Hey, hey!
A week and a half since my comeback and I've already posted?! Oh my, something's changed. I suppose I just have a lot to complain about, and thus a lot to write about, now that I live in London and have to experience its horrors on a daily basis. Okay, okay, I'm kidding! ...kind of.
The thing about London is that it's both the best and worst place in the world. On the one hand, it's the world-famous capital that most people in the world dream of visiting if they can afford to. It has history, fashion, art, literature, music... and some of the most insufferable inhabitants that you could ever have the misfortune to cross paths with.
So here we go, a few things I hate about London:
Businessmen/women on scooters: I don't know if this is a nationwide phenomenon, but within my first week of studying on the Strand, I discovered (to my detriment) that some businesspeople consider the most practical form of transport to be their children's scooters. Now, I'm not going to judge them simply because they look ridiculous as they glide down the street in their suits, the wind gently blowing their briefcases - if anybody knows anything about me it's that I hate laughing at people embarrassing themselves! No, the issue is that these people have the audacity to scoot on the pavement, my pavement. As a pedestrian, it's both a nuisance and a danger to bump into such people. C'mon, Boris, where's the Boris Scooter? And the extensive plans for a Boris Scooter Path? Oh, you have no plans to introduce it? Because it's a stupid idea? In that case, could you let all those scooting morons know? Cheers.
Smelly people on the tube: There are a few different categories of smelly people on the tube who are all pretty difficult to bear:
People with B.O. on the tube: This is particularly bad during rush hour, when everybody's pushed against one another with about as much space as inside that tiny bag which somehow holds a sleeping bag (until you take the sleeping bag out and can never get it back again). As a girl of frankly diminutive height, I have found myself to regularly encounter a sweaty armpit to the face, which is the last thing I need after having two hours of German speaking and grammar.
People with bad breath on the tube: Although this problem doesn't affect me very often due to the fact that I rarely am at face-to-face height with another person, I have discovered that morning breath on a packed tube travels through the minimal amount of air which circulates. Nobody wants to breathe in the scent of somebody else's old coffee or their curry from last night. Nobody.
People who fart on the tube: These people are just sadists. They know what they're doing, tactically farting on the tube so that it spreads to every corner, sparing no souls in the process. This is particularly bad when you're sitting down and a (normally larger) person is standing in front of you. You know where this is going: fart in the face. The worst thing is, though, that then you want revenge. You suddenly get this overwhelming urge to fart in somebody else's face so they know how it feels. Usually that urge dissolves before you're able to muster anything up, but I've heard stories. And so the cycle of sadistic farts continues.
The Northern line: Oh God, the Northern line is so awful. It's slow and rickety, it's in constant need of repair, some of the seats perpetually smell from all the years of enduring the sadistic fart cycle and it's really noisy. The only good thing about the Northern line is that it inspired this song:
Don't get me wrong, guys. There's a reason I chose to study at King's, and it wasn't purely the course and the fact that Ben Schofield works there (I might mention him again later, but we'll see). Living in London is the best decision I've ever made and I genuinely love it. Unfortunately, there are very few things that I love which I don't also complain about all the time. It's pretty much just cats and McFly.
So on that note, I think this is an appropriate time to stop complaining. Expect more complaints about London in the future, because I haven't even been here that long yet. It's a four-year course, so there will surely be an abundance of rants to be made in the future.
Bis später!
x,.
I'm going to ignore the fact that I've had a 2-year hiatus and just continue with my upgraded edition of my blog which will, for now, be named GRACEBOOK 2.0.
No, don't worry, even I'm not that square. Nothing has changed, nor will anything change. I still don't like people and enjoy complaining about whatever I can, I still listen to the same music that I did between around 2008 and 2010, and I still have an unhealthy obsession with McFly and cats.
