all among the barley

“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

— Samuel Johnson

So London and I, we’ve had quite the love-hate relationship over the past six months. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I have harboured a love-hate attitude towards London because I’ve no doubt that London doesn’t really care all that much about me (or anyone else… it’s a very egalitarian city). I have grown convinced, however, that Samuel Johnson was right on the money – even way back in 1777.

Today, following a very enjoyable post-Japanese sandwich lunch in the park with classmates, I took a stroll down to the river for an afternoon of reading and people-watching in the sunshine. Inevitably, I wound up at the South Bank again. It has everything – the London Eye, sprawling gardens, outdoor piazzas, Thames views, buskers, abundant culture, any number of postcard-photo-opportunities – and it is fast becoming my favouritest place in London ♥ (possibly Covent Garden could give it a run for its money, but big minus points for not having a river view).

Never having attended any of London’s numerous free music gigs, part of my objective in hitting the South Bank was also to pop into the National Theatre foyer for their regular free music programme (every evening Monday-Saturday in the foyer!). Today’s musicians were Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts, a fiddle/guitar folk duo (though they really play a wide assortment of instruments, including mandolin), and… oh my gosh, they were AMAZING. I know London and culture are pretty synonymous so it’d stand to reason that even free music is good (I’ve heard Covent Garden auditions their buskers for quality control!), but these guys were seriously brilliant. I really like folk music, which is a big reason I wanted to go for this particular gig in the first place, but I never realised how much I liked folk music until I heard them. I don’t know if that even makes sense, but I came home and immediately started listening to folk radio stations. The only thing that kept me buying a CD was the fact I had no cash and they clearly did not have card facilities :P I actually checked out all their other tour dates the minute I got home and was very disappointed they wouldn’t be back in London for the foreseeable future (and they are playing in York the day after I leave!! grrr).

Anyway I am now feeling all glowy and excited about the London music scene, and definitely intend to attend the National Theatre foyer concerts as often as I can in future… I think the thing that really struck me about Katriona and Jamie, and in retrospect, about all the buskers and street musicians I’ve seen around, is that their desire to just play their music is so radiantly palpable. No matter how much they’re pimping out their CDs and all, you can tell they’re really happy just being able to play and have people listen, to have an audience, to share tunes they’ve written. It’s infectious. And even as someone who’s mostly worked in theatre and genuinely believes in the power of the stage, I have to admit there’s something more, well… universal, I guess? about music. When done right.