Hi Sinisterines, (I see that Chris plays guitar left-handed) Yesterday's day of culcher kicked off at the Royal Academy to see the Monet exhibition, continued at the Tate to see everything from Gainsborough to Damien Hirst and thence to the Improv, to watch the two short films, Les Mistons (The Bicycle Saddle Sniffers) and The Red Balloon. The second film nearly didn't start, but the situation was heroically rescued by the video tech (red hair, arms of sex) who later appeared on stage, nonchalantly leaning against a pillar, chewing gum and playing bass with The Gentle Waves. In contrast to reports of the Leeds gig, Isobel did not appear to be nervous, and she directed the rest of the band in such a crisp manner that there was little farting around between songs. In fact I reckon they were only on stage for about 45 minutes, playing most of the album except for Weathershow: Hangman In The Shadow, Evensong (French Version), Renew & Restore, Emanuelle, Skating On Thin Ice, Rose, I Love You, Dirty Snow For The Broken Ground, A Chapter In The Life Of Mathiew, To Salt A Scar. Can't be sure if they played Tree Lullaby & Enchanted Place: I think so the former, less certain of the latter. Five songs not on the album were aired: Loretta Young, Grazing In The Grass (Mick Trumpet lead instrumental), Pretty Things, Kinky Love and recently written Flood. The sound was excellent, the vocals were strong & confident, and multi-instrumental talent abounded (including new member Margaret Smith). The audience not only stood up :) but seemed pretty appreciative considering the fact that presumably most of the material was unfamiliar. Personal favourite ...Mathiew gleaned the most applause and crowd reaction to all the subsequent songs seemed warmer. (Or maybe that was due to the appeal of Isobel singing about Kinky Love......) It seems that gig professionalism can improv(e) without affecting the quality of the music, which augurs well for the Bowlie. Very well done, chaps! The upside down badge trick didn't work, but maybe that's due to the darkened venue, or the fact that those Jeepster badges are so tiny! David Moore Chelmsford, UK +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+