Wow!
I am not sure if I wrote about the last Coldplay concert I attended, but even though at the time I went around telling everyone that it was such an amazing show, and one of the best concerts I'd ever been to, this one was even better!
Pre-show acts aside (the second support act I was definitely not impressed with) the whole show was just amazing! The stage was set up brilliantly, with globes that came down that sometimes just reflected colour lights, but at other times played video of the show as it was happening - the effect was superb. The lighting was great and the setlist, and indeed the arrangements of each track was fabulous.
Coldplay moved around the arena too, which was extremely cool. There was a thrust stage attached to the main arena stage that they performed a few songs on which was great - but more than that, at one point in the show (just before a small break) they walked halfway around the arena and set up stage towards the back and did a couple of songs there. I've never seen anything like that before and was extremely impressed!
I must also mention the 'break' music which is something most bands don't tend to put on (the only artist I have experienced do this is Darren Hayes) but they had designed a special track that was Viva La Vida mixed with the words 'Back in a while'. I doubt it sounds as good as it was, but it was rather novel, and put a lot more excitement into the wait for them to come back on stage.
Another cool thing that happened was before Coldplay came back on for the encore, everyone starting singing the 'Ohohohohoh's' from Viva La Vida! It was a magical moment! It really was, and when they came back on the stage Chris Martin looked pleased and started playing the accompanying notes on the piano. I've only ever heard people do uniform chanting of the artists name in other concerts, but it was really cool (and must have been amazing for the band) that everyone was singing their song to coax them out!
Chris Martin was amazing, as was all the band! They built a great rapport with the audience and I really really enjoyed myself, as I am sure so did everyone that was there.
A brilliant show!
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Friday, 10 October 2008
Any day with David Tennant in it is good.
YAY! So yesterday (Thursday) was a bit of a mad day! First Alice and myself got up insanely early, suffering from various ailments (unable to turn left for her and a throat like sandpaper for me) and went into Birmingham to queue for the lovely Russell T Davies' booksigning. I say lovely - before we went it was just the 'cool Russell T Davies' but he has not been elevated to lovely status :D Infact Alice and I will no longer hear a bad word said about him so watch it!
We got there 2 hoursish before the doors opened and suprisingly there were not that many people there and we got issued with numbers 29 and 30. - a side note - this issuing of numbers is a great idea to stop people pushing in! They didn't actually check them as we entered BUT it seemed to put off would be pusher inners, and if their was an argument then the numbers could have been checked. I wish that it was this easy all the other times I've had to queue - argh!
Anyway both Russell and Benjamin Cook (co-writer of The Writer's Tale, and writer for Doctor Who Magazine) were completely lovely and Russell in particular was miles nicer than I was expecting. They were both happy to chat, and were very smiley and jolly asking how we were and talking about the laziness of a friend of mine who couldn't make it (writing in her book 'Where Were You' and 'Missing You' - bless! So glad we managed to make the book signing - specially as the book is completely brilliant!! I've only read the first chapter or so as I'm trying to spread out the reading of it so I can enjoy it for longer but it is great! Not only as an insight into various Doctor Whoish things (which it is) but it also has fabulous advice for would-be writers, and on a personal level has made me feel so much better about my own stye and method of writing as with the exception of producing first class scripts at the end of it, he is not that different to me!
A picture :D :
In the evening we went to see Love Labour's Lost with the RSC in Stratford with David Tennant playing Berowne (or Biron, there seems to be different spellings). Argh! 3 hours in the presence of David Tennant! The play was performed exceptionally well, and has jumped to being my favourite. It was so funny, and all the actors played their parts superbly. David Tennant was of course brilliant, but the others were brilliant too. In fact they were so good that it was easy to forget that David Tennant was actually there, so despite what a lot of critics have been saying, David Tennant was not the only thing about the play, he may have drawn more people there, but the cast as a whole were outstanding.
We are going to see A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Hamlet with the same company of actors and I really can't wait! Though I do wish I could go see Love Labour's Lost again!!
We got there 2 hoursish before the doors opened and suprisingly there were not that many people there and we got issued with numbers 29 and 30. - a side note - this issuing of numbers is a great idea to stop people pushing in! They didn't actually check them as we entered BUT it seemed to put off would be pusher inners, and if their was an argument then the numbers could have been checked. I wish that it was this easy all the other times I've had to queue - argh!
