Three

I had viewed the end of this week with some excitement. Astonishingly, I had three, yes three, things to look forward to. On Thursday evening an expeditionary force of four set out for Bristol to visit the Colston Hall where Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy was performing at a concert party. I enjoyed this. S and I agreed today that this would have been a belting gig at a smaller venue like the Fleece and Firkin or the Academy but ‘Prince’ and his band put on a decent show and I appreciated the fellow’s whimsical and good-humoured stage presence. The songs were evocative if a little one-paced; the numbers where eccentric chanteuse Dawn McCarthy sang backing vocals proved the highlights for me. Her voice is gorgeous and blends with the main man’s beautifully.

My second cause for exhilaration was the chance to buy some of those new-fangled compact discs this morning. At the library I picked up the second Portishead album (“Another eponymous recording!” I hear you ululate) and Amnesiac by Radiohead which I already owned on download but fancied owning ‘for real’. In Fopp I bought the Field Music and The Good, The Bad and The Queen albums I desired so fiercely. I’m playing the Portishead album as I type these words. I have plenty of work to do tomorrow and I’ll play my new recordings then.

My final gobbet of thrillingness occurred this afternoon at Kingsholm Stadium where the marvellous Gloucester team leapfrogged Wasps into third place in the league with a deserved and pleasing victory against an under strength but awkward Sale outfit. The whole fifteen played smartly but I salute Adam Balding for continuing his fine run of form. Andrew Hazell was my man of the match for his fine running, support play and ability to snap up not just the 50-50 loose balls but the 40-60 and 30-70 ones too. Iain Balshaw had a splendid match too; he really is an intelligent footballer who mixed up his kicking and running games stylishly. What shrewd signings we made before the start of this season; Lawson, Bortolami, Nieto, Califano, Balshaw and, to a lesser extent, Walker and James have made grand impressions on this punter.