Mon the Biff!

On 22-3-13 I saw Biffy Clyro for the 4th time \(^u^)/

We left quite early but I guess we got caught up in traffic on the way to Cardiff as we didn't make it to the venue until around 8pm, so we completely missed City and Colour. The venue was really odd - we had seating on the balcony at the back which turned out to only be 3 rows of seats and the floor was super sticky! And we had grumpy old folk behind us who yelled and swore at me when I stood up when the band came on...wow seriously? It's a ROCK GIG for one of the best British bands, you can't just sit and watch!!

Obviously they were brilliant, as always. I have kinda patchy memory as I had vodka with me and was drinking it straight, but I don't mind that as it means I was uninhibited and had tons of fun! (Plus if I'd have been sober the people behind would have guilted me into sitting and I'd have been grumpy and pissed off the whole time, but when I'm drunk idgaf). Even if I did probably make an ass of myself too...I seem to remember shouting 'SIMON I LOVE YOUUU!' and then turning to see Rob giving me evils haha.

Soooo...photos!


Grays Bar? Eheheh.





I actually ended up with 135 photos on my camera, but most of them were trash as my camera is really old and I continued to jump around like a mad thing while taking them! In the end only around 20 were any good haha. But as you can probably see, the set was amazing and so were the lights.

Here's the setlist:


I'd been worried looking at the European setlists that there wouldn't be any older songs, so it was great to hear some. Justboy is one I've always wanted to hear live as I love the ending where they all share the singing, and Jaggy Snake was the first song of theirs I heard so that was great too! And makes me look forward to April 1st as that's when Biblical is released (BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT).

We got lost trying to leave Cardiff as the signs are too frigging big thanks to every place being written on them twice, so it took a while to figure out where the motorway was! The journey back was nice though, I think Sophie fell asleep in the back but Rob and I sang the whole way back.

Wish I could do it all again! Trying to get a ticket to the Bournemouth show, and failing that I'll try to get one for London. But failing both, there's always Reading. WOooooooOOh!

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 13

~ Lolitas I have met in real life ~

Far too many to list!

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 12

~ Combining other fashions with Lolita ~

I definitely think this is a good thing, even if it can lead to the occasional trainwreck. I've seen lolitaXfairy-kei cross-overs often, and I think steampunk lolita is great when done right too. Same goes for cyberlolita, although I know that one gets a lot of hate.


I can't think of any more off the top of my head, can you?

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 11

~ 3 trends I wish would come back ~

1. Old-school! Can't lie, while this look is outdated and probably considered ita today, I do miss it. It's so simple and so much more practical without huge headbows and petticoats, and the dresses were a little shorter back then so they fit me better!
   
    


2. Natural hair. I just don't like wigs unless they look really natural. I think they make it look so much more like a costume than a fashion, and so many people just chuck on a wig that doesn't match their outfit because they think they're not a 'real lolita' without one. I've even seen sad outfits where the person is wearing a wig but no petticoat. It's just weird. I hate how wigs are such a big part of the western fairy-kei scene too as Japanese wearers of the fashion just do not wear wigs. And I guess a part of it is that people tell me to wear one...guuurl do you really think I could fit all this hair in a wig cap even if I wanted to?


3. Sailor style. People still wear sailor lolita I guess, but I would like it to make a comeback. I would definitely like to own an old-school sailor piece one day, and then I could back the trends I've mentioned here all at once!
   
   

Which trends do you miss?

Lolita 52 Challenge: Day 10

~ How I first found out about Lolita ~


To be honest, I don't remember.

It was a really long time ago when the only images I'd seen were old-school gosurori, and while I liked it a little I wasn't exactly enamoured. I only fell for it when I saw Metamorphose's Swan Lake some time later (even though it is quite frankly a hot mess...not that I don't still love it! The tackiness is all part of its charm).


But I can assume that finding lolita is in part due to Cardcaptor Sakura as it was the first anime I watched subbed and I hadn't really paid any attention to anything Japanese before then.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Yes, I realise I'm two years behind, but I just finished watching it and I thought I'd give my opinions. I'll still be as spoiler-free as possible since there must be people slower than me...right?

So upon starting to watch it, I was already aware that it wasn't going to be as cutesy as the anime I usually watch, although it stars off reasonably cute. But as soon as the first witch comes along, shit gets real. THOSE LABYRINTHS REALLY SCARE ME OKAY.

Kyubey freaks me out a bit too, always has even before I watched it. Although it annoys me that so many people assume that Kyubey must be evil or something - it's clearly just indifferent!


The first half of the series was interesting, but it was the second half that really pulled me in. I'd felt a little woozy in places, but it was episode 8 that made me super shaky even though I should have seen that plot twist coming (I read something on Tumblr that had alluded to it before, but I'd forgotten all about it until it happened). I also thought I was finally going to make it through an anime without crying, but I blubbed pretty much the whole way through the Homura episode!


I'm a little unsure about the ending. I'm not really sure if it's a happy ending or not? I guess it is, but hmmm a bit of an odd one. But then most anime have unsatisfying conclusions, and it certainly wasn't the worst!

I'll definitely watch it again, and if you haven't watched it I recommend that you do. The character development is really good for such a short anime, and the story is quite clever. I definitely intend to watch the movies (even though they are supposedly re-hashes of the series) and read the manga spin-offs once my dissertation is done!


Now I just have the problem of choosing which soul gem I should buy! As I really want one now. But my favourite character is Homura but purple wouldn't match anything I have. I'd be better off with Madoka's pink or Kyoko's red, but still I can't decide (^_^')

Biblical

The release of this video took me completely by surprise the other day. I was just checking Facebook in my dissertation break in the comp lab, and the announcement popped up at about the same time. Which was great as I got to watch it on a widescreen HD computer rather than my crappy little laptop.


If you have't watched it, you really should. It's a clever little video in my opinion (I especially like how the twins were used in it, can you spot them?), the song has grown to be one of my favourites from the album, and I admit I almost drooled when watching this eheheh (¬u¬)

In other Biffy-related news, they're releasing a live version of Modern Magic Formula for this year's Record Store Day, which I'm really excited for! Jimmy Eat World is releasing something too, and probably lots of other cool bands. Gonna have to get down to my local store to have a look on the day (because I finally found a store here!).

Lolita 52 Challenge: Week 9

~ 5 keywords that describe my personal Lolita style ~

1. Sweet - there's no escaping the fact that my lolita style is very much sweet lolita, even if it isn't as OTT as many people's.
2. Black - probably the colour I wear the most, closely followed by...
3. Pink - probably the commonest colour in sweet lolita. I'd love to get more lavender and mint, but I lack the funds right now.
4. Rock - I like to keep a rock-style influence in my more casual outfits, whether through engineer boots, rider jackets, or spikes.
5. Simple - while I generally wear busy prints, I keep the rest of my outfit plain with no wigs, face-stickers, simple make-up, little jewellery (if any). Any layering I do is due to necessity (cold/rainy weather). My hair is usually left down too, although I occasionally get stick for this from lolitas on the net (especially due to my lack of bangs).