Frank Turner 1-12-12

Keep meaning to post more, but spend most of my time either doing work or stressing out about work I'm not doing so it just isn't happening right now, sorry!

Anywho, on Saturday I went to see Frank Turner in my hometown. Sixth time seeing him, already looking forward to the next time hehe. Photos are crappy as I only took my phone, so added some extras from xtramilerecordings.

First band was Jim Lockey & the Solemn Sun, who were actually really good.


Also Frank joined onstage with a bunch of other people all dressed in animal suits for Home/Hospitals (little video I found here).


Tempted to get a ticket to their local show in February since it'll be after my exams!

Next up was Tim Barry.


Unfortunately I missed a chunk of his set as I needed some water and the queue was huge. What I heard was good but same-y. I'd only heard one song of his before on the Try This At Home split. Elvis ended up joining in for the finale.


Wat.

And Frank was better than ever!


Really good mix of songs including some real oldies (sadly the setlist isn't up anywhere I can find).


Super happy to hear Casanova Lament live and a large amount of people singing all the words even though it was a b-side track.


Less happy about the guy who stood directly in front of me who must have been almost 7 feet tall who didn't even clap the whole time. You sir, are an asshole. Also as I discovered later, the harmonica-toting elephant who joined the stage for I Still Believe was none other than Emily Barker.

No gigs now until March (Biffy Clyro), unless I find something cool local or if anyone buys me Gaslight Anthem tickets...hehe.

And sadly missed out on International Lolita Day as plans just seemed to fall through. And missing the meet this week as it moved day and I just can't make it due to family commitments, which is a pain in the butt as I really miss lolita (it just isn't practical for every-day wear anymore) and I'd picked out an outfit already (took extra effort as it's a classic-themed meet and I had to get creative since my wardrobe is so sweet).

Twin Atlantic 6-11-12

You know I said Twin Atlantic were rubbish? Well, I all too predictably made a complete U-turn concerning them. This is mostly due to MTV Rocks playing 'Yes I Was Drunk' all the time, so I listened to them more and they really grew on me. So I went to see them again with one of my best friends from school, Katie =3

We arrived in Bristol with plenty of time, so we had a pot of tea each in Café Rouge and ate sausage rolls before entering the venue. We decided to go up to the balcony since it was pretty packed (with children...we must have brought the average age up quite a bit and we're only 21). This was a very good move as we had a great view and the bar up there was deserted!


The first band were called Dead Sara. The singer was a bit crazy, almost stumbling into the drums several times (and actually doing so on one occasion), and climbing onto an amp stack to jump down from it which made for nervous watching. But their music was pretty good, rocky with a bit of a country twist in some of the vocals.


The second act was Charlie Simpson. Yes, the eyebrow guy from Busted (*cough* who has a nice butt *coughcough*). Again, pretty good. Prefer Fightstar, but there you go! The guy on the left had what looked like an egg and a Kitkat which he shook. Egg man, we salute you!


And finally, Twin Atlantic! They played a lot of songs I didn't know (not sure how since they only have one album) and the kids in the pit went crazy with tons of circle pits and crushing each other against the barrier.


Soooo glad I went though as I had been feeling utterly exhausted all day and stressed out, but had a really great time! Wish I had taken my camera instead of relying on my crappy phone camera, but I was too lazy to hold it the whole time.

Hoping some other good bands come to Bristol again soon so we can go out again!

Catch-Up

Since it has been a while, I thought I'd do a little catch-up post! I've been rubbish at taking photos lately though so they're either awful or pinched from other people (-_-')

A few weeks ago Monika had a birthday night out. We did karaoke (I got rather drunk and carried away), and then we went to Bierkeller for some more drinking and more dancing! And I was a naughty meow (uh oh, I picked up Joyce's meow tic) and tried a cigarette for the first time orz


The birthday girl! Awesome gurololi outfit ♥


Karaoke-ers!


