After the overwhelming Saturday night concert at the Royal Albert Hall, there was only one day left on my musical tour. I wanted to take advantage of every moment but I had no further concert tickets and no strong desire to see a musical matinee. I also had to get up at 4:45 a.m. the following morning to catch my flight back to Canada.
I decided to go on a special guided tour. Not just any tour, mind you, but a tour that would finally introduce me to the London of my first musical heroes: The Beatles.
Millions of words have been written about the Beatles and I don’t think I need to convince anyone that their songs will one day be considered the “classical music” of the 20th century. No matter how much they have been deified, the fact remains that they created all of that music in this very real city and lived a very real life here. It was time to finally see it for myself.
Trident Studios – this is where “Hey Jude” was recorded in the summer of 1968
After walking past Paul McCartney’s offices, we saw Trident Studios in a narrow laneway. The Beatles rarely recorded here, but they did happen to record “Hey Jude” here…and that’s what they were doing on the day I was born. These particular studios were beyond nondescript and yet this was where one of the most popular songs ever was recorded.
Nearby was the former site of the Indica Gallery – famous for being the place where John Lennon first met Yoko Ono. Our guide was careful to point out that Ono didn’t break up the Beatles; rather than the “cause”, he thought she was a “symptom” and the breakup would have happened eventually anyway.
The Indica Gallery today, in a quiet London courtyard
The second most important site for me on this tour was 3 Savile Row – the former headquarters of Apple Records and the site of their last ever public performance. This is the building you see throughout the movie “Let It Be”; the famous rooftop concert took place right here! There was also a recording studio in the basement. Looking at the neighbourhood today, it still is very “proper and dignified”…it’s no wonder the Beatles were not welcomed with open arms by the other businesses on the street. Today, 3 Savile Row is the location of an “Abercrombie Kids” store.
3 Savile Row – former headquarters of the Beatles’ business empire
We saw some other minor sites but the best was saved for last. We had to take the Tube to St. John’s Wood and walk for about 10 minutes. Even though it was a typical semi-suburban environment, there were tourists everywhere…many of them endangering life and limb on the busy street. This was Abbey Road.
Abbey Road is the location of EMI Studios (as it was then called), where the Beatles recorded almost all of their music. The site is now called Abbey Road Studios and is still used as a commercial studio, so it is not open to the general public. That doesn’t stop hundreds (thousands?) of people visiting it every day to pay their respects. It does feel kind of magical here.
Abbey Road Studios, St. John’s Wood, London
Perhaps even more alluring is the fact that this is also the very place where the iconic Abbey Road album cover photograph was taken. Back in 1969, the street was briefly closed and the photo of the Beatles was taken from a stepladder in the middle of the road. That’s why fans continue to endanger their lives by trying to recreate the exact photo. It’s also one of the few “real” places portrayed on a Beatles album cover.
I didn’t try to take a picture from the very same spot. But I took some photos of the pedestrian crossing (it’s still there) and even had another person take a photo of me walking across just like the Beatles did all those years ago. That’s the photo you see at the top of this post, with Abbey Road Studios in the background.
The end of the Abbey Road crossing…and the end of my musical pilgrimage!
Along with “Revolver” and “With The Beatles“, “Abbey Road” is one of my three favourite Beatles albums. It certainly has the best production and was the last original album they recorded together (although the very uneven “Let It Be” album was released later). It was a fitting finale to an astonishing career.
For me, going to Abbey Road also represented a kind of closure for my year of travel. I had come to the end of the long and winding road and there was nowhere else I needed to go. It was time to go home.
Today’s post is an extended one with lots of musical links: given the event, I didn’t want to break this up into smaller blogs!
When I started planning this trip in June, even before booking the flights, I ensured that I had great tickets to two shows. One was the Paul Carrack concert. The other was a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Within a few days, I also had a ticket for Los Pacaminos and I added “The Commitments” a couple of months later.
Why the Royal Albert Hall? When I think of opulent concert halls, it’s the first one that comes to mind. However, it has also been the site for a host of legendary concerts. One of my favourite concert videos is “A Concert for George” – the all-star tribute to the late George Harrison. In that one concert alone, there were performances by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jeff (ELO) Lynne, Tom Petty, Billy Preston and the entire Monty Python gang (among others). In fact, Eric Clapton has played there almost 200 times.
