Rihanna LIVE, December 2011 (My 1st Concert)

Greetings everyone, how have you all been? I've taken a small break from all the thinking and been enjoying some Xbox One time, doing work as usual and planning for the oncoming events for the summer. Today I am telling the story of what my 1st concert was like. I figured it was good to finally include some more music views as I've been talking about Films, Games and my life so far.

Now honestly, I wasn't expecting to see this beautiful Pop diva as my 1st ever live music experience. I wanted to see Owl City first (but he turned out to be my 2nd, which is also another upcoming story to share). However it turned out amazing and better than I ever expected. So here's what happened when me and my good buddy Jack went to see the beautiful and naughty girl, Rihanna.

Back in November 2011, as I was in my 2nd year of Collyers I was invited out to see Rihanna by one of my friends from my days at Forest School, Jack (who's 1st invite had to cancel so he invited me instead).
So on December 1st 2011, our day out started with a nice trip around London checking out some sites before getting ready for the evening at the 02 Arena.

When at last the night began, the opening act was Calvin Harris who gave a loud and bass pumping performance playing his classics "I'm Not Alone", "Flashback" etc followed by some other famous anthems and hits. He played them all while DJing off a big drink bar like set which had a Green screen display on the front and a huge green screen behind him which acted like a mirror or TV effect which was mesmerising and cool. I'm Not Alone was the best way to start off I feel.

Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone

 Calvin Harris - Flashback

Calvin Harris - Awooga (PMZ Cover)

But Rihanna's performance didn't happen for another 1.30 to 2hrs later and everyone was booing and shouting as she was taking ages with no announcements. Everyone was doing the Mexican wave to pass the time. But then the time came and boy did she start off with a sexy performance. She opened up with "Only Girl In The World" and was on a throne wearing very little bright coloured outfits.

Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)

Rihanna - Disturbia

Rihanna - Shut Up And Drive

Word of warning viewers! My singing is awful as I had a very sore throat from all the shouting and was so happy, I didn't give a damn about being caught on camera singing so badly to the songs "Disturbia" and "Shut Up And Drive"! I don't even sound like that in real life and besides people always sound different on camera when they are played back. xD

Anyway, the night was amazing as she sang many of her well known classics from all her albums such as "Disturbia", "Shut Up And Drive", "Pon de Replay" and a lot of new material from her LOUD album (which was new at the time and I knew very little of) like "Man Down", "California King Bed" etc. Of course I knew "S&M" and "Love The Way You Lie" thanks to the radio and they were great to watch (except we missed Love The Way You Lie and you'll soon understand why) as she performed a righteous and sexy display on "S&M". I was expecting a very serious performance on "Love The Way You Lie" but sucks we missed it because it took ages to come on. I saw the vids on Youtube later and felt it was really too bad Eminem didn't make a surprise appearance like he did for some gigs in America when she played that song. WHO CARES NOW, I'M FINALLY SEEING HIM IN JULY!

Rihanna - Man Down

Rihanna - S&M

The set was interesting as she had a throne that slid forward to a stump where she did an alluring dance most of the time and in S&M she was with men who looked like they were split in half! One side of them was a tuxedo and the other was just their underwear.

During her performance (which I sadly can't recall when and which song it happened in), she asked the audience "Who am I gonna take home with me?" To which I couldn't even hear myself think as the arena echoed with overwhelming screaming fans. Suddenly she picked out a girl from the front and pulled her up on stage, placed her on the stump and... she... DRY HUMPED HER!!!
Even I was jealous and I reckon that girl had the time of her life because it didn't just end there. No, the stump began to sink and soon disappear, which I thought to myself and later told Jack that "Rihanna's taken a souvenir with her!" You could say this bit right here was the highlight that got everyone screaming, even I was and all those lads must have been super jealous.

Rihanna - Run This Town (JAY-Z Cover)

But because of the long wait at the beginning, by the time it got to her 20th song out of 22 (yeah it was that long) which was "Drink To That", sadly Jack and me had to head for home during the show. We figured since she gave a big speech that the show was ending anyway. So as I was writing this up today, I found the setlist and discovered to my shock that she came back on for another 3 song encore including "Love The Way You Lie (Part II) and "Umbrella". So FUCK IT that we missed 2 sensational songs and all because we had to hurry home and she took her time coming on in the first place. I think I remember reading a review online once that she was ill backstage and she still came on and gave it her all that night to which I applaud her for going out there no matter what. It's just a shame we had no announcement of this because all that time I figured she was a diva being picky and just choosing when to begin and not understanding that not everyone can stay in London after 11.00pm as trains are a bitch to catch.

