Train Times | Live at Leeds

I caught the train to Leeds on my own the other weekend for the first time which was soo nerve racking but also so exciting! I’ve been on the train many times before and there’s always an automated voice that says where you’re coming up to and what stop you’re at so when boarding the train I wasn’t too worried that I’d miss my stop. However, I sat down, my suitcase besides me and I waited for the run down of places we would stop off at to come on over the speakers. I waited, and waited and the train set off. They didn’t say what stops we were approaching and what stops we were at.  I was terrified I’d miss Leeds!

It wasn’t until about half way round that the muffled voice of the conductor sounded telling everyone which stop we were at – which, thankfully, was before Leeds!

I made it and met my sister on the platform…

Live at Leeds

The rest of the weekend was less scary than the train as me and my sister set off to the festival Live at Leeds. It was amazing! The first band we saw were The Midnight Beast. I didn’t know what to expect from their performance, with seeing their TV show I thought it would just be three guys rapping on stage for an hour. But gee was I wrong. Yes it was three guys and yes they were rapping on stage, but they put on such a performance! There were dancing cats and dogs, confetti, costume changes and even ninjas; pretty impressive stuff especially for a 45 minute slot.

Then there were the Carnabells who had a 50s/60s rock’n’roll vibe going on. Chuck Berry, Elvis, that kinda thing could be heard through their riffs as a heavy influence; it even came out through their hair!

We found a couple of my sister’s uni mates and took off with them to see a band named Syd Arthur. They’ve apparently toured with the Pixies and are getting quite a fan base. They’re originally from Kent which wasn’t surprising to hear as they sound like one of these bands which have spawned from East London. They had a TOY, Horrors vibe going maybe with a bit of Charlie Boyer in there but they are definitely one to go and see.

Out of all the bands we saw there was one that stuck with me. The Scenes. I cannot explain how much talent this band had. How much charisma and confidence. They looked so young and yet they were amazing. I couldn’t take my eyes off the lead singer; he had the facial expressions of Bowie and the moves of Jagger. They are what you’d call a band. They have soo much potential… don’t ever miss a chance to see them!

To round off an awesome day we saw King Charles who was as dandy as ever and even got to chat with him before his gig. Keep an eye out for our interview with him!!

Live at Leeds is something special. It’s not just the bands that make it but all the different venues that you go to. Walking from one to another, catching a glimpse of a gig and then heading off, exploring a new section of the city. It introduces you to a tonne of new music and a tonne of new people. All in all it was such a great weekend. 

He was so excited for this interview

@AbiGillibrand

@_Woodnote

Parrtyyyy | My 18th Birthday

I haven’t written in a while, I’ve had writers block and a truck load of work to be getting on with. So I thought why no conquer writer’s block by letting you know what I did to celebrate my 18th Birthdayyy!!

Me and my sister decided to celebrate in Leeds. We went to watch a Gramotones gig who were absolutely amazing and ended up interviewing them before they played. There was eight of us all crammed into the back of a three seater tour bus, rock and roll much! If you’d like to read the interview, check it out on my fanzine’s blog HERE! :D

I also go the chance to meet up with a friend that I’ve been speaking to for two years now online, which was super special and she’s soo lovely. Her name is Julia and she’s also a fellow blogger and Charlatans fan… check out her blog HERE!!

After the gig we went out to a place named The Fab Café. My sister took me there as apparently no one there takes themselves too seriously, and she was soooo right! This extremely eccentric guy called Sid was dancing with me all night. No words can describe just how eccentric he was. I mean, I could never recreate his dance moves as his arms were everywhere! His hair was gelled back, his trousers up to his waist held up with a belt, and his t-shirt was tucked into them. Not to mention his moustache. But I danced with him cause hey, why not? Within the few hours we were there he demolished around 4 packets of space invaders, so on top of his unique style, he stuunkkk of onions! Such a great way to spend your first night out. But honestly, I haven’t laughed that much in ages.

My sister and I with The Gramotones

At The Fab Cafe!

My birthday was awesome, me and my sister went clothes shopping, I got such a gorgeous necklace from my parents and in true Gramotones’ fashion, a stylophone, which I must master!

OOTD [Fancy Dress?] | Beauty School Drop Out

I was supposed to post this up around two weeks ago now, but I totally forgot! Everything is a little bit hectic here at the moment. Anyway, enjoy :)

I went to a fancy dress party the other night with my family. We totally rocked the Grease look!
My mum dressed as Rizzo, my sister was Sandy, my dad went as Kenickie and I was Frenchy .We looked awesome.

My outfit consisted of:

A Pink Ladies Jacket (obviously) - Purchased from Amazon.