There are a few things that have changed though, namely:
I've got older, and so I've gone to university to study German with English at King's College London (a course which people still respond to by saying "German? Really? Wow. Good for you, I guess."). Thankfully, I really enjoy it and I don't live with the type of people I was dreading, by which I mean those turdy students who like to go clubbing every night, make lots of noise upon their return and throw up in the sinks. Instead I live with people who enjoy watching The Great British Bake-Off and listening to S Club 7 and Busted. Somebody's clearly looking out for me up there.
I have a new laptop! This is one of those things that is massively exciting for me but really doesn't translate to the readership of a blog. I had a turbulent relationship with my past laptop: 3 of the keys fell off and the right-click button broke, there was the Mystery Jets-induced virus of 2010 which forced me to re-install Windows and everything else with it, and it often made an unhealthy whirring which made it sound as though it was the electronic equivalent of a sweatshop worker. Yet, despite all this, I had a long history with my old laptop, so it's an emotional situation. Plus, I very slightly miss it purely because Windows 8 is literally one of the worst things that has ever happened to my life, but I'm sure I'll mention that in more detail in a later post.
What else has changed? Oh yeah, GLUTEN-FREE GRACE AND HER GLUTEN-FREE LIFE. This will undoubtedly be the subject of many a rant on this here blog, predominantly because I can't eat KFC anymore and although I didn't even eat it that much in the first place, you always want what you can't have. It also has led me to dislike people even more than I did before (I know, nobody thought that was possible!), especially vegans. They're even worse than turdy students.
So that's it, really. Expect to hear more rants from my mundane life, as well as the odd music-related post, in the future! As I said before, I haven't really changed very much, so don't expect my posting frequency to improve either. It might be another 2 years until you hear from me again.
Until 2016, ta-rah!
x,.
Evening, all!
At long last, we are finally almost up to date! So, let me begin:
1/. 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)' - The Vaccines.
You'll notice in due course that a lot of the songs in this playlist are bands I saw at Reading festival, so I guess it's a late Reading review too.
Reading Story #1: The Vaccines were the band that I was probably most excited to see, and they didn't live up to my expectations in all honesty. They're at the point where they're so famous already that they don't even need to play their songs because everybody knows every single word, which is pretty much perfect for a festival. It was absolutely packed in the NME tent throughout their set, and I found myself completely squashed between two really sweaty men [but, hey, weren't we all sweaty?] in the inner pit. One of the guys was really friendly though and we found ourselves attempting to dance to the music together, though in actual fact I can only assume we looked like we were partly paralyzed. When 'Wreckin' Bar' came on, my friend and I looked at each other, beaming, and bobbed to our hearts' content, sometimes even managing to throw an arm in the air during the "ra ra ra" bits. It was a beautiful moment... until we had a cup of some suspicious fluid or other thrown on us.
2/. 'Contact High' - Architecture In Helsinki.
I think I first heard this song in late June, but I didn't really pay attention to it until I came back from America. I went to visit my friend to exchange gifts and such [HOLIDAY PRESENTS ARE FREAKING AWESOME - I got a fabric bracelet with the Hail Mary in Spanish on it], and she almost immediately began what I can only refer to as a lecture about the newest livelavalive video and how amazing it was. One of the songs played in this video is 'Contact High' and I was pretty impressed that she knew the song. The fact that she became obsessed with the song led to my falling in love with it, because it's incredibly catchy and so danceable. It's one of those songs that I will want to dance to, even if it's just me singing it in the shower [don't try this at home though: dancing + showers = disastrous results in most cases, believe me.] I can assure you that this song will stay on my 'Recently Played' list on iTunes for a looooooong time.
Here's that livelavalive video too:
3/. 'Stop Your Sobbing' - The Kinks.
