Warsaw (Poland): School of Economics Building

At last, I've managed to get a couple of decent shots of Warsaw School of Economics at Pole Mokotowskie lit up in the dark:

Always think that this building looks wonderful, especially lit up in the dark.

Steve Rothery Band Live at Warsaw Klub Progresja 15th February 2016

Being spoilt with great concerts at the moment, and last night it was the turn of the fantastic Steve Rothery Band up at the Klub Progresja in Warsaw.

And the Marillion guitar maestro and his band served up a real (over two-and-a-half hour) treat:

The gig was very nicely organised into three parts, starting off with the band doing tunes from their 'Ghosts of Pripyat' album, from which 'Old Man of the Sea' and 'White Pass' were always going to be my favourites:

And the man himself, gave us a non-stop demonstration of deeply melodic, sublime guitar work:

Also really liked how the band genuinely worked as a band:

And after a short break, Martin Jakubski joined the band on stage to do 'Misplaced Childhood' all the way through (something I wasn't expecting):

But my favourite part of the evening's entertainment was the last third when the band did a wonderful assortment of Marillion goodies, including 'Slainte Mhath'; 'Cinderella Search'; 'Sugar Mice; and 'Afraid of Sunlight' (was really nice to see a Hogarth-era Marillion tune in the set):

But the two tunes that brought the house down were 'Fugazi' (probably my favourite Fish-era Marillion tune) and 'Incubus', as the band absolutely nailed these.

And at the end of a really wonderful evening, the band were taking their fully deserved plaudits:

Yeah, almost three hours of first-class Prog, Monday (or any other) evenings don't come any better than this.

Two Happy Cats

Wonderful shot taken by my wife of her parents' two cats (great to see a young ginger Tom).

Warsaw (Poland): Proxima Light Bulb Clusters

Also loved the clusters of light bulbs at the Proxima on Saturday night.

Lizard Live at Warsaw Proxima 13th February 2016

Really glad I got to the Proxima in time to see Lizard (Polish band) opening for Wishbone Ash on Saturday night.  Lizard were right up my street with 8-9 minute Prog songs; a solid rhythm section; great guitarist and keyboard player; and cool vocalist.

Wishbone Ash Live at Warsaw Proxima 13th February 2016

Loved every minute of this, a wonderful, two-hour set full of old favourites done with passion, not just going through the motions.  Like many people I guess, 'Argus' is my favourite Wishbone Ash album, and early in the set, the crowd were treated to 'Warrior' and 'Throw Down the Sword'.

Andy Powell, flying-V in hand, is a great frontman:

Used to (try to) play bass guitar myself so I found myself marvelling at Bob Skeat on stage (he just played so well and made things look effortless):

And the most popular tune of the night?  Well, that would have to be 'Sometime World'.

However, my favourite tunes of the night would have to be the encores:  'Persephone' and especially (the 17 minute or so) 'Phoenix', the latter being absolutely mesmerising/mindblowing.

A few years ago, I saw Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash at Bury Derby Hall, which I also enjoyed, and last night it was good to see (Andy Powell's) Wishbone Ash to kind of feel that I've seen the band completely.

St. Augustine's Abbey (Canterbury, Kent): The Old Latin Mass

When I used to live in Canterbury, Kent during the late 1990s/early 2000s, I used to love going to the Old Latin Mass which is held once a year inside St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, to mark the end of a long walking pilgrimage organised by the Society of St. Pius X.

Yeah, the Old Latin Mass in such a noble setting, the pinnacle of high Western culture (something which is sadly in massive decline today).