The South Kensington outdoor skating rink, just a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall
Not only is it stunningly beautiful inside and out, it also manages to hold more than 5,200 people in comfort. I was determined to be one of those people, for one night at least!
While travelling alone certainly has its drawbacks, it paid one unexpected dividend on this trip: it is sometimes possible to snap up single tickets very close to the stage that have been left “stranded” by groups buying blocks of tickets. That’s what happened with the Paul Carrack concert (where I was in the 9th row, in the exact centre of the hall) and that’s what happened here…where I managed to get a lone seat in the 13th row, right in the centre, for a Saturday night concert less than a month before Christmas. Even better, it was for a concert that I really wanted to see!
Jools Holland is known in North America as a former member of Squeeze…in fact, when he left, he was replaced by Paul Carrack. But in the U.K., he is a legendary radio and television host (“Later…with Jools Holland”) and bandleader of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Simply put, they are the best known “big band” in the U.K. and in many other countries as well. They have also recorded with just about everybody with an interest in this kind of music. On one CD alone, the collaborators included George Harrison, Van Morrison, Sting, Paul Weller, Dr. John, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Steve Winwood, Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), Paul Carrack, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Eric Clapton.
View from my seat, looking at the area just to the right of (and behind) the Royal Albert Hall stage
Imagine an amped-up modern-day cross between Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller, Ray Charles and the Blues Brothers…that might come close to capturing the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. The sound is not subtle: there are 5 saxophones, 3 trumpets and 3 trombones, in addition to the various other singers and instruments you might expect to find in a big band. And while they do play standards like “Tuxedo Junction”, they don’t restrict themselves to traditional big band material: here is a live version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” with Melanie C(!), a former Spice Girl, while this is a video for Jerry Lee Lewis’ “It’ll Be Me” recorded with Tom Jones.
I arrived well in advance of the concert, as I wanted plenty of time to look around and experience the venue beforehand. It is located in a posh area (Kensington) of London; as you can see from the photo at the top of this post, it is quite an imposing sight. I had to negotiate a series of hidden stairwells and oddly-shaped corridors to get to my seat but it is even more impressive inside. There are arches, rich colours, suites and ornate accents everywhere…as if one has just woken up in the 19th century.
Looking towards the back of the Royal Albert Hall
After a forgettable opening act, Jools Holland and his R&B Orchestra arrived with a bang. The horn section was not going to be silenced on this evening and the sell-out crowd was very happy with that. I should also mention that Jools Holland has the best left-handed piano technique I’ve ever seen. It would have been fine if they played instrumentals all night.
Nonetheless, the vocalists in the orchestra are exceptional. The current roster includes Louise Marshall and Ruby Turner. Ruby Turner is an established singer in her own right; I even picked up her 45 (7″ vinyl single) of “I’d Rather Go Blind” this summer in the Netherlands (here’s a live version of the same song). But Marshall is a vocal powerhouse too…you should expect to see much more of her in the future (here’s a Louise Marshall/Jools Holland recording of a song that she also performed live tonight). My wife and I saw Aretha Franklin perform a few years ago and (sacrilege alert!) her performance didn’t even come close to Marshall or Turner.
View of the Royal Albert Hall stage just before the show (from my seat, no zoom lens)
Despite having that kind of vocal talent in his orchestra, a big feature of Jools Holland concerts is having some great guest stars. On this night, there were two special guests. The first was Joss Stone; you may recognize her name, as her first couple of releases received quite a bit of attention. This live performance with Melissa Etheridge is fairly typical (although Melissa Etheridge clearly wins this battle!); here are other ones with Donna Summer and Jeff Beck. Her performances on this night with Jools Holland were similar.
The next guest was bit of a surprise. Marc Almond was the singer with Soft Cell, a synth-pop duo from the early 1980s who had a massive international hit with “Tainted Love” as well as another big hit with “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”. He has had a successful U.K. solo career since then.
