We left Friday night and made it down to Brighton in record time, considering everyone expected the snow to cause traveling to grind to a halt. It was a nice chilled out evening in with Lisa, Stu and the cats… oh and the bottles of wine, boys? 😉

Saturday, we lazed all morning, enjoying Stu’s fantastic (almost) full English breakfast. Later on, with an uncertain sky and the occasional snow flurry that appeared very out of place in the Brighton landscape, we headed into town for some shopping. My attempt at finding a new coat was just as fruitless as Andrew’s attempt to find new shoes, but it was a good afternoon nonetheless.

As the afternoon was coming to an end, the other Andrew (aka Hodgson) joined us for a prospective evening of fun, food and music. We booked a table at Moshi Moshi and headed into town for a few drinks before dinner. Since Hodgson was feeling adventurous, I encouraged him to have the same “Gourmet Selection” of sushi I was having, even though he admitted never trying sushi before. As the pictures in the gallery tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. It was the biggest plate of sushi I’d ever had and must say neither me or Mr. H managed to finish it all up, but it was DELICIOUS! The salmon was sooo fresh!

So once the meal was over, we rolled out of there on our big bellies and Lisa decided to go home. I was a bit bummed she’d miss out on LAL, but turns out, being home in bed might have been the better option. As LAL wasn’t on until past midnight at Enigma, we went for a drink at the most bizarre pub/club I’ve ever seen below the club. The atmosphere wasn’t great for anyone still in the realm of sobriety so we headed upstairs to see the gig I’d been looking forward to for a few months.

When Rose, the singer from LAL, arrived, I went to say hi and let her know the Canadian support was in town. She confessed the tour had been rather tiring and she wasn’t in best singing health, so she wouldn’t be doing many songs. What a shame, but fair enough, I understood how a month-long tour across Canada and Europe could take its toll on her. But even with warning, I was sorely disappointed by the show LAL put on. Moonstarr had set the mood with the crowd and people seemed to be enjoying the tunes, but LAL didn’t manage to keep it going. The small stage-cum-dancing-platform emptied and people just stood around bobbing their heads, unsure of what to do. Rose stayed behind the DJ booth, and the sound was so badly balanced, if I hadn’t paid attention, I wouldn’t have noticed there was anyone singing live in there! To add insult to injury, the DJ, who I assume was Murr, seemed to have difficulties beatmatching, a painful reminder of Ottawa’s amateur open-decks nights.

I can’t lie, the show wasn’t up to scratch. No one in the club last night will have thought “wow, LAL is great, I’m going to buy their album and see them live again!”, and it pains me to say that. I love both albums to death, that hasn’t changed. And I thought Rose was a real sweetheart when we got to chat, but someone has to tell them they owe music lovers a good show, however much effort it takes. She did say that in June, she would be back to London with the full band, rather than only herself and Murr. I can imagine it’ll be a good show, but whether I’ll be willing to make the trip to London and risk being disappointed a second time, that’ll remain to be seen.

Overall, a lovely weekend of food, drinks and friends. Just a shame about the music, really… Now that we’re home, snuggling up on the sofa with a good book sounds like the best way to end the weekend!