This. Song. Is. Brilliant. It's one of those songs by The Kinks that probably isn't intended to be funny, yet I find it absolutely hilarious. The gist of the song is that this guy is sick of his girlfriend crying all the time, and it's driving him so mad that he's not even attracted to her anymore. A bit lame, but I think I can understand. We all have one of those friends [or acquaintances - some people like to steer clear of these types] who cry about every little problem in their lives, most of which are completely insignificant in comparison to other people's problems. I can only assume that singing, "there's one thing you gotta do-ooh, to make me still want you-ooh. You gotta stop your sobbing-ah-oh, yeah. Stop it, stop it. Gotta stop your sobbing-ah-oh," would shut them up. Which they should do. Because people like that annoy me. Rant over.
4/. 'Inhaler' - Miles Kane.
Reading Story #2: I was in the inner pit when I watched modern day Beatle Miles Kane's set in the NME tent. If you've followed my monthly mixtapes all year, you'll know that I'm already something of a fan, but I certainly wasn't expecting the audience atmosphere that I became a part of - a moshpit to the song 'Inhaler'. It was incredibly surreal pushing, shoving and generally crushing the snapback-wearing hipsters to the upbeat, 60s style riffs of the song, but incredibly enjoyable at the same time [I couldn't possibly turn down a bit of jovial hipster-pounding really, could I?]
But that's not all! It's time for another edition of "storytime with Grace"! After the set I was sitting outside, nomming on some pasta while my friend went to the toilet, when all of a sudden who do I see sauntering through the mud than Mr Kane himself! Obviously, I couldn't miss this opportunity and so had to pounce over and have a chat. I walked over, smiling, and the first thing he did was open his arms and give me a huge hug. I'm pretty sure the words going through my head then were 'OHMYGOD, BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!1!!!!!!11!!!1!', but instead of vocalising my thoughts, I congratulated him on his spectacular set. I then found myself posing for a picture that somebody was taking of their friend with Miles Kane and me, so I guess there's a picture somewhere of the web of me with Miles Kane and a random [though I suppose I'm the randomer in the picture...] I apologise if that story wasn't as hilarious as the classic "long time, no see" one, but it was a spectacular moment in my life so there.
5/. 'Hello' - Lionel Richie.
Oh, Lionel! You and your creepy obsession with that blind girl! The way you watch her while she dances, knowing she can't see you being a perv; and call her up in the middle of the night while she's trying to read her braille, just to be silent for about 30 seconds, before singing, "Hello! I've just got to let you know!" and dropping the phone without hanging up properly! You're a crazy cat, Lionel, and clearly you chose a good un, because she made quite an impressive - if slightly offensive - clay sculpture of your face.
So, basically, I've always loved the video of this song and I saw it recently and fell in love with it again. I then proceeded to show it to my friend and now it's kind of our song. Also, I have Lionel Richie's greatest hits now - it's quite something.
6/. 'Radio Ladio' - Metronomy.
Reading Story #3: Metronomy were the most impressive band I saw at Reading. I was excited to see them, but I wasn't expecting them to play such a big mix of old and new; I, being a fairly long-time fan of Metronomy, was incredibly excited when they played 'Radio Ladio', a fairly unknown single of their's from 2008. I danced and sang and generally had a brilliant time, screaming, "R-A. D-I. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. L-A. D-I. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" You'll get it if you listen to the song, so go listen to it already!
7/. 'Each And Everyday' - Best Coast.
Reading Story #4: I was sick on the Sunday of Reading festival. Literally sick. Oh, the irony of the only person at the festival who doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs to be sick! [My group's Reading experience later became known as 'chunderful' due to the number of us who vomited] But anyway, I was feeling completely exhausted and weird all morning, but was determined to see Best Coast. I managed to stumble into the arena and over to the NME tent in time to catch the last song, which was 'Each And Everyday'. Apparently they were incredible, so I'm pretty bitter. After they finished their set, I walked over to the Vodafone phone charging place and threw up while queuing for an hour to get my phone charged. Fun, fun, fun.
8/. 'Generator' - The Holloways.
This is one of the songs I used in the video I made about my holiday [I was so proud of it, you should check it out] and now it holds a particular soft spot for me. I didn't put it on any of the 8 road mixes I made for the holiday, I just felt that it was perfect holiday montage music because it was upbeat and fun.
