Download Festival!

Hey everyone! 

I know I haven't updated this in a few weeks, but I've been pretty busy enjoying this awesome sunshine England is currently having out of no where! 

So, this blog is going to be about my little adventure at Download Festival a couple of weekends ago, where I got to live a childhood dream and see Aerosmith live for the first time. 

Friday - My awesomely lovely dad picked my friend up on the Thursday and he stayed over in ours, so we could leave super early on the Friday morning, to get to Birmingham to pick up another friend of mine on the way. We got to Donnington park about 10:30ish, said byebye, and off the 3 of us went, loaded down with rucksacks, chairs, tents, gazebos. We looked like we were moving house, not going camping for 3 days. 

When we got there, there was no camping space! OH NOS! But they were opening a new field. On the way, clever me went and bust my shoulder up, and got blisters - Wonderful start. So I was left with half of our stuff half way to the campsite and the boys took most of it and one of them came back for the rest and me. On the way to the campsite (while i was left on my own), I met two other awesome guys who were having trouble finding a place to stay, Josh and Lewis, so I said they could bunk with us and we'd find space even if we squished our tents up so they could fit, and since then, I've made some friends for life with those guys. We had such a blast with them all weekend. 

We set up, chilled, (cracked open a can or two), and then headed down to the arena for our first full day of music. That day we saw my friends band, Page 44, The Temperance Movement, Rival Sons, Rob Zombie and the ALMIGHTY Avenged Sevenfold. Day one, was a complete success! Avenged were incredible, and despite the blistering sun and heat, Download could not be off to a better start! 

Saturday - FALL OUT BOY DAY! Oh, how I was excited for the Saturday line up! On the Saturday, all 5 of us (Myself, my friend Peter, my friend Matt, and our two new buddies, Josh and Lewis) stayed together and headed off to the arena again. We started off the day by seeing Bowling for Soup's last ever UK performance (or so they say...), then onto Killswitch Engage. We were nearly at the front, which was probably, in hindsight, a pretty bad idea, because after Killswitch, Bring Me the Horizon graced the stage, and I've seen them a few times before. Their crowds are brutal. Kicked, punched, elbowed, headbutted. Hurt a bit. But we ended up about 4 people from the barrier, and next, was one of my favorite bands, Fall Out Boy. I was not going ANYWHERE. That was my 3rd time seeing FOB in only 10 months. And once again they didn't disappoint! After FOB, I was pretty tired, and in a lot of pain from the Bring me set, so me and Matt went and chilled while Linkin Park were on. They were as awesome as I've been told, and it was just so cool to look at them and think "my cousin has played with you!" 

Now, Sunday... - Last day. But probably the day I looked forward to the most. Aerosmith day. We got down to the arena quite early that day, and spent most of the day chilling by main stage. We caught Red Dragon Cartel, Winger, Buckcherry, Richie Sambora and Joe Bonamassa's set. But by the time Buckcherry had finished, there was heavy rumors flying around the crowd of who the "surprise set" was going to be from on the 3rd stage. This band was rumored to be an "arena playing band", which was incredible. In the end, mine and my friends suspicious (which arose from a dodgy tweet that was being shown on the main stage screens), was right. BLACK STONE CHERRY! Again, I've seen these guys before and they were incredible. So after Joe Bonamassa's set, myself, Matt and Lewis piled over to the 3rd stage to try and get anywhere near it to see them. After Black Stone Cherry, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back over to main stage, to meet back up with Peter and Josh, to catch the very obscene, but fun loving Steel Panther. Me and Peter have decided we're going to get dressed up and go see them on their own tour in March next year ;) Then Alter Bridge came on, and not being a massive fan of theirs, I chilled and chatted to Lewis, while Peter went CRAZY! Then it was MY time to loose my mind... Aerosmith. I have loved Steven Tyler's voice since I was 3 years old. So this was a dream come true. I was slightly worried about seeing them, incase they weren't as good as expected. But they were more. I was mindblown, and I was SO SO SO hyped up. 

Early hours Monday morning (about 1am), my mum and dad came to pick me and my two friends up, and it was so sad having to leave Josh and Lewis as we had such an amazing time with them the whole weekend, but we are already making plans to meet up again soon.

So that was my Download experience! Sorry it's been such a long read but if you read it all, then thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reliving it and reminiscing. I have to keep in mind a very special guy who was remembered by every single person in the Download crowd, and if you read this, I want you to take a moment and remember and maybe do a big "thumbs up for Stephen", the guy that touched the hearts of probably every single person in the UK. Stephen Sutton, you rule man! I hope you were looking down on Download and rocking along! <3

4 an half weeks til Warped now, so the blog will be back focused on Warped soon I promise! It's getting so exciting now ;) 

Love <3 

Bands (Part2)!

Hey Everyone!

