Phew... the last time that I played in Paddington, I had played in the larger church down the road. Thank goodness for Google Maps, or I would have been waiting to play at the wrong church! However, it did still confuse me a bit as I was expecting a completely different place... and for a few moments I thought that I was lost!
Still, trust in the robots....
Paddington is quite a trendy inner city suburb of Sydney, and this long street is home to quite a number of restaurants and fashionable shops.... I avoided the fashionable places, I'm just not that sort of person... and I did hook into one pretty nice takeaway Japanese place to eat before the concerts.
Anyway, this isn't about the street, but about this lovely stone church... not crazily large, and it appears that it hosts a weekend market that is quite well known to the locals, as well as being attached to the school next door.
There is an outdoor covering that is obviously more modern, and I do like it when these covered areas are attached to the older churches. It allows for a gathering space near the church when the weather isn't as great as it could be... and many of the market stalls seem to find cover there. Without it, you are reliant on good weather to have an outdoor community.
It isn't a large church, but it is a cosy size for chamber music and the acoustics are pretty decent if a little bit deceiving on stage! During the daylight, it is a lovely sight as always to see the stained glass lit up... on this side of the church, they are a bit plain though.
On the other side, there is a single more ornate one... which leads me to wonder if that is from a different era/set. Perhaps there were more ornate ones, and they were shattered or destroyed at some time?
... and this is the altar area, but also where we had set up the stage for the concert. As I had mentioned, a good acoustic, but weirdly deceiving on stage as you would sound crazy loud but not so much in the hall! Perhaps the high ceiling does crazy things to the sound?
Alongside the stained glass are some pretty weird paintings... on the other hand, if you have seen Baroque and earlier paintings... well, these are pretty damn tame!
Sydney