Anyway both Russell and Benjamin Cook (co-writer of The Writer's Tale, and writer for Doctor Who Magazine) were completely lovely and Russell in particular was miles nicer than I was expecting. They were both happy to chat, and were very smiley and jolly asking how we were and talking about the laziness of a friend of mine who couldn't make it (writing in her book 'Where Were You' and 'Missing You' - bless! So glad we managed to make the book signing - specially as the book is completely brilliant!! I've only read the first chapter or so as I'm trying to spread out the reading of it so I can enjoy it for longer but it is great! Not only as an insight into various Doctor Whoish things (which it is) but it also has fabulous advice for would-be writers, and on a personal level has made me feel so much better about my own stye and method of writing as with the exception of producing first class scripts at the end of it, he is not that different to me!
A picture :D :
In the evening we went to see Love Labour's Lost with the RSC in Stratford with David Tennant playing Berowne (or Biron, there seems to be different spellings). Argh! 3 hours in the presence of David Tennant! The play was performed exceptionally well, and has jumped to being my favourite. It was so funny, and all the actors played their parts superbly. David Tennant was of course brilliant, but the others were brilliant too. In fact they were so good that it was easy to forget that David Tennant was actually there, so despite what a lot of critics have been saying, David Tennant was not the only thing about the play, he may have drawn more people there, but the cast as a whole were outstanding.
We are going to see A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Hamlet with the same company of actors and I really can't wait! Though I do wish I could go see Love Labour's Lost again!!
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Shakespeare & Me
I am posting this in retrospect as I completely forgot to type up my thoughts on the day (due to excessive excitement) but the day was so great and I want to make some record of it here in the blog for when I'm looking back at how cool I was. :P
The main reason for the whole day (well for me anyway!) was the Shakespeare and Me Talk with David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Gregory Doran and.. some journalist person I can't remember the name of. We were allowed to take pictures for the first couple of minutes which was cool (particularly as most other things there were no pictures allowed at all!) so I'll include a couple of those at the bottom. Anyway the talk was really cool, got some great insight into Hamlet (which Patrick Stewart and David Tennnat are both in, and Gregory Doran is directing) aswell as to a few other Shakespeare plays which would have been much better if I had of read the plays mentioned! Doh! I'm a little behind on my Shakespeare reading! But still, was of course extremely exciting to see David Tennant on stage, and I am pleased to say that noone in the audience make any 'Doctor' remarks! Patrick Stewart seemed much less snobbish than I had imagined he would be. He did however seem very distractable and bored, become intent on picking bits of fluff up from the stage and fiddling with them. But when he was talking he seemed much more engaged, and was actually very funny. He kept forgetting to use his microphone to talk which as David Tennant picked upon he did not need anyway. What a great voice! Such a brilliant talk, we had amazing seats, and for the price of a fiver who can complain! AND now we have seen David Tennant AND Patrick Stewart. Woo!
There was lots of Shakey stuff going on all day, and although we missed out on getting wounds painted on us, and being made into a Hamlet poster we did make a great performanceish thing illustrating the use of ropes in various plays which was extremely cool! We also got to go to a techinical rehearsal mock up of The Taming of the Shrew which was great, and gave us a little preview of the things we should expect from the play.
We even walked past Stephen Boxer (Joe Fenton from Doctors, and Petruchio in RSC's Taming of the Shrew) which I got very excited about, almost causing Alice to spill her Chai Tea all over herself and probably made myself look like an idiot. Ah well - you can't look cool all the time!
Was a really cool day, and was the first time I've really had to walk around Stratford (though at the time of writing this I have spent considerably longer there!) and it's easy to forget how nice the town (? is it a town?!) is. Shakespeare days are cool!
A couple of pictures..
The main reason for the whole day (well for me anyway!) was the Shakespeare and Me Talk with David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Gregory Doran and.. some journalist person I can't remember the name of. We were allowed to take pictures for the first couple of minutes which was cool (particularly as most other things there were no pictures allowed at all!) so I'll include a couple of those at the bottom. Anyway the talk was really cool, got some great insight into Hamlet (which Patrick Stewart and David Tennnat are both in, and Gregory Doran is directing) aswell as to a few other Shakespeare plays which would have been much better if I had of read the plays mentioned! Doh! I'm a little behind on my Shakespeare reading! But still, was of course extremely exciting to see David Tennant on stage, and I am pleased to say that noone in the audience make any 'Doctor' remarks! Patrick Stewart seemed much less snobbish than I had imagined he would be. He did however seem very distractable and bored, become intent on picking bits of fluff up from the stage and fiddling with them. But when he was talking he seemed much more engaged, and was actually very funny. He kept forgetting to use his microphone to talk which as David Tennant picked upon he did not need anyway. What a great voice! Such a brilliant talk, we had amazing seats, and for the price of a fiver who can complain! AND now we have seen David Tennant AND Patrick Stewart. Woo!
