I didn't know it at the time but it turns out I, along with other members of the Carter USM online forum (http://www.abdou.co.uk/forum/index.php), was name-checked on the radio (Radio One?) by Steve Lamacq in the lead-up to the first of the two Carter reunion gigs. Have a listen...
http://www.streaming-talk.com/pauldavy/CarterForum.mp3
I've managed to listen to a lot of the CDs from the trip, but there's still about half of them to go!
Out in the backyard, it was also time to take a photo of (L-R) Nicky, Greg, Leanne and Celine, all decked out in their Addams Family outfits... pretty impressive, and apparently they had a good night.
The event itself was a little disorganised, and Jim didn't go on for about an hour after he was scheduled to go on, but it gave a useful opportunity for a little photo opportunity with my two favourite musicians... a really special moment for me. When Jim did eventually hit the stage, he played a good selection of tunes acoustic-style. 
This included some Carter classics, a few songs from Jim's Super Stereoworld (his now defunct post-Carter band) as well as some of his finest solo material, including a few new songs off his forthcoming album. At the end of one of the new songs called God's Blog, "Paul Davy's blog" got a quick passing mention. It's nice to know this blog has had such a diverse array of readers! The set was punctuated by a fireworks display going off just outside the window and a broken guitar string which led to some entertaining impromptu ad-lib.
It's an interesting "beach", because as you can see there's not actually any sand there! What there is however is a wonderful pier, loaded with lots of tasty (read: sugary and fatty) treats and amusements. I had fun watching Greg ride a motorbike simulator and we all had a turn at an interesting fish-racing game, where by getting balls into holes of different points, your fish moves a certain distance. Leanne, Greg and myself were all too busy trying to get the balls into the holes to watch the actual race but according to the commentary, Greg just beat me at the post, so it looked like we had the 1-2 placing an Leanne was guaranteed a stuffed shark toy. 
By this time it was getting late so we wanted to head off but because of traffic conjestion it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Once we hit the motorway all was well until traffic stopped again because of a traffic accident that had traffic banked up at least 8 miles. Greg put his satellite navigation system to great use and found us an alternative route which allowed us to get back to Earsfield in a reasonable time. He's now in the kitchen preparing his legendary spaghetti bolognese and I can hear bowls moving so I'd better finish off now! This will be my last post until I get back to Melbourne, so depending on who you are.... I'll very soon be saying "hello" or "goodbye"! Wish me a good flight...
After the chicken burger and chips I loitered around checking out all the comings and goings, like the scalpers on the corner trying to buy and sell tickets for the show, blackboards and signs saying the Carter gig was sold out, and hundreds of Carter fans wearing their Carter t-shirts. After lining up, I got in and positioned myself at the very front, just off-centre. After having to be a bit of a wus at Barrowlands on account of feeling rubbish I was more than going to make up for that at Brixton, and I knew that if I didn't get up front then I would regret it afterwards. 
First up were the Sultans Of Ping who played a really well received set of their classic hits and a couple of new tunes. Tracks like Give Him A Ball And A Yard Of Grass, Stupid Kid and Where's Me Jumper? all went off and the crowd up front were really enjoying it, except for a point where some over-exuberant feller raised the eyebrows of some of the security and a few harsh words were exchanged in both directions. After Sultans of Ping there were the same tunes played through the soundsystem as at Barrowlands which gave a fine selection of classic and relevant indie tunes.
Then it was time for that fat bastard Jon Beast to come out in the buff again with an excess array of polysterene cups and whatnot masking-taped around his privates. Thankfully for the sake of the stage and my clothes, there was no beer thrown up on stage this time... was it simply because of the stronger security presence, or because there weren't as many Glaswegians in attendance? The mysteries of the universe...
After introducing the band, Jon Beast left the stage and Les and Jim belted through a brilliant set of songs based on the Barrowlands set but with a few minor alterations, the best of which was Shoppers Paradise. Courtesy of Mark Read from the Carter forum, here's the entire set list (my personal favourites from the night are in bold type...
Being right up the front I got to see what a classic Carter gig was like in all its glory - ducking for cover from crowd-surfers, getting rammed up against the unpadded security barriers until I was covered in bruises, absolutely cracking tunes (at a sensibly loud volume) and only the occasional painful wince to wipe off the otherwise permanent smile, singing, pointing, shouting and all those other things that you would do at the best concert ever. Indeed, it's the best gig I've ever been to - I declared it as such five hours before it even started and had no reason to change my mind at any time throughout the night.
