Elvis on his day off

Amir Shoucri, director of the video: The original concept was to recreate a complete Vegas-era Elvis spectacle. I planned and arranged the production for months -- lights, stagehands, the works -- at great personal cost, both financial and mental. We hired four hundred extras: a 23-piece backing band with vintage instruments, a stadium-sized audience all done up in period haircuts and wardrobe, and a second film crew "shooting" a video within the video -- just for effect. We even rented an outdoor marquee for the establishing shot. The day before the shoot, Freddy changed his mind. He said: "I'm just not feeling it dude." So we fired the entire crew, most of whom have families to support, and made this instead.

Opposites attract

That is what they say, right? It might not be two opposites actually coming together in the case I'm referring to, but they came damn close. I'm talking here about the extravagantly extravert 19-year-old Anja Plaschg, better known as Soap&Skin, and the introvert Mike Hadreas who makes up Perfume Genius. Two performances that couldn't be more enchanting, though different in so many ways.

First up is youngster Anja. She was supposed to have performed in London earlier this year, but her efforts were thwarted by a particular Icelandic volcano. Just the setting, in the wonderful Union Chapel (and an actual chapel for that, with Sunday services and all) is worth the wait. Add to that the chamber music ensemble that lines the part of the stage that isn't taken up by Soap&Skin's grand piano and you've got a rather promising formula for a good night of music. But that is not all, there is also Soap&Skin's personality that makes up a large part of the show. Her voice is something to be jealous at, and she isn't afraid of showing it off. The theatrical tracks from her album Lovetune For Vacuum are blasted into the chapel, both vocally and by her admirable piano skills. At times the chamber music ensemble seem to have the utmost trouble matching her volume. Not that it really matters, they get to chance to shine in some of the more calm songs.

Halfway through there is a moment though, during 'Spiracle'. Soap&Skin sits behind her piano belting out the lyrics when she suddenly appears to have a complete black out. Seconds of silence, retracing her steps on the piano but the words don't seem to come back to her. A minute passes, still there's silence. A bit hesitant she gets up, and walks over to her background singer - a few people applaud encouragingly, but she, almost panicky, signals them to stop. The other singer whispers the words into her ear and shyly Soap&Skin makes her way back to the grand piano, takes a deep breath and sings the rest of the song with such vigour as to make up for a lifetime of mistakes.

Surprisingly, fear and making mistakes seem to be exactly what the song is about, and the breakdown fits rather nicely in the set. At this point you still want to believe in her sincerity, but as the set progresses it gets more and more obvious she is playing a part. Which is absolutely not a bad thing, it even goes rather well with the music. And the fact that I initially was rather hesitant in believing the black out was a set up is a good indication of her acting skills. For someone of her age, it can only be very promising.

The next performance, only 24 hours later, could not be more different. Perfume Genius has been in London earlier this year, for one of his first performances in front of an actual audience. It was sold out weeks in advance, and talked about for even longer. I believe I wrote at that time that it felt a bit like a piano recital, and oh boy, Mike Hadreas has been listening. Whereas his first performance was in an actual music venue, this time he has taken a step back and is performing in a hall that belongs to the English Folk Dance and Song Society which is also infrequently used, you've guessed it, for the recitals of the local music school. And with the plastic seats lined up especially for this occasion and the lack of proper stage lighting it does set the scene for a proper recital this time.

However, there are some signs of improvement since last time. For one thing, Mike Hadreas appears more confident. Not that he is not his shy self, but the presence of an audience seems less like a surprise to him and he dares to interact with them this time, even make jokes. Also, the pan flute on Alan Wyffels's keyboard is tuned down a bit - a big improvement in my humble opinion. Music-wise, the performance has also improved: there are less mistakes, though it's certainly not flawless. But flawlessness wouldn't suit Perfume Genius as the occasional cock up is actually quite charming. The most impressive bit of the evening is when Mike takes place behind the grand piano that is set up just next to the stage. Maybe it's the contrast with the for the occasion installed sound system that results in rather flat keyboard sounds or grand pianos in general, but it sounds absolutely mind blowing. Where Soap&Skin excelled in big and theatrical sounds a day earlier, Perfume Genius manages to impress with simplistic songs that win on content.

A minor flaw is the lack of a back catalogue, which results in Perfume Genius literally performing all his songs and, in the end, a rather similar setlist to that of his show earlier this year. There is still enough there to keep one interested though: the interaction between Alan and Mike, Mike's smile when he gets a song right, and of course the rather brilliant songs itself. There's nothing like a bit of dark storytelling disguised as a pop song.

Anniversary

Today is my one year anniversary of living in London! Hurray for that! And if you've missed me in the time I've been gone, well, than it might please you to know that starting next week I'll be once again hosting a (so far nameless) radio show on Rare.FM with another PhD student whom I have yet to meet. Exciting times!

The show will be on Wednesdays from 5 to 6pm (or 6 to 7pm in CET), and you can tune in through the Rare.FM website - of which the tuning part is about the only feature that's currently working, sadly.

That's my flatmate in the black/weird dress!

Performing a duet with different costumes, and showing a working process: Dotty Ujszászi & Benny Maslov. Choreographed by Hubert Essakow, costume designer Fabrice Serafino.

2012 'lympics

"At least half of the tickets will be priced under £20"

Actual prizes

I'm particularly surprised at the tickets for the cycling road race. Traditionally, that one's free. Also wondering how many people will come up with £2000 to view the opening ceremony, or £450 to see gymnastics, swimming, diving, beach volleyball or athletics. By my count all those events are usually pretty short in duration.
Also surprising: football. The Olympics are in London, but footballers are playing as far away as Glasgow, which is not even in the same country as London. I would have thought London, or even England would have a sufficient amount of excellent football grounds.

They've also made a provisional schedule.

Why Googleing yourself is useful from time to time

I've been awarded a prize!

Banksy

Indian summer

PhD

'The Letter'

Tube strikes

Just to give you an idea of the scale of this. All lines in colour are either suspended or have severe delays - I've marked the one line that does seem to be running with an arrow. The "Special service" means that lines skip random stations (the stations shown in red on the map). They said they were doing better than last time.

Cupcake anyone?