Bar-bar-bican

Bumholes. Went to see David Byrne at The Barbican on Monday but totally spoiled it for myself by buying a crap seat. It’s not like they didn’t warn me it was crap, it was clearly marked “restricted view” but I reasoned that the close proximity of row-H-to-stage would make up for being ‘side on’. I had seen Antony from a similar seat and he doesn’t move around much and doesn’t use much light so it was fine. But David Byrne’s show relies on being able to see the full spectacle – the light show, him bouncing around, the backing singers, the ever-so-slightly-annoying dancers. I could only see a fraction of those things from where I was seated so I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as the Royal Festival Hall show a couple of months ago. I should have thought it through.

I do like a nice trip to The Barbican though. As I had time to kill before David’s show I went up to the Radical Nature exhibition in the Art Gallery. I wouldn’t necessarily call this exhibition ‘art’, it’s more gardening really. There are displays made up from trees, plants and big clumps of grass. It’s supposed to make you think about the environment but like zzzzz, yeah, whatever. I just like it because it’s all nice and green and relaxing.

There is plenty there to amuse the budding dendrophile (note: Justin Bond claims this is somebody who gets an erotic charge out of nature, while the Urban Dictionary claims it is somebody who fornicates with trees. I personally enjoy neither of these things, although I do get a little bit turned on from getting my toes wet in the rain when wearing sandals.)

I particularly enjoyed ‘Green Room’ – a little miniature garden inspired (the notes tell me) by the traditional landscaped gardens of British stately homes. It’s built inside a wooden box that you step into and has mirrored walls that make it feel a lot bigger than it is. Even though you can’t close the door behind you when you go in, you still instantly forget the rest of the gallery behind you and feel calmed by its tranquility.

Much as I enjoyed the Green Room, my favourite thing – and the reason for my visit – was Mark Dion’s Mobile Wilderness Unit: Wolf. This is a large taxidermied wolf on top of a tow cart and it’s just GORGE! I stood staring into its eyes for ages and really wanted to touch its furry ears. It goes without saying that you weren’t allowed to touch it, but I was naughty and when the guards weren’t looking I gave it a quick stroke. It felt just like Jason from RVT’s alsatian, which is no great surprise really.

The nature theme continues outside by the bar where there is a big wooden hut called I am so sorry. Goodbye. It’s a dome shaped building with a space-ship transparent bit at the top. At first I thought it was just to look at but you can go and sit inside and have a nice cup of tea of you want one.

I preferred a large glass of Merlot and sat at a mini wooden table looking through the window watching the fountains outside. Lovely!