Other non-musical highlights were Richy presenting Les with his first beer in seven months... an ice cold bottle of Coopers Sparkling Ale (nice touch!) as well as the clothes change before the encores which brought Jim out in a crown and gown (a bit like a low-budget version of what Neil Tennant wore on earlier Pet Shop Boys tours when singing It's A Sin), and Les in a cycling cap, EMF shorts and a Senseless Things t-shirt. Another interesting thing is that it was so jam packed at the front of the stage, I couldn't safely get the camera out of my pocket the whole time in order to take any shots, so it looks like I'll be relying on the photography of others (big thanks to anyone whose pictures I use here - I'll give you 100% royalties).
Bandwise, I saw some of the Subliminal Girls set and was impressed at how cohesive their sound was. I can see why there's a lot of talk about them at the moment and I thought their cover of Carter's The Only Living Boy In New Cross. Later on the same stage, Richy's other band Allergy were playing a mix of original songs and covers. Not to be outdone by the Subliminal Girls, Allergy also gave a Carter cover, the wonderful Let's Get Tattoos which alas didn't make the Carter setlist because the drum machine doesn't know how to play that one. 
It was a quality rendition, as was their cover of Gary Numan's cars, fronted by Neil who looked suitably dark and spooky in the pale blue light. The final song of the set was pure gold - a cover of Abdoujaparov's Beer Scooter. 
In some ways you could say it was a cover, but in reality, it was more as if Allergy transformed into Abdoujaparov for the final song, because Bomber (the drummer) plays for Abdoujaparov, as does Richy and the specialist guest vocalist... Fruitbat! It was a suitably excellent end to the night's live performances.
Here's a picture of a couple of fat bastards who just happened to be there on the night and now to finish, here's a selection of photos I took throughout the night of a whole lot of totally chipper people who I've met through the Carter forum and other Carter-related links... all of whom seemed to having a great time befitting such a wonderful occasion. Note Les catching up for lost time with a bottle in each hand!
Greg had been given the day off work so we had a chat and then went out and had a drive so he could buy some discounted fireworks at Tesco's Extra. The store was a fair distance from his house and it gave me a good chance to see how crazy driving is in the greater London area, even when it's just 1:30pm, and not peak hour or time to pick the kids up from school, We got back and great made some top notch hot dog sandwiches before he fell asleep and I noodled around on the computer and watched the telly. Oh yeah, and I turned 30 that day... but a significant milestone like this was cast completely into the background compared with what was ahead.
Walking around Waterloo in search of breakfast, I saw a nice perspective of the London Eye which I thought I'd show you. Across the road from where I took that photo I found my breakfast in the form of a sausage roll, but not what we'd generally think of as a sausage roll in Australia but more like the link sausage roll I had in Edinburgh, although it wasn't quite as tasty as that one. Nonetheless, it would fill the belly while I went and did the Westminster Walk that is outlined in my brilliant drizzle-proof Gregory's "London - City In Your Pocket" map thingy which has all the things to see and do, as well as maps and an invaluable map of most of the Tube system. It's been taken out of my bag and put back in so many times that I'm surprised it's in such good condition. 
Walking past South Bank I noticed that I was actually in the location where part of the film clip for Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" had been shot, so just add a picture of Neil Tennant against the House of Parliament and Chris Lowe looking off in some other direction and voila... West End Girls. 
I'd already seen Parliament House from my earlier travels but I'd not actually gone around the corner in order to see Westminster Abbey. It was nice, big and old, but then... that accounts for many of the buildings in this city so it was nice to see, but didn't seem particularly monumental. I'm sure the people who were excited enough to pay to get in would have thought it was pretty good. The tour, laid out by my pocket map then took me along Parliament Street past Downing Street, and then cutting through some buildings to St. James' Park. 
This park was really nice and it was actually a really good day for appreciating a park like this. Today was easily the warmest day so far in London and I spent quite a bit of time not even wearing my trusty Pop Will Eat Itself beanie. There were a few squirrels again, but they were this time outnumbered by the ducks and the pidgeons. There were even a few big old pelicans, who despite looking totally daft, enthralled people simply because of how big and funny looking they are. By the end of St. James' Park you arrive at Buckingham Palace. For someone not particularly fond of the concept of royalty, it was not particularly interesting... just another big old stone building really, but people were flocked around there in great excitement so I'm glad it meant a lot to them. 
