People get ready

Published on Tue 30 Nov 2010

I wrote this last week - the second part of End of the Road will have to wait...

Just on my way home from another really lovely week in New York. Terminal 4 of JFK has developed a KFC in the last month. I'm tempted, but my US KFC experiences have not been good and scandalously this one doesn't seem to actually sell pieces of chicken, limiting itself to burgers (this had better not be the way things are going... I feel like I did when they invented nuggets and then surrendered the idea to McDonald's), so I'm making do with a pre-flight beer for now.

It seemed a bit less activity filled than other times I've been - I'm almost out of touristy things to do - all that's left on my list is going to Katz's Deli and a carriage ride around Central Park (maybe next time). We did see a fair bit of music - some local stuff as well as a couple of real gigs. I finally made it to The Bowery Ballroom last Saturday, more for the venue than the music that particular night, and a really nice venue it is. The first band up, The Loom were pretty good I guess, with what sounded surprisingly like folk music. The brass was a bit piercing and it was weird to hear an American guy putting on an unconvincing English accent. Anais Mitchell was up next and was a noticeable step up in quality (despite having a guitar player who seemed to be being paid by the note) but the same problems I had with her when I saw her supporting Ani diFranco a couple of years ago were still there - she spends a lot of the time doing the laughing policeman dance with her legs (which is a stupid criticism, but really offputting), and is too bloody excited to be there in between songs. I guess I'd be excited in her position, but still, she's meant to be a pro. Headline band, Horse Feathers, are a name I've heard, and seemed to be popular among the uniformly individual hipsters that made up the crowd, but there didn't seem to be anything good about them to us, and sticking it out for the regulation "fair crack" three songs was a bit of a struggle. It'd been a long day I guess.

Exactly a week later we went to The Frames. I know I've talked about them a lot but the time I saw them with about 6 other people at the Boat Race over a decade ago now was a defining moment for me and is still the most blown away I've ever been by anything I think. They've not played for a few years because the appeal of The Swell Season to the kind of people who regard music as atmosphere for dinner parties (i.e. almost everyone) has meant that they've been busy. It was a lovely show, despite American crowds being chatty, and the loudest cheer being reserved for Marketa Irglova's cameo. They did about 4 encores, which even I thought was excessive, but I'm not going to complain. There were maybe 2 or 3 songs I'd have liked to hear and didn't, but they played all of my real favourites - most of Dance the Devil turned up and not too much from the last few albums. I like it when bands know their best work. They claimed to be a bit rusty, but it wasn't obvious to me and there were plenty of spine tingling moments. I'm seeing them again in London in a few weeks. Can't wait.

The other huge highlight was Spa Castle, a slightly ridiculous 5 storey building containing a load of different baths, pools, water jets, saunas and relaxation areas. I love that stuff - I've been hooked ever since I went to a similar, but less hilarious, spa in Aachen about 5 years ago (the same weekend I found my taste for blackjack). This one was slightly weird inasmuch as you had to be naked to go into the single sex pools (I decided not to - people are often really odd shapes, who knew?) but a "uniform" consisting of T-shirt and long shorts to go in the saunas. Those uniforms must get pretty stinky. Most of the pools were outdoors, which may seem like a bad idea in November, but they didn't skimp on the heating, so it was actually really nice. We were there for nearly 7 hours, which was longer than even I thought possible. Just before we left I had my first ever go on a massage chair. I might buy one. We are definitely going back there next time I visit, though I suspect it'll be even colder...

I turned 33 on Friday, which seems like an OK age. Especially as 32 surprised everyone by turning into a really good year out of nowhere.