Gig: The Enemy, Norwich [October 5 2012]

James and I first saw this band live in 2009 at the Radio One Big Weekend in Swindon. They were headlining one of the smaller stages while Prodigy were performing on the main stage - they weren't our thing and James had The Enemy on his list of must-see for the day. I really enjoyed it, not knowing too much about them, and ended up listening to their songs a lot after that performance. 

 The Enemy played at the Norwich UEA LCR back in November of that same year, so we booked tickets hoping to enjoy watching them again. We got such a great spot on the steps in the LCR, right opposite the stage. If you know anything about the UEA LCR then you'll know there is a sunken dancefloor with steps going down to it on three sides and you can stand on these steps during gigs for perfect tall-person-free views of the stage! The steps are perfect for me, I get to see over everyone and if you can get near the middle console that's fenced off you're less likely to have beer-drinkers shoving past you all night. 

That November gig was, and still probably is, the best gig we've been to in such a small venue. The Enemy are touring again in 2012, so we had to get tickets when we found out they were coming back to the UEA LCR. There must be something about small venues that the band loves because they're not doing anything bigger than the O2 Academies all year.

On Friday October 5 2012 we found out spot on the steps at the LCR, away from the mosh pit and with  a small chance of being pushed by beer-drinkers, we were set and ready. After two disappointing support acts they finally came on - equally as amazing as the November gig of 2009. The band were loving just as much as the crowd and the lead singer, Tom, said we were "f*cking unbelieveable!"

So, when's the next tour? We can't wait already!

075. Spend a weekend in Hull

    
Above are a few pictures snapped on my phone from the weekend we spent in Hull at the beginning of February. James had bought my tickets to see Sarah Millican for my birthday and the date had finally come around.
We were booked to stay at The Village Hotel in Hessle, which is just outside Hull. It was the coldest weekend of the whole year, the temperature getting down to minus 11 (but we only managed to capture minus 10 on the car dashboard). 
We walked around my old Uni city and browsed the shops - I needed something to wear for my nephew's Christening which was on the following weekend. We also took a trip to the cinema to watch The Muppets and I also met up with a Uni friend, Katy, who still lived in the city.
It was great to go back, I do miss it. We didn't have time to go to the Uni campus, but there's always another time. 

011. Go to 10 gigs or tours (8/10)

I bought James tickets to see Ed Sheeran for his birthday, which was just before Christmas. On Saturday January 21 2012 we almost left our tickets at home and after the taxi driver took us home to pick them up we finally made our way to London on the train!
I was worried about it being a standing venue and not being able to see, but we were positioned quite well and on my tippy-toes I did manage to get a good look at Ed (it was definitely him, no mistaking the hair!). The floor is also sloped towards the stage, imaginably for when it becomes a completely seated venue, so this helped loads!
During the final song Ed brought out just a couple of friends/special guests in Devlin, Rizzle Kicks and Wretch 32. I thought the girl stood next to us was going to pass out from excitement! It was pretty cool and added something special to the night.
Note to self: Buy better gig footwear (I was in agony!)

011. Go to 10 gigs or tours (6/10)

The end of October and beginning of November has been full of gigs, concerts and live events! It's been very busy and very expensive, but we've been to see some amazing people so far this year.

Since Russell Howard in February and Take That in June, we'd had a quiet time so far this year. We started off a very busy 5 weeks with Lee Evans at the London O2 on September 30.

October started and that was going to be the craziest month of all. On October 19 we saw Noah and the Whale at Norwich UEA, then just a few days later we were heading to Liverpool to see Jessie J. One week later we were back in London at the O2 for the Britney Spears 'Femme Fatale' tour. I actually love her, I believe she's an Angel!

Another four-day working week and it was back to London for Tinie Tempah, again at the O2 arena. He puts on an amazing show, we'd seen him twice already at Norwich UEA. I can honestly say, and we see a lot of people play the O2, I have never seen that venue so hyped - the whole arena was up on it's feet and jumping. I was a hot, sweaty mess afterwards, but what an atmosphere! I will remember that forever.

The next tour we're going to see is Sarah Millican in Hull on February 9. I went to University in Hull and haven't been back since I graduated, James bought me the tickets for my birthday. I'm really looking forward to it.

A Day In The Life - October 22 2011

This 'A Day In The Life' was inspired by a project at sh1ft.org - we were asked to record our October 22 2011, in 24 photos or less.

We had travelled up to Liverpool on Friday October 21 for a long weekend away. We had tickets to see Jessie J on Saturday October 22, this is my day.

Taking advantage of not having to be up early for work or an absurd international Formula One race, we laid in until after 8am (probably not most people's idea of a lie-in, but for us it was good). Breakfast in our hotel room courtesy of our mini kitchen, complete with fridge. By 10:30am we were ready to go.



Our plan was to head straight down to the Albert Dock and spend time walking around that area.



We did one lap of the Albert Dock and started the indoor exploration with the TATE Liverpool gallery. Now, I'm not a gallery type of person, I really only like the gift shops!



