Friday, October 26, 2007

Salutations from the ghetto nation

As my friend Monica put it, "I've been in London all week".

In spirit :)

We actually stayed less than 24 hours in London, but what a fabulous experience it was...


It was my first flight with WizzAir, and, despite the uninspired name, it wasn't a bad experience at all. We left an hour late though, which makes them responsible with shortening my vacation with one hour :)



But we were travelling with just our small backpacks, so we didn't have to wait for our luggage. We were the first ones to exit the airport. And we found our bus in about 10 seconds.


No, it wasn't this one, but it was just as fun to ride in it through the countryside from Luton to London. Beautiful scenery, it actually made me think I was watching the Hallmark Channel :)


Of course, once in London we had to "check" the major touristic spots and "touristy" pics had to be taken... This is me in a typical London hot spot. No point in asking for direction there, no one was a native :))


I've been told London agrees with me... I think the glow was closely related to the forthcoming gig :)


...or the beer...


Speaking of the gig, I could not believe that after 15 years of being a fan, I finally got the chance to be at an arm's length from the Warrior Soul mastermind.


I have to admit I heard some unflattering reviews pointing out too much "sex, drugs and rock n' roll" and I was somehow worried. I didn't want my first ever concert with this band to be just a noisy, hectic and uncoordinated event.


I don't know what it was, but it was magic. I loved the crowd. They were die hard fans, the kind of that remember the lyrics even when the band doesn't (no pun intended). They were so in tune with everything. And Kory did what he does best. He rock and rolled. He was ironical. He entertained. Don't take my word for it, see for yourselves:


Warrior Soul performing "Love Destruction" in London, at the Purple Turtle, on October 22, 2007.


I know it looks like I'm interviewing the man, but you know me, I talk all the time... I think I was telling him how happy I was to finally make it to one of his gigs.

Kory: "Why didn't you come before?"
Me: "Because I lived in an ex-communist country and I needed too many visas to travel"
Kory: "Don't feel bad, I *still* live in a communist country"

And this is Kory Clarke in a nutshell for all of you (who don't know him like I do)
:))


Typical fan photo. But it *really* made my day. After all, it had been my birthday just 3 days earlier... Kory was exactly the way I imagined him to be: vehement on stage and quite laid back off stage. He has that sadness in his eyes that comes maybe when you talk and nobody pays attention to what you're saying. If I am too cryptic for you, listen to the man's records.


Last minutes in London. I didn't have time to explore much this time, I was "a girl on a mission". My mission: "Kory Clarke". Well, mission accomplished :) Thanx again to Stevo's dad who introduced me to an icon of my teenage years.


Short recap: catch flight, find bus, track down the man with the tickets, have a beer, find the venue, enjoy the opening acts (sorry I didn't cover them, they really kicked butt), scream my lungs out during the Warrior Soul concert, have a beer, have a chat, hug Kory, catch bus, catch flight back. Time to sleep now.



P.S. If any Warrior Soul fans land on this page (unlikely as it may seem), you might also be interested in the youtube group available here:
http://www.youtube.com/group/warriorsoul

or in the flickr group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/warriorsoul/

You can join and add your content to both of them.



P.P.S. As for the quiz, it will be back shortly. This week, as I haven't posted anything, everybody who ever entered the competition wins 30 points.

Let's say I feel very generous for some reason :)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great account of the trip! Sounds like you had fun!

Tina said...

Gareth, I was about to send you the link as a response to your last.fm inquiry :)

I really had fun. Definitely an "encore" is required :))

CooperTrooper said...

Warrior Soul fan here!
Thanx for the wee video!

CooperTrooper said...

A Warrior Soul fan here!
Thanx for the wee video & link!

Tina said...

Finally, a Warrior Soul fan on these pages :))

Glad you enjoyed the video :)