“Cabaret” at the KitKat Club – 05/11/25

Posted on November 7, 2025 by katese11

5th November is certainly a time for remembering things and so it was probably appropriate that I used a day’s annual leave to take VK to the KitKat Club (AKA the Playhouse Theatre) to remember what life is like under the creeping influence of extremism. It’s a timely reminder, as is the reminder not to drink Schnapps in the middle of the day when you haven’t had lunch. But more on that later. First, tho, a quick visit to see the Guido Fawkes himself at Charing Cross:

Followed by a walk down the world’s longest corridor, which had VK asking whether we would ever see daylight again. Just then, we spotted a sign saying “there is light at the end of the tunnel” and with that, we emerged into the greylight of The Strand and headed down Northumberland Avenue.

Anyway, turns out the Playhouse Theatre is at the other end of Northumberland Avenue and we probably should have stayed on the tube to Embankment. Ah, well.

We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the KitKat Club so here’s a last image of us on the pavement before we joined the queue:

It’s a strict 13+ rated show so VK is only just old enough but there was a school trip also in the queue so I wasn’t the only one exposing innocent teenagers to Weimar decadence. My teen is pretty obsessed with Weimar Germany at the moment, as it happens, so this was a perfectly-timed outing. The marketing suggests it’s a very adult environment but don’t worry if you are taking a teen – it’s all pretty campy and tame really. As well as the school trip, the audience around us was made up of tourists and older people so it wasn’t quite the den of debauchery that some of the publicity might suggest.

When I say it was perfectly-timed, there was one drawback. I had booked because of the current leads – Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney. I’ve mentioned before that VK loves “Hadestown” and, as we’d wanted to see “Cabaret” for ages, this seemed just right. We’d missed out on seeing their Musical Con 2025 slot because they were on the Sunday and we only went on the Saturday so maybe this time we’d be lucky?

We were not. I’d heard on social media that they had recently got married, which made me panic that they wouldn’t be appearing in London this week. So I had a look at Eva Noblezada’s Instagram and, sure enough, they were taking a break and returning on 6th Nov. My panic was justified and, turns out, we had actually timed it pretty badly. I broke the news to VK and she took it pretty well but I still feel slightly aggrieved that the information is only in small letters on one part of the website (“About”) instead of being highlighted when you’re booking. We still wanted to see the show and it’s always interesting to see understudies but I do wish we’d at least been told. Even yesterday morning, I spotted four ads for the show in my Facebook news feed and they all heavily featured the Hadestown two.

Anyway, I don’t intend to write a negative review for the sake of it. As the Emcee says, you have to leave your troubles outside the KitKat Club…they will have no troubles inside. So who am I to take my booking troubles and let it influence my review?

The first thing to know is that this is an immersive theatre experience. Although the Playhouse Theatre has this traditional-looking entrance, it is not open before the show:

Instead, you’re admitted through a metal curtain that leads down the stairs into a seedy basement club where someone is playing the piano in raucous 1920s style. We were asked to present our phones on entry and have a sticker put over the camera, which is why I didn’t take any photos of the interior. You’ll just have to trust me that it was very highly themed and decorated, with lots of detail everywhere. You can also trust me when I say that having a teen who’s phobic about stickers means that this censorship method also ensures that the teen won’t even touch their phone until you’re back out the other side. A VK-repellent if you will.

There are signs telling you not to touch the performers and I wondered why that was necessary but the performers do get very close to the punters, so I can see how there might be misunderstandings if the rules aren’t made explicit. One unsuspecting man was ordering a drink in the Gold Bar while a scantily clad performer leant off the balcony above the bar and pretended to tickle his bald head. The performers clearly know the boundaries so I can see why it’s important to let the audience know too. There was dance and accordion music in the Gold Bar, which all added to that Weimar feel.

You’re instructed to get to the venue an hour before the show to wander around the various bars and have a drink but we ended up getting to our seats quite early. I think there’s an option to dine before the show if you’re on one of the cabaret tables but we were up in the Dress Circle, which was traditional theatre seating, so I don’t think that was possible without an upgrade.

The timing of arriving at 1 meant leaving home at 12, which meant that I didn’t have time for lunch before we went in. And they give you a complimentary shot of Schnapps on entry (not for the 13-year-old), which can be edgy so early in the day. Combined with the eerie green light in the corridors, the twisting staircases and the sinister music being piped through, it does combine to make you feel like you’re in a David Lynch film. I spent a long time wandering around trying to find the loos and ended up in the Upper Circle, having climbed around sechzig stairs to get there. The loos nearest our seats were labelled as “Urinale” (yes, the signs were all in German as well as English) so I didn’t think they were meant for women. Later tho, VK found an entirely different set of loos which were entirely urinal-free. I’m normally quite good at navigating theatres but this was a bit disorientating. Which I assume is all part of the experience – I imagine that the real KitKat Club would have been much the same.

So, onto the show! I haven’t watched the film for a few years so I don’t know it as well as I do some other musicals…still, I have ideas about how these roles should be performed and I imagine others do too. There were some distinctly different interpretations of the songs to the Liza versions but I’ll get on to that later.

The show starts with a spotlight on the Emcee, who was played by Joe Atkinson in the performance we saw. The Emcee is a curious character, who never really reveals his true feelings or motivations. Everything is very staged and it’s not clear whether he supports or opposes the Nazi party – like Uncle Max, he encourages everyone to turn a blind eye to what’s going on and just enjoy the show. His initial “we’ll have no troubles in here” sounds very sinister by the end. Joe Atkinson does a great job of balancing these elements and his performance of “Money” was described to me by VK as “iconic”.

The show is performed in the round, with no scenery at all but with a rotating stage and a trap door middle, both of which are used in “Hadestown” and, I think, “Hamilton”. There isn’t a super strong narrative to “Cabaret” so it’s all about the performances and characterisation. Fortunately, there are strong characters to work with…as well as the aforementioned Emcee, there’s the wilful Sally Bowles (Marina Tavolieri), the socially awkward writer Clifford (Baker Mukasa) and the two older characters that have their own, very sweet romance  – Fraulein Schneider (Ruthie Henshall) and Herr Schulz (Robert Hands).

Most of the action actually happens away from the KitKat Club, in Fraulein’s boarding house or, as in an early scene, a Berlin-bound train…so you can see why they didn’t go too heavy on the set dressing. Two notes on that train scene – firstly, there is a curious artistic choice to have the conductor speak German to Herr Ludwig while asking for his passport and inspecting his case. I understand that it’s because two Germans are talking to each other but that happens throughout the show and every other interaction is in English, regardless of whether the two native English speakers (Cliff and Sally) are in the scene or not. I didn’t have a problem following the dialogue as it’s fairly easy German but can’t help wondering what others made of it. Secondly, the scene takes place at the German border and then all of a sudden, they arrive in Berlin. Isn’t Berlin several hundred miles from the border with France? But now I’m nitpicking.
It also struck me how similar the plot is to “Moulin Rouge” – impoverished writer arrives in foreign city and falls in love with a showgirl – but hey, Cabaret was there first.

The other way it resembles “Moulin Rouge” is the creeping threat in the background, the idea of something evil growing amid the glamour. Here it’s the rising power of the Nazis, who are initially dismissed as “just another party” but whose ideas insidiously take over during the course of the plot. There are a couple of shocking moments, which I won’t spoiler, but each time there was a collective intake of breath as they happened. I liked that the symbolism of shattered glass remained on the stage throughout the second act, showing that once a window has been broken, it stays broken. The first time “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” is performed, it’s a little disappointing as it’s all a bit abstract and doesn’t share the sense of the film version, where suddenly everyone around the main characters is part of this same machine. However, I was wrong to be disappointed as the reprise during an engagement party brings exactly that sense – the friends and neighbours of Fraulein Schneider are the ones who are embracing this new narrative and it’s terrifying.

As a Jewish person living in 2025, there’s so much more I could say on this but let’s not lose focus on the production itself. Given I’ve watched this and “The Book Thief” recently, I think I need to see “The Producers” next to get some Jewish humour counterbalance to all this darkness.

