this Saturday afternoon.

As I stepped

 into the Monarch the Life Aquatic Band was having great fun on stage and their good vibes spilled onto the audience who soaked it all in 

 Then we had a little bit of a breather with Copperhead Lucy, who made us reflect on the important things in life 

and RenattaJane put all of their energy into their performance and brought the evening to an end with a bang.  

Iridesce

were on stage last and they certainly entered the stage with an almost stadium like entry to the 1st floor of this Shoreditch pub.

They were preceded by A Festival, A Parade

 and Behold a Pale Horse