London Astrobeat Orchestra

I had a late lunch with my friend, Ian, today, starting off at Flōk, where Simon joined us for an hour before heading off to an exhibition that he has helped put together and recorded some sound for, while Ian and I headed 'round to Noi Quattro for pizzas.

After that, I went 'round to Band On The Wall to meet the Minx and watch the London Astrobeat Orchestra playing songs by Talking Heads. It worked well, actually, as they mostly took songs in which there was some degree of African influence - usually percussion - in the first place.

The musicians were all impressive, but if I had one criticism, it would be that the songs tended to go on too long and drift too far aware from their origin. A little less self-indulgence and few more songs would have gone a long way, I think. (Mind you, everyone else seemed happy enough!)

We would have gone home at that point, but back in the bar it was open mic night, so we hung around for another glass of wine while we listened to some of the performances, which were, as you might imagine, variable but mostly enjoyable.