On the morning of 9th October I was awake really early getting ready for my trip to London and when I was nearly ready I woke up Colin and we had some breakfast together before leaving the house. My train wasn't leaving until 10.08 so we had more time than usual and still had time on arrival at the station for another cup of coffee there before my train arrived. Colin did not accompany me on this occasion, preferring to join his son at a rugby match, which is something they do every saturday because they are both very keen supporters of Bath Rugby club. It was a nice ride to London and I arrived at Paddington at midday and then went by underground straight to Leicester Square and found my way to the queue outside Equinox Empire, arriving there at exactly 1 pm and the queue was not too bad at that point.
Almost immediately on my arrival in the queue a very friendly Bolivian lady started talking to me and then as her Mum and other friends of hers arrived they included me in their group and were all very friendly and interested about my trip last year to their countries, and they asked me if I would like to join them for the whole concert and I said yes! About this time I phoned my friend Aquiles on his mobile, only to discover that he was not coming to the concert after all. He was rushing around doing his last minute shopping because he was flying to Peru the next day - 2 months earlier than planned because of his Dad being ill and far from home in a hospital in Arequipa (his family live in Cusco), but he asked me to phone him when the concert was over so that we could meet up afterwards. As by this time I was enjoying myself with my new found Bolivian and Peruvian friends I did not mind being there by myself. Also, a lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked what everyone was queuing for. She said the queue stretched for miles by this time and was the longest queue she had ever seen!!!
About 15 minutes before the doors were due to open I received another surprise. I looked around and there was my friend Rosita, with Carlos, who had driven down from Edinburgh the previous day. In fact she said they stopped and knocked on my door early that morning to offer me a lift (but of course I was not there; I was at Colin's!). Luckily someone near us in the queue had 2 spare tickets and sold them to Rosita and Carlos who had decided at the last minute to join me at the concert. When the doors opened the men on the door were checking everyone's contents of their bags (of which I had two) and by the time they let me pass, I had lost sight of my new friends and could not find them when I got inside either. I knew they were looking for a table and there were only a few on the balconies so I gave up and decided to stand up for the concert instead and was lucky enough to get a spot right in front of the stage. In fact I was sitting on the edge of the stage whilst waiting for it all to begin. Rosita and Carlos joined me a few moments later, and gradually the venue filled up until it was jam packed. I noticed that various people around me had bought the latest Kjarkas cd and had every intention of buying it myself later on - it was called 'Que No Muera La Tradicion Vol 5: Cuecas y Bailecitos' (2002). Only the rush to get inside quickly made me not notice the stall where it was being sold on the way in!
The first band on stage were Bolivian and I have already forgotten their name but they were very good. This was followed by a Peruvian band from Germany called Generacion, but it was mainly English music done on andean instruments which is not my favourite form of andean music. I much prefer the traditional music of the Andes so I knew I would not be tempted to buy any of their cds (of which I later noticed there were two available). Both bands did a small set of about 15 minutes each, and then after 10 minutes of rearranging the instruments etc the magic moment arrived - the arrival of Kjarkas on stage - which by this time was about 4 pm.
There followed 3 hours of pure magic and I was quite overcome with delight. The joy of being so close to the band - only 2 metres away, with Elmer, the singer, right in front of me! I received many lovely smiles from him and others of the musicians during the concert - each time my heart doing a triple jump with excitement. Elmer the singer is incredibly charismatic and it was a joy to watch him and the others all throughout the concert and see the effect they were having on the crowd. Young girls around me were climbing up on the stage during the concert and managed to get near one of the musicians just long enough for their friends to take a photo before the bouncers made them get back and this happened a lot and the band did not seem to mind. I wished that I too could be as brave but decided already that I would try to get backstage afterwards instead. Each time the bouncers were escorting one or two back others further away were climbing up and lots of lucky people had a photo taken with the band whilst they were still actually playing! The atmosphere was incredible, enormous flags of Bolivia being waved overhead, the whole crowd swaying or clapping to the music, and although it was quite a crush being at the front, and quite hard to hold onto my position there with others behind trying to push in, it was just fantastic to be right there and able to take pictures of the band - I took about 20 altogether throughout the show. There were also Bolivian dancers up on the stage at times performing in front of the band and I managed to capture all this in photos as well. The band did several encores and did not finish playing until about quarter to seven.
