Elton John at The Royal Opera House!

Waiting for Elton John

Elton's piano, on stage at The Royal Opera House

I was extremely lucky last month to attend a one-off concert by Elton John at The Royal Opera House. This was the second of two concerts he played to raise money for a new organ for The Royal Academy of Music, where Elton studied as a young man.

The Royal Opera House, London

Like many others, I have always been aware of Elton John and his hits, (spanning 4 decades!), but I didn't realise how prolific and legendary he actually is. Seeing him in this context was a real treat - just the man and his music. He was on stage with his piano, with no song lists or lyric sheets. Elton was joined half way through by his long-time collaborator, percussionist Ray Cooper. The first 6 or so rows of the audience were made up of his die-hard fans, and what was lovely was that he spoke directly to them several times during the show.

 My favourite song of the night was 'Rocket Man' which was sung with such pathos, it made me cry! The lyrics 'I'm not the an they think I am at home' made me so sad. There must be millions of people around the world pretending to be something or someone they are not.

Lincoln's Inn Fields. Me, doing a pretty good impression of The Queen

 Earlier in the day, I had been to visit the Sir John Soan Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. It is the former home of the architect whose most famous works include the exterior of The Bank of England, the Holy Trinity Church in Marylebone and the Royal Hospital in Chelsea.

His house, no. 12 Lincoln's Inn Fields is now a museum which he donated to the nation. He stated in his will that everything in the house should remain the same as when he died and that it should be free for the public to view. 

There is a one-in-one-out policy due to the limited space inside and the huge number of historic treasures contained within the rooms. Photography is also not permitted, which is why I could not share more pictures here.

This tiny museum is well worth a visit, if you are in the area and have an hour to spare. The best time to visit is in the morning, (when there are no queues) and Holborn is the nearest tube.

Just as the show began, designer Valentino sat in the middle most seat to watch, flanked by body guards

The atmospheric lighting creates a warm glow inside Looking at my programme before the show

Back inside the Opera House - these photos were taken before the show began and the non-celebrities had taken their seats!

Amongst the famous people I spotted was Lulu, who seemed to be having a grand time singing along and Joely Richardson who stood next to me in the loos! The most famous person I saw was designer Valentino who had the centre most seat in the place.

Thankfully there were many many music fans in the audience too, otherwise it could have been a bit of a dry affair!

As I always say when I watch live music, it was a privilege to watch a complete virtuoso at work, doing what he loves and does best.

Rodrigo y Gabriela Concert, Shepherd's Bush Empire

 Here are some photos from an amazing concert I went to a few weeks ago. If you know Rodrigo and Gabriela, or have watched them on YouTube, you will have an idea of how incredibly talented these musicians are. This was the second time I had seen them (the first was at The Roundhouse in 2007) and even though I have watched lots of video clips - it was surprise to watch Gabriela's unique guitar playing style again. Watch them performing Hanuman from their new album 11:11 here. It was also beautiful how respectful the crowd were when they played their slower, more classical-style songs. Usually for a concert, you could hear a pin drop at those points. I loved the speeches the two of them made between the songs, and the fact that rather than playing at Wembley Arena for one night, they chose to play 5 nights at The Shepherd's Bush Empire instead, even though this meant 5 lots of bills! And this paid off - the intimacy of the venue (as I have said about small venues before) just brought it alive even more!

Rodrigo and Gabriela say goodnight

In full flow

Mark Ronson and The Business International at The Hackney Empire

Two nights ago I had an amazing night out at The Hackney Empire. After a dodgy dinner (with questionable service to boot), I walked in the rain through a crowded mixture of young trendies and media-types and ladies of a certain age, to the entrance. As the evening's events were a surprise, I was even more excited when I realised what we were about to watch! Mark Ronson's new album 'Record Collection' had arrived in the post a few days earlier so I had only listened to the whole album twice before the show. This did not matter one bit, as the songs are catchy in an un-obvious sort of way. They're sort of off-beat and kooky but at the same time accessible and so reminiscent of the '80s pop-synth records I grew up with (hence the ladies of a certain age!) :)

The band is joined onsatge by his idols and mine, Duran Duran

I find it amazing, watching musicians create their art in front of me, which is why I love gigs and concerts so much. It's the idea that I'm watching people 'in flow', doing what they love and sharing it with others. It's the 'liveness' of it all, and although it was utterly professional, I was able to see into the wings of the stage from where I was sitting, and got to see people milling about, out of character as it were. Whether or not you like the style of music or the bands, is of course a matter of personal taste. I think you can tell, I was blown away!

The band is joined onstage by Boy George

Mark Ronson onstage with Amanda WarnerWatching in awe, inside the Hackney Empire Original mosaic work in the entrance to The Hackney Empire

The entrance to The Hackney Empire, a beautiful intimate venue