The Streets

Amazingly, this gig wasn't sold out...although I must admit that I wasn't keen on paying £25 to go anyway. It's just as well that we managed to get a pair from eBay for £25...a true bargain, especially considering how good the gig was. The Mitchell Brothers opened, but without the video they used on the Ten Rounds tour, their set was quite boring. However, the second support - The Ordinary Boys - absolutely blew me away. They were superb. Truly brilliant. I'd heard of them, but not heard them, and now I've got their albums on repeat. As for The Streets, Mike Skinner was on top form (even though this meant he was completely bizarre). I wasn't expectign singalongs of "I Predict A Riot" or country back-catalogues, but we got these in amongst 90s dance-esque versiosn of some of his tracks. It was all incredibly bizarre but a fantastic night.

What The Butler Saw

I'd never heard of Joe Orton, or indeed this play, but we went along for Jim's birthday and I must admit it was pretty good. A complete farce (but then again it's billed as a farce), and with an ending that I'd worked out after about 10mins into the first half, but funny nontheless.

Baaba Maal

This was my first Albert Hall experience, and one I'll probably not forget. I was aware of Baaba Maal's stuff from my time at HMV but had never really listened to it at any length. More fool me. Astounding rhythmic and melodic African music...and probably the first band I've seen in years that were truly, TRULY enjoying themselves on stage. Excellent.

Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta

While we were walking the Thames Path, we had scheduled a "rest day" at Henley. We took a stroll along the river that day, and went to the Wargrave and Shiplake Regatta. It's a local regatta run by the two villages, and was basically an opportunity for people to mess about in boats. A lovely, relaxing, afternoon - and we saw Paul Daniels!