Placebo

If we rewind back to 2004 Laura and I embarked on our first ever gig adventure. I got tickets for my birthday to see Placebo MY ABSOLUTE ALL TIME LOVE OF MY LIFE FAVORITE BAND at the time. I still remember how excited I was and how I just couldn't believe I would be breathing the same air as them OH MY GOD! 

They did a one off 10 year anniversary gig at Wembley and Laura and I put on our fake glitter eye lashes, stockings and other odd combinations we used to wear and we went and had the time of our lives. 

I found these old Live Journal posts, unfortunately my old blog posts were rarely more than a few sentences so I don't have much of an account of it and it was long LONG before camera phones and digital cameras were pretty naff so I don't have any photos alas.

I'm not a fan of their newer music anything past Meds but when they announced they were doing a 20th Year anniversary tour with the following statement:

"...Let's just say there will be songs in the set that I've sworn never to play again. I think it's time that we purposefully acknowledged what a lot of Placebo fans really want to hear. They've been very patient with us since we rarely play our most commercially successful material.

A 20 year anniversary tour seems like the right time to do so. That's our intention. This tour is very much for the fans and a chance for us to revisit a lot of our early material.

So, if you want to see us play songs like 'Pure Morning’ and 'Nancy Boy’ which we haven't played in almost ten years and may not play again, then you'd better come along to these shows! We'll have some surprises in there too...."

As I went to my first ever gig to their 10th Year Anniversary I couldn't say no and miss the chance to hear the songs I ABSOLUTELY loved as a teenager, and to be honest still love to pieces. So Matt and I booked tickets to see them in Brighton. I would of LOVED to go with Laura again but she is up in Nottingham and i'm down south it just wouldn't work for either of us time and money wise alas.

Matt and I headed down to Brighton, had a good day out and went to a traditional ramen restaurant, then headed to the gig. I was suprised as I used to queue for hours and hours to get into gigs but there was very little people queuing and we got in super quickly. We were only a few rows from the front and I have to say it had a weird atmosphere. I am used to gigging in London venues and this felt like a school hall rather than a gig venue, but I didn't think much off it once the lights were down and the support act came on. I won't lie, I really didn't enjoy the support act they were pretty bad and I have no idea what their name were.

The evening speed by and before I knew it Placebo came out and I couldn't wait. The crowd were very different from what I am used to in London and not in a good way. I won't go into details as it really did ruin part of my night, but there were fights, groups of girls pushing and shoving (and SO VERY SMELLY!!!) and when my temper finally got the better of me and I attempted to pull a girls hair Matt snapped at me and we moved a few rows back.

I am glad we did as we still had a good spot and were surrounded by decent people (there were fights later on, but I was far enough away not to get involved). It was funny you could tell who were the long time fans when they played newer music. Younger people went crazy and other people (including myself) sort of stopped and just listened...... then when they played the classics that was our time to shine and loose our shit over songs that made up my teenage years!!

Other than the crowd (seriously why do people behave like that, they must realise they ruin other peoples nights, gah) the band were amazing and sounded great even after all this time. I would happily go and see them again if they played that many older songs in the future.

Matt manged to get some awesome photos too so please enjoy below

I was so happy with how many older songs they played and they even played the version of 36 degrees that they played for the first time at the 10 year anniversary gig which I absolutely ADORE!

Set List

• Pure Morning
• Loud Like Love
• Jesus' Son
• Soulmates
• Special Needs
• Lazarus
• Too Many Friends
• Twenty Years
• I Know
• Devil in the Details
• Space Monkey
• Exit Wounds
• Protect Me from What I Want
• Without You I'm Nothing
• 36 Degrees
• Lady of the Flowers
• For What It's Worth
• Slave to the Wage
• Special K
• Song to Say Goodbye
• The Bitter End

Encore:

• Teenage Angst
• Nancy Boy
• Infra-red

Encore 2:

• Running Up That Hill 

It was great to relive my teenage joy again and they defiantly still have it! I would like to see them again preferably in London as the crowd really did put a damper on that gig! But I think to see Stefan's hair in person was reason enough to go. Seriously look at that gravity defying beauty! 

Peaceful week off

As you may of read in previous posts my holiday was cancelled this year so I joined Matt in taking a week off. He gets considerably more holiday than me and he had an exam so decided to take the whole week off. I haven't had a break this year so far so I decided to join him. I had no real plans just wanted to relax and unwind a bit.

I will start by saying Matt sat his exam on Thursday and he passed. I am really proud of him! We went out and ate waffles to celebrate.

