Can a Girl Catch a Break? : Day 2 [Part 7]

London Day 2

I’m up! It’s Tuesday at the crack of dawn. I think I just went to sleep, but I had to get up. I had to meet Jeff at Heathrow at 8:25am. Okay. I’m beat down tired. I peel myself up, take a shower and head downstairs to ask Michelle or Kevin how to get to the train station. I have already mapped out my route. I have to take the Overground from Anerley to Canada Water. Then catch the Jubilee Line toward Stanmore to Westminster or Green Park. I think I chose Green Park because that would put me right on the Piccadilly Line, which would take me directly to Heathrow. If I got off at Westminster I would then have to switch to the District Line going toward Earling Broadway and then switch for the Piccadilly Line at Acton Town toward Heathrow. Are you starting to feel my pain?

I left the house at 6:30 or 7am. I had to hurry if I was going to catch my train so Kevin said he would take me to the station. We jumped in the car and high tailed it over there. I arrived with time to spare, but just a bit of time. I hopped on the train and realized that it was rush hour. I don’t care what city you are in, rush hour is rush hour and I don’t like crowds. Especially crowds of people trying to get to a job that they think is more important than anything else in the world. They can be ruthless.

When the train stopped at Canada Water, my first change, it was a mad rush. It felt like a New York, Times Square morning. I just had to suck it up because I had to keep moving to make it to the airport on time. I waded through the sea of people and made my way to the next train that was pulling into the station. I found a spot to squeeze in and took a breath. I wasn’t on the Jubilee too long before I had to make the switch to the Piccadilly Line. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long for that train and there was actually a seat for me when it pulled up. I think most folks were going the other way since it was Tuesday morning. So at that point I was doing the opposite commute. Yes. So I settled in for the long haul to Heathrow.

I was so tired. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I noticed something about the Tube in that moment. You don’t see a lot of people sleeping on the train. On the NYC subway you always see people sleeping. Does that speak to quality of life? Are people getting more rest? Hmmm… Well I couldn’t be concerned about other folks. I needed a nap.

Before I knew it we were entering Heathrow. Now the trains that go there go something like this. There is a train that goes to terminals 1,2,3 & 4 and another that goes to 1,2,3 & 5. I was on the train that went to terminal 4 because that’s where Jeff was coming in. Now when the train goes to terminal 4 it’s actually circling to head back to Cockfosters. Yes I said Cockfosters. That is a real stop. So when we got to the stop for terminals 1,2 & 3 the train just sat there for a while. Damn! I was already late even though I left at the crack of dawn so I knew Jeff would be there waiting and looking for me, concerned, since we had no way to communicate. My UK phone was still not working.

Finally the train started to head for terminal 4, but I had forgotten what a haul it is to get from the tube to the actual airport. Heathrow is no joke ya’ll. So I start walking toward the terminal and at this point I have to say I’m feeling a little defeated. I’m just super tired and hungry as hell.

Finally I make it to the terminal and I’m looking around for Jeff. Luckily he was right there. I was about 20-30 minutes late and I felt bad about that. Not quite the way I wanted to welcome Jeff to London on his first trip there. I needed to take a seat. I needed a minute before I took that haul back to Anerley.

I greeted Jeff and he could clearly see that something was wrong. So I recapped the events from the day before to him. We then decided to chill in the airport for a bit and get an overpriced sandwich or something before headed back for the long haul. I told Jeff we were far out, but he didn’t care because he was in London. I think that changed a bit for him after we started riding, but it was all good. Indeed we were in London.

After taking a breather we headed back to the Tube. Michelle gave me an Oyster for Jeff so that he could get back because it had a travel card on it (I can’t even go into all of the London travel speak right now. Just try to keep up.). So I thought we were all good until I couldn’t get through! What? So now I’m tried, still hungry because the overpriced sandwich was terrible and I can’t get on the Tube. So I ask the attendant what is up. He says I have to put more money on the card. Why? When I got my Oyster the day before I got an unlimited pass for zones 1-4 with a travel card because I knew that I would have to get Jeff in the morning. So why wasn’t my card working. I was so tired at that point that it took me about two or three days to figure out that I had used my travel card when I went to Michelle’s house the night before because I took the rail from Victoria station and the rails are a whole other animal. If you are in NY, it’s like riding the LIRR or Metro North. Anyway, I had to put more money on my Oyster to get out of Heathrow and then we were off. Back over the Piccadilly Line to the Jubilee Line to the Overground to Anerley. It felt like it took forever, but soon we were at Anerley station. Unfortunately it wasn’t until then that I realized A) I couldn’t remember how Kevin had gotten me to the train station so I didn’t know how to get back to the house and B) My UK cell was not working so I couldn’t call anyone. Oh wait, I did have Michelle’s number on me, and pay phones still exist and work in London. So I called her from the pay phone and got no answer. Are you kidding me? Okay. I tried a few more times, but to no avail.

