I
must have fallen asleep at about 9.00 last night because I woke
up about 5.30 this morning and I couldn't get back to sleep.
My body clock must be in some kind of limbo between Sydney and
London time. It would be about 2.30 tomorrow afternoon there.
I
had a shower, and because I hadn't had a chance to do my washing
before I'd left Sydney, I had a bagful of dirty clothes. I thought
I'd go out and find a laundry. Of course everything was still
closed and it was still dark outside so I wandered around for
half an hour or so and came back to the hotel and waited till
the hotel restaurant opened at about 6.45 and had breakfast.
I
spent the next couple of hours writing in this diary and thinking
about the previous days events. At about 10.00AM I walked down
to the Kensington Markets which was full of great little shops
and a kind of 60's renaissance was prevalent. I bought a pair
of shoes and came back to the hotel. Just walking through the
streets around here is stimulating. So many shops and incredible
terrace houses and old architecture.
John
(Mackay) and I caught the tube from our station, Gloucester
Rd, to the Caledonian Rd station which is quite near the rehearsal
room we're using for the next two days. Most of the equipment
we're using is being hired (I'm using a Korg M-1) and the first
couple of hours was spent sorting it all out. By the time we
got to run through the songs everyone was a little phased out.
We
knocked off about 6.00 pm and caught the tube back to the hotel.
Sean must've been a little more phased than the rest of us because
when the train arrived he was momentarily distracted and failed
to board before the doors closed. We left him standing on the
platform.
John
and I went to one of the two Italian restaurants over the road
from where we're staying and not only was the food average but
the place was run by a character who was a cross between Basil
Fawlty and Mussolini.
The
band (Absent Friends) had been invited to a party at a place
called "Fred's" in Soho for a girl called Sam who
works for MMA over here. John, Dave and I caught a cab into
town and we got off at Piccadilly Circus because with the traffic,
cars and pedestrians it was pure mayhem.
There
was a queue out the front of "Fred's" but fortunately
Chris Murphy, (INXS's manager) arrived at the same time and
ushered us through. I'd never met him before though I'd heard
a lot about him over the years from my mate Neil Wright. He
seemed very much in control of things.
It
was only a small club but had three levels.The party was in
the basement. I had a couple of quick vodkas on arrival. The
place filled up very quickly and it was smokey and the dance
music was very loud. I spent the latter part of the evening
talking to a lady called Che, who, after the place closed about
2.00AM, invited me back to her shared house at Putney for a
coffee.
We
spent about an hour trying to hail a cab in the pouring rain
in front of the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus and ended
up walking down to The Ritz where we finally got lucky. It was
all very dream-like in spite of getting drenched. All those
places that were only names before have become real.
We
managed to stay up talking for a couple more hours and I felt
a bit like a naive wide-eyed tourist (I wonder why) to her rather
cynical Londoner. By that time it was so late I ended up staying
over, though it was all very platonic.
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