A word on the performances – as we got absorbed into the plot, I forgot about the disappointment of not seeing Reeve and Eva, which I would say is a good sign. Marina Tavolieri played Sally as both brash and vulnerable, especially during “Cabaret” at the end. It’s an interesting choice and I don’t know whether it’s part of this particular production or whether it was an individual performance but it’s sung very shakily, with regret and disillusionment. It makes sense from a character POV but it’s a bit like Anne Hathaway’s “I Dreamed a Dream” – sometimes you want the power of the song, as well as the emotion. The film version of the song is defiant whereas this was defeated, which I realise was an artistic choice but it didn’t 100% work for me from a musical standpoint. Her “Maybe This Time” was fabulous tho, as it had the same vulnerability but a lot of power behind it. If you’re wondering what my armchair-psychiatrist child has diagnosed Sally with, it’s ADHD. I have to say I agree.

I’m also not sure why the pairs of performers cast are the Emcee and Sally, as if those two are the main roles. Clifford is the protagonist and arguably has more stage time than either of them. It would make more sense for a pair of performers coming into the show to play Clifford and Sally, especially if they happen to be a married couple. That’s just my thought tho. The Emcee is pivotal but barely even shares a stage with Sally, whereas Clifford is, in effect, Sally’s partner for most of the show, despite being a closeted gay man.

Oh, and if you’re wondering whether the age rating is suitable then I’d say there are a few awkward moments and lots of explicit sexual references but in a very vaudeville kind of way. The school kids behind us sniggered a bit but there’s nothing in the show that a broad-minded teen shouldn’t see. It does deal a lot with the issue of sexuality and that’s explored through many of the characters’ stories – not just Clifford and Sally but also Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz and Fritzie and her sailors. They didn’t ask for ID at the door but definitely not one to try and sneak a small child into.

Back to Clifford, and he was ably played by Baker Mukasa. He’s very much the observer, briefly in Sally’s orbit but never really allowing himself to get fully drawn in. The scene near the end where he uncharacteristically loses control for a moment was very well done and with the right amount of restraint. It’s not as showy a role as others but it was very well done.

Similarly, the secondary characters – Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz – are not very showy but they were VK’s favourites and with a West End veteran like Ruthie Henshall in the role, you know you’re in for a treat. Their story brought a lump to my throat and I’ll never think of a pineapple in the same way again.

I realise I’m rambled on for quite some time and probably haven’t told you anything useful but I would say we both enjoyed it. VK has been singing “Maybe This Time” ever since and is planning on rocking the HP Christmas Fayre with her rendition. This production is not exactly like the film version and there are choices that might prove divisive but it’s a powerful retelling of the story and, once again, very timely. On a practical note, I should tell you that the first half is a full hour longer than the second half, which is slightly odd but just be prepared for that and don’t down a full stein because if you go in search of the loos, you might never come back.

It was a surreal thing to go to as a matinee because it’s so focused around nightlife but, this being November, it was dark when we emerged at 16:45. We went in search of dinner and, along the way, found this Emcee-like mannequin:

We decompressed with burgers and fries, which helped soak up the early afternoon spirits. I’d be interested in seeing the show again with different leads but, actually, the experience is more important than the exact cast I’d say. And it is quite an experience. Just remember to leave your troubles outside….

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Musical Con 2025 – 18/10/25

Posted on October 29, 2025 by katese11

I never normally watch or read other people’s reviews before I write mine but then I never normally leave things ten days before reviewing them. But yknow, there was “The Book Thief” the day afterwards and then choir and haircutting dogs and manics book launches and open evenings and Wales and Banbury. So all of that mean that it’s ten days later and along the way, I have heard a lot of other people’s opinions about Musical Con and some of theirs are the same as mine. Still, I try to be balanced in all things so this will be my own version, even if I occasionally reference things I’ve heard from others.

This was our second year at Musical Con and we had a lovely time last year but this year, I was a little wary. The schedule took a while to come out and when it did, there was a bit of a lack of big shows on the main stage. Last year, there was “Oliver!”, “Les Mis” and “Hadestown” and this year, the only one I really wanted to see was “The Producers”. The two big names that VK would have really loved – Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney – were both on the Sunday and we only had Saturday tickets. So I wondered if there would be a little less to do this year, but VK was excited anyway. And dressed as Gavroche, natch:

Because the Main Stage line up wasn’t quite so exciting this year, I decided to splash out on a masterclass to start the day right. It was an extra £15 each but I knew it would make VK happy as she’s obsessed with ““Operation Mincemeat” and the character of Hester in particular. So Hester’s actor Danny Becker running a class on singing through acting sounded perfect. And it was a lot of fun.

We were working on “Dear Bill”, which a lot of the group already knew quite well. There were a lot of Mincemeat cosplayers in the room, including two Spillsburies, a Haseldon and a few Charlies and Ewans. One of the Spillsburies even had a Brian in a drawer. VK was almost regretting her choice of cosplay but don’t worry, she was glad of it later.

Everyone who wanted to sing in front of the group got a chance and some were able to get feedback on their singing from Danny as well. There were some amazing voices in the room and seeing a Jane Doe singing “Dear Bill” really summed up what Musical Con should be about. Danny was very friendly and positive about everyone’s singing and it was a really feelgood start to the Con.

Next up was “The Producers” on the main stage, which I was excited about. We saw the production in around 2001 and then got the film soundtrack to listen to in the car when that came out. I wasn’t sure how the humour would work for the GenZ audience and sure enough, the punchline of “Keep it Gay” fell a bit flat. Joanna Woodward as Ulla belted out “When You Got it, Flaunt It” to well-deserved acclaim but it felt like the room just didn’t really understand the show. Ah well, I will eventually get round to booking tickets for my own teens and see what they make of it.

After that, it was more of a young person’s show – “Oscar at the Crown”. I’ve seen clips of some of the songs and I don’t think I’m target market but I appreciated the sheer energy of the performers. It’s probably a good show but the music and dancing is very much aimed at the ravers of 2025, not the ones who remember the raves of 1995. The second song, a ballad, was a total change of pace and I enjoyed that one more, even if I can’t remember much about it. It’s been ten days yknow.

As I was watching stuff on the main stage, VK was wandering around the market stalls and eyeing up theatre merch. I’d bumped into some friends from Highams Park earlier on but apart from that spent a fair amount of time on my own while my child did their own thing. Next time, I need a stagey sidekick to come with me. We did reconvene for lunch – chicken and fries for me, just fries for VK – and listened to the surprise cast reunion (“Clueless”) while we ate. Just like last year, there were no tables so we sat on the floor but it was just good to sit down for a bit.

Then it was time for “Star of Musical Con”, which was considerably shorter than last year. There was an astounding version of “Maybe This Time” by a 14-year-old singer and I was amazed she didn’t win. There was also a version of “As Long as He Needs Me”, which was a bold choice in front of someone who actually plays Nancy. The winner was a very crowd-pleasing rendition of “Defying Gravity”, which drew people from all over the room to film it as he sang. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose a winner as all the singers were just incredible.

Around this time, I lost VK for a while and apparently walked past her a number of times before finally stumbling across her. She was, of course, with the other Les Mis cosplayers at their designated fan zone meeting time. She’d been approached by them earlier in the day and given a rosette and a “join the revolution” business card. I think a lot of Les Amis already knew each other but they were very welcoming and she got to chat to them about the revolution plans while I hung around a little way away and watched Kerry Ellis from a distance. I also briefly bumped into Tess, who I’d done some IWD singing with in the City. It’s a small musical world.

By about 3, we were both exhausted and ready to go. We’d left home super early to make sure we were there in time for the masterclass and it had been a knackering week, with the Echobelly gig and our roof being repaired. So we went to the Costa just outside the Con and sat for a while in the relative peace, enjoying restorative coffee and frappe.

The big question is then – is Musical Con worth it? A lot of people have said no, because you can get the same thing for free at West End Live and there are a lot more shows involved there. To them, I would say that my kids were planning to go to West End Live (Nathan and I had a ukulele gig that day) and decided not to because the square was at capacity long before the end of the queue got anywhere near. It was also 32c that day and I was (rightly) worried about heatstroke. So it’s not really comparable.