So sorry that this has taken a while to be put up! I was ill for a week, so didn't get round to doing a post last week, and this week for some reason blogger hasn't let me publish this post!
Without anymore delay, here is is! Part 2 of "new bands to check out" :) 

1. That's Not My Baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzH1Y5ACOYM (White Collar Dream)

When I first listened to these guys, I immediately thought of local bands. These guys took me straight back to everyone's roots, and possibly my favorite type of gigs, in little local pubs, clubs and venues, maybe going to see your friends band and checking out all the other bands too. These are such awesome guys, having been around 3 years or so now, they are still keeping it very real. This is their first time on Warped tour this year and they will be playing 4 dates in CA, so check them out if you're hitting up California Warped Tour and give them some support! 

2.Scare Don't Fear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhxaWC6TBeo (Vanish)

Ok, so a little confession. I've kinda fallen in love with these guys! I've spoken to maybe half of them on Twitter, and I am SO excited to swing by their tent this year and go hang out with them. They are some of the LOVELIEST people ever seriously! These lovely guys have been around for a while now, bout 6 years or so, they have recently signed to KBB Records (Ben Bruce's label), and they will definitely be taking Warped Tour by storm this year! Their music (not in sound but in thought) reminds me a little bit of what Falling In Reverse done on their Fashionably Late album, and they will definitely get those circle pits going this year! Such an awesome band to go and let off some steam too! 

3. Rob Lynch 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-5MbX_Kxek (Hawking)

This guy is one of my fav new finds. From my side of the pond, originally from London, UK. This guy has been around for a fair few years now, and this year he is playing the whole of Warped Tour. I am SO excited to get the chance to go hang out with a fellow brit, and I can imagine he would be the guy to go see if you want to have a bit of downtime in between rocking out and moshing etc, but you still wana keep the vibes up! Such a rocky/husky (at times), pure voice with a rocky acoustic feel, I know he will be getting big crowds all summer long! So make sure you check him out at your date! 

I won't list these guys as my "check out bands" because they are really fighting hard to win the "play warped tour" comp at the moment, but I stumbled across these last week, and they seem like such lovely people. So it would be awesome if you could all check them out on youtube/facebook/twitter and if you like what you hear, then going and voting for them to play their hometown show!

 https://www.youtube.com/user/gagmeimgorgeous1/videos Gag me i'm gorgeous, these are the kinda guys SUCH my thing, I love their music, and i'm gutted I won't be seeing them on Warped this year even if they do win their comp. So Good Luck, i'm rooting for you! I absolutely adore you, so I hope you win! 

who I would make such good friends with if they were a local band, and i'd end up becoming their roadie/merch girl/super fan. They are the kinda band I would go see every single show, the band I would listen to anywhere and everywhere. These are

Thanks for reading this week, and i'm really sorry it's taken ages to get this posted! But I hope you enjoyed it, and once again maybe found a new favorite band or artist to check out on Warped :) 

2 Weeks til Warped, so if you are going to any of the starter dates, have an AMAZING time, i'm so jealous, But I will be there SO SOON it's unreal :)

Love <3

Bands!

Hey Everyone! 

That time of the week again where I write my blog post!

At the moment things are really quiet in regards to my preps for Warped Tour. There's roughly 70ish days now until I go, which is still a little over 2 months which to me, feels like FOREVER right now because i'm so excited! But because it's so long away, and i'm getting a little stuck each week now to come up with some ideas about what to write about! 

What i'm going to be doing for the next few weeks is, i'm going to be going through the Warped Tour band list, and listening to anyone i've never heard before, and I will be writing a short little bit about the new people I find and hopefully this will open you up to checking out some of the new ones I find on the list (because unless you're Kevin, I bet you haven't listened to EVERY single band on the tour...) So hopefully you might find a new artist or band that you yourself might like and if you're going to Warped then you will hopefully go check out their set (if they're playing in your city!) 

So here we go then! 

This week I have checked out 3 new bands/artists. I'll post a pic, post the link to the song I checked out, and a little bio which I have done a little bit of research for! 

1. Wind in Sails.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Akt9-yPCLc (Set Adrift)

Evan Pharmakis used to be in a band called Vanna (also on Warped tour!), he is a lovely acousticy rock dude! From what I can see on interviews and stuff, when he left his old band, this was a MASSIVE shock to everyone, however this guy has an incredible voice, and he seems like he is doing just fine on his own! Check out his music if you like softer things, and his lyrics are so powerful, you may just need a box of tissues to mop up the tears... (Just gutted he isn't playing the dates i'm there! But check out the dates he is playing!)

