[THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN ARCHIVED]
Part of this came unexpected, but considering that my life is full of spontaneity and random things, both good and bad, I thought why not? Although the task at hand did just hit me almost out of nowhere. I feel like I should take advantage of the little time that I do have left in London to enjoy what I can, while I can. Therefore I accepted the opportune offer, which needless to say it was full of manic planning (organised but chaotic) within the next 48hrs.
Just as I experienced when I planned a random barbeque, around 20 years ago when I was a teenager living at my mum's house and sprung the idea on her for our perfect garden in the perfect summer weather at the time (England did used to have reliable summer weather, I don’t care who wants to argue as my memories say otherwise!). As last minute and unamused as she was at the idea, on that Thursday afternoon for a potential Saturday event, we ended up having a fantastic time. No short of thanks to the generosity and help from my mother and her best friend, Aunty Diane. The success of that lovely barbeque (which is still my favourite barbeque to date and I have been to many), is what encouraged me to just do this and take on the stress.
I have been through much worse and under harsher circumstances. Another example is when I was putting together an exciting poetry and live music event at the perfect venue not far off Oxford Street and the awful venue owner had some issues with people who look like me so to speak, and therefore cancelled my event because he thought the issue he had with a similar demographic the night before, he would have with me and my audience that he did not know from Adam- or Eve! Thus he cancelled my venue hire in less than 24hrs of my scheduled event.
I was so vexed and not just because of his utter prejudice and inconsideration of how it would affect me and my business, but because he didn't even want to compensate me for the potential financial loss or actual loss up till that moment! As infuriated and robbed as I felt, I didn't want to cancel the event as it was highly promoted with a great line-up and guestlist “The show must go on!!” Which was such a headache to try and pull off since I had 14 acts and anticipated 30-50 people. No one was happy about the changes (of the seemingly perfect venue in regard to its performance set-up and location). I had to just make it happen, convince everyone to still come and immediately replace the central London venue- which I actually achieved by the way.
Of course many people could no longer attend due to the inconvenience. The guestlist reduced, many acts pulled out and I was only left with less than five attendees. I was devastated but remained professional with my head screwed on and a positive, encouraging attitude for the few that still made the effort to come out and enjoy themselves. THANK-YOU AGAIN TO THOSE OF YOU THAT CAME THAT NIGHT; TO PERFORM, TO WORK FOR ME/INFINITI PROMOTIONS, TO WATCH OR TO SIMPLY SUPPORT. I REMEMBER ALL OF YOU!
Now, all of that took everything out of me but I still didn't get one grey hair, probably had a few wrinkles and unsightly bags under eyes but no grey hairs lol. Interestingly enough, the performers that did show up to both stick to their commitment and promote themselves, they did a fantastic job and the energy was surprisingly lovely! Super supportive and positive regardless of how empty the room was. Furthermore, till this day that's some of the best photography that I've had at any event, Thanks Irina!
Oh yeah my DJ (DJ D.Bo) who's been with me through the good and bad of those event/club promotion days, did his thing yet again and I remember him ending his set by playing one of my favourite throwback songs Dreamin’ by Christopher Williams (from the New Jack City soundtrack, a song hardly hear anywhere) and that got me so hyped for the after party that was about to continue on from the next Promoters who hired the venue for the rest of the night.
As there were times in the past where I have organised something for two to four months in advance, yet didn't get the results I wanted regardless of the adequate preparations, I have found that sometimes longer planning time gives too much opportunity for fuss and flops in different areas. This is not just a reference to events, I say this from experience with other little projects be it decorating/home renovations, filming, crafts or what have you. Many of which works out well when I just approach it spontaneously with a short amount of time spent on planning, fussing, indecisiveness or any external influence. So I went with my gut on this short notification to just go with it. Especially as I had the stamina to do so.
I would always have a rolodex of poetry peers and Artist friends, therefore there was no shortage of options there, but I was selective of who to invite due to the short notice, the day in question and the will to participate. This was better suited to remain exclusive as opposed to relying on public attendance (although I didn't mind walk-ins). I invited some people who may have wanted to do something different for Valentine's Day, or just wanted to see me perform as genuine fans of my poetry, if not just to come and show love for the sake of it.
To my great surprise the people that I invited did all show up! Not all for the full duration and not all on time, but then again neither did I as I had the horror of being stuck on the tube during a fire incident between stations, which was terrifying! To my knowledge no one got hurt and I didn't see any fire or smoke, although we could smell it on the underground tube/platforms. The anxiety of danger as well as being held up and late for my own organised event, that I had to convince people to be available for- in just two days' time when they likely had plans, was absolutely menacing. That was one of the longest train/tube rides of my life!