But, for the experience to worth so much more than the free event, it does really need to offer a bit more. Yes, it’s fun to look at the cosplay and there are lots of nice stalls but all the best bits aren’t included in the ticket price. Our highlight was definitely the masterclass with Danny Becker but that was an add on when the entry alone was hefty. It felt like there were long periods of time on the main stage when nothing was happening – I don’t remember that from last year, as I think there was always *something*, even if it was just a compere starting a singalong. The list of shows wasn’t as extensive as last year and it just felt a bit less was going on. I remember there being a large exhibition on set design and a Hadestown stand with Persephone’s coat to try on. This year there was a small Lion King display but that was it really.

Also, when presenters did come onto the main stage, there was a lot of screaming that was super loud over the PA. Given how neurodiverse a lot of musical theatre fans are, it was not a sensory-friendly experience. We saw a sensory quiet room near the masterclass but we’d had to show masterclass tickets to get to it so I’m not sure how anyone else would access that area. It was through a small door and up a flight of stairs so not the most obvious placement either. Also, it was not at all obvious where the loos were and I had to leave the Con with a handstamp and come back in to use them, which I don’t think we had to last time. As others have pointed out, the placement of the market stalls made it very hard to get around and it would have been a nightmare in a wheelchair. So there is more to be done on accessibility.

I’ve drawn out some negatives there but I should say, there have been a few improvements from last year. Moving the backstage theatre to the other side of the wall from the main stage meant that the panellists could actually be heard, which was good. I didn’t get the chance to attend any of the panels but the noise seemed much more contained than last year. Also, it’s good that there was a sensory room on offer, even if it wasn’t overly signposted. Apparently, the Sunday was a lot calmer than the Saturday so maybe next year we’ll skip church and go then, especially as some of the best guests were on the Sunday.

We didn’t have a terrible time by any stretch but it did feel a bit muted….the initial excitement of bumping into Phantoms on the Elizabeth Line faded over the course of six hours and I wished there was a bit more to do and see without splashing out extra. VK had a good time tho and bumped into some theatre kid friends from school, so that was good.

We went home via Prince Regent as we were that end of Excel. Excel is a bit spooky when it’s empty:

And Prince Regent is a bit pointless as it’s less than a minute on the DLR to Custom House. Both VK and I do love a DLR trip but we walked so far to change to the Elizabeth Line at Custom House that we really should just have walked back there in the first place. Hint – if you can see the next station, then it’s probably not worth getting the train. Even when it’s the wizard train.

A fun day out but a tad expensive once you factor in coffee before and afterwards and lunch and merch. I’m sure we’ll go again next year but let’s see if they take on board all of the feedback from the various reviewers and make it a day that truly is “for the fans”,

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“The Book Thief” at Prince of Wales Theatre -19/10/25

Posted on October 23, 2025 by katese11

It’s been a few days since we saw The Book Thief but it’s haunting me still. Maybe because it is so very prescient or maybe because it’s a tale for all times….of man’s cruelty to man but the strength of human kindness providing some light even in the darkest of times. And who better to guide us through this tale than the master storyteller Melanie LaBarrie?

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know that VK is quite the MLB fan, having seen her a couple of times as Hermes in Hadestown and even met her at a meet and greet earlier this year:

I saw her last ever performance as Hermes, where the warmth felt for her was incredible and it was the same at MusicalCon last year. I do have a review of MusicalCon 2025 brewing by the way but I’m a bit behind on blogging. Blame the manics, among others.

So the idea of MLB as Death, narrating The Book Thief was intriguing and she did not disappoint. She was funny, poignant, even tragic at times but brilliant as ever. She was born to tell stories and this was perfect for her. If this is what death is really like – a hug from Melanie LaBarrie – then none of us should fear it. I’m welling up on the Victoria Line even as I write this.

But this production was more than just one person. To rewind a little and give some context- this was billed as a staged concert. So not a fully produced show but with some acting around the songs. It was actually much more developed than that – there were costumes, props and scenes as you’d expect from a full production. There was even choreography. The set was very basic but if you hadn’t told me it was “in development” then I would have just assumed it was another Jamie Lloyd happening.

The story is fairly simple – a couple in Nazi Germany foster a small girl who has a habit of stealing books she can’t read. The small girl, Liesl, was played by Estella Evans and her foster parents were played by Jack Lord and Cat Simmons.

I know I’ve watched the film before but I’m not sure whether I’ve ever read the book. I definitely cannot nitpick on the scale that I did for Ballet Shoes. But I do think some changes were made in terms of the order of events and occasionally that showed in the plot. There was a thread involving the mayor’s wife that never really developed beyond a couple of scenes and I wonder if that was a remnant of a previous version where Liesl ends up living with the mayor and his wife as she does in the book.

But that one plot bump aside, the show makes perfect sense. There isn’t a huge amount that happens but it’s about regaining a sense of family even in the midst of horror around you. Part of that family is Jewish boxer Max (Isaac Gryn) who is hidden in the cellar and with whom Liesl makes an unbreakable bond. It’s implied that he’s taken to a concentration camp but then returns at the end for a happyish ending. Sorry, I should have spoiler-warninged that shouldn’t I?

One thing I won’t spoiler is the tragedy of the piece, which was an emotional high point. We certainly both cried so much that I considered calling in sick to work the next day. When Death is your narrator, you know that she is going to visit some of the characters you care about but still….it was absolutely heartwrenching.

It’s not all sadness though. There is lightness to be found along the way too, especially as Liesl and her friend Rudy (Blake Graham) run around the town, oblivious to the growing horrors around them. There are some gorgeous moments with skies full of stars appearing just above the stage. There’s also a snowball fight with Max in the cellar (“Bring in the Cheer”) and a song about how much a wife hates her husband’s accordion playing (“Dreadful”). VK laughed out loud several times, especially at Melanie La Barrie’s perfectly-timed jokes. Although I’m not sure whether the “Mein Kampf 2016” line was a joke or just a fact.

So there’s humour and joy but there are also some intense moments. There are also some very timely reminders about how fascism can take hold of ordinary people because it’s easier to think as everyone else does, rather than resist. With all the tension in the world at the moment, it’s a bold time to stage a musical that wholly condemns extremism but it’s a message the world needs. It’s beautiful, it’s challenging and it’s only in London for a very limited time so I would urge you to act quickly if you do want to see it for yourself.

Afterwards, we were in desperate need of restorative carbs and it was raining far too much to do stage door, so we wandered down Brewer Street to find VK’s current restaurant of choice – Honest Burger. And here was the beacon of hope shining through the rain:

False hope, as it turns out. The branch was about to close because of kitchen problems so we had to walk back down the length of Brewer Street to find another branch. Eventually though, we had our chips and all was well. Don’t ask about Monday morning…

“The Book Thief” has two more shows on 26th October. For tickets and more info, click here

No disclaimer needed as I paid for this show. All opinions remain honest and my own.

Posted in Reviewing the Situation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Echobelly at the Electric Ballroom – 16/10/25

Posted on October 18, 2025 by katese11

It’s not been long since the last time we went to a 90s album playthrough at the Electric Ballroom – in fact, it’s been a matter of weeks. That last playthrough was a little shambolic so, as much as I was looking forward to this one, I was a little apprehensive too.

First off, some context here about why this album was so special to me in the 90s. Echobelly at Southampton Guildhall was my first proper gig and a bit of googling suggests it was 26th Feb 1996 although one website insists they were in Portsmouth that night. I won’t say which website it was cause yknow, confusing Portsmouth and Southampton is practically a hate crime in some quarters. But I know I was there and remember it well. I’d just got “On” for my birthday a few days before and, on the advice of my friend and gigmate Liz, had listened to it obsessively in preparation. So the words of that album are embedded in my brain and that would stand me in good stead for this gig.

