At last….Elbow

 7 May 2024

Absolutely did not sleep well last night.  Of course I arrived here at almost 10 and went right to bed.  The hotel is on a main road and the traffic never really stopped.  I miss the quiet neighborhood in Ljubljana.  Thankfully just here for 2 nights and then I’m back in my own bed.

I hit the breakfast room around 8:45 and it too really paled in comparison to my great breakfasts of the past week.  Iw as excited to see a fresh hot tray of scrambled eggs, but that was the highlight.  The rest was a non-vegetarian-friendly arrangement of meats and some ok croissants.  I had juice and a large cappuccino which I took back to my room and drank in front of the window.

I hit the streets for the morning.  I first walked across the street to check out the sea.  My sister and I make a habit of checking out the water in any place we visit.  Well, I misjudged the waves and ended up with soaked sneakers and socks.  Ooops.  So back inside the hotel to put on my alternates.  For all my worry about drenched feet in the rains in Ljubljana, it would happen here.

Back out and I first located the venue for tonight’s show, which is maybe 4 minutes down the main road from my hotel.  I made a circle around it and saw the roadies loading in gear and a tour bus, but that was it.  Hard to tell the entrances and even if it’s the right venue, no marquis or anything.  No one queuing yet anyway, these folks aren’t like Morrissey fans I guess.

I walked up through town and did some shopping at Boots (chocolate, pain meds and Savlon cream, more chocolate) and got a Lucozade to help rehydrate.  Then I passed a Greggs sausage roll shop and had to stop and try a vegan one after my sister raved about them last year.  2 pounds for a sausage roll and a water!  A bargain, and it was quite good too!

I found the Royal Pavilion and just took a walk around the grounds, which were quite pretty and as the day was nice and sunny it made for some nice photos.  I dropped my purchases at the hotel then walked out to the end of the pier and back and toward i360 tower that you can take up 450 feet and back again.  I put in 13k steps before lunch.

I’d been texting with a guy on the Elbow Facebook page who I’d helped navigate from Heathrow to here yesterday.  We met up and walked around the venue again (still looking for the queue to start) and then we took an Uber out to Brighton Marina, about 2 miles away because he’d heard that you can see the white cliffs of Dover from there.  Well they start there, apparently, and yes, we did see them from the marina.  Interesting enough.

There isn’t much to the seaside that’s really of interest.  The pier is a bit rundown with amusement rides at the end, and the same repetitive churros/donuts/candy floss/ice cream stands the length of it.  Some things haven’t opened for the season yet.  It was nice walking the beach (which is all rocks, not sand) but the rest of it got old quickly.  I keep hearing a Morrissey lyric in my head “this is a coastal town that they forgot to close down” and that kind of fits this.  Even the main city away from the water has seen better days.  And maybe it’s because I didn’t see any smoking in Ljubljana, but the smoking here is off the wall.

We ate at a nearby fish and chips stand and I had haddock which was quite good. I decided I needed a break before the show to rest and get ready, so we’d regroup around 5:30. Meanwhile I ate some of the chocolate I bought and drank more Lucozade.  Checked in for the flight tomorrow so I was ready to roll.

I’d planned to take a nap and head to the venue later but at 4:30 Randy texted that there was already a queue at the venue for GA.  I wanted to be close and this was my chance, so I hurriedly got dressed and headed over, only to find maybe 8 people there.  It was fine, I was practically guaranteed to be on the front rail at that point and I only had to wait less than 2 hours to get in, so all was good.

The folks I met there were so nice and very kind to me here at my first show.  All the members of the band except the lead singer Guy left the venue and were friendly with the fans who approached them (I did not but would have if it was Guy).  Soon enough we were inside and I was indeed on the rail at the very front on the left side.  We only had to wait an hour for the opening act The Waeve who were good enough to pass the time.  So far it was all very low stress and low drama, quite unlike what I’m used to for Morrissey shows.

To say that Elbow were spectacular is an understatement.  I’d waited so long for this and had such high expectations and they were just wonderful in every respect.  I’m so glad I did this and am angling to try to see another show if I can, but who knows.  This was good enough to live off for some time.

I was so keyed up after the show that I did not sleep well and was up before 7 to eat and head to the airport.  Fortunately ThamesLink ran properly this time and I made it to Gatwick on time.  The JetBlue flight home was wonderful, like flying in the good old days!  And we landed and I was home by 5 pm.  All in all, a pretty amazing trip!