Our final destination was the Barbican, but we timed things to allow us to wander through Bloomsbury and check out a few shops first.
After a quick trawl through Judd Books (and resisting temptation) we proceeded to Skoob Books:
Out, and further through Bloomsbury until we hit High Holburn, where we availed ourselves of the services of one of the three branches of Pret A Manger that we encountered in less than a mile.
Refuelled, we grabbed a cab for the last part of the journey, arriving at the Barbican to find the Free Stage occupied by the Estonian Weekend Guitar Trio:
Much that they played reminded me of the solo work of Robert Fripp, so it was no surprise to later read that founding member Robert Jürjendal had studied under Fripp in the 1990s.
The view from our seats in Row E of the balcony:
The fact that these were the best I could get was a testament to the popularity of the man we had come to see - American guitarist Pat Metheny.
Obligatory selfie:
After a few minutes we were joined by what appeared to be a family group that included Fredrik Ferrier of Made in Chelsea fame:
Yes, it's appalling - I don't smoke, drink or gamble, but a man must have his vices and I do watch MIC...
So what of the concert?
Some background:
I first became familiar with Metheny in 1985, when my birthday presents from Amanda included a cassette of his American Garage album. Since then I have accumulated around ten CDs released under his name, and many more on which he plays a significant role. I like his music, but would not describe myself as a fanboy (in contradistinction to a number of others in the audience, who either were, or who had been hitting the plonko blanco a little too hard).
We had seen Metheny twice before, and I personally had had two very different reactions to him on those occasions.
In 2009, we had seen him at the Barbican as a member of the Gary Burton Quartet. Metheny had played in Burton's group earlier in his career when he was 'coming up', and this was effectively a recreation of an earlier band. The concert was superb, and the honours were evenly divided by all four musicians, each giving the others equal space to shine. However, I don't think that anyone was under any doubt that this was Burton's group.
Almost exactly a year later, also at the Barbican, we went to see the "Pat Metheny Group" - and I personally felt that this was a different beast altogether. Practically every jazz concert I have been to in major concert halls in London has been introduced by a member of the house staff, or the promoting organisation, or a Festival organiser, coming on stage and giving a brief introduction to the evening's proceedings. On this occasion, however, a disembodied and 'shouty' American voice (almost certainly a member of the road crew) exhorted us in no uncertain terms to 'give a warm welcome to the PMG', whereupon Metheny took to the stage to be greeted by adulation more usually experienced at a rock concert.
And so it was this night. Absent was the down beat, almost apologetic introduction, mentioning other concerts in the festival, and again we had the disembodied shouty voice and the fanboy reaction from the audience. Metheny himself seems unassuming, is an outstanding musician, and deserves the kudos that heads his way - so perhaps it's that different fans are drawn to different types of concert.
On piano and keyboards, Gwilym Simcock was clearly undermiked for a good proportion of the concert (in fact, I agreed with a number of reviewers who complained of 'muddy' sound). However, technical difficulties only explain so much - I couldn't help feeling that in Simcock's other principal band, the similarly structured "The Impossible Gentlemen", guitarist Mike Walker and he share the front-line responsibilities more equally, and the music is the better for it. Drummer Antonio Sanchez was as excellent as expected, and bassist Linda Oh was, for me, an exciting discovery - lyrical, sympathetic and supportive.
In summary, we were treated to more than two and a half hours of superb musicianship, but sadly the concert never once threatened to enter my top ten - and I think the lesson for me is that in future I'd be more than happy to see Metheny in a more equal band setting, but that as a leader, he just doesn't do it for me.
The following reviews are all worth a look:
Black Country Rock
Jazz Journal
Jazzwise
London Jazz News
The Arts Desk
Out, and a brisk walk to the Barbican underground station, for a quick Tube ride back to St Pancras, where the generous length of the concert meant that we had slightly less time to kill than anticipated.
Onto the train, where we were surprised and pleased to find that the train manager was serving refreshments in First Class (on the last train of the night, many find excuses not to).
Amanda checks that it is indeed some time past 01.00:
An uneventful journey, arriving home around 02.30.
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