"Last week I heard the most amazing thing I'd ever heard in my whole life. The sound of Terry Riley, members of Pulp, and special guests on stage at the Barbican Centre. To be brutally honest I had heard of, but not actually heard, Riley's music, and my experience of minimalist composition was existent but hardly substantial. However I trusted the judgment of my favourite group and decided to give it a go. So, in my college hols, off I trekked to the capital, in the hope that it wasn't all a big mistake. It wasn't. I realised that it wasn't as soon as I got there. Late, unfortunately, due to the urge to stay and see the exciting and varied attractions on Screen 2 (Thanks Mark, the first night was a complete success - despite my knowledge of film being infinitely better than it is of that night's music, seeing films I had only read about in textbooks was a revelation, thanks). 

My first thought as I entered the hall was the whereabouts of my heroes, but that thought vanished as soon as the string quartet, centre stage, began to play. I'd literally never heard anything like it, ever, and from then on I was on another planet; all the way through, from Riley's captivating piano pieces to his celebrated work "In C". This was the icing on the cake as far as I was concerned and I loved every minute. It is hard to explain my emotions through the piece; there were parts where you could close your eyes and let the heavenly noise flow in and around you, and amazing build ups of sound heightened the emotions and filled eyes (mine at least) with tears. And at the end there was that overwhelming feeling you get when you know you've been lucky enough to witness and experience something truly indescribable. There was the most amazing atmosphere of collective admiration for the musicians, which prompted some members of the audience to leap to their feet and applaud. I didn't, I couldn't. My legs were far too trembly, so I just sat there and tried to clap my hardest as I watched the expressions on the faces of the musicians, who I like to think enjoyed the whole performance as much as the rest of us.

I left, blissfully unaware that the last train home was only ten minutes away, from a station fifteen minutes away. But I didn't care, if I'd had to sleep on the steps of the Barbican I couldn't have been less happy. Thank you Pulp for introducing me and thankyou Terry Riley for your spirit lifting sounds (Katie)