I won't write a long detailed post as we really didn't get up to anything exceptionally exciting. Since Hyper Japan a few weeks ago I am thrown myself head first into the world of Yaoi anime and manga so I wanted to mostly overindulge on those and re-watch Black Butler. So the week involved a lot of pajama days in front of the TV or curled up up somewhere reading.... very relaxing and perfection!

Sunday Matt and I went to Bluewater and he managed to talk me into getting a new iPad. Oops..... I also got some manga and then in the evening I FINALLY saw STAR TREK..... I won't lie it was epic and I loved every minute of it. We went up to the BFI Imax to see it as we have done with the previous Star Trek movies. I loved how the characters really shone in this movie and I loved the story line as well. The whole thing was awesome....

Monday I insisted we took a trip to Brighton for the day.... this day was probably my favourite. We got the train down, ate lunch and then shopped. I got more manga (you see I have developed a problem here) and a dress in the sale for £15 that I fell in love with. We then laid on the beach in the sun reading and cuddling before going and getting ice cream and then having dinner on the sea front. It was hotter than I thought as poor Matt got sun burnt.

The next few days were really lazy days and on Wednesday Matt took me out for dinner to my first ever Indian restaurant. I'm still not a curry lover but I did really enjoy the meal we had and it was a beautiful restaurant. On Friday I insisted we go and do something so we had lunch and went to play mini golf. The day wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped. The weather was crappy and the mini golf was super small and underwhelming for the distance we travelled. However I still enjoyed being out with Matt.

So that was pretty much my week off and here is a bunch of photos I took throughout the week.

New shiny gadget and mangas.

Star Trek was amazing and I want to see it again

Brighton was so hot and perfect

Brighton Doughnuts on the train home

More manga and the dress I bought

Matt and I out for dinner

Mini golf in my new dress

I do love dinosaurs 

Matt and I playing golf, he won :(

I would of liked to of had a few more things planned but at the same time I really enjoyed the quiet down time. I was feeling pretty burnt out so just needed a break I think for a little bit. 

I cannot believe the week has come and gone. I am not even sure if we actually had all the days off we were meant to it went that fast..... I really did enjoy some quiet time though and although I am gutted I have to go back to work, I am hoping I will feel a little more charged and ready to go! Well maybe haha! 

Comic Con in a new but very familiar place.

This weekend saw Brighton host it's very first Comic Con! I had planned on attending in London until they moved it down to Brighton. I wasn't going to complain, Brighton is easier to get to and I also don't hate it like London. Actually quite the opposite I do love Brighton!

I ended up booking the tickets a few days before in hope they would have a guest I would be interested in, but alas they didn't. We got up on later on Saturday and headed out for breakfast about 10:30ish, much later than the summer cons! Usually I am up at 6am and on a train by 7!

But I had bought general entry tickets as I had no real plans there and no guests to see, plus I knew it would be much quieter than the London con so I was in no rush.

The weather was GOD AWFUL, and I had gotten dressed up so decided against wearing my rain mac (dear past self that was the WORST choice). I was determined to wear my new coat as it looks amazing on, but it doesn't have a hood. The drive down through the relententless rain and wind was almost enough to make us turn back home.

By the time we got down the rain had eased slightly but the wind by the sea was so fierce! I was still getting wet but I had no idea if it was rain or the wind blowing the sea in. Horrible! Matt said to leave my umbrella in the car, thinking back now it was probably best or I would of ended up with just a pile of twisted metal! The walk wasn't too far maybe 10 minutes but it felt like hours and the wind was strong enough to knock you off your feet. When we arrived I had awful ear ache and my hair was ruined and to be honest I was damp and annoyed.

That soon disappeared I was greeted by a sea of nerds, cosplay and stalls selling all manner or geeky knick-knacks. I was throughly impressed with the amount and the quality of stalls. There were your usually stalls I have see 100 times but lots of different ones this time too! I really didn't want to spend any money as Christmas is fast approaching but I ended up parting with £60+ whoops.

Does anyone else find when you get out a wad of cash with intention to spend it all you find nothing, just when you are broke you see an never ending list of things you want! waa!
Lets have a look at the mini haul shall we!

My mini haul!

Harry and Snape Pop Funko!

First are yet more pop funkos for the collection.. I got some Harry Potter, pops for my birthday so I have started on collecting HP. I wanted Harry but I wanted the quidditch one. He seems a little hard to find now, but I found in on one stall for a reasonable £15 so I just grabbed him! I also picked up Crimson Peak figures Thomas and Edith too but they are a christmas gift for myself from Sarah, but the deal was £10 each or 3 for £25 so Matt said well why don't you get 3 seems silly not to. So I picked up Snape too for £5! WOO!

I couldn't resist these at £3 SERIOUSLY! How could you?

