Livin' in the eighties

The East End played host to a glittering evening of stars with last night's UK Hall of Fame event at Hackney Empire (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/H/halloffame/decade80s.html). The broadcast trucks rocked up at the beginning of the week and have taken over the streets like an army of occupation. PR women have been wandering around the locale talking loudly into their hands-frees demanding that underlings locate the nearest Starbucks. I don't think anybody told them that apart from Tesco and M&S the high street chains avoid this area like the plague - even Brixton is better catered for.
Actually we have JD Sports too - lest we forget.
Barriers were slung up all around the venue and a blocked-off road created running across the front of the town hall to deposit the slebs at the door. You have to wonder what they think as they come up Mare Street or along Graham Road. Probably wish that they hadn't put on as much bling and nervously depress the door locks.
I wasn't around for the evening itself as I had a date at another 80s fest on the other side of town. 'Produced by Trevor Horn' was a fundraiser for the Princes Trust, and I had been invited along on a free. It was hard to work out who would have paid to go along but about 6,000 people seemed to have.
There was quite heavy security on the door with everybody being 'wanded' on the way in. The copper who did me said my legs and ankles were setting it off. As far as I know there are no steel plates in there, but it could have been an Uzi for all he seemed to care as he just waved me in - maybe be just thought I was pleased to see him.
Apparently the security level had been upped earlier. Perhaps this was due Princess Anne's inflight near miss that day. If this was the case, I don't know what good the bloke with wand would be. How about some surface to air missiles outside Wembley Arena?
The real reason behind the show of force quickly became apparent. It was actually to protect a man who has inflicted some of music's worst crimes. Propaganda, Art of Noise, Buggles, Tatu, Grace Jones, Lisa Stansfield . It's not so much the act themselves as that frickin' sound of his - Fairlight City! Actually, it is the acts. Anondyne pop shite. It was the sort of music you can imagine young Tories dancing to in their heyday.
The old guard were well represented in the shape of the ageing progsters Yes who I'm sure must have bemused the 80s tribe with their throwback virtuosity. The band obviously concentrated on their Horn period playing their Owner Of A Lonely Heart hit, after some extended soloing. There seemed to be a bit of tension between the song's composer Trevor Rabin and original guitarist Steve Howe as the former sought to hog all the solos. Mind you Howe got to show a few more moves later on when he turned up on stage with Frankie Goes to Hollywood. That's something you won't see every day, but it was too much for me and we had to leave.
It capped a week of top indolence where I haven't done any paid work. My attempt to put up shelves was cruelly hampered by my crumbly walls and poorly designed brackets. That's my excuse anyway. Next week the girlfriend has holiday so we'll be frittering away more of our time. Deadlines will have to wait.