Almond started his set with “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”, followed by a dramatic interpretation of a Jacques Brel song. Would he sing “Tainted Love”, even though it was also a cover version (recorded originally by Gloria Jones in the early 1960s)? Personally, I wasn’t too keen on the original Jones vocal, but the musical backing was solid. Conversely, the Soft Cell vocal was memorable but the synth backing sounds dated now. Luckily for us, he chose to sing “Tainted Love”…and he did it in front of a powerful big-band arrangement!
They didn’t cut corners: this is the back side of the Royal Albert Hall
This was definitely one of the highlights of the night. The audience was “gobsmacked”, as they say, and the orchestra really delivered with staccato stabs of horns. This was how the song was meant to be performed and everybody nailed it.
Yet there were even more highlights. One of the best encore songs was a song called “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)”. I knew a version of it by British ska legends The Specials but it turns out that it’s a very old song recorded at one point by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians! Again, this was a brilliantly performed song and one that perfectly suited both the moment and the evening. Here’s a recent studio version by Jools Holland.
The Orchestra played for a little more than 2 hours…but it went by so fast. It was also exhausting, with so much energy in the music. While I caught a bus just outside the Royal Albert Hall, I had enough adrenaline to walk back to my hotel from Leicester Square without even noticing the distance.
Almost back at my hotel…corner of Tottenham Court Road and Chenies Street in Fitzrovia, London
With Los Pacaminos last night and the Jools Holland R&B Orchestra tonight, I have been rather forcefully reminded of the sheer power of live music played by committed musicians. It even makes me think back to the fun I had playing live in a band at law school, where we bludgeoned our way through grunge (hey, it was the 1990s!) covers of songs by the likes of Abba (“Knowing Me, Knowing You”) and Duran Duran (“Hungry Like The Wolf”, although we turned it into “Hungry Like Beowulf”).
To be honest, I would have been happy just going on a tour of the Royal Albert Hall. To experience a concert like this in such a wonderful venue was icing on the cake. It was also a great way to end my year of travel, except for one thing: my year of travel wasn’t quite over.
I still had one more full day in London…but I knew that there was no way I could find a concert to top what I had experienced over the past couple of days. Stay tuned to find out how I spent the final day of this musical adventure!
As I walked south on Whitehall, it came into view. The British Parliament Buildings (and the “Big Ben” clock face) share some architectural features with Canada’s Parliament Buildings but seem so much bigger because there is much less space around them. They were so imposing that I didn’t even notice Westminster Abbey less than a block away.
Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace) from the south. That tiny clock face at the back is “Big Ben”, giving an idea of the size of Parliament Buildings.
It was about 3:30 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon and I remembered reading that visitors could observe the proceedings in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords (the U.K. equivalent of Canada’s Senate) until about 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays…but not again until the following Monday. As I was leaving the following Monday, this would be my only chance.
I was skeptical, given the amount of tourists that were in the area. I had also read that waits of 1-2 hours to observe the proceedings were common. After some false starts, I finally found what appeared to be the visitors’ entrance. Much to my surprise, the staff thought that I would probably be able to watch either the House of Commons or the House of Lords right away.
Inside one of the entrance halls to the Houses of Parliament
I had to pass through “airport-style security” but within 5 minutes I was climbing the stairs to the visitors’ gallery. As I entered, I could have sworn that I was in Canada’s House of Commons: the layout and even the colouring (green) was essentially identical. The speaker, the mace, the protocol…it was all the same as in Canada.
I watched the debate for about 45 minutes. The House was not full, as it was only receiving an update from an inquiry that still had a year or two to go. It appeared that the U.K. was struggling with some issues (institutional child abuse) that Canada has also had to confront recently.
“Big Ben”, at the northern edge of the Houses of Parliament (a.k.a. Westminster Palace)
I went back to the Parliament Buildings on Saturday morning for a guided tour. This time, instead of just seeing the visitors’ gallery in the House of Commons, we were taken to all parts of the House of Lords and the House of Commons and much of Westminster Palace (which is actually the name of the entire complex…the royal family lived on this site many centuries ago).
I’d like to share pictures of the interior of Westminster Palace, but photos are only permitted in two of the halls leading to the respective Houses. In fact, we were not even permitted to sit down in most of the rooms, as the furniture was considered irreplaceable. However, as with many things in England, I think it is also a question of tradition.
