It's too hot for working from home. I have the old nursery thermometer from when Amusements Minor was a baby in the corner of the spare bedroom I laughingly call an office. It tells me that, even this late in the afternoon, it is 29°C. That's 84 in old money! But however hot it is, it's hot enough for a song called Wilted to be appropriate.
The Man Of Cheese and I had an evening in the smoke last week, ostensibly to see the thinking man's Smiths' tribute act The Smyths at the Half Moon in Putney. But also to have a long-overdue catch-up, sink a few ales1, put the world to rights and debate life. Which we duly did, and had a reliably excellent time in so-doing.
The support act for The Smyths was a young singer-songwriter type called Ruby-Jean Clunie, who performed a mix of covers (including Radiohead) and original compositions to an appreciative Half Moon audience. I was a bit concerned, at first, by a slight tendency to over-emote in her vocals. You know the way X-factor and BGT contestants do, to somehow convey that they are more genuine than their fellow contestants because, you know, they're really feeling it? All imagining that they are somehow about to deliver a new level of emotional heft to The Star-Spangled Banner in some far-flung US sports field? You can't blame them, it's what they think is expected; I just find it a bit false. Fortunately, as Ruby-Jean got into her set (and her own material) this tendency softened and almost disappeared. By the end of her allotted time on stage, she had won me and TMOC over completely.
During The Smyth's set, Ruby-Jean, a friend and a woman I presume to be Ruby-Jean's mum, stood right in front of us, dancing along. Ruby-Jean seemed to know all the words to all the Smiths songs. I take this to be a good thing, especially in one so young. It feels very early in her career, and some of her songs on Spotify have a raw, lo-fi, demo quality, so I hope there is more to come. It's a competitive place, of course, and Spotify is full of similar types, but I wish Ruby-Jean well and hope she goes far.
As we headed back to our crashpad hotel, TMOC and I stumbled upon a pub in which a pub-rock three-piece covers band were setting up, and suddenly the early night turned into a late one. I have no idea what that band were called, so I can't namecheck them, or the DJ who played a crowd-pleasing straight after, but they were all pretty effective. Reader, there was singing along, there were strangers putting their arms around us and, though I use the word very loosely, there may even have been some dancing...
1. Okay, more than a few ales. And possibly more than a few vodkas too, especially during the late-night pub band and DJ sets...
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