Night Life

Given our stage in life, we should not be viewed as the optimal sources of information about night life in Nottingham. For a more comprehensive treatment of the subject, it might be best to seek out the blogs of some of our students. Nevertheless, we can share how some old people have enjoyed recent evenings in our fair city.

On Thursday evening we attended a fine concert by the London Philharmonic under the direction of Marin Alsop (an American woman) with Stephen Hough as the piano soloist for two Liszt Piano Concertos. This is world class music! It was just a 10 minute bus ride away for us, at the Royal Concert Hall in City Centre Nottingham.

We've attended several events at the Royal Concert Hall and the Theatre Royal, which are adjacent to one another. The Theatre is a delightful old Victorian venue that frequently hosts plays just off the London West End district, but at a fraction of the price. Most recently we've seen the classic "An Inspector Calls" and the West End revival of the World War I play, "Journey's End."

The Concert Hall was built in 1980, but has a definite 1960s look and feel to it (not a proud moment in architecture). Nevertheless, it has excellent acoustics and hosts top artists. On Thursday we sat in the fourth row where we could see the pianists technique up close.

Friday evening was "Light Night" in Nottingham. The city (or someone?) hires companies to put on various displays, such as a light show projected on the front of the Council House (city hall) and a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme light display on the old wall of Nottingham Castle. Bands were playing, costumed actors were on street corners, and there were people everywhere.

We particularly enjoyed a rather eerie display of cloudy plastic human figures, lighted from within and suspended on cables over the church yard of 14th century Saint Mary's Church. It appeared that the ghosts were floating over the church yard. And there we were without my camera -- drat!

Saint Mary's was also aglow on the inside with hundreds of candles and a free concert by their excellent choir. Unfortunately, the large number of people coming and going, and loudly buying their tea and coffee from the ladies at the back of the church, made it difficult to hear.

No one we asked seemed to know why or how long Nottingham has been celebrating Light Night. But because the local churches seem to be very much involved, my speculation is that this was originally a February 2 event. The ancients long recognized 2 February as the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is observed by the Church of England as "Candlemass," the day of blessing candles to be used through the year (a festival superceded in America by Ground Hog's Day).

What surprised us was that, even with hundreds (thousands?) of people milling about the City Centre on one of the coldest nights of the year, all the downtown stores were closed up tight. In the U.S., the only reason for a city putting on a festival like this would be to attract people to the shopping areas. The Brits seemed to have missed the memo on the business opportunities here. We old folks would have gladly paid double for a hot chocolate after an hour of wandering in the cold. But pubs full of university students, or church ladies pushing caffeine, were the only games in town.