There was a little shop down the road sp we went in to see if maybe they could get my phone going because they sold SIM cards. The people in there were so nice. Really helpful and the older woman in there even let me use her phone to try Michelle again, but no luck. She asked Jeff and I a bit about ourselves since we were hauling instruments and clearly American. We told her we were musicians and that we actually had a show that night, but Jeff had just got in. She said that Jeff would be shattered by the end of the night with the jet lag. She was not kidding.

So we are trying to figure out the phone and get in touch with Michelle and it’s all not working out. One saving grace was that it wasn’t cold outside. One of the men in the shop kept telling us about a phone store on Penge High Street that would be able to help me. They told us to take the bus outside just a few blocks down the road. So finally we took their advice and got on the bus.

The bus driver didn’t seem to know what we were talking about, but luckily someone on the bus did. So we got off a few stops later, walked down the road and there we found a whole street of shops and a few restaurants. Thank Goddess because we were hungry for sure. The street sort of reminded me of a small section of Fulton Street in Brooklyn.

We found the phone store that the folks at the news shop told us about. They were correct. They were able to help me get my phone unlocked. Now mind you, I asked T-mobile about this before I left home and they supposedly gave me instructions on how to do this myself, but they left out a very important piece of the puzzle that I would have never been able to figure out on my own. Crazy I tell you. Anyway, my mobile was now working so I called Michelle to let her know I had a phone and exactly we were.

When Michelle got back to me, it turned out she was in yoga class that’s why she wasn’t answering her phone. I knew it had to be something like that. She said she wasn’t too far away, but Jeff and I were so hungry and we ordered food from a West Indian spot. Okay. Now let me tell you something. West Indian food spots are the same in the UK as they are in BK. No matter what time you get there something that you want is always “finished.” HA! It’s just the way of things. As we sat in the restaurant to wait for our food they had the radio on and some terrible music was playing, and the thing that stood out for me was the fact that about 90% of it was American Music. Where were the UK Urban artists on the radio? If you were doing hip-hop you might get some burn, but the R&B and soul (there was very little soul on the radio) was pretty much all American. I had a few conversations about this the last time I was in London as well. More on that later.

Michelle pulled up and we were still waiting for our food. Soon the waitress came out with our food, we then we jumped in the car and headed for the house. Turned out the house was walking distance away. If I had known where the hell I was we could have went there and waited. Wow. I’m gonna get it together.

When we got in, Jeff put his stuff down, we ate and talked for a bit and then I realized that we didn’t have a lot of time before we would have to get ready to go to The Library for our first show. We also needed an acoustic guitar for the first show.

LyricL’s friend Sam [Angel #6] said we could use his guitar, but after I told Michelle where he lived, she didn’t think I would be able to make it there and back to get to the show on time. She was totally right because he lived way up north. So we needed a plan B. Jeff then remembered his friend Ryan who lived in London. So he called Ryan [Angel #7] and he had an acoustic that we could use. Yes! We squared that all away and Jeff decided to take a nap before we had to head out because the lag was catching up to him. I was beat down too, but I had work to do before we headed back out.

So I sat at the computer and worked while Jeff napped and Michelle cooked. Before I knew it Michelle was saying that dinner was ready. Jeff wasn’t hungry so I let him sleep. I ate with Michelle, Kevin and their daughter and then got myself ready to go.

We had to meet Ryan at Highbury & Islington station to get the guitar from him. We were going to try and meet him closer to his place, but we just ran out of time. I’m so glad he was gracious enough to come to us.

So Jeff and I set off for our first gig. We were running a bit late so Michelle drove us to the Kent House rail station. We would have to take that to Victoria Station and catch the Victoria Line to Highbury & Islington. That was the fastest way to go.

