random acts of senseless beauty

Oh the panic when the tickets didn’t arrive as planned! Calls made, complaints made, all sorts of people talking to all sorts of people… Tickets found (in the BBC Internal Mail equivalent of ‘down the back of the sofa’), sighs of relief breathed, protocols changed…

And so to ULU (having not been there for what feels like years I seem to live at the venue these days) where I somehow managed to walk straight onto the balcony, even though it was meant to be reserved for VIPs. I watched the gig with space, comfort and a kick arse view alongside the likes of Jarvis, Bernard Butler and a couple reasonably poncey blokes who could have been in Towers Of London.

Unlike the first time I saw them live, I didn’t let out an involuntary squeal as The Strokes walked on the stage, which was a relief given the company I was keeping. The new songs were – well new. This doesn’t mean they’re bad, it just means you can’t sing along. I don’t think they have the casual joy of the first album, but they may grow on me yet.

But (generosity itself!) after the new ones were out the way it turned into a rather fabulous Greatest Hits set of most of the first album and the killer tunes from the second. What? You want to see the set list? oh… ok then, since you asked nicely: