There's No Business Like Show Business

Had a great outing to West End Live on Saturday . Got there just as the first act was finishing off . It was Let it Be , the Beetles show. I think they started later this year or at least let people in later. Got there and found a massive queue along the equivalent of 3 sides of the square , part of it was doubled up.  However as luck would have it it was so long we spotted the end of the queue for the other entrance and geography and some basic calculations  convinced us it must be shorter by about 2 square lengths and also quite quick moving.

Once we in we selected a spot and me and some of my friends made a quick raid on the booths at the back of the square before it got too packed to get up there.As always Forbidden planet was there . This year they had Lara Croft and a I think Disney princess. Red hair and a blue dress answers to which one it might be on a postcard ?

The Forbidden Planet goodie bags are good value for one reason above all and that is the 20% off voucher .

Once we'd done our raid we went down to enjoy the music.

There was pretty much every show on in the West End on for 10-15 minute slots from the Beetles to Rock of ages via Abba, Queen , the works of Victor Hugo and the King Arthur legend.

It was all free and despite the odd shower I actually got sunburnt . I supect that in a few years it may have to move to a park as it will outgrow Trafalgar Square as word of mouth spreads.

About 3 or 4 hours in we took a short break for a drink and a sit down and visited a couple of unusual drinking establishments.

First up was the  @Tattershall Castle  . A former ferry from the  Humber built in 1934. It has amazing view of parliament and the London Eye reasonably priced drinks for London and I imagine must be very pleasent when the sun is shining although possibly packed. It was nice to try something different.

After drinks on the Castle we regained our land legs and crossed the gangway back onto dry land over the beer barge moored next door. We preceeded back towards Trafalgar square  via the Sherlock Holmes Pub

In 1957, Whitbread and Co. purchased an entire exhibition that had been put together for the Festival of Britain, following its return from a world tour.

A permanent home was required for its homecoming to London, and Whitbread’s plan was to open up a themed pub in the centre of the city that would attract enthusiasts from around the world.

The subject of this exhibition was of course, Sherlock Holmes, and it was not only the first, but also the most important collection in the world to be based on the famous detective.

A nice pub with as you might expect a quirky decor. When we strolled in it seemed full of slightly damp tourists sheltering for the rain. They were selling cupcakes and sausage rolls for Macmillan cancer . I had a sausage roll which was nice and all for a good cause.

We went back to Trafalgar square for the last few acts. In a slight change to previous years they  had kept some of the bigger shows back rather than switching to smaller groups . the timing was arranged so they could shoot over from their various matinee performances. London Traffic meant that there were some slight displays but we finished off the afternoon with Chorus Line, Stomp, very good but not sure I could sit through 2 hours of their percussion, Rock of Ages and Spamalot. Spamalot had the only celebrities that I recognised which were Joe Pasquale and Bonnie Langford .

Rock of Ages encouraged the crowd to join in with some Air Guitar in order to break the world mass   air guitar record which is apparently 2000 people .  The show was running a little late due to traffic issues which is the only reason why i can think rock of ages finished slightly abrubtly instead of what must be their signature song don't stop believing by Journey .