To be fair on her, she wasn't as selfish compared to the story on Justine Bieber who this year chose to spend 1-2 hours backstage playing video games while leaving his fans outside waiting for him to bloody start. My cousin went to that and went home disappointed (though still faithful to him, so fair enough).

Rihanna - Pon de Replay

So all around my first concert was a 9/10 and was smashing overall and we didn't have such a bad view as I was worried about as I sat my ass down at the beginning. I heard perfectly and managed to record almost a minute of each song (except for the 6 songs I missed). Will I aim to see her again live? Uhh... YEAH!
My next post will be my 2nd concert which was my favourite so far because he is one of my favourite artists of all and it was a real experience that me and my friend Lewis look back on a lot when we both listen to his work and side projects.
Before I end the story here, my purpose for suddenly talking about this memory is because due to Eminem coming up in July and he will be my 4th concert, I am writing up my past concerts chronologically so that I nothings out of place. And because Jack too me to my 1st concert free of charge for the ticket, to repay the experience, I'm taking him, my sister and her friend in October this year to see the hilarious and always funny comedy legend, Lee Evans. So this will definitely repay the offering he did for me back then.

LINKIN PARK AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2014 (My First Festival Experience)

Last weekend I was rocking and screaming my heart out at what so far was the greatest music experience of my life (though Owl City was amazing too a couple years back but that's another story) but on the Saturday that's just passed, I was at my first festival and here's my story!

For the last 3 months, I was planning to go to my first Festival which was a Rock/ Indie and Metal festival up north near Leicester and Derby called "Download Festival" which was being held at Donington Park. During around February I found on Facebook on Kerrang's facebook page that Linkin Park one of my favorite bands ever were performing this year and they were playing their entire first album Hybrid Theory, how could I miss that opportunity. I patiently waited until around May when finally the Saturday day-time tickets were available and I made sure all of my friends knew, especially my mate Lewis who got me into Linkin Park and many many other artists in the last 5 years.

So on the day, me and Lewis headed for Donington Park thanks to a lift to and back from his dad. By around 2.00pm, we finally made it and got ready for one hell of an day. He was keen on seeing Bowling For Soup (I know, weird name right?) who were performing at 3.00pm so we got in the crowd after I purchased a Download Festival Poster T-Shirt and a Linkin Park T-shirt too. I really enjoyed myself especially the humor the band emitted between the songs and their music was really fun too (luckily I knew some lyrics to 3 of their songs so I didn't feel like a total novice). They played classics such as "1985", "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" and even a song from a TV series I watched a long time ago called "Today's Is Gonna Be A Great Day" from the Phineas & Ferb TV series (I obviously knew all the lyrics to that one!) There were even a couple people dressed as Sesame Street characters like Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo... random but funny! And in the second part for "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" the band were handed a big inflatable penis for them to sign... yeah.
Setlist is here.

Bowling For Soup - (Opening) Almost

  Bowling For Soup - Girl All The Bad Guys Want (Part 1)

Bowling For Soup - Girl All The Bad Guys Want (Part 2)

Bowling For Soup - 1985

Left to right: Alex, Caroline, Lewis, Jenny, Me, Kyle and his Dad

Next on our list was searching for Lewis's friends, Kyle (and his dad), Jenny, Caroline and Alex who were there too.  So because the area was HUGE, I could see, hear and feel the bass rumbling the ground and making my heart bounce a little even from up the hill and back near the entrance, it felt so weird and I sorta felt the bass was exagerated as even at a distance I couldn't quite hear the lyrcis to other bands so clearly and I think that ruined the performances a little. I was worried that I wasn't gonna have enough battery charge so I thought I could try out at one of these Battery Recharge stands that only charged £5 for a recharge, until they admitted it was a £20 deposit... no thanks!

As the day went on, we were all wondering around the area while listening to the other bands on the main stage like Killswitch Engage and later Bring Me The Horizon who are both hard core metal bands that even I began to head bang to and get a taste into their music, the others I wasn't so keen on. Later around 18.30pm, we all decided to look for food and found a Prezzo's Pizza place and ate as Bring Me The Horizon performed because next it was Fall Out Boy (another band everyone knew but me).
And being the good brother I am, I phoned up my sister and asked her if she wanted a shirt at the festival. So she queried the bands there and after I mentioned Fall Out Boy, she asked about the clothing and she chose a hat. And I bought myself a Download 2014 Line-Up shirt and a Linkin Park - The Hunting Party T-shirt too.

