Gig Catch-Up

Oh man why do I even bother trying to blog when I forget to post everything? Haha. So a select few photos from gigs since November. Apparently I had good luck and got to the front for all three!


Jimmy Eat World back on November 19th in O2 Academy Bristol was a bit of a last minute one as it sold out the day tickets were released and I only confirmed that I had entry on the day of the show! The girl I bought my ticket from turned out to be really nice, and she even dragged my right to the front and centre so we had the best view possible even though we arrived late!


Skipping forward to 6th December at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, we have Biffy Clyro.


I was a bit too close to get photos of the whole stage, but got some nice shots anyway! I wish they'd played more old songs, but at least they played Justboy (I think I cried a bit when they started playing it haha).


And lastly, Yellowcard, on December 11th at Bristol O2. Although I don't know their stuff very well, and have seen them twice before, this was my first time seeing them in a smaller venue...I couldn't even see the stage the other times! I'm glad I went along since it was their last tour and therefore the last chance to see them live.

The end of this year has been a busy one for gigs! And travelling too, I guess. Also went to Worcester to visit Sophie earlier this week, but I failed at getting photos so I can't really blog about it...epic fail!

Halloween

I somehow managed to skip writing about a lot of gigs (I've been to so many recently...and I don't think I wrote about Reading festival either?) but Halloween really can't be ignored.


I don't usually do anything for Halloween and hadn't planned to this year either, but then Bring Me The Horizon announced another London O2 Arena date. This wouldn't be particularly interesting...except Enter Shikari were to support as special guests. Um, yes please!


I missed part of Basement as they were on at 1830, which is when my lying ticket said doors were. I had been loitering around outside and checking out the merch tables! I only recognised one song, but they seem a pretty decent band and I would see them again at a festival, probably.


Next was Don Broco, who I have seen twice before. They were all dressed up as cowboys (like in their creepy music video) and put on the best show I've seen them do. They seem an odd choice of support being very poppy, but not complaining as they are a bit of a guilty pleasure!


Then the relief of not having to wait until next year to see Enter Shikari again! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of people with standing tickets as I'd have been able to get to the front with ease and couldn't see well from my seat at the back of the venue, but then again I easily had one of the best seats in the house and I finally got the chance to appreciate the stage set-up and lighting which is easily missed when you're at the front.


The set was 11 songs long, featuring 4 tracks from The Mindsweep, 3 from older albums, and 4 non-album singles including brand new Hoodwinker. Only thing I'd have wanted different from the set would be for it to be longer - can't fault the song choice at all, even if it wasn't all that different from their February tour set.


Now Bring Me The Horizon are definitely a guilty pleasure for me. I don't like their older stuff at all but do like the 2 newer, more mainstream albums. I have to say they completely blew me away this time! I've always enjoyed seeing them before, but the stage set up, lighting, and all that jazz were superb. They definitely deserve their arena tour, and I hope they do Cardiff on their next run!

The next day after a swift hangover recovery (sitting at Marble Arch with a book and a can of Monster for an hour until I felt human), I went for a half-hearted shopping trip along Oxford Street. I had intended to do my usual an have a nice long read at Jubilee Gardens at the other end, but I was so exhausted that I decided to rush back for one of the last super off-peak trains rather than giving myself another 5 hours to kill.


I didn't end up buying much at all this time! Though I stupidly forgot to go in the toy store and was too fed up of how crowded it was (and by google maps getting me lost) by the time I got to Forbidden Planet. BMTH shirt from the gig, necklace from Primark, the others from H&M (I'd be lying if I said my main motivation for buying that shirt was anything other than that it looked like something Rory C would wear). Err I was too lazy to take a photo sooo maybe I'll add it at some point later. I just realised I'd never post this if I didn't just do it before I forgot entirely haha.

Slam Dunk Midlands

My attendance at Slam Dunk was plagued with bad luck. I turned in a holiday form for it at least a month in advance, but it got thrown out by mistake and I wasn't allowed the weekend off work. I had already booked a hostel for the whole weekend (which luckily I could cancel for free) and train tickets (which had a £10 fee for cancelling). This gave me two options - try to flog my ticket for peanuts, or just go for the day and leave before any of the big bands. I chose to go and re-booked my train. The day before I found out the main band I wanted to see, The Qemists, had pulled out. But I was already committed, so I went. But yeah, that whole thing SUCKED.


Got to the venue about 20 minutes after doors opened, and the queue was massive. Luckily I made a friend called Bex on the train so we just chatted the whole time we were waiting! It took just over an hour to get in so I missed Moose Blood and Trash Boat, but made it to Desperados stage with plenty of time before the first band I really wanted to see. I didn't realise the stage would be outside, so I regretted not taking sun cream and a cap as I caught the sun a fair bit! I'm very sensitive to the sun as my skin is very pale and my hair very dark!


