retiredmartin

May 2023.

Four London ticks was nice, but I was really in town to see a rare Matilda Mann (sold-out) headline gig at the Jazz Cafe.

Just enough time in Hackney to walk the mile south along Mare Street to the Five Points Tap, not to be confused with what I assumed to be their de facto tap at the Pembury. As always, the Cock looked the busiest place on a night when Hackney was ticking over, no more.

It’s hard to keep up with Hackney; the old Town Hall is now the eponymous Tap and the new Town Hall has yet to be converted to a Brunning & Price, as inevitably it will.

Five Points doesn’t make it easy for the ticker,

Thursday	5.00 pm – 11.00 pm
Friday	5.00 pm – Midnight
Saturday	1.00 pm – Midnight

and I’m always a bit nervous being confronted by the actual machinery of beer,

but that’s the only issue I have with a place with delightful staff, tousle-haired children playing chess with their craft beer dad,

and an excellent Porter. Once again, I couldn’t tell you if it was cask or keg, and care not.

It then took AGES to get across to Camden via the Overground, but music never starts in London before 8:30pm so I had time to search for a Matilda Mann t-shirt but there was nothing in Fat Old Bloke size so I fear they’re missing out on a crucial market.

Matilda hasn’t quite achieved the world domination that I predicted for her in 2021 and 2022, but she has found the support of some influencers on my Twitter feed so her time is soon.

Everything I know, I learnt it from @NHS_Martin #Bloom #MM pic.twitter.com/4fchW9Iocy

— Lorenzo (@lorenzo_hermoso) May 18, 2023

It’s probably a Camden thing, but the crowd was noticeable older than at her Kings Cross debut, and by that I mean it was less teenage and more 23, a maturity also evident in Matilda’s use of strings on her latest smash.

A reminder of the breadth of her catalogue came when she was able to omit the classics “Glass Ceiling” and “As It Was” from the set, both infuriating and reassuring.

And anyone who finishes her set at 10pm so I can catch the earlier train from Kings Cross to Waterbeach and fit in a pint of ESB at the Parcel Yard is OK with me.