It’s the day of the much-anticipated Bucky/Here & Now gig and we’re so excited we can hardly stand it! But first, a visit to South Bristol’s Knowle West Media Center where we meet Penny Evans, Dane Watkins, Tom Stubbs (we’re huge fans of My Two Toms!), George Gallop, a fellow who had a “one-hour silent conversation with Winston Churchill” sometime in the 1940s, and the incomparable Michael Smith, creator of Dark Fox. This is definitely our kind of place, right down to the snacks and sustainable building model… when can we come back and do a community filmmaking project?
After some intense collective panic when Peep Peep devours an entire HEMA dark chocolate bar (much to our relief, the only consequence seems to be a perkier Peep), it’s off to the fabulous Here Gallery (Finnish Flip Books? Issue #5 of The Gentlewoman? The new Cometbus anthology? Yes, please!) and then two doors over to Cafe Kino for the big show. Located in the Stokes Croft neighborhood, known for Banksy’s Mild Mild West Mural, Turbo Island and the No Tesco Protests, Cafe Kino serves up very tasty vegetarian/vegan eats and DIY events. Add the magical glow of Bucky and the place is a magnet for every sweet, smart, nattily-dressed, talented person in the entire city! Sassy Burmese women? Got ’em! Dapper gentlemen rockers with adorable punk teens in tow? Got ’em! Moms and Dads? Got ’em! Bicycle film fest programmers? Got ’em! The King of the Stage? He’s here! Son of the writer of the 1971 Coca Cola pseudo hippie anthem “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing?” He’s here too! The multi-talented Sue of Number One Bus fame? Yes, she made it… all the way from London! Michael, the world’s most adorable sound man? Oh yeah, right over there! Doctor Hannah? Of course she’s here! Really cute girls wearing really cute glasses? There’s dozens of ’em! Every single person in the room is smiling’, singin’, hootin’ and hoppin’ around to the sonic wonder that is Bucky… Ooooeee mama, Simon and Joff rock the socks off the place and put an ear to ear grin on my face…. This is what they call A Tough Act To Follow! But this crowd is in it for the long haul: they raise a drink, they share the love, they dig the Bingo, they laugh, they cry and they totally ace the Xochilmilco breakdown… Oh boy, Bristol, you are the BEST!
Hard act to follow Indeed! How fun does that all sound??
Where’s the movie camera when we need it? Sounds great!