9/. 'Hear You Me' - Jimmy Eat World.
Reading Story #5: I saw most of Jimmy Eat World's set and sang the whole of 'Hear You Me' to my friend while she looked at me, trying to understand what I was doing. It's a beautiful song which basically remembers the life of somebody that the band knew who passed away. It's so poetic and gentle, I can only imagine that whoever this person was, they would be so proud to have been respected like this. Also, the crowd absolutely adored it.
10/. 'Australia' - The Shins.
This was the other song I used in my holiday video, mainly because The Shins are from Portland, where I stayed for most of the holiday. If you didn't know, it's hipster central and it was where I discovered just how much of a hipster I am [when you walk into a hipster bookshop, then a couple of hipster record stores wearing your 'Clockwork Orange' t-shirt and you fit in, you know you're a hipster] Anyway, the song is really happy and fun and incredibly catchy. The Shins are unfortunately not very famous in the UK, so I'd advise you give them a good ol' listen, because they most definitely deserve a bit of your listening time.
11/. 'Nine In The Afternoon' - Panic At The Disco.
Reading Story #6: one of my best friends & I waited about 6 years to see Panic! At The Disco live, so when we saw them at Reading, it was really emotional and sentimental. This song holds a lot of history for both her and I, not just with each other but for other reasons too, and she started tearing up when they started to play it. I can safely say that they were up there with Metronomy in the best bands that I saw at Reading, and they surpassed my expectations. Brendon Urie sounds identical live as on disc, it's actually unbelievable.
12/. 'I Got Love' - The King Blues.
Reading Story #7: I was going to go and see The King Blues at Reading with a guy I met, but it was packed when we got there, so we didn't. [That was a horrendous story and I apologise, you can have your money back at the end of the ride.]
Also, my friend recently sent me a message on Facebook that said, "Grace, I read your blog and I don't like it." When I asked him why, he said that it was because I didn't talk about The King Blues enough. So here is King Blues Corner! Alex Townsend, this is for you so you'd better be happy right now. This song reminds me of you and Rhiannon so much it's unbelievable, and I can't listen to this song without thinking of you and smiling like a madman. You're freaking awesome. Sentimental moment over? Okay, let's move on.
13/. 'Mama' - My Chemical Romance.
I was somewhat unexcited about the prospect of seeing My Chemical Romance, and Gerard Way's "put your fucking hands up and worship me" attitude didn't particularly help to change my mind. However, one thing I can say was that listening to the songs they played from 'Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge' and 'The Black Parade' really took me back to Year 7, and I kinda liked that for that moment. The two songs in particular that I really enjoyed were 'Mama' and 'Dead!' because they sounded exactly the same as I remember from the album, except without Liza Minnelli's whining on 'Mama'.
14/. 'Something' - The Beatles.
Y'know I mentioned that hipster record shop in Portland earlier? Well, that's where I bought 'Abbey Road'. 'Something' is easily my favourite song on the album, because everything about it is so simple - the melody, the lyrics, etc. - but it all combines to make an absolutely heart-melting love song. As you all know, my loyalty is definitely with McCartney, but the fact that Harrison wrote this gem certainly puts him in the number 2 spot [considering the fact that the other two Beatles are John Lennon and Ringo Starr, there wasn't that much competition for the number 2 spot though tbh].
15/. 'Jump In The Pool' - Friendly Fires.
Reading Story #7: I saw most of Friendly Fires' set and they were good. That's pretty much it. Sorry.
16/. 'Too Close For Comfort' - McFly.
I don't know if you knew this, but McFly are actually really good at writing ballads. This one is probably my favourite one - I recently put it on a mixtape I made for my friend called 'Sleepy Wallow' [SEE WHAT I DID THUR?! Jesus, I'm amazing] and now she's in love with the song too. It's the perfect music for wallowing and crying, if you like that kind of thing. If not, maybe give 'Brocolli' a listen? That's a very good McFly song.
