Parisian Friends on Halloween

Saturday, November 1st—Sunday, November 2nd

This weekend was basically a recovery from Halloween. I think I only left the flat once on Saturday to get eggs to make my world-famous omelets. Omar was thoroughly impressed with my skillz. Sunday morning, Omar and I made our way down to Lewisham in South-East London (Zone 3) for a community band rehearsal at 10:30am. It took us an hour to get there, via two tube lines, a national rail train and 20 minutes of walking up a big hill. They rehearsed at this school next to a park, and as soon as we got there, we took a few moments to take in the fact that we weren’t in central London anymore, and that there still is such a thing as grassy fields where little kids and dogs roam free. The band wasn’t very big, probably only about 30 people, but they managed to rehearse in a room that was far too small. I made friends with a Scottish clarinetist and a few English low brass players. The other euphonium player is actually a trombonist (go figure) and is studying composition at the University of Greenwich in South-East London. The tuba player I spoke with was a golfer, and he told me about how he could have met Leonard Bernstein at the Guildhall school twenty-something years ago. After an hour and a half of rehearsing, the director (Col. Sanders, minus about 20 years…he even had a bow-tie) told everyone to take a ten minute break. Almost immediately, I heard plastic bags being opened and Leslie Lake (the spastic guy I spoke with in order to come to this rehearsal) said “Hey Mike, would you like a beer?” I looked at my watch, and it was 12:01pm. So I said “Well, sure, it’s about beer o’clock, sign me up.” Half the group downed a beer before going back for the second half of the rehearsal. We played gems such as Star Wars, West Side Story, excerpts from Carmen, part of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony (which had a transition into a Ponchielli piece…what was that conductor thinking) and some other less memorable ones. It was a great time, and we’ll have to decide whether or not to go to Ireland on Nov. 21st-23rd or to play in the concert with this band on Nov. 22nd.


Friday, October 31st

Today another clarinet-playing friend from IC, Erik, who is also studying in Paris came to meet up with us. Our goal was to find/make/acquire costumes for the Halloween party that night at a club south of the river. We had little luck going around to different stores looking for cheap zombie outfits/make-up. Then Omar and I had the great plan of going as Barack Obama/Joe Biden. Go us. We also hit up the Natural History Museum so Andrea could see the dinosaur exhibit, and got dinner at the Wargrave Arms again (fish & chips this time). Then we went back to our flat to get our costumes/make-up on. Laura spray-painted my hair white, and it looked ridiculously sketchy and absolutely terrible. Omar definitely had it a lot easier than I did.
We made our way down to the Swan in Stockwell. On the tube, there was a very drunk middle-aged man with a group of people, presumably coming from a party, and he thought I was Bill Clinton. I tried telling him I was Joe Biden, but he grabbed my head and said “Demons!!! I release you!!!” I can now say I was accosted by a drunk man on the tube in London. We got to the Swan, and they weren’t going to let Omar in for free because they didn’t believe his costume was real (after all, it was Omar in a shirt and tie). I came to the rescue as Omar’s running-mate, looking over-the-top sketchy, shaking the man’s hand while saying “Joe Biden! See ya on Tuesday!” The club was a lot of fun: loud music, a lot of sketchy people, plenty of bar staff to help us drink. We stayed until 4am, then made our way back to the flat via night buses. I got to bed at 6:30am just as the sun was coming up. Great night.


Thursday, October 30th

Today I had Brit Pop (talked about terrible 80’s pop groups/singers such as Kylie Minogue….blech) and a lesson. My lesson went pretty well, and it was a little awkward when I told him I may be having a lesson with Steven Mead. I tried explaining that it’s hard for a euphonium player to find a real euphonium player to study with, and that the tuba players at the Guildhall school were a bit standoffish. He explained that there’s a little bit different mentality between American and British brass players: Americans tend to be very hard-working and motivated to always improve, while British players just want to play the gig and drink afterwards. I suppose that makes sense.
Later that night we went to a gig for Brit Pop at the Jazz Café in Camden to see Sly & Robbie, the infamous drum & bass duo who have played with everyone big in the music business. It was pretty good for what it was (at least 2 hours of reggae music) but the amps were cranked up waayyyy too much for such a small venue. My ears were throbbing, as were Omar’s, so we decided to leave and get our drink on. We made it to Weatherspoon’s pub just before they closed, and I got a great pint of some pretty dark lager for 2 pounds. Awesome. Then they made us down it and kicked us out. Not so awesome, but it’s OK. We’ll go earlier next time.


Wednesday, October 29th

Today our clarinet-playing friend Andrea, who graduated IC last year, came to visit from Paris. She got in at 7:30am, but luckily I wasn’t woken up until 9. She spent the day with Andrew and his parents while Omar and I practiced. Later that night, Andrew, Andrea and I went to the pub around the corner from our flat (Wargrave Arms) for some dinner (bangers & mash!) and a pint. After that, we went to a blues bar “Ain’t Nothin’ But…” and it was a lot smaller than I would imagine for it’s reputation. It was really crammed inside, and when I got a call from Kim, I took a few steps outside so I could hear her. Within 5 minutes, a line formed outside the door and the giant bouncer guy wasn’t letting anyone in, including me. So I spent the next 20 minutes standing in a line outside making friends with some angry Brits. After Andrea and Andrew came out, we went to ISH for a few drinks then to Weatherspoons pub near Baker Street to meet up with Omar and Eric. Four pubs in one night, not too bad.