This Elders wand necklace is amazing and comes in an amazing box

The earring above I spotted on my way out and were £3! They are silver plated and seem to be ok in my rather sensitive ears. I spotted them on our way out and was gutted when I didn't have any cash for them! (completely forgot about cash while battering through the wind and rain) but luckily I was able to pay via paypal! I'm actually gutted I didn't get two sets in case I loose one!

The necklace was one of the first things I noticed.. They seem to be Christmas pre order but I think they had some to buy there at the con. It was £25, which seems really reasonable as it is a weighty piece of jewelry and looks really stunning! It also comes in an Ollivanders box just like the real wands, I just fell in love it was gorgeous. I really wanted an Elders wand but I couldn't justify £28 on a wand that would sit in a box on a shelf! But in a necklace form I cannot complain I will get lots of use and enjoyment out of that!

HUGADABUGA

And I couldn't resist these two necklaces. The mask is the Hugadabuga man from Crash Bandicoot, if you're a 90's kid you will most likely remember him. I have fond memories of the mask and making the noise when you got him and the fish was just way too cute. I love buying from little arty stalls! 

Next to the Iron Throne

We were only at the con for an hour or so and we went back outside and continued to battle through the weather.

We had a little poke down the laines and headed to the shopping centre and after it got dark we then headed to Pizza Express ( I had doubled my clubcard vouchers again) and had a lovely 3 course meal.

We had planned on going to the cinema afterwards and the fireworks, instead we just headed to the fire works as Matt wasn't feeling 100%. We missed the first 5-10minutes but saw over 20minutes worth and they were awesome. I love fireworks and I would of been sad if we hadn't seen any this year!

It was a really good end to a really enjoyable day!

I really enjoyed Saturday but like all good days it flew by and it was just poof gone! That is the last day out for me and Matt now until our Christmas break. We have a trip to London and we are seeing Warhorse on the 23rd.

Before then though I have Elektra awards, Christmas party (i've been nominated for an award!!) and Mumford and Sons with my sister.

This is defiantly my FAVOURITE time of the year, so much to do and so much to look forward to!

Oh weekends you go too quickly!

So last week was a really busy one for me. I had gym Monday as usual, then friends round Tuesday then I did my Pilates class and the gym on Wednesday (which kinda killed me a bit) and then I went out with Lisa on Thursday night to see an artist called Beans on Toast and then Matt and I had a great day out Saturday and a really chilled out Sunday.

I'll start with Saturday as I had such a good day! I woke up about 10:30am and we had a plan to go to Brighton (weather depending) and do some shopping, go to the pier, have dinner and see a film. Matt kindly got us a subway breakfast and I got ready and we headed off to Brighton. We go down there about 1ish I think and hit the shops…

I just wanted to have a good shop and day out as I haven’t been able to for months possibly even a year really… I picked up two things I fell a bit in love with!

The first was this Sugarhill boutique dress. It had little birds on it and the back was so pretty!

And the second was a more considered spend (£56 in the sale reduced from £75) this Collectif leather jacket… it is just so beautiful. I have a leather jacket but I have never gotten along with it. I always felt it was too harsh on me and I don’t think it fitted that well. But this one was just perfection. Also when I was paying they said, 'you've spent over £30 so you get to pick a free pair of sun glasses' so I was all over that! Win win!

I was hoping to get a few bits shopping, but ended up with just a dress and a jacket, but as the jacket was rather pricey that was ok!

I am still on the hunt for a summer skirt I really like, although summer seems like a wash out at the moment away so maybe I won’t need one haha!

We then headed down to the pier. Usually we spend a lot of time playing on grabbing machines, but as we threw out so many soft toys when we moved and I had to put loads back in my Dad’s loft we decided to give them a miss. The wind was pretty fierce but I have to say it was pretty warm and sunny all day and most importantly it stayed dry for us! I did flash my knickers completely when the wind got a hold of my skirt! Woops.!

I decided I would like to go down to the sea front for a bit so we went for a walk and there was a mini golf place, which was only £3 per person. I was pretty excited when Matt said he wanted to play as he usually doesn’t like things like that. I actually ended up having a fantastic time and I won wohoo! It may have only been by 1 point but I won!

We then went and sat on the beach for a little bit, but it was getting pretty nippy so we had a little cuddle took a few photos and headed to the car. 

After that, we headed to the Harvester and had a really lovely meal and went to see Ted 2 at Cineworld. I being a classy girl split BBQ sauce down my dress and in an attempt to get it off (I did succeed at that) made it looked like I had, had a HUGE accident all down the front my dress. Luckily being thin cotton it dried very quickly. 

