toot
I stopped on the way home today to hear the Ricciotti Ensemble, a "standup orchestra" playing under the arch outside the Peckham Pulse, because I could. I hadn't planned to stop, it turns out they hadn't planned to play there; it wasn't on their "MetroPole Tour" schedule, they'd just found out they could play there this afternoon, turned up and set up.

It was great. Maybe because it's been a while since I heard anything resembling an orchestra live, maybe because it was a lovely summer evening, maybe it was the freedom of just being able to stop the bike on the way home and stand and listen to some interesting and different music, maybe it was the energy and enthusiasm of the young people involved, maybe it was because they followed a salsa-esque piece by Tito Puente with a reggae/jazz piece by a Dutch Jazz musician or maybe it was the really cool thing they did during the last piece where most of the orchestra walked through the audience while playing their instruments then various people played solos and the audience became surrounded by the orchestra, I don't know, but it was the most enjoyable 45 minutes of the day thus far.

That's all.