2. The City ShakeUp 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJfjzithaQ (Silence)

So, The City ShakeUp. These lovely guys are Australian! (Enough said already right?!) Who doesn't love Australians! But these are very punk/rockish, such good catchy tunes you can't help but pump your fists too, and nod your head too. From what I can see from my research, these guys haven't been around decades, however they have done amazingly well in the time they have been around, playing with the likes of Billy Talent! These guys self fund everything they do it seems, they self manage and self promoter, by the looks of it, these guys are doing everything right, and it shows that music means the world to them! These are playing the whole of Warped (pretty sure...) So go check them out, I know I will be! 

3. Teenage Bottlerocket 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50qJGs3iE5s (Headbanger).

These guys have been around a LONG time now (bout 13 years I think?) Which makes me feel slightly awful that I have never heard of them, however these guys are awesome! They are the kind of band that, even if you have never heard any of their music, never listened to them before, you can pop along to see them with your friends and have a good old dance too, have a laugh, and a really good time. Their music is very energetic, and I can imagine they put on a decent show! Very pop punkish, quite light hearted lyrics, but very fun and catchy. Teenage Bottlerocket are again playing the whole of Warped, so check them out in your city, and go party and have a laugh! 

So I hope you like the idea of this and maybe you'll find a new band or artist you'll fall in love with! If there is any bands you think I might not know of, who you love, leave me a comment and i'll check them out and include them in one of my next blogs! 

Thank you again for reading, it means the whole world you'll never know how much I appreciate your time! 

Love <3 

Belgium - Groezrock!

Hey Everyone! 

This post is loosely linked to Warped Tour, as it's all about my weekend, and this weekend I went all the way to Belgium to see Falling In Reverse! It will be a longish post, as there is SO much to tell, so brace yourselves... 

Here we go!

So, on Friday evening me and my gorgeous mum set off to Manchester airport to fly off to Belgium for the Saturday of Groezrock festival. Literally, the ONLY reason I talked my mum into this was to see Falling in Reverse. More specifically Ronnie Radke. I fell in love with Ronnie when Escape the Fate started back in 2006, and due to various reasons he hasn't been to the UK. So I went to him. 8 years I had waited for this to happen, MONTHS of planning and booking this short weekend trip, and I couldn't believe I was finally on my way!

8:30pm flight, we arrived at Charleroi airport at 11pm (Belgian time), and started an hour coach journey to Brussels at 11:30pm! Arrived at our hotel shortly before 1am, and we had to unpack, sort ourselves out and chill from the long day me and mum had both had before we went to sleep! 

Next, we were up at 8am, to get ready quickly to catch a 9:30am train across Belgium to a tiny little village place called Geel. From there, we had a half an hour shuttle bus to the festival site! We got there at 12:30pm timeish, and Falling in Reverse weren't playing til 11:05pm... 

We grabbed food, chilled for a bit and walked around, got my all important merch! Then, I Killed The Prom Queen were playing, so we went to catch their set. Wow. I never really listened to them before but I really enjoyed them! After them, we chilled, later on we grabbed a bite more to eat, had a laugh with a few of the people at the festival we had met, and then New Found Glory were on! So off we went to mainstage!

I've seen them before last year, and they were brilliant just like they were when I saw them last. They finished at 10:00pm...
ONE HOUR LEFT! 

Quick toilet break, then straight to the second stage tent! A band called Caliban were still playing, and again they were an ACE band live! They finished... The countdown began. I started jumping up and down uncontrollably. Camera checks. Got by the stage in a good spot. 11pm. "HURRY UP RONNIE!" 

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

RONNIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Came running on stage and burst into song. I still, 4 days later, don't have many words to explain how incredible that moment was for me. Like I stated at the beginning, I had waited 8 years to see that man sing live. He was incredible. It was hard to get any really decent pictures of him because he was SO energetic and quick across the stage! The whole band was. Jacky's guitar skills live... He's MINDBLOWING as a guitarest!

They barely spoke in between songs, they just played and played and played, and it just got better and better! Such a good mix of songs from both their albums. And to end it all... Situations. A good old Escape the Fate song. The emotion I had during that song was unbelievable. The song that got me into ETF was actually Not Good Enough for the Truth in Cliche, however Situations was one of their biggest songs, so it was incredible. So damn glad I got to see Ronnie singing an ETF song, rather than Craig.

It ended WAY to quick for me, it felt like they had been on 5 minutes because the hour they played flew by so fast. But my god... It was so damn worth the 8 year wait and the flight hundreds of miles and the few hundred pound spent! 

Now, I just can't wait to see him play again at Warped Tour, and (fingers crossed), meet him too. He causes a lot of controversy in the media and in the industry, but that man has been a hero and an idol of mine for so long, nothing would change that. This weekend has meant the entire world to me, I couldn't have asked for anymore than it was. And I got to spend it with my mum, she's like my best friend. It was an incredible weekend, and again I have to thank my mum for coming with me, and my mum and dad paying for it all. I couldn't have gone with out them, and they knew how much it meant to me, and apparently my face when Ronnie came on stage said just how much it meant to me!

