Wednesday at The Hope and Ruin

It couldn't have been a better night if it had tried. Karina was on the same train as us ,and went off to meet Lorraine Bowen who was also coming to the gig. We walked to the pier and then inland for pre-gig chips.

Audiences really matter a lot. The atmosphere in the room was really great- everybody was excited and ready for a good night out. I can't tell you how great it feels to walk on to a stage and get that feeling from the crowd: it was a field of smiles and bonhomie, and it was almost scary to play to such good humour and positivity. The sound engineer at the Hope and Ruin, Leon, really knows what he is doing, and did a great job; I could hear what I was doing really clearly, and so I didn't have to worry about getting past a difficult onstage sound. I could see people- Pete and Lisa, June Miles Kingston and partner, Karina, Lorraine, Shelley and partner, Jerry, Alice and Nadya. And the people that I didn't know seemed like friends anyway. So much of the crap in my past life gets fixed by something like this, believe me!

The DJ was Grant Lyons, who I haven't seen for ages and who had suggested that I should be the support for the gig. It was great to see him and his partner again: thanks for the Vaultage 79 t-shirt too! And Gina's show was completely brilliant. Every time I hear the songs, they are better and better. The onstage show is exceptionally well-rehearsed without being slick, the humour and warmth emanating from the stage are to die for, and all seems well with the world for that chunk of time that we spend in the world of powerful, woman-led electronic/guitar music with bells on. They have an art roadie, Avis, to drive them around. Cool! Three cheers for us all, still powering through life with all its troubles and tribulations!

That pathetic apology for a human, Boris Johnson? 

Who'd be with him? 

Who ever would have been? 

I watched him on TV drain the energy from life yesterday, after purchasing more frames from Wilko in Stratford, picking up the remaining prints and catching up with my wonderful friend Fola who runs Reggae Choir. Alongside the sad, pathetic psychopaths who have wormed their way in to British politics, there are strong and vibrant people who put much more into life than they take out of it, and yet still hold the key to great personal happiness. I hope very much that I am one of them; it's a delight to be surrounded by them, anyway.

Photographs by Naimad.