Westminster Abbey, with the Houses of Parliament barely visible at the bottom left
The main lesson from the tour? I’d say it is the uneasy relationship between the monarchy and parliament. The queen is not even supposed to visit the House of Commons: they literally bar the door when she is at Westminster Palace. This goes back hundreds of years when the role of the monarchy was the source of much conflict.
Another less weighty but still interesting observation: a large number of the “official” portraits are completely bogus. Such portraits were often painted centuries later and/or by someone who had never seen the subject. Five of Henry the Eighth’s wives have portraits near the House of Lords but it is questionable that any of the portraits bear the slightest resemblance to what the subjects actually looked like. In some cases, such portraits were art projects for students!
Security was high in London – here is a group of police officers at the entrance to Downing Street (at Whitehall)
While the tour was interesting, it was still rather expensive for what you get. I suppose that the massive security presence needs to be paid for somehow. If you are familiar with the workings of a parliamentary democracy, you may be better served by simply going to one of the visitors’ galleries at an off-peak time. It’s free and you still get to see a decent amount of Westminster Palace…not to mention the fact that you get to see parliament actually at work.
Coming up: more on London and a very special concert!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my concert reports so far. I have one more very special concert report coming up in a few days, but first I want to start reporting on the city itself.
Considering how often I’ve been to Europe, it really is strange that I’ve never been to London before (other than changing planes at Heathrow). It didn’t take long, however, for me to realize that I had to make up for a lot of lost time.
Canada appears to be represented by a giant blue rooster: Trafalgar Square, London
I’m staying at the Ridgemount Hotel on Gower Street – it’s on the edge of a neighbourhood called Fitzrovia in the western part of London. There are a number of small hotels here but it is not on the tourist trail. There’s a large university across the street and the local “downtown” (centred on Goodge Street, Charlotte Street and Tottenham Court Road) is usually filled with locals.
Fitzrovia is perfectly situated for me. While not touristed (I know, it’s ironic I should say that), it is nonetheless within easy walking distance of a *lot* of interesting things. I’m only a few blocks north from Oxford Street; it has got to be the biggest shopping street in London. As soon as I cross Oxford Street, I enter Soho.
Looking away from the giant blue rooster at Trafalgar Square, we see the rather Roman-looking Admiralty Arch
Like so many other neighbourhoods that became real to me during my stay in London, Soho used to be just a name. I had no idea what made Soho unique or different from neighbouring districts (such as Mayfair). However, it is stuffed to the gills with bookstores, record shops and theatres…the perfect place for this particular tour.
On my first excursion from the hotel, I grabbed a Caribbean Roti Chicken Wrap with a tangy tamarind sauce. The food on offer here is astonishing in its variety. Something else that’s astonishing: almost every block yields a name or sight that is familiar to me, even though I’ve never been here before. I don’t think I realized how much influence London has had on Canada nor how much influence London has had on my favourite music. Even when I’m not looking for them, musical sights are constantly appearing!
The Radha Krishna Temple…and the Govinda Restaurant (Soho, London)
Within 30 seconds of entering Soho, I see the Govinda Restaurant and the Radha Krishna Temple. Beatle scholars will recognize “Govinda” as a Top 30 (U.K.) hit for the Radha Krishna Temple – it was produced by George Harrison. It’s right beside Soho Square – the home of Paul McCartney’s business empire (MPL Communications). The list goes on and on.
Paul McCartney’s business empire is headquartered in the tall middle building overlooking Soho Square (there’s some construction going on in front)
The lyrics of the classic wartime song “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” include “Goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square”: now I see that Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square are just a couple of blocks apart in real life! And they are massive, positively crawling with tourists taking photos and trying to pick up discounted theatre tickets. But there are plenty of Londoners here too. Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square in New York City: see photo at the top of this post.
The Horse Guards on Whitehall (Westminster, London)
I have no real plan for my wanderings, as every direction yields something of interest. A couple of blocks south brings me to Trafalgar Square with its vast open spaces, statues and the National Galleries. Walking south here on Whitehall, into the heart of the City of Westminster, I see familiar names such as Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister) and Scotland Yard. And then, it comes into view…
On this music-oriented tour of England, I was trying to experience a variety of music venues and formats. One venue that’s hard to arrange in advance is the small pub…but I managed to find and book something 5 months ago. I’m really glad I did, because it ended up being the most enjoyable concert of the tour so far.
