Suddenly Gigging

At 16:09 yesterday I see that I have a missed call from a London number I don't recognise. Two minutes later I get this in my inbox:

From: Jon March [mailto:Jon.March@XXXXXXXXX]
Sent: 01 February 2006 16:11
To: Richard Body
Subject: call me..

Offer of a lifetime…gimme a call at the office cos I don’t have my mobile on me…

020XXXXXXXX

thanks mate…

Now, the last time I received the offer of a life time from Jon it concerned a very cheap digital camera that never arrived, although to be fair that was more a consequence of Apple's deliberately ambigious terms and conditions. However, I'm curious so I call him. Ten minutes later I'm in my car speeding to Oxford to catch the Oxford Tube (note to peeps out there, after about 3, I think, return fares to London are only £8, and that's cheaper than petrol I would use to drive) to Shepherd's Bush Empire to see Jose Gonzalez. Who? You're all asking. Well... have you seen the advert for the plasma screen TV where all the bouncy balls are bouncing down the streets of San Fran? The fantastic acoustic background music is Jose's song Heartbeats.


The gig itself was great, very low-key and very simple. I got to thinking that the bar staff at the SBE have one of the best jobs in the world. The bar is located in the best spot in the venue, obscuring the stage from large parts of the standing area at the back (how ridiculous is that?) and on this night nobody was buying much so the bar staff could just chill. Jon and I perch ourselves on the edge of the bar so we can rest our beers on something and get a view of the stage. Why does beer taste so awful when you have a cold? Towards the end of the gig he starts to play a track that I vaguely recognise (so far I've only recognised Heartbeats). I say to Jon that this is a cover. He stops for a second, and says "yeah, it's Teardrops by Massive Attack", and he's right, Jose has just launched into an outstanding version of it. Then he finishes up, everyone, including the cute barstaff beside me are, in raptures. Divine.

Ten minutes later I'm back on the Oxford Tube listening to Nightmares on Wax and at 12.30am I'm tucked up in bed. Apparently earlier that evening Rio Ferdinand had been sent off for Man U. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.