Recollection Part 1

Hello hello hello!!!

Am back from my honeymoon!!!

Er, husband 0 but good times aplenty :P

Right, let's rewind 5 days to...

30.12.2006 - Thank You For The Music

Left for London for what was hoped to be the best New Year celebration I've ever had.

Remember I said I was quite apprehensive about the weather? Well, it looked like heavens heard my plea the night before. The weather couldn't have been better when I left Cardiff and it fared the same in London too!

Anyway, got to my destination on time (this time around), and Jacey, my host for the weekend, came to meet me at Victoria, together with Sly and Edna, who I haven't seen in months. Yes yes, I won't philosophise about how time flies. I know you got the picture.

We went for lunch and later adjourned to Piccadilly Court where Jacey is. Sly and Edna went to pick Irene (Sly's cousin) up from Heathrow and so it was just Jacey and me at home. We had the idiot box to entertain us but somehow, we didn't quite like what we saw, and after some rounds of channel flicking, this animated Jap cartoon (which many fondly call anime) caught our attention. Engrossed was an understatement! It was simply hilarious how 2 adults find themselves so into anime all of a sudden, to the extent that they both went online to scout for the DVD straight after the show ended! **eyes rolling, head shaking, tongue tsk-ing**

And really, prying my eyes from the TV set and lifting my butt from the sofa was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do...I was going for a concert at 7pm and at 6.30, I was still saying, "ok, I'll watch for another 5 minutes, and I'll go get ready." Seriously, what am I like???!!!



Yup, the All-Star Soul Spectacular concert was the prime reason I came down to London. It was a concert organised by Smooth FM, with David Gest as the host (no idea who he is but apparently the winner of "I'm a celebrity get me out of here" show. Er, whatever :P).

Me being the avid online listener of Smooth FM, I heard about the concert 2 months back. The thought of going for a concert of this kind (honestly, how often do you get a chance to go to a soul concert) and spending New Year's at London was too much to pass, so the decision was made almost instantenously. Was hoping you wouldn't ask how much I paid for it (hint: it's printed on the ticket), but it was worth every penny!

Cadogan Hall was where the concert was hosted. Candi Staton opened the show with Young Hearts (Run Free), followed by the following (in an order I might have messed up) - Russell Tomkins Jr (from the Stylistics), Dorothy Moore, Freda Payne, Carl Carlton, William Bell (the guy who gave us Private Number), Billy Paul (the guy who crooned Me and Mrs Jones), Martha Reeves and The Vandellas (who belted Dancing in the Streets so groovily that the whole crowd bogeyed like no other!), Bonnie Tyler (she's the only one who I wasn;t that excited to see...I'm sorry but I just don't like Total Eclipse of the Heart) Deniece Williams (who dedicated Let's Hear it for the Boys to all the good men out there, which, I'm afraid aren't that many :P) and last but not least, the guy who - out of all that I mentioned - I most wanted to see, and hear from...

Mr Peabo Bryson!

Man, it was just so overwhelming seeing him perform on stage. I've lost count of the number of times I shook my head in disbelief that I was seeing him in the flesh! It was just magical, and he is a great entertainer, with fantastic showmanship and charisma. He performed 4 songs in total - Beauty and the Beast, A Whole New World, If Ever You're In My Arms Again (where I had to wipe away a few tears that welled up, and sniffed a thousand times wishing that he could just serenade me alone, as opposed to the entire audience) and Ain't Nobody as the encore.

Just a little interesting by note: Ms Petula Clark (the legend who sang Downtown) was among the crowd!

How not to be star-struck I ask you?!

...to be continued