I was then heading back towards where the changing of the guard takes place down the Mall when these posh looking horse and carts came past. That was a bit of fun, and certainly a nice change from cars and black taxi cabs. 
A little further along and down a side street and there's this band standing there getting ready to play a song. I was expecting something regimental, but was pleasantly surprised when they came out with a rendition of Petula Clark's classic "Downtown". Things were pretty great until I got to Pall Mall which is a bit of a dump, so I promptly got back onto the Mall and scurried back in time to see the changing of the guard. 
Essentially, it's a whole lot of dressed up men on horseback doing diddly-squat and then a few trumpet blows and two different sets of horses and horsemen going their separate ways. It was all very grand but I know little of the tradition and do not actually understand how this was ever a legimate and functional process. I'm sure Anna can enlighten me on this because she's very knowledgeable on the history of London. The guided map tour ended with a visit to Nelson's Column on Trafalgar Square but I didn't stick around as I had a London Eye flight to aboard. So after a quick look, and a quick walk past Scotland Yard, I crossed the Hungerford Rail Bridge Footpath across the Thames and over to the London Eye for my first decent experience in the ancient English art of queueing. 
Finally, by the end of the queue I was in the London Eye and weatherwise it was a really great day to be on board. A little hazy perhaps but the weather was really good and there was good visibility in all directions. Most people seemed interested in the scenery only, and one kid was fascinated by the fact he could see a man in a suit running, but I was just as excited about the structure of the London Eye itself. 
It's the world's largest observation wheel and it's a brilliant bit of engineering, considering they just build it alongside and over the Thames. Perhaps in some ways things like aeroplane travel, TV and Google Earth nullify the magnificence of being able to see such views, but it was a highly agreeable experience and thank you very much Anna for my ticket... it was really good to see some of the places I've seen so far from such a high vantage point. 
Upon alighting the London Eye we were promtly cleared out of the area by a patrol of stormtroopers, and I made my way back across Westminster Bridge, past all the dingleberries getting their photos taken, so I could get to Westminster station and catch the Jubilee line train back up north to St. John's Wood on my second attempt to get into Lord's. With a little bit of time to spare once I arrive in St. John's Wood I went into Tesco's Metro to grab some lunch and my second significant experience in the fine old English art of queueing. I kid you not, the queue to get to the checkout went around half the store. You effectively get into the queue and as you make your way around the queue you grab what you want off the shelf and pay for it on the way out. This odd method of acquiring lunch gave me an eclectic meal of sushi, Austrian smoked cheddar, and an energy drink made from taurine and various tropical juices. I returned to Regents Park to sit and eat my food before crossing the road over to Lords. 
For anyone with an interest in cricket, the tour is well worth the £10 entry. After waiting around in the museum, our tour guide Keith took us through various room in the Pavillion and gave us a comprehensive history of the origins of the Marylebone Cricket Club, Lords, and the functions of all the various rooms. Some of the rooms we went into which even members cannot get into are the room where any rule changes are made (and the Queen is hosted, if she attends) as well as the changing rooms for England and the away team. I even got to stand on the balcony where the Aussies celebrated their World Cup victory over Pakistan a few years ago. 
After the tour of the Pavillion, our brilliant tour guide Keith took us into the new media centre where the newspaper, radio and television coverage of Lords games takes place. Up that stairwell which you can see in the picture is where Richie Benaud and his fellow TV commentators watch the game from nowadays and have done so since the new media area was constructed in 1999. To finish the tour, we got to see Lord's from the stands and then back in the museum we got to see the Ashes themselves along with the interesting story of their origin and significance. Departing Lords I went in search of Abbey Road, got lost, and wasn't much fussed about trying to hunt around for it because my map for the area was pretty dodgy. So instead I ended up walking through a posh neighbourhood until i arrived at Warwick Avenue station and from there navigated my way back to Leanne and Greg's place.
Since I last wrote, I met Leanne at Bar 366 where her and her netball teammates were having a drink. It was a nice venue, with some good music playing and her friends seemed nice and I had a quick chat to a couple, though bars with loud music and never the best places for a generic chat.
Music and Video Exchanges! Again, another big pile of stuff at very cheap prices, but because of sheer volume of CDs the price adds up too. I think the outlay was about £50 but it was enough to make my arm tired from all the carrying I'd be doing.
