Out in London plus The Trouble Notes

After my evening in London on Thursday I was back down there the next day. I had tickets to see @thetroublenotes, but we thought we would see some other wonders.

A few weeks ago we were at Sutton Hoo where a Saxon ship burial was found. The actual treasure are in the British Museum, so we went to see them.

This is the actual helmet that was found in lots of pieces. The wood of the ship and the body of the buried king had rotted away, but some things survived really well including his gold ornaments and silverware from distant lands.

The museum was really busy as you would expect on Easter weekend, but it is so big, but you can avoid some of the crowds if you stay away from the most popular areas such as the Egyptian rooms. The African exhibits were great with items from lots of cultures.

Some of these items are controversial due to how they were obtained. The Benin bronzes were taken in a retaliatory raid after some Brits were killed. This is mentioned in the descriptions and talks are ongoing about how to deal with them.

After the museum we wandered through some of the leafy London squares that have some interesting memorials, including one to Ghandi.

We had an early dinner at a branch of Mildred's who do great vegan food.

After that we went to Jamboree which is a small bar tucked down an alley near King's Cross station. I had not heard of it before. As we arrived @thetroublenotes were doing their soundcheck. After that I had a chat with violinist Bennet who I have chatted with a lot on Hive, but never met before. He and guitarist Florian have been touring the UK and are heading on to the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.

Their set was so full of energy and the music was wonderful. It is a mix of folk, jazz, pop and other influences. They were joined by the drummer from Perkelt who were playing later. She only had a brief time to rehearse with them, but did a great job.

Bennet introduces the songs with stories of how they originated. I am not totally convinced they were based on fact, but we were entertained anyway. The guys hardly stopped moving with lots of jumping around whilst managing to play brilliantly.

I am not posting any video as I encourage you to go to their account and watch the videos they have posted. Please comment as they will enjoy the feedback and look out for them touring near you.

Perkelt describe themselves as 'pagan speed folk'. Unfortunately we had to leave after just one song as we had an early start the next day. I will look out for their future gigs. I would go to Jamboree again. It is a quirky little venue with good sound and you can easily get a good view. It is very convenient for us to get to.

Rock on!