There was lots of Shakey stuff going on all day, and although we missed out on getting wounds painted on us, and being made into a Hamlet poster we did make a great performanceish thing illustrating the use of ropes in various plays which was extremely cool! We also got to go to a techinical rehearsal mock up of The Taming of the Shrew which was great, and gave us a little preview of the things we should expect from the play.
We even walked past Stephen Boxer (Joe Fenton from Doctors, and Petruchio in RSC's Taming of the Shrew) which I got very excited about, almost causing Alice to spill her Chai Tea all over herself and probably made myself look like an idiot. Ah well - you can't look cool all the time!
Was a really cool day, and was the first time I've really had to walk around Stratford (though at the time of writing this I have spent considerably longer there!) and it's easy to forget how nice the town (? is it a town?!) is. Shakespeare days are cool!
A couple of pictures..
Monday, 28 July 2008
Royal Albert Hall - Prom 13 - Music from Doctor Who (27/7/08)
WOO! Lucky me not only got to go to the Doctor Who Prom, but also the Doctor Who Exhibit at Earls Court! :D
Was a completely brilliant day! The Prom posisbly turned out to be the best concert I've ever been to. It was even better than I was expecting, and hearing the music live was amazing - and the video footage that went with it brilliant! Not to mention the ultimate coolness of cybermen invading the audience, ordering them to surrender and then dancing, the judoon scanning their way through the crowds, the ood making the way to the centre of the floor and singing, and sontarans walking round chanting. The daleks and Davros (! THE Davros) invaded the stage and ordered the conductor to play their music.. Freema, Noel, Camille and unexpected(!) Catherine Tate presenting the whole thing - complete brilliance!!
The exhibit was great too, although not quite as cool as seeing the monsters/creatures roaming around it was very cool to see all the costumes from different episodes! Especially the face of boe (<3), the juddon, the ood and a slytheen! Got to see a tardis close up, and through the magic of a blue screen was inside the tardis! Although it might have been a day designed for seven year olds, I'm sure I enjoyed it a lot more than any seven year old would :P And I've got the pictures to prove it ;) Some of them are here.. more at flickr!
Was a completely brilliant day! The Prom posisbly turned out to be the best concert I've ever been to. It was even better than I was expecting, and hearing the music live was amazing - and the video footage that went with it brilliant! Not to mention the ultimate coolness of cybermen invading the audience, ordering them to surrender and then dancing, the judoon scanning their way through the crowds, the ood making the way to the centre of the floor and singing, and sontarans walking round chanting. The daleks and Davros (! THE Davros) invaded the stage and ordered the conductor to play their music.. Freema, Noel, Camille and unexpected(!) Catherine Tate presenting the whole thing - complete brilliance!!
The exhibit was great too, although not quite as cool as seeing the monsters/creatures roaming around it was very cool to see all the costumes from different episodes! Especially the face of boe (<3), the juddon, the ood and a slytheen! Got to see a tardis close up, and through the magic of a blue screen was inside the tardis! Although it might have been a day designed for seven year olds, I'm sure I enjoyed it a lot more than any seven year old would :P And I've got the pictures to prove it ;) Some of them are here.. more at flickr!
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
The Orchestra - 23/3/08 Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
Aieee I got to see E.L.O!!! Ok so maybe technically they are called The Orchestra, and there was no Jeff Lynne there were three members from the original band, aswell as two (or perhaps three, I'm not sure if the drummer has only been part of The Orchestra) from E.L.O II, so they all knew what they were doing!
Anyway, I am a HUGE ELO fan and have been excited about this since I bought the tickets. The ticket buying itself was a bit of a fluke as I had no idea that ELO part 2 ever existed never mind The Orchestra now, so thank you Portsmouth Guildhall for randomly sending me the advert! So being soo excited, and knowing that there was no Jeff Lynne, I was a bit concerned that they wouldn't be very good, but I needn't have worried they put on a fantastic show!