First band of the day for me was [spunge], who I've wanted to see since I was in my first year of secondary school. So...12 years, maybe? I'm not sure why it took me so long because they were SO GOOD! I only own 2 of their albums so I only knew 2 songs really well, but I still knew a fair few others and they totally killed it! I also got to have a chat with the singer afterwards which was pretty cool, and near the end of the set I made it to the barrier as well. I really hope to see them again soon. Just getting to see them made the stress of the whole thing worth it.

Also because the stage was right by the rail line, we had a thing going where we had to turn to the track and flip the bird every time a train went past, which was pretty fun. I'm sure there were probably some people who kept that going all day.


I ended up staying at the stage to see Catch Twenty-Two, and was surprised to find that I knew a few of their songs. Glad I stayed for them as it was fun and nice to stay out in the sunshine too.

Afterwards I headed inside and met up with Bex again for Yellowcard. Unfortunately I couldn't get any photos that were worth keeping as the main stage was huge so we were quite near the back, but hearing Ocean Avenue in full was really awesome. After seeing them last year at Download I already knew I wanted to go see them again, so I'm glad I got that chance! I can't imagine how gutted the people at North were since technical difficulties cut their set short to about 20 minutes...that must have sucked a lot, as probably a lot of people were going purely to see them play the full album.


Afterwards I made a somewhat swift exit to go see Hacktivist, but I managed to get lost on the way and the person who I asked for directions from sent me the wrong direction entirely and I ended up missing the first 3 songs which was pretty gutting. Especially since one of them is a really good one! But fingers crossed I'll see them at Reading later in the year. I was also really disappointed that Rou Reynolds didn't join them for their second song, Taken, as I'd been really looking forward to seeing them perform together for it because that song really helped me keep going when my Gran was dying. However he did join them for Elevate again, so at least I got to see one member of Enter Shikari, even if it was only for a few seconds!


I wasn't sure what to do afterwards so I headed back to Desperados for a bit of Zebrahead, who I last saw almost a decade ago. I didn't know the couple of songs I stayed for, but I kind of wish I'd stayed for longer. Instead I thought I'd give Issues a try since I like a couple of their songs, but I didn't hear any I recognised and their main singer has an annoying voice, so I decided to head back to the train station instead.

So I ended up leaving at about half seven. Which sucked. But it meant I was able to catch an earlier train back to Bristol than I had intended which I feel was a good move as if I'd missed the next one I'd have had to call my dad to pick me up from the station as I'd have missed the last bus. I was exhausted anyway - my pedometer logged almost 25,000 steps!

All in all, I definitely had a brilliant time. However it wasn't worth the money I paid at all being that The Qemists were one of the main reasons I had decided to go. Obviously I had initially thought I'd have been able to see a headliner too, which is what you're paying for, really. I'd have liked to have seen Of Mice & Men as I've not seen them before, or Panic! At The Disco again as they're brilliant live, and then a bit of Shikari Sound System for a short spell of dancing and Rory C fangirling...but alas, it was not to be.

I'd probably do the festival again as Midlands seems to have been organised a lot better than the other two venues, but I wouldn't just go for the day ever again!

Busted

Okay, so I was never a Busted fan. By 2002 I was snobby about music and mostly listened to Evanescence and punk. But 14 years on and I'm now a big enough person to say I actually liked their stupid catchy songs, so when a friend at work said she had space in her car for their first Cardiff show last week, I ended up tagging along.


We left just after midday so we got to the queue super early for a wait of about 5 hours. Somehow the time went quite quickly though.


The first act was Emma Blackery, but the crowd didn't seem to be feeling it.


Wheatus on the other hand, were awesome. Although not many people knew more songs than Teenage Dirtbag (I think I listened to that album once, but that was a good 8 or 9 years ago!). We all laughed out loud when they started playing a song called Leroy because we had a pigeon friend in the queue who we named that...we had no idea it was a song!


And then pigs started to fly...


Somehow we managed to get to the 2nd/3rd row of the general standing area, so we had a really good view. The part in front was for people who paid about £100 more for their tickets, but since they made use of the whole arena it didn't really matter.


They even did a few songs at the back of the venue, which was super far for us but great for anybody who couldn't make it further forward. The light fittings were super cool.


I was miffed that the tickets were so expensive, but the stages were definitely worth the money. They even had those things that raised them up from below the stage. The setlist had a good mix of old and new songs. I ended up knowing most of them as we had a few albums on in the car on the way, and I don't think anybody of my generation could NOT know any of the singles!


We were directly in front of Charlie for a lot of the show. This is my favourite shot because of dat derp! I'll admit he was the most boring person to watch though. Matt especially was doing all sorts of things, including taking selfies with fans on that back wall during the show (and he was the only one I saw do a Busted jump!).


And then it was over! I probably don't ever need to hear a Busted song ever again, but it was a good show and I had a great time. They really didn't disappoint. I imagine a lot of fans who missed out on seeing them way back when were practically peeing themselves from excitement =P

Unfortunately we ended up taking a huge detour on the way home which doubled our journey time as we couldn't find a McDonald's that was open so we ended up grumpy and hungry. Won't be making that mistake again!