Thanks for reading again! I hope you have enjoyed reading me fangirl slightly (again) over Ronnie! And enjoyed reading about my feelings about Falling in Reverse! 

Love <3 

Update

Hey Everyone! 

Really short and quick blog this week really!

Basically, this weekend, for a long weekend, i'm off to Belgium to go to Groezrock Festival on Saturday. The only reason i am actually going to the festival all the way in Belgium, is because of one band, Falling In Reverse.

This trip means the world to me, as i've loved Ronnie Radke for the last 8 years and due to many factors he hasn't been able to tour the UK yet. So i'm making my way to him basically! I know I will be touring with them at Warped, however I wana make sure I see their set live. So NEXT weeks blog will be so much better than this quick update one, as i will post ALL About Belgium and about Ronnie! 

Love <3

Entertainment!

Hey again everyone! 

Sorry this post is a little late, I've had a really busy week (with it being Easter etc.) 

I spent  Easter with my family which was really lovely, and then I have been up and down the country seeing friends! One of them has just had a new baby and she is absolutely gorgeous! 

I spend about 3 hours yesterday with a sleeping baby on my knee, and then I headed off to see one of my best friends band play, Holy Casper.. So chilled and awesome! (check them out here... https://soundcloud.com/holy-casper) 

And here is a picture of their lovely faces (sorta...) from last night! (LOOK UP CRAG!)

So... This week!

I have taken some time to think about ways to entertain myself on my 15 hour journey to America... Alone... Apart from the obvious (at my stopping airports) SHOPPING!

Firstly, I am REALLY hoping to have some really awesome person sitting by me on the plane who wants to have a chat. But knowing me, i'll probably get someone who just wants to sleep the whole way. Which will suck! :( 

So then I came up with a list of things I HAVE to have and to take with me. 

Firstly, most importantly. My IPod. Loaded with a massively awesome playlist of some of my favorite songs of the bands playing Warped Tour. What a way to start off my adventure that will be! (I just have to remember i'm on a plane and not everyone will appreciate my amazingly gorgeous voice!)

I'm also getting an IPad too, so i'm going to load that with some films and some games too (and some music incase my IPod dies of battery!) 

And probably one of my most favorite things to do when i'm bored... My Colouring book. Yes I know that makes me sound about 5 years old, but wow... Those things keep me entertained for HOURS! I even got an "experienced" colouring book, which has geometric pictures and mosaic pictures in! 

So, that's what a lot of my "thinking time" has been spent doing this week! I hope you all liked this little insight into my week and into my mind! 

I wana finish this post this week by highlighting something very special I only stumbled across this week, and you might have heard about this young guy. Stephen's Story. He's the same age as me, and he is dying of cancer. He's been blogging and tweeting all the way through his illness and trying to raise awareness, and I want to just take a moment to say what an absolute inspiration this young man is. He's 19, and to be going through something like that is something none of us (unless you unfortunately have something similar), could ever even possibly imagine what it is like. So Thank You Steven, you've really inspired me this last week! Check out his story and his facebook page here... https://www.facebook.com/StephensStory

Love <3 

Preparations

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking back here and reading this one too! 

This is going to be a shortish blog this week, just to keep you up to date with my plans for Warped Tour, and what I've been up to this week!

WELL! All things are set to GO GO GO now! I have all my flights booked, i have my accommodation booked either side of the festival dates i'm doing, and sorted out what i need to do, when i need to do it. 

Here is a quick run down of my plans so far... 

- Fly to Chicago

- Catch connection flight to Tampa

- Stay in hotel

- Meet up with the Warped Tour gang!! 

- St Petersburg date 

- West Palm Beach date 

- Orlando date 

- Stay in hotel 

- Fly to Charlotte NC

-Catch connection flight to Manchester

So I will be blogging at every stage of that probably! When i get internet anyways, and that will be the fun stuff to read :D 

This week has been kinda quiet on Warped Tour front, so I've been mentally making a list of things I need to take with me. Most important thing is definitely going to be my sun cream, I'm very fair skinned and I don't want to look like a tomato really... Won't be a good look... 

However, top of my list is Harrods. No, i'm not talking about the shop. But I think it's time to introduce you all to my beloved Harrods. So here's a pic! 

Yes, Harrods is my teddy bear. He's almost as old as I am, he's about 19 years old now. I got him when i was a tiny tiny baby, and he has been absolutely EVERY where with me, so he will definitely be coming along for my Warped Tour adventure! You'll probably see a lot more pics of him in various places, or with various people. He's even had his picture taken with the Eiffel Tower ;) 

So I know there's not much info on this one, but I hope you have enjoyed meeting Harrods! And once again, thank you so much for reading, seeing all the views these get each week is what is keeping me doing it, so thank you! It means the world to me! <3 

Love <3