Leeds Festival 2014!

Good day to you all! 

Now that I have finally caught up on my sleep I am ready to tell you all about my adventure over the weekend that was Leeds Fest! This year I thought to myself, 'hey Em, why don't we go to a festival?' so that is exactly what I did. I used every last penny I had to purchase my ticket and essentials and then packed way too much stuff into the best festival bag I could find. In all honesty The 1975 determined the fact that I was going.

On Friday morning me and my best friend Maria set off to Bramham park, Leeds. Once we arrived we loaded ourselves up like mules. It then took us 2 whole hours to walk from the car park to our camping spot because everything was so heavy to carry. If you've ever done D of E or taken too much liquid to a festival you know the kind of pain I'm talking about! After giving up for one final time we decided to pitch our sturdy three man tent in the smallest possible place on a hill in the Blue camp. We did however have very nice neighbours who assisted us in the process of setting up home for the next 4 days. 

// A couple of photos from meeting The 1975. Just thought I'd mention that it finally happened. //

After later being joined by our third musketeer Brittany we were ready to be hit by the full force of festivalness. We enjoyed lots of bands and acts over the course of the weekend, lots of beverages (mainly ones that didn't belong to us) and the company of our new festival best friends. Shout out to orange camp! Before coming to fest I wasn't really sure what to expect other than knowing I was going to have the time of my life when The 1975 played (I did by the way, highlight of the weekend!). Making new friends made the whole experience so much more fun, and I got to enjoy my favourite band from the new found height of a new friends shoulder's. 

Over the weekend we saw The Neighbourhood, The Kooks, You Me At Six, met The 1975 and then saw them, Blink 182, Catfish and The Bottlemen, Courteeners, Imagine Dragons, Bombay Bicylce Club, Arctic Monkey and a ton of different DJ sets. I threw myself head first into this experience, seeing bands I never would have seen otherwise, and found myself bobbing along having a lot of fun. 

All in all the weekend was fantastic. Me and my friends laughed more than I believe we ever have. We got the smallest amount of sleep it is possible to live on. We saw amazing live music and immersed ourselves in crowds of festival goers. We danced with people, sang at the top of our voices and painted our faces shades of neon and tattooed our skin henna. 

Leeds Festival 2014, the highlight of my summer. // L O V E //

Love, Em x

Review: The Kingsland Road Show

Here we are, my first ever gig review!

The Kingsland Road Show // Manchester Academy 3 // 7th August 2014

I'll give you a brief overview of the band before I get on with the review. Kingsland Road are a 5 piece boyband and have been posting covers on Youtube since November 2012. After building a strong online fanbase the lads embarked on their X Factor adventure in 2013, finishing 9th. Their KLander fanbase is ever growing and the passion of their fans was more prominent than ever on their first ever UK Headline tour.

Armed with my trusty concert camera, ticket and best friend by my side we entered the venue after travelling for just over an hour to get there. IT WAS TIME!

There comes a point when supporting a band that you that 'proud mother' feeling... no honestly! And watching Kingsland Road walk on stage in Manchester made me feel nothing less than that. They were confident. They were energetic. They were explosive. Packed in tightly between the fans I watched in awe as they owned the stage, performing slliiiiccckkk dance moves complete with adorable bum wiggling. Yes, bum wiggling is most definitely adorable! The show was fabulously intimate; hands were held,  cameras sang into and we devouring their every word and action.

The lads sang a number of their newly penned original songs with new and old covers thrown in for good measure and a very pleasing set list. Hearing their new tracks live was marvelous, and when they performed their mash up of How Ya Doin' I danced and sang like no one was watching. That song is a personal favourite to perform rather loudly in front of the mirror or anyone else that is willing to watch. 

Keeping along the intimate lines (just how we like it!) the boys walked through the crowd while performing their cover of 'Burn'. Thompson, Jay and Josh walked RIGHT PAST US (breathes) to the stage. The band continued to wow us before performing their final song of the night, their debut single Dirty Dancer (out on iTunes now!). The atmosphere was incredible; we all had a dance and sang our socks off. We were thanked as they left the stage and the immediate exhaustion of going hard at a gig hit me.

The gig was amazing. Kingsland Road showed why they deserve a place in the industry. Honestly, I've never seen a band so early on in their career with a crowd reaction like that and I'm very proud to have been a part of that. One of my favourite things about concerts/ gigs is the moment your whole body becomes consumed by excitement. You grin from ear to ear as you watch your favourite artist perform. That energy fills the room as screams,singing and movement. Thompson, Josh, Jay, Matt and Connor provided nothing less than that.

Love, Em x

First Post

Wow! After being inspired by blogs for the past couple of years I've finally taken the plunge into the blogging world. After step by step instruction from my wonderful penpal I actually have a place to write about all the things I enjoy, feel passionate about and things that pop into my head at the strangest of times. The following should give you an idea of what you'll find here in my future posts...
* I love a good book and texting my friends in capitals telling them how my whole being became engrossed in this marvelous novel and that THEY HAVE TO READ IT!!!. Here I hope to give you a good enough reason to read my latest book love affair.
* I'm a vegetarian and have been for a very long time.I feel strongly about animal rights and will ask for your help in fighting for campaigns I feel strongly about. (Most of the time this just means signing a simple petition)
* CONCERTS!!! Concerts and gigs are possibly my favourite things in this world. The anticipation, the atmosphere, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Even though my taste in music may not be your cup of tea I hope you enjoy my posts about them or they at least make you smile.
* Baking! I love baking and hope I can inspire you to try out some of my latest recipe finds.

Okay I think that's what a first post goes like and if it's not I'm sure I'll come across this post in the future if this whole thing works out and read it with gritted teeth and my eyes half shut at the horror of my 19 year old self.

Love, Em x