John McLaughlin - Barbican - London

Down to London to see the guitarist John McLaughlin and his band at the Barbican.  My records show that we saw them in 2010, 2012 and 2014, but not since, so we were looking forward to it:

On the 15.13 to London, catching up on some reading:

We planned our journey down to give us some time at one of our favourite bookshops in Bloomsbury, Judd Books:

Judds stock overstocks returned from other academic bookshops and it's a great place to pick up a bargain - or, in this case, two:

A quick walk to the Persephone bookshop on Lambs Conduit Street.  Amanda is a big fan of this publisher but today, mindful of the lack of space on her shelves and the number of unread volumes stacking up on her study floor, she curbed her enthusiasm and limited her purchases to some surplus endpapers, which will no doubt be turned into some form of collage in due course.

After a further short walk we hailed a cab which took us the rest of the way to the Barbican.  We made for the Members Lounge, where drinks and snacks (beef brisket croquettes and thin fries) were consumed while we people-watched:

Coats and bags checked, we made our way into the hall.  Obligatory selfie:

The view from row H (which is where the rake starts, and therefore usually provides an excellent vantage point):

It genuinely never ceases to amaze me that sentient beings with at least the mental capacity to book concert tickets and to make their way to the venue on the correct day and at approximately the correct time turn into blithering idiots when it comes to finding their seats in said venue.  The notion of rows labelled A, B, C etc and seats numbered 1, 2, 3 etc is not exactly rocket science, but the proportion of the audience here and in practically every theatre or music venue we have ever visited who find themselves unable to locate their seat on a two dimensional grid gives me real concern about the maths that is being taught in schools these days.

We sat and watched the usual kerfuffle wherein those people whose seats were in the centre of an unbroken row were invariably the last to arrive (often just as the house lights were dimming), creating havoc for all those audients already seated and, no doubt, not a little distraction to the opening act - Indian singer Ranjana Ghatak.

Accompanied by the Israeli bassist Liran Donin (Led Bib) and guitarist Jack Ross, she performed music from her forthcoming album alongside songs by the mystic poets Kabir and Meerabai, as well as classical songs and prayers in Sanskrit.

The short set was enjoyable and well received; there are a few photos here and a (very) short video clip here; the video is on a loop, so no complaints that it is very repetitious!

After a short break, during which chocolate ice cream was consumed and drinks were purchased, it was back to our seats for the main event.  

As announced by McLaughlin at the beginning, the 90-odd minute set trawled the latter years of his back catalogue, and even included one number by The Mahavishnu Orchestra back in the 1970s:

Setlist

1. Trilogy - from the Mahavishnu Orchestra album "Between Nothingness & Eternity"
2. Gaza City - from the John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension album "Black Light"
3. Abbaji (For Alla Rakha)  – from the John McLaughlin album "Floating Point"
4. Hijacked – from the John McLaughlin album "Qué Alegría"
5. New Blues Old Bruise - from the John McLaughlin album "Industrial Zen"
6. The Creator Has a Master Plan - a cover of the tune from the eponymous Pharoah Sanders album
7. Call and Answer - from the John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension album "Now Here This"
8. Light at the Edge of the World – a cover of the tune from the Pharoah Sanders album "A Prayer Before Dawn"
9. Echoes From Then - from the John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension album "Now Here This"

A video clip of Hijacked can be found here.

After a standing ovation the band returned to the stage for a single encore -

Sulley - from the Gary Husband album "Dirty & Beautiful, Volume 2".

And then they were gone.  From the expressions on their faces it seems safe to assume that the band enjoyed themselves and were appreciative of their rapturous reception - a fact seemingly confirmed by a tweet the next morning by the maestro himself:

A walk to the Barbican Tube station and a short (two stops) ride to St Pancras, where tea and treats were consumed to while away the 90 minute wait for the 00.15 home and the two-hour-plus journey.  Amanda came prepared:

Home at 02.55 and bed at 03.00.  The next day would be a pyjama day.