Hoops

I took half a day off this afternoon to head to Crystal Place. I didn't need to leave until 3:30 pm, so I was working beyond what might be classed as a half-day. My boss wondered why I'd booked it off instead of just leaving a bit early and making the time up. He called searching for some information I, sadly, couldn't access. But we were out of the house on time.

When arriving, I'd forgotten how grand Crystal Palace station could look. We cursed the organisers for omitting to signpost the way to the area of the park where the concert was. We were in time for our early entry tickets but were disappointed to find no separate queue. We weren't the only ones wandering up and down. Nonetheless, people in the queue were good-humoured, and there was a party spirit as the sun was shining.

There was a delay getting everybody in, and it was closer to 5 pm before the gates were opened. We were amongst the first crowd and managed to find a picnic bench to park at (after filling up water bottles from the fountains just below the 'urinals' sign).

As we walked through the entrance, we read the sign that said Róisín Murphy would not be performing. There were quite a few disappointed members of the audience who'd come for Ms Murphy. Therefore, most of the afternoon was taken up with great DJ sets who filled the gap, but there wasn't much to watch. I felt slightly sorry for the event's camera team, who should have had two acts to follow around the stage instead of one.

We enjoyed watching the park slowly fill up. Many people had made a great effort to dress in a summer festival vibe. Watching them, soaking up the atmosphere, and having a couple of drinks, we passed a few pleasant hours in the sunshine before we reluctantly gave up our seats in search of food. The stall with the kebab-style wraps and rice boxes had the shortest queue, so we bought a box each and sat on the grass as more and more people arrived.

Eventually, we grabbed a drink, and Grace Jones made her way to the stage. As with the last time we saw her perform, her entrance was hidden behind a curtain until she was in position, in full costume, bursting to life with 'Nightclubbing'. Ms Jones continued to talk between each song as a costume change occurred, although it was hard to hear anything other than 'more wine'.

It's amazing to watch, although it was a bit harder to see the intricacies of the costumes from the field than from the seats in the Royal Festival Hall. The show closes with 'Pull Up to the Bumper' and then 'Slave to the Rhythm,' which features her trademark hula-hoop moments.

Fantastic. There was no time for an encore before the curfew, which was a shame. The journey back to the station was not very pleasant, with people pushing through one of the worst barrier queuing systems I've seen. Train delays at Waterloo meant a quick rethink of the route, and the Northern Line via Balham proved to be the best way back.

I had thought that we might watch a rerun of the Paris 2024 Olympic opening ceremony but we decided to call it a night as we have an early start tomorrow.