Le Rock pub cafe, Bangalore

Strolling round Bangalore, India, in November 2014, as one does, I had been excited to see a metal festival advertised down the road from my hotel, and had ventured thither, only to find it a local high school infested very many extremely young people. Although there may have been a hall there somewhere I thought it probably not appropriate to scare them with my hairy presence. Prowling the streets further I encountered some heavy metal kids, surrounding a small store selling rock memorabilia staffed by a young man with a Lamb of God T-shirt. I told him I had seen them last year, and he became frightened and ran behind the counter. Not abandoning my dedicated search of the defense of the faith, and more lubrication, I did then happen upon the Rock Pub, attracted by very loud beat, and sat at the bar, drinking beer with a few chips. I dare say the local bangers  could not afford the beer, for there were only one or two other patrons, or they may even have worked there. The place was modern, clean, somewhat stylish, and the music not a bad heavy rock mix on video screens, though including some poppy numbers. On leaving after about an hour I asked the manager how late they were open, and he said they were just closing (at 11), and indeed the blinds were coming down. Whether this place is ever happening, I cannot say, but it would be a pleasant though rather aseptic joint if it were.

Sterling Stanev

I did attend the Liszt recital of Vesselin Stanev at St John's Smith Square, London, on 13 March 2015. The acoustics in this venue are good, but the chairs uncomfortable, as though in a school hall, and the crowd seemed to wander around and whisper a lot. Last time I saw Stanev, again in Liszt, I had some doubts about the evenness and smoothness of touch in the playing of quieter runs in the treble, but I thought this time the Reminiscences de Norma was fine in this regard, though he remains one of the more aggressive masters.

Some of the sections sounded a bit random in their noisy bits, possibly because the structure was not immediately apparent to an ear not accustomed to the piece, which may be a criticism of the ear, or perhaps the composer, rather than the performer. The most effective piece was of course the Annees de Pelerinage Italian section, with an epic quality and nice clear themes.