A bright pink wig, which surprising looked okay - from the fancy dress shop, Smiffys 

I stole a purple top from my sisters wardrobe. 

I had a plain black bandanna tied around my neck, 

Some white pumps (which I think were from Primark - I've had them for a long time now)

And my trouser leggings from Miss Selfridge! 

I also wore some false eyelashes (Natural evening wear, Ultra Glam) from Eylure. This make is amazing. They look so natural and the line that the lashes are stuck to is almost invisible when you glue them on. Even if you can see where they've been glued you can easily disguise it with eyeliner, if it doesn't already look like an eye liner line - which is great! They stay on well and tend to fit my eye shape without having to cut them and they're so light. Once on you can hardly feel them.

The Party was ace ... Check out the photos!

Necklace | Om Mani Padme Hum

My favourite piece of Jewellery at the moment is this gorgeous necklace that was given to me by my parents a year ago.

It's basically a piece of stone that has been carved and painted and put on black cord. On the front of the piece are the eyes of the Buddha and on the back is a Sanskrit mantra of 'Om Mani Padme Hum' which translates to 'Oh praise to the jewel in the heart of the lotus'.

It's believed that saying this mantra invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig - the embodiment of compassion. Even just looking at the written form of this mantra is supposed to be beneficial.

Hair, Hat | Rasta Hat

I had my hair cut today and as a last minute decision, I got a centre parting! The only time I have had one of these was with a full fringe but never without a fringe! I don't know if this look will last as my forehead feels very naked right now. I quite like it though and hopefully I'll train my hair to go to the sides instead of looking like a 90's throw back with my bangs. 

Also check out my new Rasta hat!! My aunty went on holiday to South America and bought it back for me - It's so prettyyy ..... (she knows me too well). 

Goodbye fringe! You have served me well and have defended my right eye for some time, I'm going to miss you. 

Is this look a yay or a nay? 

Childhood | A late night ramble

I want to be 5 again. Wouldn’t it be great to be that age, when nothing mattered, you got to play with toy dinosaurs and beanie babies all day. There was no concept of time. Tea would be made and you’d be called in from the back garden to come and eat it only then to return to playing pretend. I feel I was much more creative in my mind back then than I am now. I may know more, but fun isn’t the same kind of fun. Stories are ruined. Magic that was once there is now lost and things don’t seem to have that sunny hazy glow to them any more.

It’s quite sad, and I don’t understand it really. The saying ‘’the good old days’’, I’ve never got it until now. Of course there will be more good days to come, but I doubt they’ll ever be as good as all of the special moment I had as a child. My childhood seems to be packed with sunny memories.

Where has the sun gone?

I’m sure it must have rained but I can’t remember those days. They say the brain only remembers the good memories and maybe that’s what’s happening here …

The only rainy memory I have is that of a thunderstorm. Me and my sister were sat by our pond in the pouring rain, counting the moths at the window and watching the lightening light up the sky.

We used to make potions out of leaves, water, mud and grass. We invented Whizzers (when really, they were just water balloons). We’d have BBQs and stay out in the back garden until 10 o' clock … YES!! 10 o' clock!

Everything was innocent and charming … Where has time gone? I can’t seem to keep up with it these days. It’s only a few months until I’ll be leaving home and moving to University, not to mention I’m 18 a week tomorrow. Everything is so scary and everything is going by so fast.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and revisit those halcyon days. 

Purchase of the week | Primark

I can't remember how long I've wanted a leather look jacket, but it has been for quite some time now and I feel as though I have forever been searching for the perfect one. It has to be a bomber. I've not really taken the the biker look ... I think the zip straight up the front on a bomber is a lot more practical. It has to come in around the waist and the sleeves and I didn't want it to have a hood. To me, this idea was the ultimate jacket. I didn't realise how long it would take to find one! I must admit though, I was picky with the price. Begin a student I've been saving up my pennies for when I take that leap to university. Sure there was the ideal leather jacket online, but I wasn’t willing to pay over £80 odd for it, especially for leather look – I may as well have gone the extra mile to get a real leather jacket!

However, this search wont be taking over my shopping sprees any more. At the weekend I happened to stumble across the perfect leather look jacket in the men's section of Primark. 

Not only did it have everything I'd wanted it to (no hood, tight sleeves, zip up the centre), it was so cheap!

There was about six of them, all XS and all reduced!

From £23 they were now down to £10, I mean, I couldn’t say no. It was as though they’d put them out especially for me. With it being so cheap I am a little bit worried that it might go all crinkly and get a cracked look to it. But we will have to see what happens and I guess for only £10 I can’t complain.

Lets hope it sees me through ‘til the end of the summer.

Have you had any deals recently? ….