I didn't want to upset anybody that had arrived early or punctual and may have thought to themselves "I made the effort to come here and change my plans and Lauren isn't even here!” I showed up rushing to the venue ready to set-up everything, hoping that people didn't lose too much patience. Duncan (a Poet) graciously helped me with my things, and to my extremely pleasant surprise everyone was enthusiastic and calm.
Some people were already mingling with each other, some already knew each other and some were people I hadn't seen in a few years, especially pre-COVID, so it was like a lovely reunion for some of us. There were only a handful as anticipated, but it was still nice and perfect. We were all there for the same thing, which was to enjoy ourselves, revel in poetry and have a nice Valentine's and so was had!
It was such a pleasure to see. One of my old poetry friends, David Lee Morgan, who I hadn't seen in many years and the last time that we worked together was when he performed at my last Poetic Justice event in 2013, which for the life of me I could not believe was eleven years ago now. Almost 11yrs to the month (as it was March 28th 2013 my word!). It was such a nice reunion and a beautiful long hug we gave. As we see each other on social media, we interact here and there on Facebook, it’s like that amount of time of absence hadn't really taken place. Since we weren't completely out of sight, therefore we were not completely out of mind either. Considering that David is such a powerful performer and I know his poetry relatively well, I knew I had to make him a featured act. Thus he opened the show effectively.
One of the members of the Black Heroes Foundation came with his wife. As he has heard me perform a few times at his foundation's events in the past and purchased my book at the time, it was nice to see him again and to meet his lovely spouse. Coincidentally, a long-time fan of my poetry and overall lovely person, came later on with her non-poetry inclined friend who was clearly encouraged by her to try it out lol.
The coincidence here was infact (the word has generally transformed to US English "in fact" now) from recognising my Black Heroes Foundation friend, she informed me that they knew each other from the Black Heroes Wall of Fame musical in the 90’s which she just so happened to perform in way back when. The world is indeed small! It was nice to see them two reconnect as I had no idea of their connection, nor of her artistic past although I am not surprised. Professionally and artistically speaking, you could see that their past has alot (again formally one word according to UK English, which I have to keep annoyingly putting out as a disclaimer now) of love and respect which made me smile.
My love language is, well are I suppose as it’s plentiful, so my love languages ARE hugs, gifts and my art. My art starts with my poetry and spreads out into other things such as my crafts including my beloved Custom Poetry Greeting Cards™ of course. Being that I love to hug and have not been able to as much following the pandemic of social distancing, general paranoia on both sides, my diagnosed OCD, making my inner circle smaller as I get older and wiser, and having immigrated briefly, all of the above has significantly reduced my loving hugs.
Therefore it was so nice to have a love filled event where I knew almost everyone and greeted them with a nice, warm and caring embrace. As I know that many other Artists share and show love through their art too, especially Poets, I found my consciously alliterated title of Lauren Kaye Presents Love Language and Lyrics (that I didn’t even get the chance to print or promote in time lol) would be very fitting, along with the day in question.
Some of the Poets knew each other which I suspected to begin with, Duncan (who helped me carry me things inside “Thank-you!”) and John sat next to each other. Lady Rhymes pleasantly surprised me with her entry, and the enthusiastic commentary from her friend was more than welcome as I love it when respectfully interactive audience members fully engage with performers.
My mother was the first to arrive and support me with her presence, mingling with guests as the “Mother of the Bride” per se until I arrived. The infectious positive vibes of Shore by the Tide, was felt with her presence just as I knew her special feature would be. We met at the Cosmic Pumpkin event last October where we both heard each other’s poetry for the first time with great admiration for one another’s performance, therefore I knew I had to share a stage with her in the future somehow and the time finally came. Of which she gave quite the spiritual and eclectic performance between her poetry and her songs with her acoustic guitar.
I was introduced to another sweet soul named Eliza, who joined the open mic alongside Duncan and John. Eliza's poetry noticeably (noticeable to me anyway) got a big applause from a “philistine” in the audience as he seemed to really yet unexpectedly appreciate the deep words she had to share. It was all a joy to see and hear.
