11/6/2006 A trip to Kensington. Nearly. (ever have one of those days?)

Subject	A trip to Kensington. Nearly. (ever have one of those days?)
PostedDate	6/11/2006
	I'd been looking forward to this gig for a few weeks - In Shadow and Vamps 'N' Gypsies at West One Four in Kensington. Both bands are great live, and I quite like the venue as well after going to many excellent shows there when Five Miles High were putting on monthly gigs there. There seems to be some sort of jinx on this venue these days as the last four or five times I've planned to go and see a band there either the promoter has pulled the show or the band has pulled out.  Today, Vamps 'N' Gypsies pulled out.  I was still looking forward to seeing In Shadow again though. I totally cocked up my timings, thinking for some reason that In Shadow would be on around 8.30 - getting mixed up with another gig I guess. As I'm on the tube on the way to W14 I get a text telling me that they are already on stage!  I decided to press on to the gig anyway to say hello as someone was holding a ticket for me. I got as far as Holborn before hearing an announcement saying that the Piccadilly Line was closed for engineering work between Hyde Park and Acton!  I got off the train and consulted a tube map - other parts of the network were shut for the weekend as well and there didn't seem to be any way of getting to the gig. There wasn't even a replacement bus service due to some problem with the local traffic system or something.  At this point I decided to head for Camden instead as a mate said he would be out and about in the local pubs - so I least I could salvage something from my trip rather than simply going back home having done nothing apart from spend a couple of hours underground. I got the train to Tottenham Court Road to change to the Northern Line to Camden - only to find out that the Charing Cross branch was closed for the weekend!  I eventually made my way to Camden via Kings Cross and had a look in the World's End, Elephant's Head, Devonshire Arms, and Dublin Castle searching for anyone I knew. A phone call to the mate I was going to meet revealed that cover band Metalworks were playing at the Caernarvon Castle, so I made my way there. The place was packed, and the band were easily the loudest I've heard in that pub. It was free to get in as well (unlike my local in Barnet!) so it turned out not such a total disaster in the end - although the beer has gone downhill in the Caernarvon Castle recently with only keg beer now on tap.