To see Richard Thompson last night, for about the third or fourth time in my life, and clearly the best. It was the first show I’ve seen where his guitar playing would take off unexpectedly in the middle of songs and it was quite breathtaking, especially in Vincent Black Lightning. At the last, he brought out his daughter to sing the harmonies on A heart needs a home and it was both spooky and glorious.
Another discovery is that if you want a moderately expensive businessman’s hotel in central London, the City Inn in Pimlico is fine: quiet, clean, and not at all ugly. There is an iMac in every room instead of a television. Looking it up to link it, I discover that the rack rate is approximately twice what we were quoted on the phone and will in fact pay. Another spot of anecdata for a collapse in hotel and restaurant spending this spring.