17/. 'Canvas Dreams' - backpackparty.
I'll apologise in advance for this one, because it's not brilliant but I can't help but love it. First of all, you may be able to tell from the terrible grammar and silly name that they will either be: a) a hipstery ukulele artist like NeverShoutNever! or b) a hipstery feebly electronic artist like *cough* Hellogoodbye [okay, I admit it. I'm a hipster, but it's not my fault, okay?!]
backpackparty are more like the latter [thank God] and use a mix of cute keyboard melodies, typical alt. rock male vocals and even a bit of chanting to create a pretty sound song. The interesting thing, though, is how they do it. backpackparty are actually 3 YouTubers, namely TouchTheSkyFilms, funnyz and SimplySpoons, who each work on a separate component of the song. They then send their component to the other members and so the song is created. So, in effect, they are a YouTube collab band, which I genuinely found impressive. Give it a go, by all means, but I don't blame you if the "we're not going home!" puts you off.
18/. 'Love Of An Orchestra' - Noah & The Whale.
Reading Story #8: I couldn't find my friends in the NME tent before Noah & The Whale, so I watched them alone. They weren't that great. I really like this song though, because I find it shows a more mature side of Noah & The Whale, without it being dull like the majority of 'Last Night On Earth'. The use of orchestral instruments in the song add an originality to the song and the upbeat melody and lyrics are a pleasure to hear, seeing as Noah & The Whale don't tend to do happy songs all that often. It's pretty, basically.
19/. 'Something Good Can Work' - Two Door Cinema Club.
Reading Story #9: I was supposed to see OFWGKTA, but I couldn't be bothered to leave my tent when they started, so I watched Two Door Cinema Club instead, because they started later. I'm really glad I did actually, because it stopped me from becoming one of those white kids who chant "WOLFGANG, WOLFGANG, WOLFGANG!" like a knob. Don't you realise it's embarrassing? Maybe you should take your Ray Bans and snapback off for a second, have a look in the mirror and see just how ridiculous you and your friends look. Sorry, the majority of Odd Future fans really grate on me.
Two Door Cinema Club were pretty good by the way.
20/. 'Reptilia' - The Strokes.
Reading Story #10: my friends and I all went to see The Strokes together and met this guy from South Africa with a silly name that I can't remember. He was a really nice guy and we danced together to 'Someday'. I was incredibly pleasantly surprised by how good The Strokes were actually, considering the fact that I left midway through their set at Isle of Wight in 2010. I don't know if it was the company or if they are genuinely better now, but I really enjoyed myself. Julian needs to take the sunglasses off every once in a while though - he might get tan lines on his face or something, and that might be awkward.
And that's August over and done with!
Hopefully, we can expect the September Playlist sometime in the next week or so, but please don't hold me to that - you know what I'm like.
Here's your August picture! Byeeeee!
Oh, jeez. I'm still so behind. Apologies. Here comes July in a flash!
1/. 'Blackbird' - The Beatles.
2/. 'Not Good Enough For Truth In Cliche' - Escape The Fate.
3/. 'Chariot' - Gavin DeGraw.
4/. 'Get Away' - Yuck.
5/. 'Two Princes' - Spin Doctors.
6/. 'Teenage Rebel' - Chameleon Circuit. This is a nerimon video which simply explains Chameleon Circuit's situation. It's difficult to find the album version of the track on YouTube. Sozzzzzzz.
7/. 'Wetsuit' - The Vaccines.
8/. 'Whip My Hair (Willow Smith Cover)' - James Vincent McMorrow.
9/. 'Peaches' - The Presidents of the United States of America.
10/. 'Hawaiian Air' - Friendly Fires.
11/. 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' - Deep Blue Something.
12/. 'Alarm Clock' - The Rumble Strips.
13/. 'Dinner' - Blood Orange.
14/. 'Sans Fear' - Pete Yorn.
