I really should get a move on and update this, because I have to revise P2 for my exam tomorrow morning…

So yesterday I managed to get the time off work in the morning to make an early start in London. Dave and I decided to head back up to Oriental City in Colindale for a second time (January Visit), our intent being to go in Adanami Shobo, check out the manga and see the adorable Ho-chan again ^_^. (Ho-chan is a chihuahua btw :P). Well, we got to see Ho-chan, who seemed to have developed little wings by the way the hair had grown in tufts out from his/her body, but the shop was closed as I remember reading it usually was on weekends -_-. We went into Oriental City and Asahiya Shoten (what was the largest Japanese bookstore in Europe) had remained closed and empty. I hope they put another bookstore in there soon…

After looking around the supermarket and buying sugar water, various types of sweets, rice and a bottle of sake (that Dave wanted to take home and try), we went to get an early lunch. We had the same set lunch as the first time we came, (but it was nonetheless still great ^^) and then got some odd cakes from the bakery nearby; I had a pumpkin pie and Dave bought a melon cake :P hehe.

We caught a train out to Camden about 1.00pm and Dave showed me around the market and along the main street where the Japanese class had gone the time I wasn’t able to make it. There was nothing of sorts that I particularly wanted here, but Dave spent a fortune buying 4 t-shirts, a badge and what he now refers to as his ‘rocking trousers’ – a black and red pair of baggy, lightweight pants with plentiful zips and dangly things ^_^;. These proved necessary anyway because his other trousers broke not long beforehand XD heheh.

We had to rent a locker at Victoria station before heading over to Hyde Park to deposit all the stuff since Dave’s parents and brother were on a tour in the Tower of London and couldn’t get the car to us. We found Hyde Park quite easily and arrived about 4.00pm – the events beginning at 5.30pm. Dave had managed to acquire Gold Circle entrance to the concert and sold his other standard tickets on, so it was a little funny as we approached the arena to hear one of the staff calling ‘Gold Circle ticket holders only. All other ticket holders go elsewhere!’. It made me feel a little sorry for everyone else walking on, but not as much as walking in front of the stage did later on to see the masses of crowd held back behind a bar about 40m away ^_^;. Having got there early, there was a lot of open grass in the semi-circle area to waltz around in and make everyone behind the bar envious :P.

The first act was from a band called ‘Chicks on Speed’ who were, frankly, quite terrible and were boo-ed off stage accompanied by a flurry of plastic projectiles being hurled in their general direction. Half an hour later, James ‘the Godfather of Soul’ Brown was welcomed warmly and provided a great performance including the hit ‘I Feel Good’ with his backing Jazz/Soul section. Great stuff ^^. Some people had already drunk so much by this point that they were really getting into it. A guy next to Dave was showing his ‘funk’ bumping into everyone and was clearly very merry throughout the whole performance. He disappeared somewhere before the Red Hot Chilli Peppers came on though.

In the time before the RHCP appeared, a mass bottle war erupted in the semi-circle. I think nearly everyone got hit at some point, Dave and I taking several to the head and face before we put his jumper over our heads for some protection. So it rained beer and water for the next 20 minutes and I was thankful these were at least only plastic bottles. Fortunately, it all stopped when the RHCP came onto the stage and provided a grand, just-short-of-2-hours feast. Being that close really makes all the difference, as you don’t always need the screens to see what is going on and you can see most of the expression directly on stage; and that is without mentioning the thumping base and sound. The crowd experience was certainly one to remember, with a lot of people jumping around in a tightly packed mass. I did get trodden on many times, but for the most part, people were sensible enough not to go nuts and crush somebody o.O;. It all adds to the feeling I suppose, and it was quite funny watching how into it some of the people were. That’s not to say I was detached from the whole thing, just not as passionate as some of the hardcore fans ^_^;.

Overall then, it was a fantastic day out. We both bought an mightily priced RHCP t-shirt as memorabilia (and avoided the £10 programmes o.O;) and I attempted to take some pictures, although whether they stand up to crowd shake is another thing :P. It’s good to do this sort of thing every once in a while, although credit to those who go to concerts like this every week o.O. It’s exhausting.

(I’ll add the tadpole watch later if I get chance after my revision ^^;)