14/7/2007 4 gigs in one night - well nearly...

Subject	4 gigs in one night - well nearly...
PostedDate	7/14/2007
	Last night was Friday the 13th - I stayed in - not because I am superstitious, but because there just wasn't anything I really wanted to go to. Well there was actually, but I completely forgot about it.   For Saturday I had it all planned out though - four gigs in one night. You know what happens when you have a plan... My first port of call was the Water Rats to see Dead Monroe. Their stage time was supposed to be 8.00 - leaving me time to catch their set and then get to the Borderline to see the Cut Outs at 9.00. So I arrive at the Water Rats to find another band playing and no sign of the Dead Monroe boys - who I then bump into in the street outside a few minutes later as they hand out flyers. It turns out the promoters have at the last minute changed their stage time to 9.00! I'm not best pleased.  The boys duly hit the stage around nine and turn in a tight set of well crafted songs as usual. The place fills as they play and they get a very good reception - especially considering that  virtually no one present must have known who they were. They finish their set around 9.35 and I hot-foot it off to the Borderline just in case... I arrive at the venue hoping that by some chance the Cut Outs will also have been delayed. I'm out of luck and I'm told by the door staff that they have already finished.  Oh well - it was worth a try... Fortunately, the next venue is only a couple of minutes walk away and I soon find myself at the 12 Bar Club. This is supposed to be the first night of the 'Glammed Out' club at this venue. There aren't actually any bands on the bill that I particularly want to see on this occasion, but as I was in the area I thought I'd drop in and show some support while seeing if there were any familiar faces around. Apart from Jo and friend there weren't.  And this is a 'glam' band? This didn't look like being a great deal of fun, so I headed off for my final gig of the night... I arrived at the Purple Turtle for Hotter Than Hell to find Drugdealer*cheerleader playing. They were quite good and this was easily the best attended show of the night. Although the place was quite full, again I didn't find as many familiar faces as I expected. Still, I'd eventually got to my fourth venue of the night (even if I didn't actually go into one of them) - what else could go wrong? Final band at the Purple Turtle were Blood Island Raiders - quite heavy, and good players but their material didn't really do it for me. The drummer looked familiar though... As there didn't seem to be anyone there I knew and I had band business to attend to the next day  I decided to leave at midnight - which alowed plenty of time to catch the last tube. I should be home in about an hour... The Victoria  line was out of action over the weekend which buggered up my plan for getting to Finsbury Park - I ended up having to walk from Euston to Kings Cross, but still had plenty of time to get the last tube. Or so I thought... An announcement on the platform said there were delays due to a 'signal failure' - more skimped penny-pinching maintenance no doubt.  The next train due wasn't even the last one so I had plenty of time. I waited. Another announcement said the next train was at Holborn.  I waited. Nearly an hour later I (along with hundreds of other people) was still waiting.  Apparently the next train was still at Holborn and trains were only moving at five miles an hour. I could easily have walked from Holborn to Kings Cross in that time... Another announcement - the announcer says he will tell us 'when the train arrives'. Well thanks mate! - I think as we are standing on the platform we might actually notice for ourselves when it arrives... Eventually we are advised to seek 'alternative transport' home - maybe they could have done that an hour earlier?  I make my way back upstairs to get the night bus - at least it's supposed to run every twenty minutes. And on this occasion it actually does. The bus duly arrives - full. The driver opens the rear doors to let a few people off, but won't open the front ones to let anyone on. This doesn't go down particularly well with people who have been at Kings Cross for well over an hour trying to get a bus or tube home.  I decide to have a look in the mainline station to see when the next train to Barnet is - I find Kings Cross station is shut until five in the morning!  Many a time I have caught a train home from there in the small hours - what happened to providing a service to the long suffering public?  Eventually the next bus arrives. It's also full - the driver doesn't even stop. These bastards don't give a shit.  Twenty minutes or so later another bus arrives. Guess what? Yes, it's also full.  The driver stops about 50 yards short of the stop to let people off without giving people any chance to even try to get on - not that he even opened the entrance doors anyway. Yet another 20 minutes or so passes. Another bus appears. Again, it's full and the driver stops short of the stop to let people off without giving anyone the chance to get on. By now I have been waiting for a bus for nearly two hours and denied a chance to get on three buses in a row. I've had enough and I want to go home.  No fucker is going to stop me - I AM getting on this bus - wether the driver lets me or not! I run down to where the bus has stopped. He won't open the entrance doors, but a few other desperate people are forcing their way in through the open exit doors - I have to virtually fight my way onto the bus. I don't think the bus driver is happy - but nor am I! Someone says ( probably not to me) "Get off the bus!". It's taken me nearly two hours to manage to get onto a bus - there's no fucking way I'm getting off this one!  Eventually the bus moves off. My journey home which should have taken around an hour eventually takes three and a half hours. Once again, absolutely fucking apalling service from London Transport on both tube and night bus - plus no service at all from Kings Cross by British Rail or whatever it's called this year!  I am not pleased - it's not like it was even Friday the 13th!