HBH 264

Spirits lift at last,

After weeks in the doldrums.

Old friends, good music.

Last night's jazz and blues concert was very nearly as good as I'd hoped (I didn't much care for the female vocalist who came on in the middle, but blues guitarist Junior Boy Jones got the joint jumping with his closing set, and all the supporting musicians were excellent), but what made the evening especially enjoyable was the unexpected appearance of several friends among the audience - including one who had supposedly abandoned us for good a year or so ago, but has just returned.

Despite the lack of publicity, and the icy weather, there was a very good turnout - slightly too many for comfort, in such a cramped venue as CD Blues, at least at first. Unfortunately, many of these seemed not to have come for this event. The place appears to have become a trendy spot for Chinese yuppies to hang out, many of whom don't have much interest in the music: several left noisily in the middle of sets, even in the middle of a song; and one chap, sat right up front by the stage, was working on his laptop throughout, paying the musicians no attention at all. I've never warmed to this venue, anyway: the drinks are a bit too pricey, and the space is very awkwardly laid out - with poor access to the bar, and poor sightlines to the stage from much of the room. And if this is the sort of clientele they are drawing, I won't be going back in a hurry.

But I was very glad to have caught this Booey Lehoo show (my translator friend The Weeble was good enough to explain the reference for us yesterday) - definitely one of the best gigs I've seen in a few years.