Beirut

Tonight we headed toward Liverpool Street station because we were on the guest list for an in-store performance by Beirut, a band we were lucky enough to see at another free show back in the summer. The venue for tonight's performance was the new Rough Trade 5,000-square-foot shop just off Brick Lane, which includes a coffee shop, exhibition space, performance area, internet space, and, oh, some records and CDs for sale too!

Rough Trade holds numerous in-store events at its two shops, but unlike in-stores in Vancouver, you can only attend such performances by signing up for the guest list in advance--and since this is London, that means WAY in advance. After a disappointing attempt to get on the guest list for a previous in-store, I learned that the only way to make sure I know about performances before the guest lists are full is to sign up for Rough Trade's email newsletter, so I added it to my ever-expanding roster of London events email lists I'm on. The annoying paradox about popular events in London is that by the time a given event is listed in Time Out or another reputable entertainment listing, it's probably already sold out. Anyway, Bob and I and a few hundred other fans milled about the shop while we waited for Beirut to start.

They didn't play for quite as long as last time, but their performance was as lively, inspiring, melodic, and smile-inducing as ever.

We left the shop

and headed up Brick Lane in search of bagel sandwiches for dinner. Many people from the show seemed to be walking the same way, judging by the high numbers of pedestrians we passed humming tunes we'd just heard! As we headed back toward the station, I noticed this piece of art which featured a bouquet of flowers that seemed to transform into (or emerge from?) a grenade:

The eerie emptiness of the stalls by Spitalfields Market

contrasted with these colourful construction-site murals depicting the area in days of yore.