When we got to Highbury & Islington we beat Ryan there. We only had to wait for a bit and then he appeared. He passed the guitar off to Jeff, they chatted for a minute and then we headed around the corner to the Library bar.

Now the Library seems like a typical London pub, except for the fact that they serve Thai food, which is clearly not your average pub fare. The place is really cool. There are photos of musicians all over the walls, including a very cool shot of Grace Jones that I just loved. In the photo she is all legs. The night was not quite an open mic although it had that kind of vibe. Basically everyone was scheduled to be on the show, but folks were in varying stages of their performing careers. When we came in a young man named Navin was on stage. We caught the last portion of his set before we were graced with Solange [Angel #8]. She was a sista from Paris. It was actually quite an international night at the Library. I being from America, Solange from Paris and another guy who I think was from Sweden or something like that.

Anyway, Solange had a great set and her guitar sounded amazing. So I thought I would ask her if Jeff could play her guitar because its also had a direct input, which Ryan’s didn’t. After her set, we were on and she was gracious enough to let Jeff use her guitar.

The set that night was short. We only had time for four songs. So we did "Box," "Give it to Me," "blak girls" and "Blackbird." It went really well. Folks were bopping along and it was great. Carol-Ann brought two of her friends and LyricL sent her friend Van to see the show. We sold a few CDs and excited some cool Italian guys on holiday in London. Fun!

Up all Night Music @ The Library

More Library Bar

"blak Girls Work..."

After the set ended, Don the engineer asked me if I was going to be around the following week because he wanted me to come play his event. Wow! Damn. We wouldn’t be there. That was the first gig I had to pass up due to my short stay in London.

We sat and chatted for a while and listed to some of the other artists and then much to my surprise LyricL [Angel #9, but really #1] and her friend Abdul showed up!! Yeah!! They missed the set, but it didn’t matter. It had been four years since I had seen my girl in person. Damn I could have gotten another degree. LOL! Yeah! So we packed up our things and headed to Cargo where her friend Ian was spinning. We could chill and get food there. Yeah!!!

We jumped on the Tube and honestly I don’t know how we did it, but somehow we got to Shoreditch High Street (I think). I don’t remember us taking the Overground, but I know someone will chime in and let me know how we got there. I think at that point I was ready to have someone else lead the way so I didn’t pay all that much attention to the route.

Anyway we arrived at Cargo and we were greeted by some awesome street art. When we got in the joint there was a show going on. I can’t remember who it was, but I do remember that sound system. It was incredible! The dude was playing some power pop and it sounded like a whole band and it was just one guy!

Outside Cargo

Inside Cargo

We made our way back to the front room where LyricL’s friend was spinning with his friend Ricco. We settled in to talk and eat and just take a breather from the whole day. Jeff was so tired, but he was a real trooper. We are in London after all!

Jeff, Van & Abdul @ Cargo

Just a little pose for the camera

Adbul on Tambourine, LyricL on water glass, Me & Jeff on vocals

Ian a.k.a. djsoulprovyder

Me & my tambourine after a quick lesson from Adbul

After eating some okay food (it filled the hole), dancing a bit, and getting a quick tambourine lesson from Adbul (thanks hun), we realized that we had to hurry back to the Tube because it would soon stop running. That is something I don’t know if I could ever get used to. In NY the trains never stop.

Adbul breaking down his tambourine style! 

Ricco & djsoulprovyder burning down the set!

Van & Abdul

We had to make our way to Whitechapel to get the Overground to Anerley. Again I can’t remember exactly what we did. I just remember that we had to take two trains and LyricL was concerned about our time. On the screen that shows the times that the trains come it looked like we had missed the last one to Anerley, but much to our surprise, when we got to New Cross Gate a train came to take us to Anerley. Yes! We were not stuck out there in the middle of nowhere.

When we got to Anerley we were also blessed because shortly after the train got in, a bus came going toward Michelle’s place so we didn’t have to walk. We got on the bus and as we were driving down the road I saw another fox! People, these sightings are so crazy. This is the city ya’ll! Jeff missed that fox sighting because the joker was on the run, but Jeff would soon see his share. The bus dropped us off at the corner of Michelle’s street. We just walked down a few houses and we were home. Day 1 done!

We put out things down, maybe had something to drink and then headed straight to bed. Next up, Wednesday and full band rehearsal. Can you say horns!

The Cargo Crew!