Sophie & I sampling WooWoos.


And a bunch of us trying to get in the shot xP

I was street-snapped in Bath earlier that day, but only got a handful of likes so I didn't win any shopping vouchers. Which is a shame, as I happened to put effort into my outfit that day!


More recently we had a Hallo-meme night where we all dressed (sort of) as memes! I was woman laughing alone with salad, but so was Antonia so we laughed together with salad xP though the photo hasn't surfaced anywhere yet!


Amy's super-duper awesome nyan-cat headdress! Seriously, this photo really doesn't do it justice.


Wearing Sophie's condescending Wonka hat! I was wearing Bodyline's Antique Clock OP but I didn't get an outfit shot.

That was a momentous night as I managed to not be hungover the next day! Although that was probably due to the fact that I left really early. My phone said the station was 7 minutes away but then someone pointed out I had it on car and it would take 20 minutes by foot, so I had to peg it. Guess how long it took? SEVEN BLOODY MINUTES ahaha I AM CAR.

On Halloween I went to a house party. The punch was awesome. The jelloshots were also awesome.


I wore too much make-up...


...and got my kigu dirty in the park D=


I look like such a deformed human in this thing, but it's so cosy!


And the pumpkin ate slugs instead of sweets. Ew.

Other than that I have been stressing out like mad over uni work. I have 2 essays and 2 presentations to do in the next couple weeks, and this is on top of the papers I have to read, exam notes, and dissertation work (which involves about a billion hours just sat in the lab with participants).

Also what are you guys thinking of the bigger photos I've been using? I'm not sure if they look too big with this theme or not (^_^')

MUSE 30-10-12

On Tuesday I went to see Muse again!

The journey was really stressful. Dad picked us up an hour late, then we got stuck trying to get out of Bath for an hour, and it ended up taking over 3 hours in total to get to Birmingham. We got to our seats just as Joy Formidable were finishing, which is a shame as I know they're really good (I saw them at Reading last year).

I was a little worried that Muse wouldn't be so good due to over-reliance on showy sets and the like, and was definitely feeling a little miffed about paying for 2 £55 tickets when we only ended up seeing one band. But I can safely say they were totally worth the money!



The set was flashy with lots of moving screens and lasers and Matt's sunglasses showed the lyric video for Madness when they played it, but none of this overshadowed their performance! I think this was the best show I've seen of them, but that's probably more because I wasn't a huge fan the first time and I couldn't see a damn thing the second (although the setlist was better that time). And while our view wasn't as good as dad's (he had VIP tickets and was right next to the stage) we still had a good view of all the glowy instruments and stuff.



They played a good mix of the new songs (which, as predicted, have really grown on me a lot) and older stuff. At one point there was a roulette to choose between New Born and Stockholm Syndrome, which landed on the latter song. A lot of disappointed people, but idgaf because I prefer that one eheheh.



The worst thing about the show was the crowd. The standing crowd looked reasonably enthusiastic with a few circle pits breaking out and an acceptable amount of jumping and arm waving, but in the seated bits PEOPLE STAYED SEATED. What the heck is wrong with you people? The people next to us seemed annoyed at people standing. It was a shame as I felt really exposed stood up and surrounded by grumpy old farts, so I couldn't jump around as much as I'd liked (but obviously I'm too short for standing tickets!). The other bad thing being how old my camera is now; I hadn't realise how good newer ones were until I saw the photos the guy in front was getting!



This was the set list. I was so glad they played Liquid State as it's my favourite off the album (controversial! lol).


And I guess sorry for not posting for almost a month, been so busy with uni work and shitty personal shit has been afoot. Please forgive me xP And now to go eat lunch and then try to write an essay in an afternoon!

Juliette et Justine Tea Party Club Meet

(Very long post and lots of pictures. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! But feel free to just look at the pretties and not read it eheheh.)

