The temperature this morning was very low - only just still in positive figures (0.2° C). On the plus side we should have full sunshine all day. Back to the negative side, and the highest temperature forecast for today is just 2° C.  The skies will remain clear tonight, and that means the temperature will fall to -1° C by midnight, and -2° C by this time tomorrow morning. Once again it should be a sunny day, and still very cold, although the temperature might peak, for a single hour at 3pm, at 3° C. The whole of this week may be similar, but the coming weekend may see the temperature rise to 8° C !

    Yesterday followed the recent trend of being good and bad, but one difference is that it was very good and very bad. The very good was some great entertainment, and the very bad was health problems. Also good was that for the first time in ages I managed to get out to see that great entertainment.

  As I wrote yesterday "The Konks, a Kinks tribute band, who also play other 60s music, are playing in The Shortlands Tavern from 4pm". I had missed all previous times when I might have seen the band, generally pre-Covid, and thatw as partly because no one I knew seemed interested in seeing the band. On the other hand, many people, who I didn't know, or knew less well, would report that they were very good.

  It was an afternoon matinee gig yesterday, and I would be able to travel to Shortlands station, just 4 stations from Catford station, or about 8 minutes, in daylight. It was a golden opportunity to see them. The only downside was that it was perishing cold outside. Just heavily breathing that cold air in was making my chest hurt. It didn't help that I decided to wear my new leather jacket, and although I can just about do it up, it is still a bit tight across my chest.

  Earlier in the day I had done little more than wash my hair and have a shower. Until just gone 3pm I did very little else. It was my intention to get the 3.36pm train. That would get me there with about 10 or more minutes to spare before the band started. I allowed plenty of time to get to the station, but I still found myself rushing to get to the station. I find it very difficult to pace myself to a medium walking rate.

  I tend to walk as fast as I can, or is comfortable. That just made things worse. I was almost to the main road when I started to get chest pains. Having suffered Angina, and heart attacks in 2013, I felt fairly confident it was neither of them, albeit easily mistaken for them. Fortunately it is now almost a regular winter phenomenon that deep breathing cold air gets my chest aching. Keeping my chest warm with a thick coat helps, but I still have to breath the cold air in. My new leather jacket, while generally warm, is not warm compared to some of my other coats.
  after sitting in the warmer air of the train my chest pains eased a bit, and I arrived at the pub semi comfortable. I ordered a pint of Guinness at the downstairs bar before going up the narrow, twisty stairs to the upstairs bar (which doesn't serve any cack or keg beers). The band had completed a sound check, and started about 5 or 10 minutes later.
  Photography in that upper room can be tricky at times. The bands perform in front of windows that until the sun has set can provide some really bright backlighting. After a few experimental test shots I decided that I would have to use my flash gun to balance out the back lighting.

   One problem for me, and for late comers, was that it was a very well attended gig, and every seat was taken, and almost every standing position was taken as well....and still they came ! All those bodies, plus the coal fire I was standing near, made it fantastically hot in there. It wasn't long before I had taken my coat off, and I was still getting annoyingly sweaty. All that heat was great for my chest, but once that old scar tissue has flared up, which was the main source of pain, it can take several days to recover from it.
  One good thing about The Konks is that, at least on this occasion, and probably at most of their gigs, they split it all in two - starting off with a load of great, and rarely covered 1960s pop songs, and then do their Kinks stuff in the second set. I was too hot and uncomfortable to stay for the second set, but I really enjoyed the first set.
  I should have made some sort of mental note of some of the songs they played in the firsts set. All I remember is that some were of songs that few have ever covered - and they did them really well. Maybe half an hour into their first set it had got dark enough outside to kill the bad backlighting, but I still kept the flash on low for a while before, for the first time on my Nikon D610 camera, pulling all the stops out, and taking pictures by whatever light there was in the room. I was very pleased with some, but not all the results.
  Taking pictures in low light meant using a slower shutter than I would prefer, but the picture above doesn't seem to have any motion blur. I must admit, it is possible I was still using flash at this point. Incidently, I was bouncing the flash off the ceiling, rather than pointing it at the band. It give a more diffused flash, and is hopefully less annoying for all there.
   Getting pictures of drummer is often tricky because most sit right at the back, and behind other members of the band. I still do my best to get a good picture or two of the drummer, and this snap worked out really well. I had to sneak up almost behind the singer to get this snap. It has the bonus feature of having a clear view of the pubs neon sign in clear view and glowing nicely. I have to admit I processed the area of the the neon sign differently to the rest of the picture.

  I was quite glad when the first set ended. As much as it would have been very nice to hear the second set of all Kinks songs, I was feeling far too hot, and I was looking forward to some cool air.....but maybe not very cold air ! The timing was perfect to get the next train back to Catford. I knew I should walk slowly, but I still couldn't do it.I didn't bother doing up my jacket, and I quickly went from sweaty hot to shivery cold, and by the time I reached the far end of the platform, the best place to get on the train to be by the exit at Catford, my chest was starting to ache a lot.

 






 While walking past The Catford Bridge Tavern I saw this sandwich board outside. It is almost encouraging to see some live music happening there. The Jumpstarts are a 12 piece Ska band. I won't be seeing them, but the other two sound interesting.














  The Shortlands Tavern generally have a fair range of ales on hand pump. This was one I would have liked to try, but I considered myself to be working, and so stuck to Guinness - just a single pint of it for the whole time I was there.













   As I walked back home from the station my chest started to ache again, although maybe it was not quite as bad as going to the station. The first thing I did when I got home, after having a pee, was to check my blood pressure, The pulse rate is a bit high after rushing around, but the pressure readings are very good, and far better than I expected. It reassures me that the pain was (probably) not a heart problem.