Early Sunday evening is a good time to be in London. We tubed it from Kentish Town to Charing Cross then wandered leisurely past the tourists taking pictures of each other on Trafalgar Square (taking care to protect our belongings from the pick-pockets), through Admiralty Arch and onto The Mall. Pretty fancy surroundings for a venue, what with Queenie being just up the road...
The ICA is one of those venues that I've heard about for years and years, but never been to until now. It's a very nice arts centre, with art on the walls and a bookshop, as you walk in. The super friendly staff don't make you feel like a scumbag (for a change). We mooched around in the bar for a while and had a nice cup of filter coffee - for only £1.50, which is unheard of in central London, before being politely ushered into the venue.
Nice small/medium venue with pretty good sound, a decent sized stage (with no barriers) and lots of lights. So far so good.
First on were a band that a friend had TOLD me I needed to get there early to see - Daniel Land & The Modern Painters. I'm glad she did. Thoroughly enjoyed their set. Nice wooshy guitars, good songs. I'd definitely recommend them and go to see them again. Thanks for the tip Cath!
Next up were Heligoland. I've seen them before and sadly, this 2nd experience didn't change my opinion. They make great sounds, but (with a couple of exceptions) the songs aren't quite 'there'. Worthy of a mention though is their drummer. Absolutely fascinating to watch. He's so into what he's doing.
Down to the real reason we're all here, sweating our arses off on this exceptionally warm night.
Talking of which...
We've always been weirdo magnets. I don't know why, but they seem to gravitate towards us.
We're chilling out, waiting for Robin Guthrie to come on and this bloke wanders drunkenly up to us and says "What are we all doing here?" The only reply I could think of was "Ummm, we're here to see Robin Guthrie play."
"Yeah, but how did we all end up here? What's it all about? Who is he?"
Oh Jeez...
We humoured him for a few minutes, then kind of ignored him. He eventually wandered away.
After a short wait, a middle-aged man in a green jumper and dark glasses wandered onto the stage. There was no fanfare, no introductions, no applause - he was just 'there' and he was Robin Guthrie. This is the man who was responsible for the glory that is the Cocteau Twins sound and he looks like he's just popped in on his way back from B&Q. If you walked past him buying wallpaper, you wouldn't give him a second glance. I kind of like that. The only recognisable thing about him is those earrings. The epitomy of understated, he has no microphone, so his conversation was limited to the few people at the front who could hear him. He says fuck a lot.
One particularly annoying bloke in the audience, whose hairdo obviously hasn't changed since the 80's shouts out "We've missed you!" Robin instantly comes back with "Well you should have come and fucking visited me then, shouldn't you." We laugh, and I ask Mark to remind me how to spell sycophant.
Recognisable on the street or not, understated or not, one thing you cannot be mistaken about, is the sound when this man picks up a guitar and the effect it'll have on you.
The set didn't start all that well. Technical difficulties meant the first track had to be abandoned and the laptop re-booted before proceedings could continue. This left more time for slightly awkward silences, stupid comments and questions from the crowd etc.
The next period of time, could have been an hour, could have been a day - I lost track of everything... was utterly spell-binding. To try and describe what Robin Guthrie does would be a waste of time. The internet is there. Go and find it...
For most of the set he was joined by the bass player and drummer from Heligoland, who did a damned-fine job of lifting the tunes and added another, very enjoyable dimension. I'm pretty sure that everyone who was there would have been happy to just watch Robin Guthrie noodle away on his guitar randomly, but what we got was a full set of gorgeous tunes, that went from minimal to euphoric and back again.
To be in a crowd of people and see so many beaming faces, closed eyes and swaying bodies is bordering on a religious experience. I remember turning to Mark at one point and saying 'This must be what it sounds like in Heaven."
I left the ICA with a spring in my step, a tear in my eye, a glow in my heart and a deep feeling of joy. I kid you not. All was right with my world in that moment.
Not even the 'severe delays' on the Northern line or the diversion off the A1 through Hatfield on the way home came close to putting a dent in my mood. A mood which has so far lasted 48 hours and shows no signs of declining.
Robin Guthrie should be available on prescription.
Gush over...
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