The venue was the Half Moon in Putney, located just under an hour by bus from my hotel. The Half Moon accommodates only about 200 people for concerts but has hosted some names you may know: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elvis Costello, U2, the Yardbirds and Kate Bush for starters. In fact, many of these artists have even had residencies at the Half Moon. It’s just one of those legendary venues that musicians love to play even though it is tiny.
Fans in front of the Half Moon stage, when I first arrived
So who did I see here? The name of the band was Los Pacaminos. The name may mean nothing – they have only released 2 proper albums after more than twenty years together. I don’t think they’ve ever played outside of Europe and I don’t think they’ve ever had a hit. However, they contain some of the very best professional musicians in England…including one who you might know.
However, Paul Young also has a passion for rootsy Tex-Mex music. In 1993, he formed Los Pacaminos (a nonsense word, referring to “pack ’em in”) with a bunch of musicians who had been in his bands and also liked this kind of music. They are still together today and that’s who I was going to see at the Half Moon!
I didn’t know what to expect. I read that “La Bamba” and “Wooly Bully” generally made appearances but the rest was a mystery to me. My expectations were low, the ticket price was by far the lowest of the concerts I’m seeing, and I was a little unsure about spending a evening in an unfamiliar bar far from “my” part of London.
Paul Young salutes me
Any anxiousness was gone by the end of the first song. They came on stage with suitably “western” hats, like cowboys. They played a combination of originals and slightly obscure but very fun covers of songs from their musical influences…such as Doug Sahm (of the Texas Tornados and the Sir Douglas Quintet) and even Johnny “Guitar” Watson. They even tried a few synchronized “moves” like you would see from guitar instrumental bands in the 1960s.
The lyrics were sometimes similar to those you’d find in country music (there was the occasional mention of “hurtin'”, “drinkin'” and “cheatin’ hearts”) and there was a pedal steel guitar and an accordion…but the arrangements had Mexican touches and were rocked up far more than you’d ever get in country music. They all played well but special mention must be made of their guitarist Jamie Moses: he’s played with Queen and clearly has the chops to play even the most ostentatious rock guitar parts.
A mock serious moment for Paul Young; he’s trying hard not to laugh
Most importantly, it was blindingly obvious that these guys loved the music and were having a great time. A couple of times during the show, they’d play a short version of “Tequila” and a tray of tequila shots would materialize on the stage. Despite this, they stayed happy and nobody in either the band or the audience became a problem. The joy was infectious and the 2+ hour gig was over in a flash.
I picked up a CD signed by all of the band members and look forward to listening when I get back to Kingston. If you ever get a chance to see Los Pacaminos, I highly recommend it. [Click on the link for a “studio” version of Woolly Bully by Los Pacaminos!]
One of my favourite movies is “The Commitments”. It came out more than 20 years ago and was based on the Roddy Doyle book of the same name. It’s about a motley crew from the wrong side of Dublin who, against all odds, became a shockingly proficient soul music band. There is no Hollywood ending to the movie but there are some truly electrifying musical performances.
As I may have mentioned in my blogs from Dublin, the final performance of “Try A Little Tenderness” has to stand as one of the most powerful musical moments ever captured on film (and record). I hesitate to say this because I may be accused of blasphemy…but it might even improve on Otis Redding’s original. Regardless of which version you prefer, it has got to be one of the very best soul songs ever written.
Just around the corner from the Palace Theatre, near Cambridge Circus in London
Having been to musicals in both Toronto and New York City, I really wanted to see one in London’s West End. When I heard earlier this year that “The Commitments” had finally been adapted to the stage, there was no doubt that I had to see it when in London. Among other things, I think it would have been much more difficult to reproduce the thick North Dublin accents with a North American cast. Of course, there is also no guarantee that this musical would ever cross the ocean like the movie did.
The musical is playing at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. It’s a big old theatre with ornate decor and rather steep upper levels. My seat was near the front of the first balcony and I had a perfect view of the entire stage.