Even before I got the album tho, Echobelly had a bit of a special place for me. The birthday before I got “On”, I was turning 14 and still trying to believe I was a mainstream pop-picker. So I’d asked for the Brit Awards Compilation and we listened to it in the car on the way down to Wales to see my baby nephron. I found myself weirdly drawn to a couple of the tracks – “Girls and Boys” was one and “Insomniac” by Echobelly was the other one, straight after that. I didn’t want to like indie because a girl at school liked indie and I didn’t like her. But it was the Spring of 1995 and indie was coming for me whether I liked it or not. Almost exactly a year later, there I was pogoing to “Great Things” in the mosh pit.

One more thing before I actually tell you what happened last night – Nathan and I saw Echobelly, in 2001 at ULU. They had a new album out and barely played anything from “On” but that night will live on in my mind as one of the greatest nights ever because we bumped into half of Blur at the bar. See, good vibes follow Echobelly round.

Onto Camden then! I’d learnt from our last trip not to try and smuggle snacks into the ballroom but honestly, there were times last night when I really could have done with a few Squashies. Instead, I just had to rely on the bouncy pop of “On” to keep me dancing constantly. The band turned up promptly unlike Evan and straight away, there was bouncy pop abounding. The album starts with the three best-known songs, so there is a danger of peaking too early with this format…but it’s unavoidable. So we just had to throw ourselves into it.

It’s harder to throw yourself into the moshpit when all around you are standing still tho. The crowd was quite blokey and, obviously, we were all of a certain age. Lots of people were just kinda standing around so even tho we had a dance, there was a distinct lack of moshpit action. Maybe it was different right at the front.

They started, as you’d expect, with “Car Fiction” and the crowd did not exactly go wild but they certainly appreciated it. Then “King of the Kerb”, which seemed better known and got a few people around us dancing. But it was obviously the third song – “Great Things” – which got the sort of raucous reaction that every song deserved. I mean, if you only know one Echobelly song it’s gonna be that one although I’m not sure how many middle-aged people would venture out on a school night to see a band if they only knew one song. Maybe those people are the kind of people who like to obsessively video female lead singers during gigs. I couldn’t possibly say.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not the natural way to structure a set if your best-known songs are all front loaded but hey, it’s how the saying goes. Sorry, I meant it’s how the album goes. The next couple of songs – “Natural Animal” and “Go Away” were less well known but Sonya kept the atmosphere light and frothy with cheeky jokes and invitations to waltz around the ballroom. She promised a joke that she never actually told so if anyone knows what she meant, please do enlighten the rest of us. 

Talking of cheeky, “Pantyhose and Roses” went down well, with everyone cheering the refrain of “it could change, it will never”. I’m not saying that us 90s kids fear change but yknow…there’s a reason we’re singing along to an album that’s 30 years old. I think it was a wise choice by the band to not mess around with the songs too much….after 30 years, it’s probably tempting to “reimagine” some of them, like Blur playing “Parklife” at double speed. But the songs were played faithfully and flawlessly and I, for one, appreciated that.

The other great thing (pun intended) about Echobelly is that they do gorgeous ballads just as easily as they do fun pop songs. Tracks from the second half of the album, like “Something Hot in a Cold Country”, “Dark Therapy” and “Worms and Angels” shimmered as lights beamed across the crowd. The ballroom was full of magic as we came to the end of what was really quite a short album. I was wondering what they would do next but Sonya handily told us: “We’ll play some songs from the first album, then we’ll £^%# off, you’ll shout for more and then we’ll come back for two more songs”

That’s a very pragmatic way to handle the will-they-won’t-they of encores but I find that Swedish people generally are very pragmatic. I should also say that I don’t know the first album as well as “On” because I had to wait for Christmas and birthdays to get new albums so we survived on whatever scraps of music we could find. Makes me wonder if GenZ know how lucky they are, having all the music from human history at their fingertips. I would wonder whether they were sufficiently grateful for that but I’m pretty sure that they’re not.

All of which is a long way of saying that I’m not 100% sure how the set ended. But I know it included “Atom” (after a cue from the audience) and “Close…But”. Only one of those is from the first album, it turns out. The last last song was definitely “I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me”, which *was* from the first album. But there were a couple of other tracks I didn’t know which might have been first album or B-sides. I don’t think there was much that was post-1995 during the night, so it truly was a nostalgia fest in the best kind of way. Compared to the Lemonheads, it was very controlled and polished but never in a sterile way. It was joyful throughout but there is something great about…yknow…competence. Sorry Evan.

I think the “On” tour still has a few dates left so if you loved the album back in the day, you should book….it’s well worth it. More details here. Just maybe book the next day off work to give your aching limbs a break after all that pogoing…

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“Kurt Cobain Unplugged” at the Royal College of Music – 10/09/25

Posted on September 20, 2025 by katese11

What to do with a day’s annual leave during a tube strike? Well, if you’re a sensible person you stay home and maybe have a nice walk in the forest. If you’re me, you force your husband to spend many hours of his birthday on various modes of transport to go and see two things in West London. As I type this, I’m suddenly reminded of the time I made him stand on a traffic island in Waterloo on his birthday so I could take a photo of the Number 4 bus. It was a gift for my baby niece, don’t ya know?

Anyway, he didn’t complain. I think he was glad someone else was making decisions for him, even if those decisions weren’t always soundly made. But it all turned out fine. I hadn’t even told him I’d taken the day off work until after we’d been out for coffee so his head was probably spinning too much to even considering complaining.

I didn’t tell him where we were going until we were outside and a large sign gave him the answer he was looking for. I won’t try to maintain the same suspense with you as it’s right there in the post title – it’s an exhibition on Kurt Cobain, in the context of the MTV Unplugged session from 1993. All through the journey, I’d tried hard to manage his expectations because the £5 ticket price made me think this was not going to be a huge exhibition. And while they had two impressive artefacts on display, the wording in the marketing made me wonder if they had anything else other than those two artefacts. Still, I think Nathan was pleasantly surprised when the “two things” turned out to be things he was actually interested in and not just two random things. I am good at managing expectations, as it turns out.

First tho, a word on my tube strike hack journey. We usually go to South Ken on the Piccadilly Line – Overground from HP, Vic line from Walthamstow, Pic line from Finsbury Park. But the Overground was the only bit of that that was functioning that day so we went all the way to Liverpool Street and hoped that the Elizabeth Line was open.

It was! The usual tube entrance – opposite the Overground platforms – was closed but the separate entrance outside the station was open and there was no queue to get in. It’s the entrance near the Amazon Fresh shop. A few days after this, I would see the queue for that entrance stretch all the way back to the station building and round the corner so we were lucky to be travelling in the middle of the day.

From Liverpool Street, it’s a mere hop on the Liz Line to Paddington and from there a mile’s walk to South Ken. I was slightly sceptical about the last bit, as thunderstorms had been forecast but we were in luck. It was drizzly as we emerged from Paddington but it soon cleared up and we crossed Hyde Park in glorious sunshine.

It felt a bit like an American romcom set in London – doesn’t every Londoner cross Hyde Park on an daily basis in those films? – but it genuinely was the easiest way and brought us out just near the Royal College of Music. I’ve only attempted this route once before and that definitely was in the rain – that time we had teens and suitcases (the aforementioned baby niece) and had to hide out in Queen Anne’s Alcove to eat our pasta salad. No sniggering at the back there.

So we definitely lucked out managing to time this between rainstorms. Tho a rainstorm in Hyde Park would have been very American romcom too. And we saw some amazing dogs on the way, including four giant ones that looked like lions. Good boys. We also saw the Peter Pan statue, tho it’s hard to get a photo without tourists in it:

Then we found where we were actually meant to be, the secret was revealed and all we had to do was go down a couple of flights of stairs, through a museum of instruments and up another flight to find where were meant to be. Even without the exhibition, RCM is worth a visit. The interiors are gorgeous and it has this really quirky building-within-a-building bit:

The exhibition was indeed small but there were more than just two things to look at. We were there for about 40 minutes in all I reckon, as there were bits to read and watch as well as the two main attractions. But I can’t hold off from telling you about them for much longer so here they are:

Thing 1 – Kurt Cobain’s guitar that he was playing for the Unplugged session. It came with the original case and number of little oddities that were inside the case (cutlery themed lapel pins, for one):

It’s a right-handed guitar adapted for left-handed playing i.e. the strings have been put the other way up. Which means that the scratchplate is on the wrong side to be of any use and so you can see all the scratches where the scratchplate should be.

