Fashionistas or Hipsters?

Should I book or take pot luck and wait until we reach London?  Would we have recovered from the flight and will we both go?  In the end I went alone.  The subject of my musings was the solitary live performance of British electro pop trio Saint Etienne.  Months out from our holiday I discovered one of my fave bands would be performing during our stay in London, and I didn't want to miss it.

Sarah, Bob and Pete, supported by seven musicians, would be performing a short set at the Barbican Centre, followed by the London premiere of director Paul Kelly's film "How We Used to Live".  A live performance of the soundtrack would simultaneously be performed by Mark XVII of Saint Etienne.  "How We Used to Live" is comprised of postwar archive footage unearthed at the British Film Institute and ends with the dawn of the Thatcher era and the land grab of London's former docklands.

Combining my limited experiences of London and the location of the brutalistic Barbican Centre, an interesting night was assured.  Despite catching the wrong service from our local tube station, Swiss cottage, and an unexpected trip to Wembley station, I managed to obtain one of the last available balcony tickets. Great value at only £15.  The Barbican Centre was packed with patrons, being the last night of the Digital Revolution Festival.  The Festival was described as an immersive exhibition of art, design, film, music and video games, and was guaranteed to attract an interesting audience.  Saturday Night 's program even included an avant-guard audio-visual performance by Velvet Underground legend John Cale.

As anticipated, my buttons were pushed and a memorable performance was enjoyed.  A copy of the limited edition soundtrack in vinyl will hopefully grace my Santa sack.

Bad news Hipsters! In London your clothing stylings are rapidly becoming passé.  Op shops will
again be stacked with unwanted racks of flannel shirts and socks will be worn.  It would appear a strange hybrid involving lycra leisure wear and Flashdance era disco stylings is about.  In my humble opinion, the most stylishly dressed Londoners are the Africans and Moslems with their flowing colourful and blinding white outfits.  The Victoria & Albert Museum is presenting a retrospective of  photographer Horst P. Horst who succinctly nailed it: "Fashion is an expression of the times.  Elegance is something else again."