15/. 'Dearest' - Buddy Holly.
16/. 'Kiss Me, Diss Me' - Home Grown.
17/. 'Bed of Nails' - Wild Beasts.
18/. 'I Don't Care' - TV Girl.
19/. 'Little Eyes' - CROWNS.
20/. 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' - The Kinks.
Again, sorry for being terribly unpunctual and all that. Sadly, I can't even blame it on having a life.
Heeeeey! Just a warning: this will just be the names of the songs and a link to YouTube. No reviews today, I'm way too far behind. Sorry, lovelies.
1/. 'Blister In The Sun' - Violent Femmes.
2/. 'Atlantic City' - Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
3/. 'The Bay' - Metronomy.
4/. 'Live Those Days Tonight' - Friendly Fires.
5/. 'Gigantic' - Pixies.
6/. 'I Feel Like Dancing' - All Time Low.
7/. 'If You Want It' - TV Girl.
8/. 'Apeman' - The Kinks.
9/. 'Real Nigga Roll Call' - Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft. Ice Cube.
10/. 'Summer House' - Gold Motel.
11/. 'Finding Something To Do' - Hellogoodbye.
12/. 'Pumped Up Kicks' - Foster The People.
13/. 'Pyramid' - Nightbox.
14/. 'SexyBack' - Justin Timberlake.
15/. 'Pieces Of What?' - MGMT.
16/. 'King Of The Beach' - Wavves.
17/. 'Techno Fan' - The Wombats.
18/. 'Sonic Doesn't Need A Story' - Alex Day.
19/. 'All In White' - The Vaccines.
20/. 'You're Going To Lose That Girl' - The Beatles.
There you go! It's probably even less interesting than it usually is without my banterful reviews... or something. Either way, August will be as banterful as normal; you just have to put up with a dull July Playlist and then everything will be fine and dandy again!
ByeByeByeBye!
x,.
Does anybody else find it slightly ironic that the last post I made was an apology for never posting and a promise that I would post more frequently? Because that was about two or three months ago (LOL at it being so long that I can't even remember!), so I suppose I have some explaining to do. Here's the thing:
Shortly after I uploaded said post, my internet became faulty, by which I mean Virgin had made some sort of incredible mistake that disconnected our phone, television and internet. That explains about a month of my whereabouts.
Once I got my internet back, it was only about a week until I was supposed to go on holiday, so I had to start work on road mixes - I made 8 discs altogether. Then I went on holiday for a fortnight or so, thus explaining another 3 weeks of my whereabouts.
After this, I guess I just got distracted/lazy. So, uh, sorry about that.
I genuinely am going to try to post on here more often, hopefully about 1-2 times a week (but honestly, you shouldn't trust that; evidently, I'm shockingly unreliable when it comes to this), though you'll have to bear in mind that I have just started my A-levels and I am doing heavily essay-based subjects, so all I ask is that you don't expect too much from me!
APOLOGY COMPLETE. Now for various news stories!
I have a job! At Rymans! In Windsor! WIN! Now, there are pros and cons to this (pros: I have money, retail experience, I'm working in a stationery shop, etc.; cons: I work both Saturday & Sunday every week, giving me even less time to tell my beautiful readers my pointless stories, I have no life, etc.) so, again, don't be too angry if I don't post religiously or my posts suck.
I have a kitten! I only got her on Thursday, so she's still getting used to the place. Her name is Bandit (because my other cat is called Smokey, so together they become Smokey and the Bandit - oh my goodness, I'm so fantastically punny it hurts sometimes) and she's about 8 weeks old. This is what she looks like:
So yeah, that's sort of it for apologies and news. I'll post a brief, reviewless June & July Playlist post in the next few days, followed by a regular August Playlist post, as I think I can manage that.