Thing 2 – Kurt Cobain’s cardigan that he was wearing for the Unplugged session. This was also in “pre-loved” state, with a cigarette burn, a missing button and a mysterious stain. But that made it authentic, right? One of the descriptions said Kurt was wearing a green cardigan for the session but to me it looks grey, both IRL and on the videos they were playing. Maybe it was green when it was first made and has faded? This could be Gen X’s version of the white/gold dress debate.

There are also displays around the edges, telling the story of both Nirvana and the guitar. There are some handwritten notes from Kurt to his manager and some handwritten lyrics too. There’s a wall of post-its from other visitors, which range from the amazingly intricate:

To the “not written by me but it could have been?”:

The thing I found most intriguing though was the video of the band rehearsing for the MTV session. It’s really interesting to see them try songs, screw them up, bicker a little and then do it better. Just like running a choir or a ukulele group. They really struggled with “The Man Who Sold the World”, proving my theory that it’s impossible to play the riff and sing the melody at the same time. I sat and watched the video for ages and felt better about my own abilities on that song as a result.

There was also an interactive room, with Guitar Hero and dress-up cardigans but it wasn’t entirely clear whether we were allowed in there or whether it was, essentially, for children. It had a photo opportunity, with the Unplugged black candles and a wall of ukuleles but I tried a couple of ukes and they weren’t tuned so I quickly gave up.

So, not a massive exhibition but certainly worth a visit while it’s on. There are audio guides included in the ticket price so it’s extremely reasonable and any Nirvana fan would enjoy it, I reckon.

We had a quick look at the musical instruments gallery downstairs and then emerged to find that we had missed another storm.

I always enjoy a wander down Exhibition Road and it’s especially pretty in the post-storm sunshine:

And I forgot to mention earlier that we also spotted a giant ape along the way:

We were on the search for food and I’d remembered there was something “like a fake Subway” at South Kensington tube. I was hoping it would be open, even though the station wasn’t. And it was! It’s called “More Than Just Subs” but Nathan, exercising his right to freewill, had a sub anyway. Plus some chips:

It’s a pretty cost-effective way to eat in a pricey area, especially as we had birthday curry planned for later and didn’t want to ruin our appetites. I had a BBQ Chicken wrap which was tasty but extremely messy to eat.

Then we decided to go an alternative tube-strike-hack way home, starting with a 430 bus to West Brompton. It wasn’t exactly fast-moving so, after a long time in the same place, we decided to get off the bus and walk the last stop. At which point, it obviously shot off without us. And that’s the same point as the heavens opened and our rain-dodging luck finally ran out.

Ah well, it wasn’t far to the station and then we just needed to sit on the Mildmay Line for 45 until it reached Hackney Central. I’d like to say that we took in all the sights of Willesden, Hampstead and Camden on the way but truth be told, there isn’t much you can see from the train. There were some nice greenhouses at Kensington Olympia though.

And that was pretty much it for our adventure. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to do it on a tube strike day again but it all worked out well. The exhibition is on until November so if you’re interested click here for tickets and more info. Just look at this happy birthday boy:

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August Bonanza – Club de Evita-Feel-Gatsby

Posted on August 31, 2025 by katese11

It’s very nearly the end of August. Whether this brings joy or despair to your heart probably depends on whether your child is climbing up the walls with summer holiday boredom or whether they’re living their best life in pyjamas and not looking forward to the return.

Bitta both here, gotta be honest.

But on the upside, we’ve crammed quite a lot of fun into this last week or so. Some of it with kids, and some of it without. All of which has resulted in this very contrived but alphabetically pleasing post title.

So, the first thing that happened was the “Feel” bit and that might be the most contrived bit of this whole title. Specifically, it was the Lemonheads that we were feeling as they played through their sixth studio album at the Electric Ballroom. I was a bit concerned about how the gig might go, having seen reviews of their Dublin show, where Evan Dando had argued with the audience and walked off mid-set. Luckily, we got a slightly more docile version of Evan and he completed the full set – the album plus an encore full of hits. Were all those songs played at the correct speed and with all the words present and correct? No. But was there a beginning, middle and end to the set? Yeah, kinda. The middle was a bit improvisational but there were times at the beginning and end when muscle memory kicked in and he played the songs almost perfectly. Kudos to the rest of the band who heroically kept things going whenever it looked ropey. It felt more like an immersive rock n roll experience than watching a professional singer perform….but did we Feel the Lemonheads? Yeah, I can say that we did.

More feelings were present the next day, as VK and I joined the crowds in Argyll Street to watch the balcony scene of “Evita”. We were out shopping for new term clothes (uniform and casuals for VK, college clothes for Roo) and timed our late lunch at Five Guys very well. We got there around half 3, had time to eat and have a couple of drink refills before slipping out to watch. Roo wasn’t that bothered so he kept our table while we went to have a look. And when I say “look”, I really mean “listen” as we were way too late to get anywhere near being able to see. We briefly spotted Rachel Ziegler when going back into Five Guys but you cannot stand in that spot to watch as security will move you on. So we stood in the crowd and listened for the 5 minutes of so it took. I probably wouldn’t recommend going into London for the experience alone but it worked well when combined with a shopping day. It was strangely moving – having been very sceptical about this whole Jamie Lloyd concept, I was then slightly embarrassed to find a small tear rolling down my cheek. I think it’s partly that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music is very evocative, especially these songs that I’ve known my entire life. But there was also an element of being part of a crowd of people experiencing a Moment together, even though I had been the biggest doubter going. I know the song specifically says not to cry but sometimes you just have to lean into the theatre kid nerdiness and embrace the feelz.

Talking of theatre kids, we saw Gatsby again the day after the Evita outing. There isn’t much to say about Gatsby that I didn’t covered in my last review but I will say that the £80 seats are far more comfortable than the £20 seats were. Not that I paid £80 for them – thank you London Theatre Kids Week – but you could definitely tell the difference. Which meant that I enjoyed it quite a lot more this time round. It’s not on for much longer so it’s definitely worth rushing to get a ticket if you enjoy a bit of razzle-dazzle.

All of which brings us to the “Club de” bit. This was another childfree jaunt to Club de Fromage’s daytime party, which we previously went to last June. I would say that a lot of the same elements popped up again – the singalong to “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, the dance competition to “Reach for the Stars” and, of course the Fromage national anthem of “YMCA”. So as fun as some of those things are, I think I’d need to know there was something fresh on the menu if we went a third time. There was an indie room upstairs, which is more my kinda scene, but the Britpop tracks were the mainstream kinda ones (including “Girls and Boys” twice) and the rest of the indie was more 80s than 90s, despite the 90s-themed marketing. I’m not saying we didn’t have fun – we danced a lot and drank a bit and a good time was had – but the indie playlist wasn’t quite up to D2K standards and the main room was a bit similar to last time.

But anyway, I’m tired. I’ve eaten at Honest Burger twice this week, Five Guys twice, a late night Popeyes in Camden and somewhere along the line I’ve done a couple of days of work as well. Are we ready for September? Probably not but it’s not like we can stop it creeping up on us….so brace yourselves. Term is about to start, whether you’re ready or not. And to illustrate it, here’s a picture of the kids from “Evita” day, looking like they’re studying hard but really they’re turning colouring sheets into “Undertale” memes. Happy September everyone!

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“The Mousetrap” at St Martin’s Theatre – 25/08/25

Posted on August 28, 2025 by katese11

Now, I’m not sure what you’re expecting from a review of a 73-year-old play but I’ll tell you what you’re not going to get – spoilers. There’s a tradition of keeping the Whodunnit in this Whodunnit under wraps and I swear by all that is Christie that I will not be the blogger to break that tradition.

