Distant fire

We went to the Jon Hopkins' War Child gig at our old haunt Shepherd's Bush Empire this evening. It was a fantastic event. We were moved by this Escape Robot short film by War Child.

Jon Hopkins started his set with pieces from his soundtrack to the film How I Live Now. I read the book and understand why he chose to play them – they depict a world that has torn apart by war. I was mesmerised by his hands as he played the grand piano. What I would do to have an octave (and some) reach. My small paws really struggle. I've found his pieces online, though, and hope to dabble a bit on the notes he played. It was beautiful – The Hawk, from the soundtrack.

The second part of the set had him behind a huge mixing desk, with an extremely effective 3D graphic swirling and morphing behind him. At one point, two women holding a light stick in each hand performed displays at either side of the stage. Each light stick seemed to have its own set of lighting instructions, which was fascinating to watch – at one point a beam of light started on the far-left stick, moved to the next stick and jumped across to the sticks held by the woman on the other side... All quite Bladerunner. The crowd really, really loved the dancy stuff. I particularly liked the way Jon Hopkins bopped when the big bass beat kicked in. He seemed to enjoy it as much as we did – Everything Connected.

We enjoyed the DJs who were on before him, too: Kelly Lee Owens, George Fitzgerald and Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip).

Earlier in the day, we hopped down the road to the new cinema to see six short films screened for Bicycle Film Festival London. We had a good laugh at Cycle Lane. When the writer and director came on stage and asked if anyone had any questions, Fred stuck up his hand – the premise of the film had actually happened to him when he was in his early twenties, except he as the cyclist was the one in a rush and at the bad end of the table. I can't say more for it will give away the twist in the film.