BABYMETAL

On the 2nd of April, Babymetal's much anticipated Wembley Arena show happened! I was in two minds about making the trip to London for it, but I have no regrets now!

After checking into my hostel, I headed to Camden for the afternoon to meet some sharkies for a wander around before heading to Wembley. Queueing there was a nightmare, I ended up in the wrong queue twice before getting into the arena. Then I was in the wrong queue for picking up my preordered shirt. Then I queued there to be told my reference had to be printed so I had to queue to print it out and then queue AGAIN to pick it up.

The show had to support, just some DJing by Daniel P Carter which wasn't so bad.


Then I met up with a sharkie and her friend for the show itself! We had matching Babymetal wristbands!


Babymetal! Haha my photos didn't come out to great, I had quite a bit of cider haha.


The lighting, set, and outfits were all awesome!


Ended up singing and dancing a lot! The setlist was a good mix of tracks from the new album and old goodies.


Really want to see them again! Hope they come back to the UK soon.


The next day I couldn't keep down my free breakfast, so I headed to the Spoons at Marble Arch for second breakfast before walking along Oxford Street and then going to Forbidden Planet before heading to my usual spot at Jubilee Gardens to chill out and read all afternoon.


Went for a sporty Black Milk outfit for the day. Ended up wishing I had worn something lighter as it was surprisingly hot! Especially since I did quite a lot of walking (I was lazy afterwards and got the tube back rather than walking for over an hour).


This was my haul from the weekend! A split top from F21, a shirt from Primark, Catbug keyring and manga from Forbidden Planet, and of course my Babymetal shirt! I wish I could have bought one of the other shirts too, but apparently they sold out super quickly!

The Mindsweep Tour

Another somewhat belated post...and I have been neglecting my blog again. Oops! In my defence, I do actually have a reason this time - still recovering from last week!

The end of February saw Enter Shikari return to touring the UK for their album The Mindsweep that was released just over a year ago. The Bournemouth date was the day after my birthday, and the start of my awesome birthday week of awesomeness.


Rory shirt is a wardrobe staple haha. I stayed in a nice little hotel right near the BIC, and watched Rick & Morty whilst pre-drinking there haha.


Somehow managed to walk straight in and to the barrier in a great position! The first band were The King Blues, a mix of ska punk and folk punk. I liked them a lot!


The more generic The Wonder Years were up next, and while they were also good I wasn't really feeling it so much. Aside from the obvious Shikari hype I was feeling!


And then the Enter Shikari boys!


I was about as close to Rory C's mic stand as I could have hoped to be considering I didn't turn up early to queue. The happiest me! I love this photo so much ♥


I was up bright and early in order to fit in a walk along the seafront, since I haven't been to Bournemouth before. Decided to match Rory's guitar for this day, although it turned out I got brutally rejected in the evening when he started high-fiving people and stopped before me (not bitter AT ALL =P)


Somehow the sun was so strong that it was warm enough to take my coat AND hoodie off!


I half-wished I could have stayed there all day, but I had a Cardiff to get to and a Sophie to meet.


We lazed around at the hostel for a bit before getting some disappointing munch at Wagamamas.


Shikari things happened.


We were on the barrier but kind of on the corner, but that means behind-the-scenes goodness!


We did a spot of shopping the next day and got sushi before heading home. We were both too tired out to do much more.

Pretty much as soon as I got home, I started trying to resist buying a ticket for the London show. But, naturally (as I always knew I would, even back when buying the Bournemouth and Cardiff tickets), I caved.


There was a Tea Party Club meet near Hyde Park in the afternoon, with a raffle, tea, and cakes. I turned up a bit late due to my check-in time over in Hammersmith, but was still a nice afternoon!


A quick outfit shot before getting changed in the toilets...


I ended up a bit late to the Ally Pally due to the tea party and it being a long way out, but I think I only missed part of the first Arcane Roots song. The rest of the running order was the same as before, only this time I sat out The Wonder Years near the bar with a pint in each hand. Which, as it turns out, was a terrible idea.


I was so drunk for the rest of the evening that I don't remember much at all other than being escorted to the bus by a concerned member of staff and being judged on the tube for getting grated cheese and crumbs everywhere other than my mouth. And the crowd was INTENSE.


But the stuff on my camera made me laugh so much when I looked through it, and after a shower the next morning I just couldn't stop smiling. The happiness lasted for a couple of days. And I'm NEVER happy. So it was still worth it (although I'm super annoyed at myself for not staying sober enough to remember more of it!).


Obviously after 3 intense gigs in stupid platform boots, you get achy. So I decided to just chill in my favourite part of London for a little while (the grass out front of the London Eye). I had a good raid of the local Boots as well, so my tum was happy!

I headed home early again as I just had no energy to do anything else. I don't really mind too much as I'm back in London again soon anyway and I'd had far too much excitement and exertion for one week. I still wish I could do the whole thing again though! Best week ever!