So what is there to say? Well, I can tell you all about the gorgeous little St Martin’s Theatre, which looks like it has barely changed since the 1950s:

And I can tell you about the slightly uncomfortable seats – not Gatsby by any stretch but not the most comfortable we’ve sat in either. Still, we got the cheapest tickets available and had a very decent view of the stage so can’t complain. I can tell you about the toilets, which were as bijou as its neighbour, the Ambassadors. And I can tell you a little about the production itself, which must have a reason for being the West End’s longest running play.

It’s a classic country house murder mystery set up. If it was a TV show, it’d be called a bottle episode – one set, eight actors, no multi-roleing (although there are some hats). The play starts with a scream, which I think chronologically fits at the end of the first act, and the radio announcer right at the start sets out the background to the mystery, which concerns a sudden death in Paddington. Incidentally, the radio announcer has been the same voice throughout the show’s run – Deryck Guyler recorded the announcement in 1952 and it has been used for every performance since.

The current cast are Georgina Duncan and Sam Hollis as Mr and Mrs Ralston, Adam Woolley as Christopher Wren, Lucy Tregear as Mrs Boyle, Neil Reidman as Major Metcalf, Chloe Fenwick-Brown as Miss Casewell, John Wark as Mr Paravicini and Jack Condon as Sgt Trotter. They all play the roles fairly straight, as they were first written and there’s no attempt to update the 1950s sensibilities for a modern audience. There are no cheeky winks, no anachronistic pop culture references and no shoehorned social commentary beyond what was in the original script. And I admire that – it must be tempting to try and tinker with things and give them more of a 2025 feel but what we’re looking at is essentially a time capsule and even if the actors were born after the play was written, they still handle the material as their predecessors would have. It’s an incredible thing to be part of – knowing that we’re in the same seats as the1950s audience and watching the same show.

When I say it’s lacking in cheeky winks, that’s not to say it’s lacking in humour. There was plenty to entertain even the Gen Alpha teen as I heard her guffawing a few times, especially at the antics of the childlike Christopher Wren. There are jokes written in but nothing that takes you out of universe. We are all in a snowy guesthouse in rural Berkshire and there is no demand of the audience other than to watch the mystery unfold. Even the reference to the Berkshire Police is accurate to the time – it would be Thames Valley Police nowadays but I have googled and apparently they have only been reducing crime, disorder and fear since 1968.

There are a few character choices that a modern audience might interpret differently to how they were originally written – the mannish Miss Casewell is clearly lesbian-coded in the eyes of the teens and the aforementioned Christopher is clearly neuro-diverse. But that’s just how these kids see the world – “Gatsby” and “Mincemeat” got similarly analysed afterwards.

The mystery stands up well too. There are enough clues dropped throughout that you can have a good chance of solving it (and we got pretty close with our interval theories) but it isn’t super-obvious. There are some large red herrings, as there should be, and it’s worth paying attention to the small details. Also, as is my experience with living in Berkshire, people will go to London any time they can just to avoid being in Berkshire for a day. Don’t blame me – Agatha Christie said it. Kinda.

Oh, and in case you were wondering….mango sorbet for me this time. Strawberries and Cream for Nathan and VK and crisps for Roo. This stuff is pretty much our staple diet this year.

So a more traditional show than some we’ve seen lately but a lot of fun nonetheless. It’s been on our to-see list for over 20 years now so a relief to finally tick it off…and seats were pretty cheap with London Theatre Week too. If you’re curious about what makes a play stand the test of time, it’s well worth a visit. Just don’t spill any spoilers…

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Terrific Tenerife#3 – Whales and Dolphins, Whales and Dolphins, yeah!

Posted on August 20, 2025 by katese11

When I said I didn’t mean to write two posts, you’ll realise that I definitely definitely didn’t mean to write three posts. But here we are. So far, I’ve told you about lounging and water parking and now for the whale-watching. I know, quite the change of pace.

This was again inspired by the Jet2 brochure but we found a few different ways of booking, all of which led to the same glass-bottomed boat. It was leaving from Dock 12 at Puerto Colón at 10:30 and whichever site we used, it would be the same excursion. Also, it was not glass-bottomed.

What they mean by that is that there are large glass windows in the bottom of the boat, that you can use to spot the wildlife. It is not, as you might think, a boat with an entirely glass floor.

We walked from the hotel and it was, again, around a kilometre to get there. When we got close, it occurred to me that we probably should have got a taxi, if only to get us up the road to the dock which didn’t seem to have any kind of pedestrian access. There was a promising-looking raised pathway on Google Maps but when we got there, we realised there was no way to get back down from the pathway to the dock. So it was a choice of either taking your chances in the road, facing down coaches as well as cars, or balancing on the edge of the dock itself, with nothing to stop you plunging into the harbour. We winged it with a little of both – swerving into the path of a coach when the dockside was blocked by a queue of passengers and squeezing past the queue when the road was blocked with cars.

After the Siam Park experience, I’m starting to think that H&S is not a Canarian speciality.

Anyway, we made it to Dock 12 intact and embarked fairly swiftly. Each family group was made to stop and have a photo taken on the way in but spoiler: we didn’t end up buying ours. We all looked sunburnt and apprehensive. It was never gonna make it to the family Christmas card.

Why apprehensive? Because of the prospect of seasickness, of course. A lot of the Google reviews of the trip had mentioned it in passing and, after playing in the waves at the beach, I was more than aware that they were…ungentle. I’m an easy puker at the best of times, although I somehow survived the very rocky trip back from France in 2019. It seemed likely that we would all struggle a bit on a catamaran that was tackling the high seas. The Royal Delfin website somewhat disingenuously advised to take medication before boarding but, despite my handbag resembling a mobile pharmacy, I haven’t trusted motion sickness tablets since the infamous Joyrides of the 80s.

With the mobile pharmacy failing to deliver, I stopped at the actual farmacia on the way. I left the hotel a few minutes before Nathan and the kids and didn’t tell them where I was going. I somehow felt that if I raised the subject of seasickness, then they would psychosomatically be more prone to it. So I remained vague about my early morning mission.

I needn’t have worried. It took approximately 10 minutes from sailing for the first sighting of not dolphins but the slightly-less-elusive green sick bags. A small child walked past us unsteadily and was sick in the bin and several others followed suit.

I think my teens clocked, at this point, that mal de mar might be on the cards.

So, to continue the metaphor, I showed my hand early. I whipped out the bag of “anti-nausea” lollipops the nice farmacia lady had sold me and we slurped on them like they were lifesaving medicine. Again, there might be a psychosomatic element to this but none of us were sick in the end. There were some close calls but we were OK. Good work, lollipops! I also banned the kids from looking down at their phones and made them stare straight ahead while seated, which is another trick I swear by. Look, I have experience, OK? I was a carsick child, a university student with a taste for cheap cocktails and an exhausted pregnant lady. Me and holding off the nausea are like that. I didn’t manage to procure any mint chewing gum or ice lollies, which are my other go-tos but these lollipops did the job.

And we didn’t just sit there in silence – there was a commentary from the guide and, in between points of interest, we played elaborate alphabet games and versions of “What Beats Rock?”. Around an hour in, we actually got to the point of the trip, which was to see dolphins and sure enough, we did.

What, you were expecting pictures? I was balancing precariously on the front of the boat when the dolphins were swimming past and I could barely stand up, let alone frame a decent photo. I took this one of the sea, which I swear had some dolphins in it, but even then I had to crop out a child vomiting next to me:

Nathan had a little more luck, taking photos from the windows on the side. Apparently there are pilot whales in this photo:

All of which is to say that sometimes, you just have to live in the moment. While it would have been lovely to get some amazing dolphin pictures for the blog, there was a risk that I would miss seeing them because I was faffing around with a phone and trying not to drop it over the edge. It was much more satisfying to just keep my eyes on the sea and watch them swim past.

And I do love dolphins. Don’t all 90s kids?

