Reclaim The Future 2 - Feb 1st '03 (page 1)

Here's another set of Reclaim The Future pics for you all to gawp at, snapped by yours truly almost five months after the previous one in Tottenham (and wasn't that an interesting evening!). Having gone to a leaving meal for a much-loved work colleague who was soon to be off to pastures old (a victim of office politics & manoeuvres that'd make the bod they call David Brent blush. You'll find far more intrigue and power-play going on in libraries than some would even think there could possibly ever be!), I cycled 'Red Nev' all the way down to Liverpool Street station, and caught a 78 bus from there to the Old Kent Road where the night's entertainment and activism was to be found in an old T.V. showroom (turned activists centre).
Going through the entrance, I paid my £3, got my hand stamped and making my way through the entrance, I caught the folks who you see in the first pic below (I think they're the Inner Terrestrials) doing a song that mentioned India and chanting in the chorus (a surefire mark of hippy-dippyness?), that had the crowd going.

'Sadz' & 'Dubya' take a break from all that
brinkmanship they've been up to of late to
partake in some alternative culture....

....while in another part of the main hall, two papier mache "stunnas" near the IndyMedia cinema were found asking the relevant question of the moment.

Here's three lovely ladies I spoke to for quite a while when I discovered the chill-out room. From left to right, you'll see a girl from Melbourne, Australia who mistook me for "....the dude with the van" (whoever he may be!), a girl from Germany by the name of Tatiana whom I first met down Camden Lock last summer and kept bumping into from time to time after that in various places we happened to be around, and lastly, a fellow snapper from Portugal whose name's Donna (I think). The snap didn't come out as planned, as the batteries in my camera flash were running low that night. It was a truly international gathering that evening, it's got to be said (and all the better for it, too!).
I found myself recognised by one of the mysterious WOMBLES (to protect his anonymity, I'll refer to him as 'Mr.A'), warning me to be v.careful when going snapping ("....certain folks here are trying to keep a low profile, if you do know what I mean") that evening and to apologise for biting the three pics that I took at the Tottenham R.T.F. while deep in the WOMBLES den (which I found on their site some weeks later) and not e-mailing me to let me know.
I was well pleased to see a lady who I never thought would even come along to events like this (she once called me "....an original crusty", due to my dress sense. Oh well, what did I expect to hear from an old soulgirl and rave groove fanatic!) by the name of Michelle, who'd come along for the night with a friend of hers named Richard. Not forgetting my manners (living as I do in Tottenham, where the tiniest thing can all too often be perceived as a slight - with fatal consequences!), I introduced her to Tatiana, and then made my way back into the hall.

Once I was back in the main hall, I found The Space Goats doing the usual to an appreciative audience (as typified by an Oriental girl sporting Inuit boots who was sat cross-legged at the stage's edge). Here's a pic of Pok in action with his guitar....

....and here's a lady that I snapped at the 'Save Our World' festy in Brockwell Park back in June 2000, by the name of Jenny (cool mohican, eh?), seen here having a chat, a ciggie and a cider with a friend opposite called Irish Joe.

When The Spacegoats had finished their set, the
d.j. played an inspired selection of choons before
the next act took to the stage. You'll observe the
chaos and kinetism I had a go at capturing that
occurs on the dancefloor, when the bod by the
name of Eminem booms out of the speakers
nearby (battery failure again, I'm afraid).

With that done, it was time for the "master of unceremonies" (if such a thing exists) to introduce the next act, an all-female band by the name of Gertrude. I recognised one of the members, as she's the sister of a bloke I see every now and then called Duncan (hello! when's your next art-rock c.d. opus coming out then?) and passed on my regards to him when she sees him next....

....and here she is below, doing some nifty riffing,
as accompanied by a lady on a v.spartan cello.