Ted 2 was great as well. I may write a little review on that, I just wish the people behind us could of avoided kicking our chairs throughout the whole movie. Meh. Then we got home about 1-2am and crashed out in bed to wake up late Sunday and have an exceptionally chilled one!

Thursday before the weekend was another really good evening for me too! Beans on Toast was playing for the Ambition Festival that was held over the weekend just gone in Croydon, surprisingly for Croydon it all looked really good.

I was really looking forward to it as I haven’t had a night out in well too long and he was performing a few minute walk away from our offices. We headed to the pub after work and had some noodles and cider and then headed to another pub for some more cider and then headed to Mathew’s Yard where they were performing. I really enjoyed the support acts, especially the second one who was Glenn Hodge Banned, I’ve been listening to him on apple music the last few days!  

(Glenn Hodge Banned)

Beans on Toast came on about 9-9:30 I think and he was fantastic. He was really funny and witty and his music is great! I really really enjoyed the evening! I eventually got home about 11:30pm where I grabbed a naughty burger on my way back.  

 

(Beans on Toast)

Considering I don’t really drink I felt pretty alright on Friday (even though EVERYTHING hurt from my class and gym on Thursday)

I am pretty gutted as Lisa is leaving at the end of this week to go on to new adventures. I do hope we keep in touch, but work will not be the same without her!

I will end this entry with a few pretty pictures. 

While having a chilled Sunday and tidying up, I sorted my dresses out and I am surprised at the amount of beautiful patterns and dresses I have collected. They bring me mucho joy and happiness and they are just ALL SO PRETTY! I just wish I had more places to wear them!

I hope the week is good, and the weather improves!

(although I am happy to wear my jacket this morning ha)

2015 is shaping up to be a fab year - Mumford &Sons intimate gig!

2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year!

• I meet the Game of Thrones cast and attend a red carpet event….
• I am going to meet Richard Dean Anderson in July..
• I am seeing Astronautalis next month …
• AND yesterday I got to see Mumford & Sons live in an intimite gig…

On Thursday I got an email saying that tickets for a tiny gig were going on sale on Friday at 10am… the show was Monday night and it was in the Brighton corn exchange (less than 2,000 people)

I frantically got up as many screens as I could and waited between 9:30-10am refreshing waiting for the tickets to go on sale. I managed to grab two I was soo insanely excited I was shaking SO much I couldn't enter my card number. I believe within minutes they were sold out so I was very lucky and CRAZY excited!

So I finished work half hour early yesterday and speed home to get dressed and my sister picked me up. I picked one of my favorite dresses (my duck dress). I scoffed a sandwich and crisps in the car for my dinner and we drove down to Brighton. The doors opened at 7pm and the band came on at 8:30pm but I wanted to get there as soon as possible.

We queued for a while I think we got there about 6:45pm and we got in quite quickly. The rule was because it was before the album was released you weren't allowed to take any phones or recording devices in. We opted to leave our phones in the car rather than handing them in.

We went straight through and my sister’s eye was caught on the merch stand. She very nicely bought me a t-shirt as they were a little steep in price for me as I am saving and we took our place in the crowd maybe only 6 or so rows back from the front.

We took it in turns to pee and Sarah got us water and we wait until 8:30pm. I was glad there was no support band because I usually get a bit bored through that bit.

They came on and they were just amazing… and the crowd was great too really nice people. I jumped and danced like I had never danced before.

Set List 27th April

---

Only Love

Ditmas

Wilder Mind

The Cave

Lovers eyes

Monster

Lover of the light

Tompkins

Thistle

Ghosts

Broad-Shouldered

I will wait

After the storm

Just smoke

Snake eyes

Hot gates

Dust Bowl

---

Lion Man

White blank page

Believe

Wolf

---

The night was just so amazing. Lion Man was the highlight, the crowd and the atmosphere went crazy!

It was also the first time I had a enough confidence to take my cardigan off and jump around with my arms in the air and I didn't even care..... which is a huge step for me. 

It was amazing to hear such a good mix of old songs and the new ones sounded fab! I cannot WAIT to get the new album. They sounded amazing and they are just exceptionally talented men!

We tried to get a set list at the end but was unsuccessful! We did however ask if we could have a bag that you got when you handed in your phone as they were super cute and they gave us one each! yay!

Because we weren't allowed phones in the venue we didn't get any pictures of the gig alas. We did take some VERY EXCITABLE snaps in the car though before we left (we were very happy with parking too 2 minutes down the road and £4.50)

I had an absolutely AMAZING NIGHT! MANY HUGE thank yous to my sister for coming and for my T-Shirt made my night it really did!

I CANNOT wait for them to announce their tour I will be first in line for that!

Now today is a dull day and the gym this evening even though I am knackered, but it was more than worth it!