26/5/2007 TAT @ the Bull & Gate (in spite of London Transport)

Subject	TAT @ the Bull & Gate (in spite of London Transport)
PostedDate	5/26/2007
	The night doesn't get off to a good start - once again due to London Transport's attempts to sabotage my attempts to travel anywhere in London at the weekend. I get to the tube station and see the platform indicator says the first train will leave from platform 4. I walk to the indicated platform and as I am getting on the train see the driver walking down the platform closing all the doors as he passes down the train - the train is being taken out of service. It still says the first train will leave from platform 4. After a minute there is an announcement that the first train will now leave from platform 3. I get on the train in platform 3. After a minute the driver of this train also walks down and says this train is defective and being taken out of service. After this catalogue of errors I eventually end up getting on the only remaining train. After all this aggravation I can't be bothered walking further than the second car on the train. It's number is six hundred and sixty six...  Is it going to be one of those nights? The part of the Northern line that goes to Kentish Town is out of action so I have to get the Thameslink train from King's Cross - it takes bloody ages to arrive.  I eventually arrive at the Bull & Gate to find a generic punk band playing. To my surprise there seem to be plenty of people I know in the bar so I stay in there while the 'punk by numbers' band finish their set. By the time TAT hit the stage there is a very healthy crowd in the room - the most I have ever seen at this venue. Tatiana said beforehand that she was really nervous about this gig - I asked her why as she was used to playing in front of large crowds at festivals like Reading and Download - she said it was 'cos as it was the band's first hometown gig in a while there were loads of her family and friends there. I've got to hand it to her - if she was nervous it certainly didn't show onstage. I find nerves tend to vanish as soon as you start playing fortunately so... I was expecting the sound in this venue to be as shite as it normally is in Camden's toilet venues, but tonight it was excellent and I've never heard the band sound so good. Maybe there was a really good soundman at the desk for a change? Apart from the good sound quality, it was an excellent performance from the band - tight, and very energetic. TAT also played for a lot longer that bands usually do at these small venues so we got excellent value for money. I had to make a fairly smart (by my standards) exit after the show as it was a Sunday night and London's feeble transport system shuts down even earlier than normal.  It was pissing down with rain and freezing cold - just what you'd expect on a Bank Holiday weekend in London at the end of May. I walked round the back (the front entrance was shut) of Kentish Town station to find that there wasn't a train due to Kings Cross for over half an hour - so I went back to the street to check on the bus situation. It was fucking appalling - I should have guessed.  It was too early for the N20 night bus I wanted to be running. ALL the 3 buses on the LED indicator at the stop were 134s - nothing else seemed to be running. Then after a few minutes an N20 appeared on the board - salvation seemed to be at hand as it was due in one minute. It duly appeared on time - and cruised by showing a 'Not in service' sign. Thanks a lot. A 134 stopped and I asked the driver if it went to Kings Cross - he said no - I needed the 214. I stepped back and he sped off. I looked at the timetable - the last 214 went at 23.00. It was now around 23.25. Thanks a lot. Fifteen minutes later there was still six minutes to wait before the next bus was due - and only five minutes before the next train, which would get me to Kings Cross in a fraction of the time the bus would take. Shortly afterwards I found myself on the platform waiting for the 23.48 to Kings Cross. 23.48 came and went - as did the bus I could have caught to Kings Cross. And the next one. By the time the train eventually arrived over twenty minutes late I was freezing cold and almost felt like the mice that scuttled back and forth by my feet were old friends. They were certainly less hungry than I was judging by all the booty they were carrying back to their nests. The tube platform at Kings Cross was as crowded as in the rush hour by the time I eventually got there. Then I had yet another long wait. I checked the journey times on the actually rather good Tube website before leaving home earlier. My journey should have taken forty minutes or so. It actually took me nearly two hours to get home by train - a distance of probably around nine miles as the crow flies. I could have walked most the way home in that time. It took me over an hour just to get from Kentish Town to Kings Cross.  And Ken Livingstone want's us all to leave our cars at home and use public transport...