When the boat was stopped, it was probably also peak motion sickness time. We were getting battered around from side to side and I had to sit with my eyes shut and focus on reciting tube stations in my head. So while I got a good look at the dolphins, I missed out on the pilot whales a bit. But not as much as some unfortunate passengers, who had basically spent the entire trip with their heads in their hands. Weirdly, as soon as we were back in motion and powering back to shore, I felt fine. Fine enough to join in the tail-end of what was becoming a very surreal and existential “What Beats Rock?”

Incidentally, Reuben just put “Jet2 Holidays” into the site and apparently, there *is* something that can beat a Jet2 holiday. Rock, for one.

If it sounds like this was a small amount of pleasure for a lot of peril, then you’d be right. But it was nice to be out on the water and we saw a lot more of the island than we would on foot. We saw the volcano (Teide), albeit it from afar, and learnt a bit more about Tenerife than we would have just sitting around in the pool. But I was slightly relieved to get us all back on dry land.

After all that exertion, we had the perfect excuse to do nothing for the rest of the day except gorge on carbs at lunchtime to offset the earlier nausea. I even slept through cocktail hour that evening – it must have been all the sea air.

The rest of the holiday was mainly more swimming, sitting around and wandering along the beach at golden hour:

VK even began to swim on her own by the end of the week, which is a massive breakthrough for someone with so much swimming-related trauma. I’m still not ready to let her go solo on a waterslide though.

We also spent some time hiding in terror from resort mascots like Mr Balloonhead, with his strangler’s hands, and Skeletal Pooh:

But generally all went smoothly until the journey home. And even that wasn’t a disaster on the scale of our trip to Mallorca, where we were so late back that we’d had to check into a hotel in Crawley at 5am and stay there till lunchtime. No, these things are relatively minor but made us a little twitchy when we had a party to get to in Cambridge.

First, there was the transfer back to the airport which had a pickup window of 8:10-8:40 and didn’t turn up till 8:45. I was on hold to Jet2, listening to *that* song yet again by the time it lurched in. We made it to the airport with exactly two hours before the flight and cleared bag drop and security relatively quickly. Then we grabbed some Popeyes fries for VK and some crisps, water and headphones before going through another queue for Passport Control. The flight was 15 minutes late taking off, which is extremely good going by our standards.

However, a late take off runs the risk of missing our slot when landing and that’s exactly what happened. We landed at Stansted not far off schedule and then spent a very long time on the tarmac waiting for a gate to become available. Baggage Reclaim took an age and then we spent a while eating Leon fries, nuggets and burgers (vegan for VK) before buying some breakfast foods from M&S and getting to the car.

Not into the car, of course. No, that would depend on now having a flat tyre when we got back. Which we did. So once more, we were sitting on the tarmac at Stansted, this time inhaling lungfuls on manure-scented air, which didn’t sit that well on top of the Kimchi Fries I’d just devoured.

But all was well! The AA turned up, we had clear roads all the way to Cambridge and we got to the venue just in time for the first dance. As we left the airport, “Sit Down” by James was playing and we took that as a good omen that we would soon be dancing with our indie disco friends….to “Sit Down” by James, as it happens.

Minor catastrophises aside, it was probably our most successful holiday yet. Tenerife was beautiful and, for the most part, relaxing. There was also a woman who could spin a hula hoop on her arse. And that is a fitting end to this epic series of posts I think. Adios!

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Terrific Tenerife#2 – We’ll All Go to Raging Waters

Posted on August 19, 2025 by katese11

Now, I didn’t mean to make this holiday into two posts as it was really quite a straightforward week of lounging about. But turns out I can write a lot of words about that BAU lounging without getting on to the more chaotic and/or memorable bits that might be of interest to a wider audience. Fascinating as I’m sure you’d all found my cocktail list, it’s time to move on. Before I start listing ice cream flavours (Cream flavour? Who knew?)

Anyway, part of the Jet2 experience is that you get a rep who talks to you enthusiastically about excursions. We failed to make the appointment on our first day because…well, I can’t remember why. But we’d been at 2am the day before and life was still a bit hazy round the edges. But we had the brochure we’d been given on the coach and we had a few days out that we liked the look of. So, I tried WhatsApping the Jet2 team with some basic questions, like what age a “child” ticket would be for.

AI came back to me with some answers. Not necessarily the answers to my questions but answers nonetheless. Like “The child’s age is typically specified in the accommodation description page, and the child’s age on the date of return must not exceed the specified age.”

Err, thanks. Eventually, we gave up and just booked the excursions we wanted directly without the further help of the Jet2bot or any further funds going to buy him new diodes. Sorry, not in the Jet2 spirit, I know.

The first excursion was to Siam Park, which was a water park around 1km from the hotel. I looked at the route on Google Maps and couldn’t quite work out how to navigate the dual carriageway between the hotel and park on foot. So we found a taxi, which delivered us there for a mere 6Euros. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing because VK wasn’t a swimmer but it looked like there were options which would be safe for her. And also sealions, which everyone loves. The puppies of the sea!

Having pre-booked meant we could go almost straight in, despite the crowd at the gate and some confusing “VIP only” signage. It’s called Siam Park because it’s modelled on Thailand but “Born in the USA” blaring over the speakers ruined the illusion somewhat.

The good thing is, tho – sealions as soon as you walk in:

Aww, aren’t they just bebbies?

The other good thing is that the whole site is densely covered in trees, to emulate the jungle. That means that the paths between different areas are shady and don’t get too hot, even in the midday sun.

We headed first for the Coco Beach area, to find some lockers and relax a bit in the wave pool. The lockers part was more complicated than anticipated as none of them had keys in, so I thought they were all taken. But it turns out you need to pay for a key at the desk and then you can have it for the day. For a princely 10Euros. I’ll never complain about the price of the Legoland ones again.

The wave pool was a hit though, and there were loos and a snack bar nearby so we could have easily spent most of the day there. Roo was after some excitement tho, so we headed on.

On the way to excitement, we found Sawasdee, which I think was intended for tiny children but the un-tiny ones had a quick slide anyway. There’s a traffic light system for the rides, where Green is suitable for all, Amber more challenging and Red for the adrenaline rides. It was evident at the start of each ride what was what but it didn’t have the same coding on the map, which made life a little difficult. Roo wanted to try at least one Amber but VK was sticking to Green. Which was all fine but meant quite a lot of wandering around trying to suss out what was what.

We settled on the Mai Thai River as a ride which would probably be fine for all – it was billed as relaxing, so wouldn’t be too scary for the non-swimmer and we could go in a double ring to keep her close by. The queue was long but moved fast and we barely had time for one round of “obscure characters from Les Mis Guess Who” before we were at the front. Then it all got a bit hectic, trying to find places to put our shoes and phones and potentially find a life jacket for VK as well as sort out who was going in which ring. It wasn’t helped by the man running the ride shouting at me: “Lady! Pick up a ring and go!”

And when I say, “wasn’t helped”, I mean it was a near disaster. Nathan and I ended up in the double ring, drifting away down the river while VK – not famed for her love of being rushed or shouted at – was struggling to get into a single. It was far from relaxing.

Luckily she hadn’t had time to take her hat off so we could spot her from a distance and, after a while, it seemed like she was sorted. So I tried to relax and enjoy the ride but it was an anxious one, knowing that the non-swimming, panic-attack-prone child was miles behind us. And the ride itself seemed a bit chaotic, with frequent bottlenecks and rings trying to barge past each other.

Towards the end, a lifeguard intervened and sent Nathan and I down the fast lane while others were funnelled into a queue. We reached the end and got out, looking around for the kids. We swiftly found Reuben but where was VK?

I said this was a near-disaster earlier and I’m trying to keep it light so I’ll tell you now that the child was eventually found, mostly unharmed and only briefly dunked in the river. And I say this because I don’t really want to relive the bit between us emerging from the river and the point at which the four of us were finally reunited. After some running around, we established that a) VK was stuck in the queue, b) that the queue was for a conveyer belt that took the riders upwards and c) that the downwards bit was a fast-moving waterslide that almost certainly wasn’t suitable for a non-swimmer. In the confusion, Nathan ended up with all the phones so even after he had managed to intervene and pluck her from the water before the slide, there was no way for him to contact me or Reuben.

