2 out of 3 aint bad!

I actually managed to do stuff this weekend. I went to see Stomp on Friday night with Jason and Bec M (from GS), and then I managed to get out to the Spittlefields and Brick Lane Markets with Richard, Hilary and Rachel (cousin of Richard) on Sunday. Of course the entirety of Saturday was spent sleeping, but two out of three days of the weekend aint bad!

Stomp was on at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End and it was amazing. It’s a combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy by nine very energetic individuals. No actual words were spoken, but a lot was communicated by their body language. It was very funny, very enjoyable and very uplifting. I loved the music they made out of plastic pipes and the energy of them dancing in the sand. Stomp is no longer a new concept – it’s been around since 1991 – and I have seen some things they did in other shows here an there, drums and cymbals being made out of rubbish bins and lids being one of them. But the energy was amazing, the noise deafening, the physical comedy side splitting and the whole thing riotous. It was much better than I was expecting and yet another case of my low expectations of an event resulting in a better appreciation of it than anticipated. I absolutely loved it.

We went to the Salieri Theatre Restaurant afterwards and boy was that an experience! Over-the-top to the maximum possible level. Wow. The two meter high wooden crocodile god took the cake I think, but the hand-painted vinyl seats displaying a variety of garishly dressed people ran a close second. The food was really nice though, so I didn’t mind the eye-strain so much. It was absolutely lovely to catch up with Bec too, as I haven’t seen her for quite a few years.

The markets on Sunday were a bit of a let-down… well, not really a let-down as far as markets go, but not up my alley. As Richard pointed out, they were not food-oriented like the borough markets, which I adored. I wouldn’t have worn any of the clothing on sale, nor have found a use for most of the goods, so not my cup of tea. Spitalfields was full of hip-ish clothing and jewellery and was relatively clean. On the other hand, Brick Lane felt like an endless garage sale and the goods were as varied, as grungy and as odd as you’d find in any Sunday market in Aus. But it was nice to get out of the house and wander around, and the company was really good, so an enjoyable day all round.