Busy weekend! Imogen Heap with Hidden fortress in Cardiff

Had a pretty busy weekend!  M was supposed to be supporting Imogen Heap in Norwich on Thursday.  As it turned out the force was not to be with him, as a 43 mins by train journey actually turned into all afternoon and evening, with him eventually arriving in Norwich at about 8.45, a mere two and a quarter hours after his sound-check, and an hour after he was due on stage.  Nevertheless I think he had a great time hanging out there, and had the fantastic news that he could open in Cardiff instead.  He stayed with Imogen and the other artists and crew on the tour bus there, and I planned to meet him in Cardiff after I dropped off E & R at their dads.

So, while he was faffing about with trains, we were umming and ahhing over driving to Thetford for the weekly sports hall meetup.  In the end the wind looked too bad and we decided just to head to my mums for chinese for dinner instead :o)

Friday we left at lunch time, and did the drive down to Dorset, stopping at our usual Avon Country Park for a run around, and a hot chocolate and some chips.  Then I dropped the girls with their dad and drove like a maniac to try and reach Cardiff in time to see Ms set.  I already knew this was an impossability really, as Wimborne to Cardiff is a very slow road indeed.  Single windy carriageway for most of it until you get to the M4.  Then I had to battle with the ambiguous directions (as printed out from multimap) where it seemed every signpost for Cardiff was the one I needed according to which A road I was supposed to join.  (I guess the A road and the M4 run parallel for several junctions).  I stopped to ask directions at a garage, but it turned out the man there had not long moved there, and could only give me a general point in the right direction.  I then stopped at a bus stop to ask, and a lady there said she was going that way and she could direct me in exchange  for a lift, which I gladly took-up!  Having dropped her off, it then took me another 10 or so minutes to find somewhere to park, which was then a bit of a walk away from the venue.  (The Point).  I arrived, gave my name at the door, all was fine, went into the main hall just in time to see M pick up his laptop and walk off stage.  I did hear people talking about his set though, saying nice things.  So I assume he was upto his usual good standard.  I think he surprises people that they look at him onstage, and his music comes as a bit of a shock.  Particularly Hidden Fortress, even more so than Pixelh8.  I mean, to be fair, he does look a bit of a gaming geek, so the chiptune gamey stuff not quite so much of a surprise.  But the hard alternative electronic dance/pop sound from Hidden Fortress is always a bit of a surprise *grin*, although I imagine he played a bit of a chiptuney set, bearing in mind where he was.  I really should find out just what he played - I wonder if there was anyone out there that got any video footage of the gig.

So having seen him go offstage it was my mission to find out how on earth you get back there, eventually collaring a security guard that let me in the back, to be told by Imogen (I had no idea she was quite so tall!) that he'd just gone through another door to where the merchandise stand was.  So after brief hellos I went through that door (which led back to the front lobby) and back into the main hall.  Round and round in circles!  Eventually finding M fielding various questions from people asking him about his music, which is always a good sign.  Listened to NEMO, the band touring with Imogen, who do a set of their own, as well as providing a band for some of Imogen's music.  Now, to be completely honest, I'd never listened to any of Imogen Heap's music before.  I know she has quite a following, and that the Cardiff date sold out really fast, I'm not even sure of the best way to describe her music.  Its kind of Bjork like, kinda strange electronic noise, mixed with piano chords and haunting vocal melodies.  Not really my thing entirely, but I have to say, from a geeky music point of view that woman is queen of the sampler.  Sampling herself on the fly, building up harmonies and counter melodies over the top, layer upon layer.  She did an amazing version of one of her tracks (I have no idea what it's called) using only these techniques, including sampling hand claps and other noises to build this great song, looping the different samples live with amazing expertise and dexterity.  And on top of all that she's an ace Mbira player!  So once all that was done, we hung around for a while, chatted with various people before heading back to a friends house where M and I were staying until we had to leave at the horrible time of 7am this morning so drive back down to Dorset to pick the girls up.

We then spent the afternoon at my mum's, painting and playing board games, and eating a lovely roast dinner.

Ooo and I should also mention the great article written in a local magazine about Pixelh8.