The first Saturday in February. That’s right folks, we’ve made it through January and to our first gig of 2023! So, grab a brew and get comfy for a tale of Wendy(s), a ticketing cock up, Rugby, a Nissan Leaf, Epica and the Underworld.
Now, before we begin we need to tell you of one of our
famous cock ups… Earlier in the week, T did the sensible thing and as E who had
the tickets, E said he did and then T mentioned he had a set too. In typical ET
style we’d managed to both purchase a set each and have double the number
required. Wonderful. Only we could manage this! With attempts to shift the tickets
failing we had no option but to swallow this. Still, could have been worse, too
many tickets is better than not enough!
The meet point for a lovely Saturday gig was declared as E’s
with the crew being joined by honorary member I for this adventure. With T
arriving in good time for the first ET crew outing of the year a brew was had
whilst waiting for I to make the short journey from work. Shortly after half 3 the
group were soon speeding towards the capital and our digs for the night in
Paddington. Formalities and bag dump taken care of it was time to rustle up an
uber for the journey towards Camden. Unfortunately said uber turned out to be a
Nissan Leaf with the driver having no one in the front. This led to a
fantastically comfortable journey with all 3 of the group squashed onto a back
seat the size of a postage stamp. Deposited
in Camden, it was time for the group to line the stomachs. Settling on a quick
Wendy(s) for the purpose, burgers were soon obtained and demolished in the
Camden high street branch of the chain. Unfortunately, a load of local “yoof” decided
to bring plastic cups in and decide to use these for free drinks from the drinks
machine Seriously lads, it doesn’t make you look cool or clever, it makes you
look like a colossal <insert desired insult here>.
With stomachs suitably
lined, it was a short walk-up Camden hight street to the first pub of the
night, the Oxford Arms to watch the England v Scotland six nations game. The
Oxford arms is certainly one of Camden’s sportier pubs with loads of TVs and a decent
selection on the pumps. Beers obtained and a sport secured, the group settled
in to watch the horror of a Scotland win at Twickenham. With the pub still
rammed following the final whistle, the decision was made to venture further up
Camden High Street towards the roundhouse with a pit stop at the Ice Wharf Spoons.
This spoons is always rammed whenever we visit and today was no exception. That
being said, the bar staff were on top of their game and the group were served
excellently priced drinks very quickly with the added bonus of a group leaving
their table meaning we achieved a first and actually got a seat! Drinks
consumed and with time marching on, the group made their way up Camden high
street towards Chalk Farm and the venue for this evening’s events, the
wonderful Roundhouse.
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| Pre gig rugby! |
On arrival at the roundhouse and with the obligatory ticket and security checks complete, it was up the stairs towards the merch stand for the procurement of the traditional gig t shirts. At this point I remarked that it sounded as if Epica had already started playing. This couldn’t be the case could it? They were due on at ten past eight. Deciding to procure drinks for the gig, the crew were soon served quickly (as always at the roundhouse, one reason we love it so much). Deciding to enter the arena, the crew were met with Epica being on stage. Upon further investigation, it seemed that their scheduled start time had been bought forward 20 mins with no one bothering to tell ticket holders. Cheers Roundhouse, wouldn’t have taken a lot to send a text out saying this!
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| It begins... |
Thankfully, the crew had only missed the first 10 mins of the set and thus only missed two tracks and entered to the group being midway through Victims of Contingency. The set, backed by a phenomenal visual show progressed with a mix of newer tracks from the Omega album and older ones from Albums such as the Quantum Enigma. Consign to Oblivion bought the set to a close and with us not particularly fancying Apocalyptica, it was time to make the return journey back down Camden High Street.
Deciding to skip the nearest pub, the Lock arms due to the fact it was absolutely rammed, the group soon found themselves in the lovely Hawley arms. This small pub was decorated with lovely fairy lights and had a decent selection of ales and spirits behind the bar along with the traditional line up of lagers (including the local Camden Hells lager). With the group deciding they needed seats, the decision was made to progress further south back towards Camden town tube station and a favourite of the group, the wonderful, back street black heart pub. As regular readers will know, this pub is a proper rock and metal bar. Dark, loud and with a proper soundtrack, there is nothing for us not to like about this pub. The AC/DC and Metallica pin ball machines are an added bonus. It was in here the group decided to rant about social media and the effect it’s having on children these days. We really are becoming a bunch of old crocks! First, we need a seat and now we’re going off on rants like this! With multiple drinks consumed and with the desire to “throw some shapes” as the yoof seem to put it, it was next door to the Underworld for their Camden Rocks club night. Past the friendly bouncers and with the usual ID check and entry fee paid it was into the belly of the beast the group went. For those who’ve never experienced the Underworld before it consists of two areas, the well light bar area and dark, loud dancefloor. It must be said, the initial playlist was a tad mellow, but shortly after 1am, the tempo increased with the Foo Fighters All My life, kicking of a period consisting of Linkin Park, Sum 41, My Chemical Romance and Green Day. The tempo with then slowed briefly giving us time to drain the tanks, procure more drinks and give ourselves a chance to chat to others in the bar area. T even managed to bump into someone he knew! We also need to mention the Underworlds fantastic range of shots, the hot apple pie ones consisting of Fireball whisky, Amaretto and apple being particular favourites! The DJ then decided to crank the tempo back up with AC/DC’s you shook me all night long and various other faster ones (unfortunately by this point we can’t remember what they were!).
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| Fancy Hawley Arms |
Before too long and with the clock nearer the Underworlds 3am close time, it was time to purchase kebabs and fired chicken from the shops opposite the Underworld and rustle up an uber back to our digs. After a nice leisurely breakfast in the Lite Bite café close to Paddington station the crew were soon on their way back to the royal county. Our year of gigs has well and truly begun!
E
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