To cheer you up, I guess I can show you a couple of interesting things:
another blog: it's called Tune Doctor and it's a music blog that literally covers all areas. It just so happens that I guest posted on Tune Doctor on Saturday... about Joy Division! You should check it out.
another picture of Bandit: you know you want to see another.
asdfmovie4: it's a YouTube animated comedy sketch video, the fourth of the series, and it's absolutely hilarious. Psst, want even more of a laugh? Check out the German version. When that guy shouts about 'käse', you will find it hilarious.
HEY THURRRR!
So, I had my last proper exam today, and by 'proper', I mean revisable - the last 2 are German reading and listening. [It's not like I'm taking German next year or anything! ...oh wait.] But anyway, this means that I can start posting more often. Woohoo.
This is an extremely belated review of the Hellogoodbye concert I went to with my friend on 1st June, so if you're not a fan of Hellogoodbye... read every other word? That could be fun, if you like that kinda thing. Regardless of what you plan on doing, I'll carry on:
The excitement began at about 12.00, when I stopped revising for my R.E exam and looked for something to wear. I then waited for my friend to arrive at my house in eager anticipation, while working my way through the unsurprisingly limited Hellogoodbye discography [this includes demos, covers and live versions, cos I'm a fangirl] THREE HOURS LATER, my friend arrived and we left about 45 minutes after that.
The journey itself wasn't that interesting. We got the bus to Slough, then the train to London Paddington, then the Hammersmith & City tube line to King's Cross. I remember it being fun, but that's pretty much because all we did was sing 'My Life As A Dickhead' and have conversations that would most likely mean nothing to anybody apart from my friend and I.
I love taking pictures of people sleeping on trains - oh the lols.
I guess the journey got slightly more interesting when I discovered that I can't read maps and walked in the totally wrong direction... twice. We got there in the end though! At 6.55pm my friend and I arrived, flustered, yet still unfathomably excited, at Monto Water Rats. The doors were supposed to open at 7.00pm, but we found ourselves waiting for a further fifty minutes outside the miniscule "theatre". Needless to say, we were pretty bored, so we entertained ourselves by watching a couple in the queue, consisting of a really clingy, not very attractive, touchy-feely guy and his seemingly uninterested girlfriend. He gravitated toward her, but she seemed to be unable to look him in the eye. I found myself creating a mini soap opera in my head, consisting of the story of this couple alone. But enough about that.
When we entered the venue, we discovered just how spectacular it was. In reality, it was a pub with a stage. Not only was it adorably intimate though, it also had really quirky additions to it, like columns on either side of the stage and four half-broken chandeliers hanging limply from the ceilings - I fell in love with the destructed beauty that existed in this tiny, unnoticeable building. Possibly the best part of it, though, were the coloured stage lighting, which were clearly stolen from a wedding DJ or school disco. They really added to the £12.00 ticket atmosphere, and it was great.
Standard broken chandelier. SO AWESOME.
Before we knew it, the first support band were on stage: Gold Motel. I'd never heard of them, but I trusted Hellogoodbye's taste in music and so gave them a chance. A sweet blonde-haired girl, Greta Morgan, fronted the band and she had a beautiful voice. The melody behind her honey-toned vocals were summery and fun, which was ideal for the support to an ex-powerpop band.
Matt Minx, Gold Motel bassist
Greta & Dan of Gold Motel
After they finished performing, they went offstage and Greta stood at the Gold Motel merch desk. I had a nice little chinwag with her and got their album for a fiver - HALF PRICE WIN! I didn't take any videos of their performances, because I didn't expect to enjoy them as much as I did, so I'll just give a link from YouTube to their song 'Safe In LA'
Once everybody had refreshed themselves sufficiently and had returned to the standing area, the next band arrived on stage: The Dangerous Summer. After hearing the floating-on-air sound of Gold Motel, I was pretty shocked to discover that The Dangerous Summer were, well, sort of emo-ish. I wasn't disappointed, just surprised. The truth is, it seemed to me like their soundcheck didn't go right or something, because the vocals were completely overpowered by the guitar and drums, which kinda sucked. It was a tsunami to my ears - a drowning mess of noise. However, I felt that this was a mistake on the soundcheck's part, and not just blatant talentlessness, so I gave a couple of their songs a listen afterwards. I was right, they're pretty good. My friend liked them because the bassist looked like the YouTube celebrity WheezyWaiter [see?! It's not just me who's obsessed!] and she "wanted to give the drummer a cuddle." I couldn't judge her for that statement - he was cute and nobody can deny a good cuddle.
