Legends of the Sun Pig

I first heard Halsey on Zane Lowe’s show on Beats 1 in September of last year. In the CET time zone, we get the show early in the morning, between 7 and 8. I listen to it while I’m preparing Alex and Fiona’s lunch boxes. I have my iPad mini perched on top of Abi’s red coffee machine while I’m bagging up sandwiches and snacks. “Drive” came on, with the sounds of a car starting and a haunting six-note theme that repeats throughout the song and is never resolved. I was entranced. There are only a few songs that bring back such a strong memory of the time I first heard them: Loneliness Shines by Malcolm Middleton on a late night drive through Dollar in Scotland; Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap on a drive home from work along the Edinburgh bypass from the Gyle to Gilmerton, just past the ski slope. I’m amused by the fact that “Drive” is another one, when those others happened while I was driving.

So I started listening to the rest of the album Badlands and pointed it out to Fiona, who listened to it and loved it as well. By the time we were both completely sucked in, and checked to see if she was touring near us, it was too late – her gig at Melkweg (which had already been moved from the Oude Zaal to the larger-capacity The Max) was sold out. So once again I got us after-market tickets. After the fun experience of bringing one of Fiona’s friends with us to see Taylor Swift, I got three tickets for Halsey so that Fiona could bring someone along again.

Fiona’s last few concerts (Imagine Dragons, Dotan, Fall Out Boy, Taylor Swift) have all been at huge venues. The great thing about smaller venues like Melkweg is how close you are to the artists. We were keen to get to the gig early (doors open at 19:00, opening act Børns at 19:30, Halsey at 20:40) so that we could be very close to the front. (Fiona is stretching out as a teenager, but we’re in the land of the Tall People.) We picked up her friend at 18:30 and drove to Amsterdam. I had booked a parking place at Byzantium, just near the Leidseplein.

After parking just after 19:00, the three of us walked to Leidseplein where I stopped at an ATM. I noticed a long line of people stretching past the front of the Stadsschouwburg. I assumed that they were queueing up for the theatre, but no. As we crossed the square in the direction of Melkweg, we noticed people wearing Halsey shirts, and discovered that the line went all the way from Melkweg to the far side of the Stadsschouwburg. I was shocked, because I’m used to places like Melkweg and Paradiso still being half-empty while the opening act is on stage, but Fiona really had the wind knocked out of her. The queue was moving very slowly, and she wasn’t convinced we would even make it inside by the time of the concert, let alone get a place where a non-tall person could get a good view. With that size of a crowd, there was no way we would have been at the front even if we had arrived twenty minutes earlier.

We stood around quietly in the cold for a while, shuffling forward a few meters every few minutes. I was sure we’d get in, but when 19:25 passed and we had only just rounded the corner of the Schouwburg, I didn’t think we’d catch any of Børns’ set. To our great relief, that was when Melkweg crowd control showed up. Turns out that Taylor Davis was playing the Sugar Factory opposite Melkweg that night, and the two queues trying to squeeze down a crowded Lijnbaansgracht had merged into one confused whole. They moved the Taylor Davis crowd to the other side of the street so that the Halsey crowd could get through. It only took us a couple of minutes to get in after that. Judging by the mounds of food and drink debris near the railings outside the Melkweg doors, I think some fans must have been queueing up there all afternoon to get in as soon as the doors opened.

Fiona and her friend brightened with excitement as soon as crowd control cleared our way. We had a tense couple of minutes when we discovered there was no way we’d get a good view from the back of the crowd at ground level. We made our way up to the left balcony, and found a few spaces where the girls could push themselves up high enough to see over the people who had bagged the premium balcony spots, and have a reasonable sight line to the stage. I’m a head taller, so it was easier for me. It still wasn’t great, but it would do.

Børns came on at about 19:50. They played “Seeing Stars” as an opener, which has a solid pop beat and made a good impression. The rest of the set, of which I only recognized “American Money” and “Electric Love” also seemed to go down well. With Børns’ tall, skinny, long-haired looks, I couldn’t get away from the impression that Dr. Spencer Reid had got his groove together and formed a band.

After Børns there was a break for the crew to set up the stage, and for us to visit the super-quiet merch stand. (We didn’t all go at once — we didn’t want to lose our places. Neither did anyone else.) Ten minutes before 21:00, the lights went down to much excitement, but Halsey didn’t come on quite yet. The sound desk played a couple of anthem songs that the crowd sang along to: “Tear in my Heart” by Twenty One Pilots and “Sorry” by Justin Bieber. (Note: I didn’t recognize these songs at all. I had to ask Fiona for advice here!) And finally, shortly after 21:00: Halsey.

Wow. I’ve been to a fair few concerts at Melkweg and Paradiso, but I’ve never seen that level of fan adulation at such a small venue. Almost everyone sang along to almost every lyric. Every song was greeted with rapturous screams. Her songs speak to her fans in a deeply personal way. One of the biggest cheers came between songs, when she told the audience, “I see all of you.” When the gig was over, I saw young women crying as they walked to the exit. On our way out, we saw at least a hundred fans surrounding the tour buses parked on the Lijnbaansgracht, waiting around to catch a glimpse of Halsey on her way to her next gig. I don’t think I’ll see her in a venue of this size again.

She put on a great show. Halsey projects a magnetic, powerful, yet relatable personality in a self-confidend package on stage. She doesn’t have many moves, but she has enormous presence. Her supporting band stuck to the background, with no spotlight or attention. They were almost as much part of the backdrop as the excellent video wall behind the stage. In fact, some of the most memorable visuals were when the band was silhouetted against the hard blue light of the video wall during “Colors II”, which they played as the warm-up to the big finale “Colors”. It was one of the best concerts I’ve been to where I’ve had such a poor view. (The photos are from me holding my arm out as far as I could.)

Set list:

1. Gasoline
2. Hold me Down
3. Castle
4. Strange Love
5. Haunting
6. Roman Holiday
7. Control
8. Drive
9. Ghost
10. Is There Somewhere
11. Hurricane
12. New Americana
13. Colors pt II
14. Colors

15. Young God

At some point over the Christmas holiday I binge-watched the science fiction series Helix on Netflix (both seasons) and then promptly forgot about it until I read Charlie Jane Anders’ article “16 Great Unsung TV Shows of the Past Few Years That Everybody Should Watch” on io9 the other day. No, Helix isn’t one of the unsung shows — I just happened to remember that I’d watched it. I enjoyed the first season a lot more than the second. It’s completely bonkers. The second season tries to recapture the feeling of isolation, paranoia, and layer upon layer of secrets, lies, and mysteries. I would have liked it better if it had tried a different formula.

The article mentioned Person of Interest, which I last sampled back in March of last year. io9 helpfully published a guide to which episodes of the first season you should skip. I think I got stuck on the early episodes. Knowing that other people dismiss those episodes as not characteristic of the rest of the show makes me feel better about giving it another try.

Another series I stalled on was Luther. I watched the first episode last year, and enjoyed it, but the second episode didn’t grab me. I felt like some more police procedural in my life last month, so I picked it up again from the start. Damn, it’s good. I can see why the second episode of season one didn’t grab me, but the further you get into it, the better it gets. Last year Anthony Horowitz caused a controversy by calling Idris Elba “too street” to be James Bond. But now I can’t get an Idris Elba Bond out of my head. I think he would be amazing.

Having finished Luther, I wanted even more crime drama, so I picked up Criminal Minds again. I had got stuck about half-way through season 6 last year. Last week I resumed at “What Happens At Home…” and “25 to Life”, and enjoyed them a lot. The whole Ian Doyle storyline kicks off a few episodes later, and it’s a ridiculous roller-coaster again. Ridiculous, but very entertaining, and I love the characters.

Ian Rankin’s latest book, Even Dogs in the Wild is excellent. I like the crossover blend of his characters Rebus and Malcolm Fox.

Injection by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire is satisfyingly weird. Last time I was in Edinburgh I also picked up issues 4 and 5 of Paper Girls, which finishes the first story arc. Love the artwork, but the story feels thinner than I’m used to from Brian K. Vaughan. I think I’ll wait until the collection edition of volume 2 arrives rather than picking it up every month.

Films:

• American Ultra was bad. It should have been a comedy action film, but it tries to address serious themes as well. Oops. It ends up as a confused muddle that is neither funny nor insightful.
• A Most Violent Year: wow. The trailer makes it look like a stylish and thoughtful mafia/gangster period piece. And it is, kind of. The characters appear superficially familiar from countless organized crime dramas, but the hard choices they make in desperate circumstances defy cinematic stereotypes. Big thumbs up from me.

The last couple of gigs I’ve been to were both at the Ziggo Dome (Dotan and Imagine Dragons). Being back at Paradiso was like coming home. I love that place. And what a gig to come home to. Wolf Alice have built a reputation as an exciting live band, and they certainly lived up to it. “Your Loves Whore” was epic, “Moaning Lisa Smile” brought down the house, and everything inbetween was amazing. (Except maybe “Swallowtail” I could have skipped that one.)

1. Your Loves Whore
2. Freazy
3. Bros
4. Lisbon
5. 90 Mile Beach
6. Silk
7. The Wonderwhy
8. Storms
9. You’re a Germ
10. Swallowtail
11. Fluffy
12. She
13. Moaning Lisa Smile

Encore

14. Turn to Dust
15. Blush
16. Giant Peach

Just like Imagine Dragons, I first came across Wolf Alice in 2013 — specifically their song “Bros”. But it was a different version of the song than the version that ended up on My Love Is Cool. You can’t find that early version in places like Spotify or iTunes, now, either — you have to go hunting for it on other download sites. When I first heard the album version, I thought it sounded too polished, and I preferred the single. Now that the album version is the one I play all the time, the original sounds unfinished, and I prefer the album cut. Curious.

This is the concert that we originally wanted to see in Brussels, because it was the venue nearest to us on their tour. That sold out while I was in the process of booking tickets. Then we were supposed to see them in Copenhagen, but we decided not to go that far afield when we discovered that they had added a date in Amsterdam! This one. Finally.

Curiously, I remember exactly where I was when I first came across Imagine Dragons. It was in a west-facing room at the Apex Haymarket hotel in Edinburgh, with a partial view of the old Donaldson School, at some point in 2013 (April, May?). Their song “Radioactive” was being used in a TV ad campaign for the Defiance video game. (Back in 2013 I was still in the habit of watching TV on my trips to Scotland. The offensive inanity of BBC Breakfast “News” eventually cured me of that habit.) The ad was running during almost every commercial break. The game looked meh, but the song stuck in my head. I tracked down what the song was, and watched the music video:

I knew Alex and Fiona would enjoy the video, and I showed them when I got back home. They loved it, and they adored the rest of the Night Visions album. The band played Melkweg in Amsterdam in November 2013. That would have been an awesome venue to see them in, but I didn’t notice it in time. They also played the Lowlands festival in 2014, but that wasn’t going to work for us either. I did promise Alex and Fiona that the next time they played the Netherlands, we would definitely go and see them. So that was last Friday.

I had bought five tickets, in case either kid wanted to bring along a friend. Abi was sick on the day, and Alex didn’t want to invite anyone, so Fiona got to bring two of her friends. We drove to the Ziggo Dome and almost got lost on the way! We normally come off the A10 at exit S111, but the Spaklerweg was closed for roadworks southbound. Our phone-based navigation systems kept trying to route us back that way. In the end I took a massive detour, and we ended up lost in Diemen and Duivendrecht before we finally convinced Google to send us to the Arena. We parked just before 20:00, and got to our seats shortly after the start of Sunset Sons’ opening act. We had listened to some of their songs on the way there, and the teenage girls in the back of the car hard had judged them harshly. I liked them, and thought they played an excellent set. They’re in Amsterdam again on 13 April (Melkweg), shortly after the release of their debut album. I might go.

This was the last night of Imagine Dragons’ Smoke and Mirrors tour. Of course they played the song “Amsterdam”, and the crowd went wild for it. The crowd went wild in general. I’m still not crazy about the Ziggo Dome, but the acts I’ve seen there all know how to put on a great show.

1. Shots
2. Trouble
3. It’s Time
4. Forever Young
5. Amsterdam
6. Roots
7. Hopeless Opus
8. Polaroid
9. I’m So Sorry
10. Gold
11. Bleeding Out
12. Second Chances
13. Friction
14. Demons
15. On Top Of The World
16. I Bet My Life
17. Radioactive

Encore:

18. The Fall
19. Dream

Finally, an important life lesson! If you’re going to see a band on the last night of their tour, they might be running short of tour merch. Some T-shirt sizes may be in very short supply. If you have someplace to stash your goods, go to the merch stand before the gig, not at the end!

Two weekends ago we had a family gathering to celebrate my mum’s 70th birthday. Mum & Dad had booked the Marine Villa at Archerfield for the weekend. The four of us flew over to Edinburgh on the Friday evening, with only a minor delay because of Storm Gertrude blowing through earlier that day. Nonetheless, we didn’t get to the villa until after midnight, and we were off to bed almost straight away. (After a quick tour of the villa, which is amazing.)

Our plan for the Saturday was to do a big family dinner, with Dad, Scott, and me each catering one course. Dad did a classic prawn cocktail, Scott made Tom Kerridge’s treacle-cured beef, and I made a trio of sorbets (mango, lemon, and raspberry & lime) for the grown-ups, and Cadbury’s Flake chocolate ice cream for the kids. (I had planned to make some vanilla icre cream as well, but I overcooked the custard and didn’t have enough eggs (or time) to do a second run.

Because I had been helping Alex with his chemistry homework over Christmas, I ended up watching a whole bunch of Brady Haran’s Periodic Videos. I was particularly fascinated with the one where they burn magnesium shavings in a crucible carved out of a block of solid carbon dioxide. “Wouldn’t it be fun to get some magnesium and try that out ourselves?” I thought. “Wouldn’t it be fun to play about with some dry ice?”

Turns out you can just buy dry ice on the internet! It’s not even all that expensive! I had a notion of buying a block of it in the summer and seeing what we could get up to. But then the family dinner came up, and I thought: dry ice ice cream.

I located some recipes for sorbet and ice cream, and practiced them the week before, but just with our standard freezer. The key to good sorbet and ice cream is small ice crystals. The smaller the ice crystals, the smoother the ice cream. You get small ice crystals by churning the mixture as it freezes (in an ice cream maker), thus never giving large crystals a chance to form in the first place, or by freezing it really really quickly. The best way to do this is with liquid nitrogen. You can buy liquid nitrogen on the internet, too, but storing it in the volume that suppliers typically want to sell requires an industrial dewar flask, and they’re expensive. But dry ice also works!

The technique involves grinding the dry ice to powder in a household blender, and gradually adding it to an ice cream or sorbet base in an ordinary mixer. The videos on the internet make it look easy, but we discovered that there are some subtleties involved. In particular: if you add the dry ice powder too quickly and don’t give the mixer enough time to distribute it evenly, it sinks to the bottom of the ice cream mixture and makes a solid frozen crust at the bottom of the mixing bowl. This can bring a small mixer to a worrying halt. It also doesn’t make for a nice, even consistency. I ended up discarding some of the sorbet as a result. If I did this again, I’d be careful to add the dry ice much more slowly, and use a high-powered mixer.

The other thing that some of the recipes and instruction sets warn about is a slight fizz and tang in the finished product. This is because some of the carbon dioxide dissolves in the liquid, just like in a carbonated beverage. When it dissolves, it forms carbonic acid. I made the sorbets in the afternoon and put them in the freezer for a few hours before dinner to try to give any excess carbon dioxide time to escape. Nice theory, but it didn’t quite work. Even the next morning, the left-over sorbet still had a bit of a tang to it.

However! It still tasted great, and it was great fun to make. I bought 15 kg of 3mm dry ice pellets (easier to powderize than a solid block) from dioxice.com. I ordered that much because I wanted to be sure that a) it would last long enough, and b) we had enough to spare that we could have some fun with it as well. And of course we did. Here’s the unboxing video, for example:

In the afternoon we had Rachel Rose round to do a photo shoot for the whole family. She did an amazing job, and we are super happy with the pictures. She took a bunch of traditional group portraits, and a batch of candid shots while we were hanging out and enjoying some birthday cake.

At one point we thought it would be fun to do a sequence of shots, in order of people arriving in Mum’s family. I stitched them together as an animated gif:

The following morning we disposed of the rest of the dry ice responsibly (cough). Then we had brunch at the Archerfield club house, swung through Dirleton so that Alex could capture a few locations for Ingress and hung out with Scott & Ange & Kyle & Rachel in Haddington for a bit before heading back to the airport. Abi and the kids flew back, while I stayed in Edinburgh for a few days of work. Overall, a highly successful birthday weekend.