Lit-Up for Christmas

While passing the Arkadia shopping centre in Warsaw, it was clear that everything was lit up for Christmas.

To be honest, the decoration below made the place look very inviting:

Think that the light-bulb design above is brilliant, and looks very fetching with snow and cold weather.

Of course, it cannot be denied that the decorations have a subliminal consumerist purpose, but still, they look great and add something to the environment:

As people eagerly await Christmas for a break from work or to celebrate something much more important.

Emilia Eating Kotek's Seafood

Back in the summer here, with Kotek watching Emilia eat his food on the window sill through the window:

Kotek isn't that fond of seafood, such as prawns and shrimps, but Emilia is more than happy to polish off his leftovers:

Emilia loves seafood:

 She has beautiful, spot-type markings on her fur: 

She is also happy to share Kotek's biscuits:

Snow Dunes in Eastern Poland

 A few shots of the deep snow from our place in Eastern Poland here.

In patches, the snow really does look like white sand dunes:

Love the way the snow dunes and Christmas trees go together perfectly, hope the snow stays for Christmas, of course.

But there is a lot of shovelling to be done, of course:

As it's necessary to get in and out of the place.

Jozef van Wissem and Jarboe in Warsaw

A couple of Sundays ago, I went to see Jozef van Wissem (with Jarboe) at the Niebo Club in Warsaw:

Found the lute/medieval guitar-playing of Jozef van Wissem amazing.

Plus on tunes like Gnosis and The Day Is Coming, he has an amazing voice.

And of course, it was good to see Jarboe again, this time with P. Emerson Williams:

Saw Jarboe with Swans at Reading Festival in 1989 (absolutely loved Swans with Jarboe, especially the bunny albums), and doing a solo show with full band (including two drummers) in Warsaw in about 2005 or 2006.

Consumerist Warsaw

This picture kind of sums it all up: consumerist Warsaw with a big smiling face.

When I first visited Warsaw in 1997, it was like a real foreign city, it kind of lit-up my eyes, now it just looks like Manchester (or any other Western European city).

Steve Hogarth (H NATURAL) - Warsaw Progresja 3-12-22

Have seen Steve Hogarth a few times with Marillion, but this was the first time I'd attended a H NATURAL solo show, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Marillion songs seemed to have a subtle clarity with Hogarth handling them on his own.

It was great to hear tunes like Fantastic Place; The Party; Neverland; Afraid of Sunlight; Estonia etc. in a stripped-down format.

And Hogarth was the perfect host inviting people up on stage to help decorate his Christmas Tree:

All round, he played a well-balanced, two-hour plus set, with a few covers (e.g. Radiohead's Karma Police, Abba's The Day Before You Came) nicely threaded into the mainly Marillion Tunes.

Of course, it was also a nice touch singing the seasonal classic, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Cicha Noc (Silent Night in Polish).

After the concert, everybody looked really happy and uplifted, and that's what going to a gig is mainly about, I guess.

Martin Barre - Warsaw Progresja (24-11-22)

 After Airbag last Friday, this was my second Prog gig in the space of a week.

Love Prog gigs for the profound ambience, no pushing and shoving, just a brilliant, dreamy focus on great music.

Last night, the Martin Barre set was divided nicely into two parts: old Jethro Tull favourites in the first part, the whole of the Aqualung album (plus a few other tunes in the second.

From the first part, Hunting Girl and Heavy Horses were always going to be my favourite tunes, but a massive shout out to Sweet Dream too, as I wasn't expecting this.

Dan Crisp has a great (Ian Anderson-type) voice:

And works in great unison with Martin Barre:

Saw Jethro Tull four times somewhere between the Broadsword and the Beast and Crest of a Knave albums.

But my favourite Jethro Tull albums are the Trilogy: Songs from the Wood; Heavy Horses; and Stormwatch (easily the most underrated Tull album, for me).

And the second half of the Martin Barre set last night, like the first part, went by in a flash:

Bought Aqualung while still at school in the dim and distant past, and it was great to see the accoustic tunes (Cheap Day Return; Slipstream etc.) done live, shortly after the title tune, of course .

Had also forgotten how good My God and Hymn 43 are, it was a really nice trip back down memory lane.

So hats off to Martin Barre and his great band for giving me a great Thursday night out, a real treat:

Saw Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull at the New Day Festival in Kent in August, so seeing Martin Barre last night kind of gelled things together a bit.

Also saw Martin Barre at the New Day Festival in 2019. 

Great to see that there's some kind of circularity to it all.