They were on for a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes, though did have a half hour break after the first hour, and crammed so much into this time, I really don't know where to start! They opened with Twilight which worked really well, after that most of the order (and perhaps what some of the songs are) I couldn't tell you! But I can tell you that they sang Horace Wimp much to the horror of the person sat next to me who wondered what on earth was wrong with me as the intro was being played. They also sang Hold On Tight which has always been one of my favourites (I'm a sucker for a good message!) and it sounded brilliant - there were goosebumps! In addition to throwing in favourites such as All Over the World, Telephone Line, Rockaria, Ma Ma Belle, Wild West Hero, and Do Ya, they threw in a couple instrumentals which were amazing. In particular, Mik Kaminski is flipping fantastic! They also threw in a couple of songs theyve recorded as The Orchestra which I didn't know, but sounded good, aswell as a few things from each of their solo projects.
They did an amazing version of Twist & Shout, which they have recorded before, but I hadn't heard it, and a fab cover of Getting Better, which thanks to YouTube I am completely addicted to! Definitely look them both up if you can!
Other highlights, have to include Mr Blue Sky! Which was the point at the concert that EVERYONE stood up and stayed standing for the remainder of the show. It's always cool to watch everyone getting involved, and the crowd were so animated, especially when the song led into Turn To Stone. They then went off, and came back on to do Don't Bring Me Down as an encore. Everyone sang along, and the band let the audience sing the chorus (several times!) and the atmosphere was just great! At the end Kelly Groucett said 'That was Bostin, that was!' - probably something only said in Brum!
All in all, it was a completely terrific show, and I am SO glad I was able to get such good seats (Row G, woohoo!). Although undoubtedly they would have sounded much better in their prime (and I so wish I was born earlier so I could have seen them!) they sounded really great. Their voices weren't quite perfect, but instrumentally they were flawless - and because of that it doesn't matter that they use different keys so they can make notes, or cut out particularly high bits - though speaking of high, Kelly singing the intro to Rockaria was brilliant (if in fact it was him doing it and I haven't been taken in by some audio trick!).
Other songs I recall are.. Midnight Blue, Standing in the Rain (which since hearing it live is becoming a new favourite!), Confusion, Evil Woman, Last Train to London..
Fantastically brilliant night, and I still can't believe my luck that I managed to realise their existence, and attend a show!
Anyway, I am a HUGE ELO fan and have been excited about this since I bought the tickets. The ticket buying itself was a bit of a fluke as I had no idea that ELO part 2 ever existed never mind The Orchestra now, so thank you Portsmouth Guildhall for randomly sending me the advert! So being soo excited, and knowing that there was no Jeff Lynne, I was a bit concerned that they wouldn't be very good, but I needn't have worried they put on a fantastic show!
They were on for a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes, though did have a half hour break after the first hour, and crammed so much into this time, I really don't know where to start! They opened with Twilight which worked really well, after that most of the order (and perhaps what some of the songs are) I couldn't tell you! But I can tell you that they sang Horace Wimp much to the horror of the person sat next to me who wondered what on earth was wrong with me as the intro was being played. They also sang Hold On Tight which has always been one of my favourites (I'm a sucker for a good message!) and it sounded brilliant - there were goosebumps! In addition to throwing in favourites such as All Over the World, Telephone Line, Rockaria, Ma Ma Belle, Wild West Hero, and Do Ya, they threw in a couple instrumentals which were amazing. In particular, Mik Kaminski is flipping fantastic! They also threw in a couple of songs theyve recorded as The Orchestra which I didn't know, but sounded good, aswell as a few things from each of their solo projects.
They did an amazing version of Twist & Shout, which they have recorded before, but I hadn't heard it, and a fab cover of Getting Better, which thanks to YouTube I am completely addicted to! Definitely look them both up if you can!
Other highlights, have to include Mr Blue Sky! Which was the point at the concert that EVERYONE stood up and stayed standing for the remainder of the show. It's always cool to watch everyone getting involved, and the crowd were so animated, especially when the song led into Turn To Stone. They then went off, and came back on to do Don't Bring Me Down as an encore. Everyone sang along, and the band let the audience sing the chorus (several times!) and the atmosphere was just great! At the end Kelly Groucett said 'That was Bostin, that was!' - probably something only said in Brum!
All in all, it was a completely terrific show, and I am SO glad I was able to get such good seats (Row G, woohoo!). Although undoubtedly they would have sounded much better in their prime (and I so wish I was born earlier so I could have seen them!) they sounded really great. Their voices weren't quite perfect, but instrumentally they were flawless - and because of that it doesn't matter that they use different keys so they can make notes, or cut out particularly high bits - though speaking of high, Kelly singing the intro to Rockaria was brilliant (if in fact it was him doing it and I haven't been taken in by some audio trick!).
Other songs I recall are.. Midnight Blue, Standing in the Rain (which since hearing it live is becoming a new favourite!), Confusion, Evil Woman, Last Train to London..
