They really do. After Friday's show, we went back into the West End yesterday to see the Sultan's Elephant again. And despite the crappy weather, so did thousands of other people. The really great thing about the elephant is its ability to appeal to the broadest range of people possible. We were all there. Tourists and Londoners. Old and young. Black and white. Straight and gay. R'nB and indie. Chavs and well-to-do Jermyn Street shoppers. All with big happy smiles as we ran around central London after the giant elephant. Maybe someone should tell the UN Security Council about the elephant, the girl and the rocket.
The whole thing follows a story, apparently based on Jules Verne, which is in a free 'Elephant Echo' newspaper you can pick up around the place. I'm not too sure of the details, but yesterday's installment that we saw involved the girl being carried on the elephant's trunk from Trafalgar Square, round Piccadilly and back to Horseguards Parade. There the girl did some dancing, and went to sleep, closely followed by the elephant. They're back out and about again today.
And this being primarily a music blog, there's a musical link too. On its travels, the elephant is followed by a truck carrying a band playing the musical accompaniment to the journey. And unusually for these big public events, it's really not bad. At the start the trip from the National Gallery yesterday, they reminded me a bit of Death in Vegas. And then they went a bit more eastern. Then from somewhere in the depths of her memory, Mrs Growl pulled out the name of Indian Ropeman, a Brighton big beat combo from the late 90s. When we got home I dug out the CD, and you know what, it's not a million miles away from the elephant music (particularly the track 66 Meters). And you know what else? The album's called Elephant Sounds! This one goes out to all elephant fans and big beat nostalgists everywhere.
Download: Indian Ropeman - Sunshine of Your Love
Download: Indian Ropeman - 66 Meters
Download: Indian Ropeman - Stand Clear
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2 comments:
I really enjoyed the music the band played too, despite it's occasional hippy turns. I've had no luck in tracking it down yet although as you might imagine it's already turned up on ebay.
Indian Ropeman brings back memories of too much lager at university.
Big beat was really the anti-house wasn't it? It was all about the beer!
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