The Palace Theatre in London’s West End
In my opinion, the first half of the show didn’t work quite as well as the movie. The band (deliberately) makes lots of mistakes and missteps as it struggles to become a unit: this makes for a good movie but it didn’t come across that well in the musical format.
After the interval, however, the show redeemed itself. The second half of the show features a more polished band as well as more complete versions of songs. When performed well, a live musical can engage all of the senses and be more effective than a movie…and for the second act, it was.
Evening Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, located between the theatre and my hotel in London
Including some songs not heard in the original film (“Papa Was A Rolling Stone” being a surprise as well as one of the strongest performances), this may have been a jukebox musical but it was highly effective. Similar to the “concert in heaven” that ends the musical “Buddy” (about Buddy Holly), the last 4 songs are not really part of the narrative…they are just complete and furious renditions of soul classics.
The best was saved for last. I read the previews and knew that “Try a Little Tenderness” would eventually make an appearance. Sure enough, it was the big finale and the cast milked it for all it was worth. In terms of impact, it was just as overwhelming as the movie version.
The final verdict? You can’t go too far wrong with either version, especially if you are a fan of soul music. Ideally, you’d be able to see the first half in movie form and second half live on stage…but, if you’re not in London, watching it on DVD will still give you a pretty good idea of what it’s all about.
I don’t think I had ever been to a proper theatre concert in Europe before; my sole European rock concert experience was seeing Paul Simon at a Budapest soccer stadium way back in 1991. That was a great show but hardly typical!
The Cliffs Pavilion on a late afternoon in November (Southend-on-Sea, England)
The Cliffs Pavilion has a spectacular location overlooking the sea but the “modern” façade really doesn’t look too inspiring on an overcast November afternoon. Fortunately, it looks much better on the inside and holds 1,630 spectators in the main theatre.
The opening act was a young singer/guitarist named Elliott Morris. As yet unsigned, he is an impressive guitar virtuoso. Not only does he have impressive string technique, he also uses the guitar as a percussive instrument at the same time. He described it as “slappy and bangy” and he closed off his short set with a fascinating version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.
The Cliffs Pavilion stage, just before the concert started (Southend-on-Sea, England)
Paul Carrack came on with a 7-piece band and played a main set of about an hour and forty minutes. Drawing equally from his “greatest hits” and his more recent albums, Paul was definitely playing to the converted. He has played this venue several times before and most of the attendees were “return customers”. A consummate professional, Carrack ensured that the focus remained on his voice…still fully intact after more than 40 years of professional singing. There were very few extended solos or “jazz odysseys”.
Paul Carrack sings “The Living Years”
Carrack has certain “must play” songs, so we eventually heard “Tempted”, “How Long”, “The Living Years” and other highlights from his long career. Because the vocals were so clear and the sound was so balanced, you could actually understand all of the lyrics. They clearly affected the fellow beside me, who was indeed wiping away tears during “The Living Years”. With the audience supplying most of the backing choral-style vocals, it was one of those special musical moments where you can feel a chill running down your spine.
Of the newer material, the cover of Brenda Lee’s “I’m Losing You” was probably the highlight. But the crowd enthusiastically greeted each of the new songs; clearly, they were familiar with Carrack’s latest album. He also felt confident enough in it to close the show with “Rise and Shine”, the title track.
Ever wondered what happened to David Hasselhoff after Baywatch? He’s playing in a Peter Pan pantomime in Southend-on-Sea!
After the handful of encore songs, the concert was over and the crowd politely filed out. Actually, the crowd was quite polite throughout the show. They seemed a little more reserved than the crowds back home in Kingston!
The final assessment? It was definitely among my top ten concerts, although my expectations for it were also quite high. I hope that the rest of the shows will be as professionally performed and have the same sound quality!
Next up: I’m off to London, with a West-End (London’s Broadway equivalent) show on my very first night there!
November 25 was my final night in Cambridge. As noted in my previous blog posting, I spontaneously bought a ticket to see a musical put on by Cambridge University students. I knew nothing else about it.
The musical had the somewhat postmodern name “[Title of Show]”; it is “a musical about creating a musical about creating a musical”. This odd premise really makes your head spin at times, as the distinctions between performance, reality and time gets blurrier as the show progresses.