Dressed for winter, the TATE was incredibly warm! I was bored and there wasn't much to see so we moved onto the next, which was the Merseyside Maritime Museum. In there was the International Slavery Museum, which was the most interesting part. I also enjoyed the Titantic exhibitions, I cannot believe it is almost 100 years since the disaster.



By 1pm we were ready for some food and drink. After walking past a few of closed the restaurants earlier, they were now open for lunch, so we wandered back around the dock to find somewhere suitable. We ended up at the Miller & Carter Steakhouse knowing that they will definitely cater for my picky eating. I chose to have a grilled chicken breast burger and James ordered a beefburger, both plain with no sauce, no cheese and no mayo. When our food finally arrived my chicken was covered in bacon and barbecue sauce! James and I swapped plates, so I ended up with his beefburger and he enjoyed the free sauce and bacon that should've been paid extras. The service staff were also terrible! We felt ignored and sat with dirty plates on our table a long time after we'd finished eating. We tried everything, making eye contact with the waitresses just got us a blank response or a 'how are you' before wandering away. James had to literally flag down a waitress to take away the plates and bring us the bill so we could leave. Terrible! And it wasn't even busy.



After lunch we went to take a look at the Liverpool Wheel. It was very windy and the cabs seemed to sway a little bit too much for me. It's so small compared to the London Eye, it just scared me. So we just looked and left.



We'd walked past a confectionery shop round the Albert Dock and near that was the Funky Shake Bar - they made milkshakes out of chocolate bars! James chose a simple Rolo milkshake, I went for a special for just £1 extra! It was called 'Bubbles' - it contained Daim bar, Galaxy chocolate and was topped with Maltesers. Amazing!



By 3pm we were back at the hotel for sit down and rest before heading back out to the Jessie J gig. I enjoyed some iPad Twitter time and a read of my magazine.



All I wanted to do was stay in a have a nap, but it was time to put my face on ready to go out.



Not bad!



Converse on, the only type of footwear suitable to gigs at Universities! 5:45pm, we're out.



On the walk to the University we stopped off for food in Subway. Mine was a 6 inch chicken on hearty Italian bread, toasted, with lettuce and red onion. Yum.



We queued outside the venue for 45 minutes. So glad I took my hat, scarf and gloves - it was very chilly. Some girls who were queuing near us were just wearing dresses, no coat, cardigan or tights! WHAT!



We changed our chosen position for Jessie J a couple of times once we were inside. I always knew I was going to have a hard time seeing her when she got on stage, I don't generally do standing tickets for gigs but that was all that was available. She looked and sounded great, love the purple hair! And there was confetti at the end, shaped like hearts!



We got back to the hotel at 11pm, after a quick stop in Tesco for some chocolate and Mountain Dew. Aching feet from the walking, standing and dancing - glad to get those shoes off and relax.



Checked Twitter before bed. Jessie J loved her loud Liverpool crowd - yeah, that was me!

011. Take That - 'Progress' Tour 2011 [Croke Park - Dublin, June 19]

Our trip to Dublin came about purely because I could not get UK tickets for Take That's 'Progress' tour. The day that the tickets were released was crazy, I tried at 9am and at lunch, after work as well and couldn't get anything. A friend said to try Ticketmaster.ie rather than the UK site, I saw Dublin still had good availability in the standing section and with only 2 minutes to make up my mind, we went for it!

It was an expensive trip away, but I'm glad we stayed an extra night to see the city of Dublin. We had a great weekend and it was so nice to get away. It felt bizarre to go on a plane for only an hour, I actually got a little nervous before we took off and I'm always so sure of my love for flying - odd.

We were lucky with the weather pretty much all weekend - hoodie and jeans was a good outfit choice, it got quite chilly at times. No rain on the day of the show was great, the night before had been torrential!

Here are a selection of the best pics of the night.

020. Go to a live comedy show

On Wednesday February 9, James and I went to Nottingham to see Russell Howard at the Capital FM Arena.

James had booked the Wednesday and Thursday off work, while I only had one day of holiday to take so I split mine into half days - I worked Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon. We go the train from Norwich to Nottingham, which runs straight through with no changes, on Wednesday lunchtime. We checked into the Travelodge on Maid Marian Way. Our room was obnoxiously large and was technically a family room, complete with sofas. The view we had was pretty amazing and I'm glad I had my camera for it.

After a bit of a relax and some rubbish afternoon TV quiz shows we got ready for dinner which consisted of burgers at the Walkabout which, lucky for us, was only round the corner from the hotel! James had never eaten at one and always wanted to try their kangaroo dishes. He settled for a kangaroo burger and I went with just a regular ol' beef burger and a Cherry Cola cocktail.

Russell's show was so amazing, but the thing is I can never remember anything from it! As the jokes were coming and the stories came out I wanted to hold on to them so badly so I could retell a few at work the next day, but nothing! It's the same with music gigs, I know the songs were played but remembering the order of the setlist always fails me! The good news is that the DVD for the show will be out in November, I can buy that and relive the jokes over and over again!

We had a great time and felt very tired after the train journeys and long days, especially because I had to work as well! Our next comedy show is Lee Evans at London's O2 Arena at the end of September - cannot wait!