Fantastically brilliant night, and I still can't believe my luck that I managed to realise their existence, and attend a show!
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Second Life Gig - Metal Edo 21/3/08
The idea of virtual concerts might seem a little weird but they are actually rather cool. Second Life is a virtual community where you get to run around a world built by you, and other members. You can do almost anything that you can do in real life, and although it's not quite the same as real life activities (snowboarding inworld is bound to be different from snowboarding in the real world) people do engage in a great many of activities. One of these is gigs, and concerts. Singers, musicians, and even just people who like to talk can gather an audience and allow them to listen over an audio stream. Similar to listening to a radio concert, there is a difference in that interactivity can be involved. Requests are sometimes granted, responses given if audience members ask questions, or even encores can be acknowledged and played!
So after that small intro for those of the uninitiated I can tell you that I attended the best inworld gig ever the other day, and it was put on by the fabulous Metal Edo. Known as Edd Coates in real life, this was the second gig he has done to help promote his future coming album Transit. He performed for over an hour and a half, and managed to fit in a fantastic 14 songs, 13 of his own, and one cover, which was David Gray's Slow Motion (which was fantastic).
Edd sounded brilliant, his performance was so full of energy and it was obvious that he was enjoying it as much (if not more) than the audience. The audience also seemed to love Edd, and he received nothing but positive comments (and nice big tips!).
I've had the chance to hear other performances by Edd, but without doubt this was my favourite of his! The whole gig seemed to flow together nicely, and there was a great energy about. Plus he did sing my favourite song of his, Underground - Thanks Edd! But really it all sounded great, from the beginning notes of Troglodyte to the encore (yes he even got to do an encore!) of Take Me Home.
All in all, a great show! Very glad I got to be there, and can't wait for the next one! You should definitely check out his sites, and keep an eye out for the next one. Will be good to see you there :)
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Clicky Links wont seem to work for me so here are the links I tried to put in the blog!
www.eddcoates.com
www.myspace.com/eddcoates
www.secondlife.com
So after that small intro for those of the uninitiated I can tell you that I attended the best inworld gig ever the other day, and it was put on by the fabulous Metal Edo. Known as Edd Coates in real life, this was the second gig he has done to help promote his future coming album Transit. He performed for over an hour and a half, and managed to fit in a fantastic 14 songs, 13 of his own, and one cover, which was David Gray's Slow Motion (which was fantastic).
Edd sounded brilliant, his performance was so full of energy and it was obvious that he was enjoying it as much (if not more) than the audience. The audience also seemed to love Edd, and he received nothing but positive comments (and nice big tips!).
I've had the chance to hear other performances by Edd, but without doubt this was my favourite of his! The whole gig seemed to flow together nicely, and there was a great energy about. Plus he did sing my favourite song of his, Underground - Thanks Edd! But really it all sounded great, from the beginning notes of Troglodyte to the encore (yes he even got to do an encore!) of Take Me Home.
All in all, a great show! Very glad I got to be there, and can't wait for the next one! You should definitely check out his sites, and keep an eye out for the next one. Will be good to see you there :)
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Clicky Links wont seem to work for me so here are the links I tried to put in the blog!
www.eddcoates.com
www.myspace.com/eddcoates
www.secondlife.com
Monday, 17 March 2008
Dexter
Three episodes in and I am totally hooked by the American show Dexter. So hooked in fact its taking a lot of resistance to not get hold of, and watch them all together ahead of the weekly ITV viewings (I am waiting though as its good to have something decent on the TV in the week!). I know some people have been criticising the show for being a rip off of films like psycho - but I really think that this is the first time I have ever seen (or even read) something that is completely from a sociopaths perspective who has the urge to kill, yet controls this urge by killing only those that 'deserve it'. Of course there are the issues of why he gets to decide who deserves to die etc etc but from what I've seen so far he doesn't do a bad job in his decisions and has probably saved people because of it! Though I'm sure there's probably a mistake coming up soon but I will definitely be interested in how he handles it. Despite Dexter himself totally admitting that he has no emotions, no desire to be socially involved I think that this isn't entirely true. The fact that he only kills the people he does is some sign of humanity in him? Or how I believe on some level he has some sort of feelings for his sister if not his girlfriend.
Regardless of all this, the program is excellent, and as I have recently found out that its based on books and I can't wait for my library to sort them out for me :D
Regardless of all this, the program is excellent, and as I have recently found out that its based on books and I can't wait for my library to sort them out for me :D
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