The Eagle Bar – this is where two Cambridge professors regularly went for lunch…and also where they announced that they had discovered DNA
It was a very intimate theatre with a capacity of about 100 people (although this mid-week show attracted significantly less than that), so there was no chance of feeling distant from the stage. In fact, the stage was on the same level as the front row of seats.
While it was not as polished as a Broadway production, the show was amusing enough and set the stage (heh) for the professional musical performances that I’ll be watching over the following 4 nights. In fact, I even made my British theatrical debut during the Cambridge musical: one scene required the actors to have an audience member film them for a YouTube video. I happened to be closest to the stage and was thus drafted without warning into the non-speaking role of “videographer”. I was handed a cell-phone and completed my role without incident.
View of King’s College Chapel from the street (Cambridge, England)
November 26 saw me travel by train from Cambridge to Southend-on-Sea for the Paul Carrack concert I discussed a few posts ago. The Cliffs Pavilion in the Westcliff district of Southend is the theatre hosting the show and my cozy B&B is precisely 1 minute and 25 seconds by foot from the Pavilion.
I’m staying here, at the Trinity Hotel, a B&B in Westcliff-on-Sea. The waterfront is perhaps half-a-block down the street.
I wandered around both Westcliff and downtown Southend during the afternoon. It is a decent-sized city that also doubles as a seaside resort…at least during the warmer months. Its claim to fame is having “the longest pleasure pier in the world” – it stretches out more than a mile into the North Sea. There are rides, unhealthy food, games of chance, tacky trinkets…the sorts of things you would hope to find in a place like this. While it is the off-season and Southend looks a little deserted in places, there are also some very nice neighbourhoods in the city.
Near the waterfront at Southend-on-Sea, England
I am also pleased to report that I managed to acquire some vinyl records at a well-stocked store near the pedestrian-only High Street. The street was full of Christmas shoppers and Christmas trees with blue lights.
Christmas Shopping on the High Street in Southend-on-Sea, England
As my B&B is so close to the theatre, I had dinner at a fish restaurant just a few steps away. I rarely eat fish but thought that this would be the best time to have some, because this is the closest I’ll get to the sea during this trip. It was a cut above your typical “chippy”: my haddock (and chips) was almost all fish and no batter, rather than the other way around. I felt properly English, having upscale fish and chips with a nice cider by the sea.
Stay tuned for a review of the Paul Carrack concert!
On November 25, I visited the very small city of Ely. Ely (pronounced “eelie”) is located about 20 minutes from Cambridge by train but feels much further away because of how quiet it is during the colder months.
As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, they’ve got an eel thing happening in Ely. It turns out that the name “Ely” derives from the fact that it was swimming in eels when it was first established. It’s not an especially pretty picture for someone who is not too keen on snakes or slimy fish, given that eels are slimy snake-like fish. At one point, you could even pay your taxes in eels. Jellied eels were a popular treat here and it is still possible to get eel pies and eel stew in local restaurants. When I heard that there was even a self-guided “Eel Trail” walking tour…well, I just had to go.
Oliver Cromwell’s House (and also the tourist office) in Ely, England
I picked up my Eel Trail pamphlet at the Ely tourist office. It is located in a 13th century building called Oliver Cromwell’s House…so named because Oliver Cromwell actually lived in it, beginning in 1636. With the tourist office only being open from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. during the winter season, I realized that I wouldn’t be seeing many other tourists in Ely.
Ely’s High Street is relatively tourist-free in late November
Ely’s claim to fame is its massive cathedral. Work began on it in 1081; it seems terribly disproportionate to the size of the city but I suspect that Ely was probably very important a thousand years ago. Why else would the cathedral be 161 metres long with a 66 metre-high tower?
Front of the Ely Cathedral, with a captured Crimean War cannon in the foreground (Ely, England)
I was hoping to find some eely Ely postcards for some friends but had no luck in that regard. I continued along the Eel Trail route and took lots of photographs in the mist. I was really hoping to see eels leaping out of the water when I made it down to the “River Great Ouse”. Alas, it seems that eels don’t leap out of the water like salmon…or maybe there just aren’t as many as there used to be. The only eels I saw were the many sculpted eels installed along the Eel Trail. On the live animal front, I can only report seeing highly food-oriented ducks, geese and swans.
