Joining the Queue

One of the things I like about London is that you can be heading to a library, doing some errands, and come across something like this:

We just saw some of Mondrian's lesser-known (at least to us) paintings on our Scandinavian trip, so it seemed appropriate to stumble upon his former abode so soon after our return. Later in the day, we joined this queue
outside this building . . . can you guess why?
Here's another hint:
We were lined up to go to our first BBC Prom! A summer institution in London, the BBC puts on classical concerts ("proms") at the Royal Albert Hall every night from mid-July to early September, with tickets usually ranging from £6-£25+ per concert. The best thing about the proms are the day tickets: if you line up early enough, you can get £5 standing tickets for any show on the day, so that's exactly what we did. We had our choice to stand on the floor or up in the gallery,
and we chose to be up top--you can't really make him out, but that's Bob standing in one of the archways with his arms on the railing,in front of the bright light. That was our spot for the show.
Amazingly, people brought in picnic blankets, food, wine, and paperback novels to keep them occupied during the show. If we had known we would be allowed to bring in an entire picnic, we would have done the same. (That sort of thing would never be allowed in Canada--sometimes ramshackle London rules come in handy.) It was my first time in Royal Albert Hall and it was a gorgeous space.

Our particular prom featured the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
and the Marcus Roberts jazz trio in an engaging performance. The last piece, the trio's improvisations on Rhapsody in Blue, was especially fantastic, with each member of the trio doing extraordinary solos on drums, double bass, and piano that were worth our wait in line on their own. This next photo is of the trio bowing to the crowd after their encore:
All in all, it was a great night--a perfect example of what makes London pretty great.