Rosita and Carlos had to dash away as they needed to get their car from the carpark because of the high cost of parking in that area, so I was on my own when I climbed up onto the stage and slipped through a barrier in the backstage direction - along with several other women!!! We tried to climb over a barrier but that proved impossible and then we came across a wall of men trying to stop people passing through and I was so disappointed thinking I would not see them after all, when suddenly I spotted my friend Carlos Suldana who plays with Kausary and he was one of the workers backstage. I called his name and asked if he could get me backstage and he told the guys I was a friend and asked if I could pass and they let me through! I was so thrilled. I wasn't the only one of course - others had got there before me before the wall of men formed to prevent this. It was then just a patient wait until I could approach and whilst waiting I spoke to William Celinas who was one of the organisers of the concert and from whom I bought my ticket, and he asked Gaston and Elmer on my behalf if I could have a photo taken with them and they said yes! For a few precious moments I was sitting between Elmer and Gaston, with their arms around my shoulders, whilst the photo was taken and they also signed their autographs for me. Before moving on to let others take my place, I asked about concerts in La Paz in February but unfortunately they won't be playing there then - they will be playing in December so I will miss it! I thanked both William and Carlos profusely for their aid in helping me to meet the band and then climbed back off the stage and made my way outside. By this time unfortunately all the Kjarkas cds on the stall had been sold and none of the bouncers when I asked were interested in trying to find out if more were available backstage. It made me regret not asking the band or William Celinas if I could buy one whilst I was backstage with them! I saw the two Generacion cds for sale and what looked like a programme which I bought but it was just a latin swiss magazine but was worth the £3 paid for the article on the band that was inside along with pictures. It also enabled me to find out the name of their new charango player from Japan (whose name I will have to look up and tell you as I do not have the magazine with me right now). He is a really brilliant charango player.
Once outside I found a quiet spot and phoned Aquiles and he said he was in Oxford Circus and could be with me within half an hour. Whilst waiting I decided to go into a nearby pub and have one drink, deciding on the pub which Aquiles once pointed out to me as being a favourite with South Americans. A quick glance around inside I did not see anyone I knew - I went to the bar and got a drink and then went to look for somewhere to sit down, and then next moment I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and to my delight it was my friend Dante and his friend whose name I can never remember who is always very interesting to talk to, especially as we usually chat in Spanish so it is good practice for me. The three of us went to sit down with some Bolivian friends at a table, and we were joined there by another friend Santiago who lives mostly in France, but all of these friends had been there at the concert. When the half hour was almost up I phoned Aquiles to say where I was and shortly afterwards he and Claire joined us and we had a lovely couple of hours all together before it was time for me to go to catch my train. Aquiles and Claire accompanied me to Charing Cross as from there I could get a direct underground train to Paddington and they could get the main line train home to Claire's flat (Aquiles having already given up his own flat as his trip to Peru will be for 6 months until next April).
After leaving them and making my way to Paddington, I only had to wait 15 minutes until I could board my train, about 20 minutes before it was due to leave. I always much prefer getting there in plenty of time instead of a frantic rush with the risk of missing it (which is sometimes the case when I am with my South American friends!) Aquiles said he will more than likely hire a car and arrive to meet me in Lima when I arrive in Peru, so that we can start the travel to various parts that we plan to do. This is excellent for me because I will be much safer travelling with a Peruvian friend, and is also nice for him because we will be sharing the costs of the trip (hire of car and driver plus the fuel costs) so it is more affordable for him to do that travelling as well. It is possible, as long as his Dad is fully recovered, that his parents and younger brother might join us on that travelling trip as well. My train left London on time and I arrived back at Bath at twenty past midnight where Colin met me and took me back to the house, having spent a really enjoyable day himself at the rugby with his son. We both had lots to talk about.
The next exciting adventure to look forward to is our forthcoming trip to Paris, departing from London on Sunday 27th October and staying there until Saturday 2nd November - we will be staying with Leo and Christele and their children. It will be my fourth visit to their home and I am so looking forward to seeing them all again. They all came to us in April and really enjoyed Bath. Colin is especially looking forward to it, because it is only his second ever visit to Paris, the first time was with me about 9 years ago.
