Yesterday there was no blog as Conrad went straight from work to the Bridgewater Hall for a concert - the mighty Eels, with Daughters of Davis as support - and didn't get home until 11:30.
Today, however, he has a post or two to share with you. Might have to duck out of the room occasionally to go check on the cakes I'm baking for Dom -
- the Yorkshire Brack is done, 80 minutes baking time my hairy white posterior! 100 is more like it and at the bottom of the oven at Gas Mark 4 for the last 20. Fortunately old wise Conrad - well, old Conrad at least - knew better than to simply take the recipe on trust.
The Bridgewater Hall
For all that it's been there for 18 years, Conrad has never been in before, and knew nothing about the £1.2 million organ in there - it takes up the whole back wall. What's that? You want a picture? Well, apologies but the rear lighting display concealed most of it, and what remained visible wasn't very clear thanks to gloom, distance and dry ice fumes.
Anyway, let us first inspect the external water feature, seen to advantage in the evening sunlight; were the weather grey, wet and overcast (typical Manchester weather) Conrad supposes it would be tricky to tell where water feature ended and landscape* began.
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| From ground level |
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| From Gallery level |
Literally. Before the performers came on the house lights were up, so it was possible to see the stage and it's various accoutrements:
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| Not playing to the gallery |
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| The organ's there, just hidden from view. No laughing at the back! |
Ah, thankfully the Lemon and Coconut cake behaved itself properly and didn't either underbake (yuck! soggy bottom!**) or overbake (ack! burnt edges). Oops, sorry -
The support act were the Daughters of Davis, a pair of sisters. Not really Conrad's cup of tea, but they were sincere and enthusiastic, and being young and attractive never harmed anyone's musical career, so he clapped in support.
The Headline Attraction
Eels, of course. The crowd - almost a full house with very few empty seats - went predictably wild, although Conrad maintained a lofty aloofness <Mister Hand intervenes to explain this is an utter lie>.
For a man whose entire oeuvre seems to consists of depressing songs ("bummer rock" as defined by E), Mr E was a jovial and amusing MC between songs. Indeed, he mocked his own gloomy prediliction by stating "Wasn't it nice of the Daughters of Davis to cheer you up? <pause> Now we're here."
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| This is the backdrop that hid the organ. NO laughing at the back! |
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| Mr E under the spotlight, Knuckles the drummer top left, Upright Al on the double bass, Pooby (I think!) upper right on geetar and trumpet, and The Chet below him on the "Sad Machine" |
It's not very obvious from the rather blurry photos here, but Knuckles was playing what E described as "the yard sale" - glockenspiel, bongo, kettle drum, drum kit, vibraphone and tubular bells.
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| Conrad thought all the big swirly lights would help his photo. Conrad was wrong |
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| Upper left: the band take a bow; practically invisible in the murky rugger scrum at right is E, giving and receiving hugs |
Let It Not Be All About Eels
Okay, you can have a photograph of what I was baking tonight. Yorkshire Brack in the background - a fatless fruit cake - and lemon & coconut cake in the foreground. Neither cool enough to put in a tin yet, and Conrad has to cover them with tea towels to prevent certain Interested Parties from investigating or adding hairs to the recipe:
And Finally
Why is this relevant?
Because of the Rock!
* Okay, "waterscape"
** Still no laughing at the back there!
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