I finally located the only other tourists in Ely, near the side of the massive Cathedral.
While I enjoyed my walk on the Eel Trail, I ended up returning to Cambridge a little earlier than expected. It was lunchtime in Ely but a huge breakfast at my B&B left me with no midday appetite at all. A promising local museum was also closed, as Tuesdays are devoted solely to school groups.
Silver Street in Ely, England
Once I got back to Cambridge, I decided to look for a newly-opened record shop that was literally on the “other side of the tracks”. I know it’s a cliché but it really was a completely different world over there: the posh colleges and inviting restaurants had been replaced by charity shops, vacant storefronts and betting offices. I managed to pick up some postage stamps but otherwise returned to my B&B empty-handed.
I didn’t mind the relatively quiet day – this was the start of five straight nights of musicals and concerts! First up was the Cambridge University Musical Theatre production of “[Title of Show]”. Yes, that’s the title…stay tuned for a review!
On my first full day here I went on a walking tour of the colleges of Cambridge University.
Cambridge University goes back to the 13th century but much of a student’s life here revolves around the college rather than the university as a whole. There are 31 colleges within the university; some are more prestigious than others but the degrees themselves are all granted by the university.
Our tour included admission to two of the more prominent colleges: King’s College and Queens’ College (yes, some of the colleges charge admission…and the apostrophe goes after the “s” in “Queens” because more than one queen founded that college). At Queens’, we crossed the “Mathematical Bridge”, saw some “punting on the Cam” and saw our first Cambridge courtyard.
The “Mathematical Bridge” at Queens’ College, Cambridge University
The highlight, however, was our visit to King’s College. The major landmark here is the King’s College Chapel: it is positively ancient and looks completely unlike anything you’d see on a Canadian college campus. “Chapel” makes it sound small: don’t be fooled! One can’t help wondering how the tall and narrow building has managed to remain standing for more than 500 years (and how they managed to build it in the first place).
Inside the Chapel was a painting by Rubens; when it was acquired, it was the most expensive painting ever bought. But King’s College is impressive outside of the Chapel too; the photo at the top of this post is merely of the façade facing the street in front of King’s College.
One end of the King’s College Chapel (Cambridge, England)
It also seems that there is a bit of a rivalry “between Cambridge and another school about 70 miles west of here. I can’t remember the name of it,” said our guide, knowing full well that it was Oxford. He did tell us that Cambridge has produced twice as many Nobel Prize winners as that other school…in fact, it has produced more than any *country* other than the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.
Descendant of the “Isaac Newton Apple Tree”, growing below his former room at Trinity College, Cambridge University
After leaving the tour, I walked down to Trinity College and took a picture of an apple tree. Why? It is the direct descendant of an apple tree from Isaac Newton’s day…and it was an apple falling from this tree that led Newton to his groundbreaking work with gravity. Newton isn’t the only famous Cambridge graduate: others include Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Prince Charles, John Milton, William Wordsworth, Salman Rushdie, A.A. Milne, Francis Bacon, Jane Goodall and John Cleese! I could add many, many more; check out this link on Wikipedia for a comprehensive list.
One of the courtyards at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University
It is possible to wander into some colleges without paying: Corpus Christi college opens for a couple of hours each afternoon, while I managed to wander through Sidney Sussex and Clare colleges without any problem. And after having been to Harvard (in Cambridge, Massachusetts!) a couple of summers ago, I have to say that downtown Cambridge (England) has a much more “integrated” campus: it isn’t set off from the town as much as Harvard. If I ever decide that I need to complete another degree, I’d like to study in a place like Cambridge.
Inside the first courtyard of Clare College, with King’s College Chapel in the background
After having a light take-out “Turkish Pizza” for lunch, I was ready for a more substantial meal in the evening. I found a Moroccan placed called “Bedouin” near my B&B – it was wonderfully atmospheric inside and the meal was delicious. I think the “bastilla” (a pastry filled with warm spiced chicken, and then dusted with sugar and cinnamon) was the best appetizer I’ve had this year.
Bastilla appetizer at Bedouin restaurant (Cambridge, England)
Stay tuned for more on Cambridge and a journey to a nearby ancient city!