When Fall Out Boy came on, I was feeling a little down that this was the 2nd band I was seeing live and didn't really have a clue who they were or know the lyrics to any of their songs. But then I remembered what my parents told me before going that people come to festivals to listen and learn about new/ old bands and to widen their music taste, so that deffinitely helped and made me feel better. However, I did know and recognise a few songs such as "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arm's Race", "Beat It (Michael Jackson Cover) and the 2 songs I heard a lot on the radio last year "Young Volcanoes" and "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up) but didn't know it was by them, so I was singing along to those songs and wasn't clueless after all. They were brilliant and sounded just like they do on radio, which is always the best reassurance when seeing a live band/ singer because then you know that they didn't edit their voices as much as you thought back in the studio when creating their music. Setlist is here.

 Fall Out Boy - (Opening) The Phoenix

Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

Fall Out Boy - Young Volcanoes

Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)

And then... the time was upon us! At 21.10pm, people were already shoving and pushing through and I was stuck next to the England supporters who were even taking their shirts off, so I was next to hench topless men... yeah! I lost Lewis and Jenny as I was pushed forward and got a little closer to the stage and got a good view and was able to record a lot of the songs. But anway, they finally came on and put on an amazing introduction montage before beginning with the all time classic "Papercut" and then followed through the whole Hybrid Theory album, they played several tracks from their other albums too which kept the crowd and me going and it was good that the show didn't end so quickly. When it did, it was a shame for the excitement to be over but it was absolutely amazing and I was so proud of myself for bucking up the courage to come here, I coped being on my own and let myself go in the moment and just have an amazing time no matter what. At around 22.50pm, as everyone was heading home or to the campsites, most of the crowd were heading to the other main stage to go and watch the England vs Italy World Cup game. Me and Lewis headed for home and travelled back listening to the game on the radio. We ended up getting back to Horsham at 2.30 in the morning. After staying at Lewis's I drove home, ready to share Father's Day with Dad and the family. Setlist is here.

Linkin Park - (Opening) Papercut

Linkin Park - Points Of Authority

 Linkin Park - By Myself

 

Linkin Park - In The End

There were lots of mosh pits which I even slided into on 2 songs and I actually survived (well obviously because I'm here and re-telling the story) but it was interesting and I didn't get as hurt as I thought I would. The crowd was very loud and we all sung our hearts out and screamed at the top of our lungs to every song so honestly I hardly heard the band at all but it was fun to partake in (I hope next time I hear the actual band preferably). I have never been so hot, sweaty and squeezed in my life because throughout the first 3 songs the crowd was swaying and shoving around so some of my videos were shaken up (I even dropped the phone once and picked it up in a couple seconds and got helped back up by good people, thank god). It was sensational to see Linkin Park perform some of my favorite tracks like "Points Of Authority", "In The End", "A Place For My Head" and then they mixed it up after finishing the whole first album. They gave it 110% and they sounded just like their LIVE album "Live in Texas" from back in 2003. My only disappointment was that they didn't play more stuff from their second album Meteora and most of all the song "No More Sorrow" which I always dreamed would be like this from their performance at the iTunes Festival back in 2011.

Linkin Park - A Place For My Head

Linkin Park - Given Up

 Linkin Park - Lost In The Echo

Linkin Park - New Divide (First time played LIVE) from Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

 Here's the last song "Bleed It Out" (a real crowd pleaser and sing a-long) which I failed to record but
found this online on 8th June 2015 whilst going through some LIVE performances on YouTube.