It was just a fabulous night. The less than 48hrs of stress- more so the intensity to pull this together, was well worth-it. The event and time spent for my alternative Valentine’s Day made me very happy. There was a little bit of audible and acoustic awkwardness due to the logistics of the room and things that I would change having known better or had I arrived earlier to get a grip of XYZ, but I am grateful to have had the assistance that I did from the staff on hand who were very attentive (the young lady in particular who was working between floors that night was super accommodating. I never overlook great staff).
For the most part everyone adored The Exhibit, found it easy to get to, enjoyed the food and drinks etc. The whole venue (several bars and rooms across separate floors) was highly active with people and events filled with lovers, singles, drinkers and “Galentine’s mates” on the night. Apparently lots of men were waiting for their partners at their tables or on the terrace with bouquets of flowers ready to hand, which is a sight I have not seen in YEARS (especially not in multiples)! I would have loved to have seen that. I don’t care who may find it corny, it is traditional, chivalrous and sweet! “Flowers ‘n’ candy” or chocolates but above all ROMANCE needs to come back in style and fashion dammit! That’s all I’m sayin’.
Alas, I myself am glad to have finally experienced this place in a performing capacity, although I am unlikely to use that same room again. I would like to experiment with their other spaces in the near future, although I am still not in a hurry to go back to event planning but we’ll see. What especially pleased me other than the accessible location, was their bottled water!
I know that most people do not give a damn, as most people prefer to drink alcohol or something more flavourful but seeing as I am a keen water drinker, thus picky about my brands (not all wine tastes the same THUS THE SAME GOES FOR WATER), it satisfied me completely when I asked for sparkling water but for some reason received a glass battle of still water, that tasted GREAT and was not a waste of a mistaken purchase!
I had never heard of Kingsdown water before but for a bar/restaurant mineral water product (most restaurants sell crap water, regardless of how familiar or expensive the brand may be as they usually all taste like tap water or nasty arse Volvic) Kingsdown is the sh*t! Reminded me of the surprisingly good bottle I had in Namibia by a South African brand that also got me through my food poisoning between my ginger teas). If I had it in me to go into more detail via my food blog then I would but I have only just gradually gotten out of my writer's block as I keep referring to on my IG and Tweets, so this little snippet that would be appreciated by like-minds, will have to suffice.
The food from the onsite restaurant was nice too and made for a good breakfast from my left-over takeaway box. This was just a really lovely (a repeated adjective now as is the word “pleasant” so far, I know) occasion. Myself and everyone seemed to have really enjoyed ourselves. There were good vibes and great diverse poetry all around. Love was in the air (more platonically and verbally than romantically), and I felt beautifully supported which is rare. I will forever savour the sweet moments of the past couple days that brought me here.
From the last minute event opportunity offered, to the contemplation and action with immediate results, from contacting my poetry friends and building my guestlist. To the wonderfully peaceful and enjoyable Valentine's morning that I had with my fantastic music, my uplifted spirit, juicy delicious Vietnamese prawns seasoned to my perfection with its condiments and additions. The bright sky and decent weather (before the rain later lol) and nice messages. To putting my themed outfit together with my glorious gold rope platform shoes that matched the teal and gold decorated venue, as well as the occasion in question (with my teal and gold heart shaped earrings).
Seeing the guests from my audience interact warmly with each other. Enjoying the intimacy of the art shared and appreciated among us. Hydrating tastefully from my mocktails and water served "Thank-you to those who bought me drinks by the way." Taking frustratingly blurry or dark pictures with my hard to understand new Honor (a Chinese brand that spells it in US English to be clear) mobile phone. To have come across an astonishingly sweet Taxi Driver (of a black cab) who charged me way more than their premium price, since he took the longer route KMT.
I personally think he went from "sweet to silently mean" purely because I was on the phone and not paying him much mind when he probably felt left out or ignored, especially from being bored waiting on customers in the middle of the rainy night beforehand. My sentiments are "B*tch don't kill my vibe!"
I digress, the main thing is that I got home safely, and that a pleasantly memorable, funny, entertaining, unpredictable time was had. Yes indeed! I was mash-up and exhausted by the time I got in but I went to bed smiling. My smile returned two mornings later when I eventually checked the graciously sweet messages from attendees. Honestly, the BEST Valentine's ever :-)
Go to my IG to see some video clips of the night. I apologise for some of the blurry photography in advance, since I did not hire a professional Photographer as I normally would have for a well-planned Infiniti Promotions event of mine (yes that website is still down for the time being) but they are as clear as can be.
MUCH LOVE,
Lauren