Trust me, that brief summary IS the skimmed-over version as the whole thing took about 45 minutes. Not that I’d know cause I didn’t have a phone. But I asked someone the time in the middle of the panic and piecing it all together from photos before and after, 45 minutes is about right.

Which is a long time to wonder whether your secondborn has been drowned or not. Anyway, she returned to us and we headed back to Coco Beach for some restorative fries and slushies. I could have done with something a heck of a lot stronger at that point, to be honest, but made do with a 7up which didn’t have any syrup in it….so just fizzy water. Then more lounging in the wave pool and more guessing of the ABC characters before any of us could even contemplate any more excitement.

What he had in mind was one of the Amber rides – the Naga Racers. This was basically a massive set of slides that riders go down headfirst on mats. Rather him than me. I left Nathan and VK in the gentle surrounds of The Lost City waterplay area and sat down in the shade while Roo queued. I think he was gone for around 30 minutes but not in the panic-inducing way that VK had been gone. I looked up just in time to see him whizzing down and, while he enjoyed it, he wasn’t keen to do it again. Instead, he went back to the Mai Thai River for a calmer ride than before and I joined Nathan and VK on deckchairs in the shade.

This probably doesn’t sound like a full day’s itinerary but by this point, the closing time was approaching. I bought some spring rolls at the little cafe near Naga Racers and some crisps and drinks for the kids and then we briefly stopped by Siam Beach before heading back to Coco Beach to pick up our things. I don’t think we made the most of our day, and the panic in the middle certainly threw us off course but both kids said there were things they’d enjoyed so it wasn’t a complete write off.

Plus, we saw the sealions again on the way out. And we found our way back across the dual carriageway so saved a few Euros on the cab. Hooray!

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Terrific Tenerife#1 – The Tide is High

Posted on August 18, 2025 by katese11

So, I’ve been on a Jet2 holiday. My children inform me that this is some kind of meme nowadays and I’d like to be able to say that we went the full week without ever hearing that jingle…but that would be a lie. Whether it was playing on the plane or from someone’s phone at the pool or just in my head, I felt a constant compulsion to take someone’s hand. Not permanently, you must understand.

That being said, it wasn’t at all bad. A lot of relaxing around the pool, a lot of eating and temperatures that were a happy 29-ishC with a cool breeze. The flights were more or less on time and the coach was relatively painless, as coach transfers go. I swore I would never set foot on a shared transfer again but something must have gone wrong in the booking process because that was apparently what we booked. But even that wasn’t too grim.

We were staying at the Alexandre Troya hotel, in Costa Adeje. We went for all-inclusive again this year because last year’s train odyssey had involved a lot of thinking about food, as well as everything else. My idea of a holiday is to think as little as possible and this certainly ticked the box. All I had to decide most days was which machine-poured cocktail to try when we went down to the snack bar without the kids in the evening. I think I got through the mojito, the tequila sunrise, the daiquiri and the piña colada. Happily though, there was no need to dance in the rain while drinking the latter. We had two double rooms so I was sharing with VK and Nathan with Roo….we weren’t quite neighbours but not far away. So really, the daily cocktails were just a way of giving the kids a bit of time to get ready for bed and chill out a bit without us around.

I’ll drop my annual holiday disclaimer in about now – whatever URL has brought you here, this isn’t really a blog about toddlers anymore. Roo is old enough that he’ll probably be drinking cocktails of his own in a couple of years and VK isn’t too far behind. So please don’t read this post and abandon your toddlers in a hotel room while you drink cocktails. LWAT is not responsible for anyone being irresponsible.

That said, I still WhatsApped them both the Jet2 advice on balcony safety before leaving them on their own. Like and subscribe for more top parenting tips.

Anyhoo, I got distracted by the booze for a moment them and forgot to tell you about the food, which is just as important if not more. There was a full buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we could get hamburguesa, patatas fritas and helado from the snack bar if we happened to get hungry in between. It took a couple of days to work out some of the systems and some – like your room number being your order number – we only figured out on the very last day. But mainly, waving your room key card and saying “por favor” got you whatever you needed.

I’m constantly amazed by how much credit British people get for even attempting a bit of Spanish abroad – I never said anything more complicated than “I would like some chips please” but practically got a round of applause every time I rolled it out. I can’t imagine a Spanish person coming to London, expecting to conduct every interaction in their native tongue and then expecting credit for the smallest attempt at English. We British really are an arrogant nation, aren’t we?

Talking of Britishness, the dinner buffet had a different international theme every night. Again, we only clocked this late on so sadly think we missed “British Night” where, presumably, the main dish would be Soggy Roast and Regret. But Nathan and I enjoyed Mexican night, Chinese night and Italian night. The kids pretty much just had the same things every meal but they weren’t complaining. The ice cream was plentiful and the bread passed even VK’s exacting standards. And the great thing about an all-inclusive is that we’re not paying per food item so it doesn’t matter if they want to try a little of one thing and a wonton of the other. It’s so much easier to relax.

So I’ve told you a lot about the food at this one hotel in Tenerife, which may or may not be of use to the population in general. Next, let me tell you about some more very specific things before I get on to some information which might be of interest to more than just my family. First off, the swimming pools:

There were three swimming areas, two of which were kinda the same area. There was also a spa with a jacuzzi but that cost extra and it was 16+ so I would have felt bad about leaving VK out when the rest of us could go. The rooftop infinity pool was also 16+ but when I took Roo, a few of the patrons looked at us askance, as if he wasn’t supposed to be there. I think they forget what a 16-year-old looks like. So I only swam there twice. It was nice and peaceful but I’m not entirely sure what you’re meant to do in an infinity pool, as it seems to mainly be for posing. There wasn’t really much length to actually swim in so I think you’re meant to just lean on the edge and enjoy the view.

We spent most of our time in the two pools by the snack bar, where were decidedly not childfree. There was a decently deep section in one of them, along with a very shallow ledge and an ankle-deep area with pool loungers in it. I know, that was a new one on me too and I wasn’t convinced by the concept. It was a bit like sitting in a puddle and wasn’t nearly as comfortable as just floating in the water. If you do have toddlers and you’re heading to this hotel, I would add another warning here about the shelf – it’s not immediately obvious that it drops off to a much deeper section. There is a little splash pool that is far more toddler-friendly and the main pool has a more gentle incline so is probably safer.

We also spent a lot of time at the beach, which was just over the road from the hotel. It’s the usual deal where you have to pay 6Euro for a sun lounger but most of the time we were there to swim, not lounge so we just dumped our stuff on the sand or the rocks and put it in the Dock and Bay canvas bags if there was anything we wanted to keep less sandy. Being so close to the hotel meant we didn’t need to take any money or even phones with us – which was handy, as I could genuinely tell the beach sellers that I had no money to buy anything. Last I checked, they were not up for trading a giant sunhat for one of their sarongs.

The first day we went to the beach was just after we arrived – we got to the hotel at 12 and couldn’t check in till 2 so we had lunch at the buffet and then Roo and I went to the beach to paddle, as our swim stuff was locked in the luggage store. It was around 1 and the sand was so hot that it burnt my toes even with flip flops on – I don’t know if it was the metallic elements of the sand or just that it was the hottest part of the day. But it was so soft underfoot that every step scooped more burning sand onto my soles and that’s not something I’ve experienced before. So I invested in some mule-shaped sandals, which have a lot less flip and flop to them and they worked a treat for the rest of the holiday.

I also attempted a sunset swim one day, to try and avoid the hottest part of the day. But it was less “romantic swim” and more “getting smacked in the head by giant waves” so I didn’t try that again. The waves were fun during the day but were pretty intense in the evening. I read a description of Playa de Troya that mentioned “gentle waves” but trust me, there was nothing gentle about them.

We had much more success with our post-dinner walks, just wandering across the sand and posing like influencers in an infinity pool:

In fact, I bet you’re reading this and thinking that the whole holiday was just one success after another, right? Well fear not, I do have a bit of the LWAT chaos that you all love so much and I will share it in the next post. Now, there’s something to look forward to….

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