As I am sure many of you will already know, Saturday was a big day for the British lolita community! For the 5th anniversary Tea Party Club meet there was an event with Juliette et Justine and Gothic Lolita Bible! There was also the first brand tea party in the country on the Sunday, although sadly I couldn't afford to attend.


Here's the ticket! It arrived the Monday before the event which got me all excited.

I was pretty stressed getting my outfit ready late the night before (I'd spent the day at the beach!) and was annoyed that I wouldn't have time to do anything with my hair. Had to get up at 5.40, eat & have a cuppa, do make-up, throw clothes on, stagger to the bus stop for the 7.16 bus. Ended up getting to the stop 20 minutes early, but I couldn't risk missing it! Got to the train platform half an hour before it left too, but wasn't really avoidable. Met frilly friends on the platform and the train.



Tube to Charing Cross!


We got to the venue with a few minutes to spare. Enough time for a chat and some photos!


lol at the woman in the background xD

Since we had VIP tickets we went in at 11 and picked up our goodie bags! Then we went to the sales room to have a look at what was on offer. I was blown away by Juliette et Justine's dresses, but no one piece stood out so I didn't bankrupt myself by buying anything.


The bustling sales room.


And the hotel itself was pretty gorgeous.


Couldn't resist getting a photo with those paintings in the background with the beautiful Chrissi.


Outfit rundown time! Bag and dress are Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, necklace and bracelet are from a BTSSB collaboration with Sanrio character Charmmy Kitty, and everything else is offbrand (headbow from H&M, blouse by NafNaf, shoes from Peacocks).


Once everyone was in and settled there was a Q&A with the guests and we were given a questionnaire about ourselves for Gothic Lolita Bible. After this there was a scavenger hunt (which we failed miserably at) and time to go get lunch. Started to get a headache as it was so hot despite the air conditioning (it was much worse outside).


Accessory shot I took while waiting for the fashion show to begin! There were also opera-esque singers at this point, but I really didn't rate them.

I took so many fashion show photos, so I'll just post a few of my favourites.






I loved all the dresses (well if you ignore the one with boob-grabbing, peen-flashing cherubs), especially the really OTT ones! If I manage to part with some sweet pieces in time to raise funds I'll probably order one of the book dresses as they're simply stunning. I also loved that alice-themed one as it fits more with my Angelic Pretty pieces in a way.


After more free time there was a big raffle, although I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Here's a blurry snap of our wonderful hosts Kyra and Michaela while they were calling up winners.

The highlight of the day was somewhat unexpected. After Kyra thanked the guests Dom took to the mic to thank Kyra for organising everything so wonderfully, and then he proposed! I could see what was coming just before it happened and was instantly crying tears of joy. I love them both to pieces so I couldn't be happier for them! Even remembering it brings a tear to my eye.

And after everyone destroyed their make-up with tears, the big group photo.


Click the photo for source! Sadly some people already had to leave before this was taken. I was right at the back so only my hand is visible -_-'

And thus ended the event! After saying goodbye to everyone and giving Kyra a big hug, I went in search of a pint with Bexy and Amy which led us to a pub called Sherlock Holmes. We also got a few cans for the journey back before grabbing the tube and then the train. So sad to spend such a short amount of time in London.


Oh my glob, why do I derp so?

The train seemed to take forever due to being so tired and the fact that emergency stop kept happening for some reason (I suspect dementors).


Drinking with my pinkie out because I'm a sophisticated lady and all.

The plan had been to go out with Bexy afterwards, but my heat-sickness didn't go away and the booze probably didn't help matters, so I went home instead. Well, I say I went home - the next bus wasn't for over an hour and a half so I had to sit at the bus stop dehydrating like mad until 11.33 and then bear a 40 minute bus journey and the 10 minute stagger home, in which I was followed by drunken men. One of whom was bearing a lightsabre. My life.

And so while I wish I could have attended the tea party also, it's probably best that I didn't as I was tired and my body ached so much by the time I got home. But it was such a great day \(^u^)/