The Dangerous Summer [Wheezy's on the left!]
You wanna hear this cuddly drummer's skills? Here you go! This is called 'The Permanent Rain' and is their most popular song on YouTube.
By this point, we knew what was coming next and, boy, were we excited? The suspense was killing us and we barely managed to contain it by singing along to Marvin Gaye's 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' with a couple of lanky, pretentious guys who didn't look like Hellogoodbye fans in any shape or form. I was in the middle of giving a heart-wrenching speech about how I had been "waiting for five years for this day" when Forrest Kline, Hellogoodbye's well-loved lead vocalist and songwriter, sauntered onto the stage. My jaw dropped and a whimper fell out of my mouth. Alas, they were only soundchecking, simply adding to the aforementioned suspense.
Suddenly, he grabbed the microphone and began introducing himself, which was pretty pointless really, as the screams from the female-dominated audience made him virtually inaudible.
He said, "So, this is a new song" and the band began playing 'Finding Something To Do', to which my friend and I danced and screamed and sang very loudly and probably looked incredibly unattractive in the process [this is one of 'our songs' y'see]
This here is 'When We First Kissed':
There was a mix of songs from their latest album, 'Would It Kill You?' as well as tracks from their first album, 'Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!' and even one song from early demos and LPs, the reasonably well-known 'Dear Jamie... Sincerely Me', which you can see below:
With every song they played, I would roar, "OHMYGODILOVETHISSONG!" and begin dancing like an epileptic ape or filming with as steady a hand as I could manage in this exciting situation.
Rocking out... or something like that.
Their performances were energetic and Forrest's voice was incredibly impressive, so neither my friend nor I was disappointed. Not only were they talented musicians, but their banter between songs was the best that I had experienced at any concert I had been to. The entire band took advantage of the small venue and interacted with the audience as much as possible, talking about the rapture, telling funny stories about tranny children and even promoting You Me At Six, who had performed at Westfield Shopping Mall that day. They asked who had been to see YM@6 that day, to which one boy put up his hand. I tried to shout, "My friend was there!" but my voice had been so brutally destroyed from shrieking along to their songs that he couldn't hear my properly. When Forrest assumed that I had gone, I tried to correct him, but then he mistook my "No, my friend!" for "No, I'm a guy!" Hilarity ensued, and in the end, I became an 'older gentleman.'
This is one of the more popular Hellogoodbye songs, 'When We First Met':
Both my friend and I had an absolute ball at the concert, and were beyond pleased when Hellogoodbye returned to the stage for an encore for at least 180 solid seconds of "WE WANT MORE." And what did they perform? 'Here (In Your Arms)' of course! It was even better than I had imagined, as you could see and hear the excitement erupting throughout the crowd and spilling over the stage. The whole band were visibly enjoying the performance and made the most of the time they had left onstage, jumping and some of them even crawling around.
Overall, Hellogoodbye were an absolutely spectacular live band and I was most definitely not disappointed by the night. The venue, the support acts and the whole Hellogoodbye crew were really fun and it was a shame that I couldn't wait around at the end and meet them. I left with a Hellogoodbye poster, a Gold Motel album and a massive smile on my face. Next time Hellogoodbye are in England, I'm definitely seeing them again.
If you weren't here for the review, then I hope you enjoyed the subliminal message I placed between the lines [just kidding, but see if you can find one anyway if you really want]
Here's the picture that I'm sure you've been shaking with anticipation for a fortnight for:
