Here’s a journal entry about the five days that I spent in London last week. And boy, it sure was everything I hoped for and more. Obsiously, my cat wasn’t too keen that I’d be leaving for a couple of days. He tried to stop me from packing my things.
I love London for its people, the atmosphere, the designer toy shops (oh how I had to contain myself not to buy the stores empty), the enormous amount of soundtracks that are available, and of course for the fact that it’s the Blur-Gorillaz capital. But the actual reason I went was to see Monkey: Journey to the West, a Chinese opera made by Jamie, Damon and Chen Shi-Zheng.
On the day of the premiere, we arrived at the Royal Opera House at 6, because I received an email that you could eat your very own Monkey meal before the show started. The food hall wasn’t open until 6.30, so we decided to walk around the building. At one point, a man was sitting on a pair of steps talking in his cellphone. He looked so amazingly familiar and I had to double-check the picture of him that could be found in the Monkey program I bought to make sure I wasn’t mistaking. I wasn’t, the man in front of me was David Coulter. He’d been Damon’s music supervisor for Monkey, and could also be seen in the Imagine show about Monkey on the BBC. He seemed a bit shocked that someone recognized him, but took his time to talk to us. I told him that I saw the show back in Manchester and loved it so much that I could not resist missing this one. He signed my Monkey program, asked me for my name and where I was seated in the Opera House. When I said we had front row tickets, he said he’d be sure to keep an eye on us. His name might not be Jamie or Damon, but David is one of the kindest persons I’ve ever met.
Although the food in the Opera House was great, I was not hungry at all. My gut was filled with adrenaline because I knew Jamie and Damon were around. Fifteen minutes before the show started, we made our way into the main hall and waited for the doors to be opened to the seating area. Suddenly, Jamie himself came walking in through those doors in a hurry. Without thinking I called his name, and he actually recognized me from the last time I met him. He was “glad to have us back” XD Jamie signed the program and wished us a pleasant show. When he left the room, I had to sit down for a minute to realize what just happened there XD
We made our way to our seats. Front row means that you’re able to look into the orchestra pit during the whole show. Some guy was playing a jazzy tune on his cello, and a singer joked to us that stuff like that was gonna cost us extra. While glancing at the other musicians, I noticed David sitting in the middle of them. He looked at me and started to wave. When I waved back, the keyboard player that was sitting next to David immediately turned his head to him, asking who the hell he was waving at XD Because it was a premiere night, I expected to see some big shots in the public. At one point someone walked in with a strangely familiar looking hat. It was Paul Simonon, and he was shaking hands with people that recognized him. But my gaze was soon focused on a person who was walking on the other side of the footpath. Damon, along with Chen Shi-Zheng and Jamie, were seated over there. I walked up there, took a deep breath and said Damon’s name. But when he looked me in the eyes, I just froze. I suddenly stood face to face with the man I’ve been admiring ever since Blur made Leisure. All I could say was that I was a big fan of his work for a long time… and if he could please sign my program. So he did and I was happy beyond words. As Chen Shi-Zheng was sitting right next to me at that point, he also wanted to sign the piece. When I walked back to my seat, I felt like a klutz and wanted to kick myself for what I said to Damon, something he probably hears 50 times a day. On the other hand, the Monkey Trio was forever united on the page of the Dragon Prince in the program. Until the show started, I stared at the program until my eyes were dried out.
The show was even better then I could remember, but because I saw it before, I paid a bit more attention to the orchestra pit this time. You could see David occasionally switching instruments. There were only eight singers, but it sounded as if a whole choir was standing there. Halfway through the show I saw someone walking into the orchestra pit. It was Damon. At first he was covering his face with his hands, probably sad or pissed off about the subtitles that were delayed (or other things that might have been better, only noticeable for those who put the show together). But when a mesmerizing song started to fill the hall with sound, you could see the real Damon Albarn. He was one with the music he wrote. It was a marvelous sight to behold and I was wondering if I went to the Monkey show or the Damon show XD At one point a song kicked in with a heavy baseline. David and Damon started doing a little dance on it, and after that, Damon himself grabbed the bass guitar and started playing along with the orchestra. He left the orchestra pit two minutes before he ran onto the stage with Jamie and Chen Shi-Zheng, receiving a standing ovation from the audience that lasted for so long that my hands still feel sore from clapping. But boy did they ever deserve it <3
The excitement of my London journey wasn’t over yet. When
found out that I was heading to London, she wanted to meet me. And so we did on Friday. I was a tad nervous because I was about to meet someone who I’ve been talking to for years but never actually seen in person. I don’t know what I was worried about, though! Gina was kind and funny, and as much a Jamie-Damon fan as I am. She showed me the arcade near Picadilly, where we played a couple of games. We were beating the hell out of the Space Invaders machine, it coughed up 90 tickets. Gina had to backup for a good minute or two until all the cards were given to us.
After that, we grabbed a drink at Starbucks and walked towards Forbidden Planet, which is heaven on earth if you like toys of any kind (or comics for that matter <3). Of course I told Gina about the Monkey experience and I got her hyped so badly that we decided to go to the Opera House. Gina did ask if there were any tickets left for the last two shows on Saturday. The lady told us that you’d have to get to the Opera House the next day as early as possible to avoid a long queue, and that there were only a couple of tickets left. After that, we went to another Starbucks, sat there for a long time, talking about Jamie and Damon’s work and future projects, hoping for a Monkey DVD to be confirmed sometime soon. Alas, time flies when you’re having fun D8 Before I knew it I put Gina on the train towards South London. After a long hug (and another one after that) we said goodbyes. We will see each other again soon, I hope <3
I arrived in The Netherlands again on Saturday evening, missing London already. And everything went wrong within the first five minutes that I got back. My suitcase was nowhere to be found. It contained clothes, a couple of Blur and Gorillaz records and my DS. Thank goodness the KLM called me the other day to let me know that they found the suitcase and that they would deliver it to my house as soon as possible (which would eventually be 11.30 pm >>; ).
All and all, it was a great journey to the west for me. I can’t wait to get back there. And my hand is ITCHING to draw some Gorillaz art <3 And good news from the Jamie and Damon front, the Monkey Journey to the West studio album will be released next month. Can't wait! X3
Realm of Synai - Graduation Project
Eager
Seasonal
I watch them
They watch me
Da clubs
Cheerful
Reminds me of them 