A whole lot of people were dressed up in 'ye olde' stylings while they waited around drinking coffee while the production crew busied themselves with lights and other technical matters. I of course was more interested in checking out the small Rough Trade store, where I picked up the latest 9-track Erasure EP for £6... far cheaper than anywhere else I'd seen it on sale for to date. The final music shop for the day was Intoxica but it was vinyl-only and thus of no interest. There concludes, according to the itinerary at least, the music shopping aspect of the trip!
Even still, I had a big gap in the afternoon to fill so I went across the road to Regents Park which was a very interesting park, that had a children's section, lots of gravestones and a whole menagerie of cheeky squirrels such as this little one here. He's even holding an acorn, how cute! Looking at my trusty drizzle proof London map I couldn't find anything within the city itself that I really felt like doing so I thought I'd take the plunge and head out early to my final destination for the day - the London Buddhist Vihara at Turnham Green.
I arrived at the London Buddhist Vihara and just had a nice quiet sit until Richard, the guy who seems to run the place on behalf of the monks, made me a cup of tea, and gave me a little tour of the place. In the two or so hours until the actual scheduled meditation started, I had a quick solo meditation, and check out their extensive library where I read a really interesting transcript of an encounter between a monk and an academic from Melbourne University about the subjects of kamma, dependent origination and rebirth. It was really insightful, but I didn't quite get a chance to read it all because the actual session was about to start.
Alas I didn't find that particular shop but I did find somewhere selling jerk chicken so I finally got to taste the glory of jerk chicken. Apparently Jason Bootle (Les' friend who was also in Abdoujaparov and Who's The Daddy Now? for a while) is a big fan of the jerk chicken and Les reckons that's actually why Jason initially stayed in London as long as he did. I got it with the sauce, hoping or assuming it would be some kind of caribbean hot sauce, but even though it was just tomato sauce it wasn't enough to drown out the tasty spices of the jerk chicken which left a pleasant spicy taste in the mouth even once the chicken was all in the belly. Incidentally, Canada Water is also the name of a song by The French (a post-Hefner band) so I've had that song jangling around my had for much of the day. It's also not far from New Cross, which is referenced in Carter USM's biggest hit, The Only Living Boy In New Cross, but I thought it would be a little eccentric to go there for that reason alone.
Moving on then via the tube to the Tower of London, which was one destination that Anna had recommended to me despite the price. Just as I was arriving a guided tour was just kicking off so I quickly got on board with that and enjoyed the tales of decapitations, blood, gore and more decapitation told by this beefeater here. Part tour guide, part actor, part comedian, he was totally genius and made the guided section of the tour a real treat. 
He had a large audience of visitors who followed him around as he told his tales of yore. Most people are really big on stories - learn through stories, enjoy telling stories... oddly enough, despite the fact I'm writing this blog I don't really consider myself to be amongst that group of people. I don't like TV, movies, any books devoid of scientific (or sci-fi) or Buddhist content. However, there was one story I quite liked. I warn you though, I'm no story teller...
In this here circular tower there was a Scottish man who had been sentenced to death for some crime. His wife was horrified by this and wanted to save her husband so she set off down from Scotland, via coach until she could travel no further on account of heavy storms. She switched to horse and travelled the rest of the way before arriving in London, seeing the king, and presenting a case asking for clemency for her husband. The king would not release the Scotsman, but allowed him to have guests on the day before his execution. She went there with a whole lot of women, and those women kept coming and going from the tower so often that the guard at the gate could no longer keep track of how many women were in there. One of the "women" coming out was in fact the Scotsman himself, disguised as a woman. Not a bad effort really because he was over six foot tall and had a long ginger beard. Seeing that her husband had escaped with the other women, the wife went to the guard and said that her husband was really upset about his upcoming execution and she asked for the guard to give him some time alone. Once the room was checked, it was empty and the Scotsman had gotten away "Scot free"... and that is apparently how the expression came about.
Here's a statue of a lion that I took for Anna - she'll know why. After the Tower of London experience and feeling like money was falling out of my pockets, I went over for a good cheap meal... the Subway sub-of-the-day done as a wrap and loaded with all the salads. A tasty, healthy feed for £2. From there I came back to Earsfield, did a little scout around the main street to see what interesting shops there were and then back to the house. I was the first one back to the house so found it a good opportunity to load the pictures etc. Leanne came home and we had a bit of a chat before she set off for netball practice. She's going to give me a call later and then we'll meet over at her local pub for a brew or two. In the meantime, I'm just listening to the Soho Dolls CD I bought in Greenwich which sounds like it was well worth £9 and in half an hours time I'll be tuning into Phoenix FM to catch Les' radio show.