Another interesting and slightly awkward thing that happened was that just as me and the others were heading down the hill ready to mingle with the crowd, I ended up grabbing Caroline's jumper to make sure I didn't lose the others. Unexpectedly it turned into holding hands thanks to her grabbing mine as we slipped into the crowd and navigated for like a minute. When we found a good spot, I said thank you (like a gentlemen) and thought it was best to admit to her that was the first time I've ever held a girl's hand. She replied with "Aww that's so sweet" and gave me a hug. Oh yeah another thing, as we were heading to Donington Park on the Saturday morning, we ended up passing this tank on the actual dual-carriage way! A friend who knows a lot about weaponry and stuff said that it was a "M1A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

This is one of those memories I will treasure forever and always remember with pride and of course show the footage to my friends. So what's next on my "To-do list? Well I'm still working out my Skydive birthday present and will get round to booking it once we find a good location and if the weather plays fair too. And me, Lewis and Kurt are seeing EMINEM on 11th July so that'll be another awesome concert in a ground-breaking atmosphere. After that, Kurt and I are heading for London Film & Comic-Con to meet Stan Lee. And let's not forget the comedy legend and one of my personal favorites Lee Evans Monsters Live in September. So life's going great for me, I'm really living life this year it seems.

But this Saturday was a huge stepping stone in my life. That was £82.50 well spent (On the ticket I meant!) No doubt about it.

My 21st Birthday Weekend (Friday 6th June 2014)

Hello everyone, big news... I'M 21!!!!!! Woo Happy Birthday To me! Ah I feel so alive, grown up (well that's debatable) and proud of myself on looking back how much I have changed and made of myself this year and several moments throughout my life.

So for this story, I'm sharing from Thursday 5th June till Sunday 8th June on what excitement and surprises unfolded.

Here's Kurt's graphic novels I got him!

Thursday 5th June - So to start my story of stories, on Thursday it was my good friend Kurt from work's birthday. So like any smart kid he booked the day off an d had an awesome day in London with Tommy from work looking in Comic-book shops and he even spent £23 in M&M's world... yeah! So here's where I come in the story. You see, Frankie a girl from work and possibly one of Kurt's oldest friends planned in secret with me about organising a little party for Kurt which was originally bowling in Crawley but by the next day it turned into a simple night of few drinks at the Jubilee Oak in Crawley. So after work I drove over to Kurt's for the first time and we both gave each other our presents as my birthday was the next day. Did that stop me from opening my presents the same moment as Kurt?! Nope! I got him 2 MARVEL Big Graphic Novels "Civil War" and "Secret Wars" which I bought in Brighton a week ago. As for him, he bought me the MARVEL Graphic Novels "The Superior Spider-Man #1-5" and "Deadpool Kills Deadpool Part 1". We were both very pleased with our gifts and after he showed me his jaw-dropping collection of Comics (all paperback) and I counted 87... woah! So anyway we got ready and headed for the Jubilee Oak to meet up with Frankie, her boyfriend and Tommy for a good night and celebrate Kurt turning 20.

And here are the graphic novels he bought me!

So after arriving it was hard to find a booth to hold up all (we were even reminded twice to be careful when shifting chairs around in case we were blocking the Fire Exit which was frustrating (I mean of course I follow rules but come on, we weren't really blocking anyone from evacuating if such an accident occurred?!) Anyway, as 2 more of Kurt's friends turned up later including Sam from work, I chowed down on a good Beef and Bacon burger with chips and drunk 3 J20s throughout the 4 hours and me and Tommy each bought a big share plate full of Chips, Dips, Breadcrumb Prawns, Chicken Breast Fillets and Onion Rings oh it was delicious. I spent a lot of the time talking to Frankie about work as we both work in different departments and talked about thoughts and of course we all had laughs celebrating Kurt's birthday. Later around 10.30, everyone was getting ready to head home, Kurt was invited to Frankie's for more drinks but I had to head home (after giving Kurt a lift back to his of course!) So I figured I'll see him tomorrow to celebrate my 21st with my friends from my college days.

 

 

I was very excited to see Chocolate Cake!

Friday 6th June - "Woke up this morning feeling fine, theres something special on my mind!" ha ha, thought I'd begin feeling all happy as I did turn 21. Alas my day consisted of going to work as I couldn't book the day off due to too many people off already. So after preparing myself and while driving to work, I treated myself to singing a-long to "Owl City" songs on the way and later on the way home as it was a beautiful, warm blue sky morning and what could be better to make me smile (and shout my heart out to the songs). So at work, I surprisingly received some lovely treats! Near the beginning of the day in the warehouse store, the deputy manager who just loves to bake for the staff actually baked me a chocolate fudge cake as he knew it was my birthday today. He invited me into the shop after he caught me while dropping products off and he told me he had a surprise for me! A big chocolaty treat! But right before all of that happened, 2 ladies at work Wendy and Lorna who always look out for me everyday, found me in the morning and presented me with a Big 21 Badge, a funny card and a LORUS Watch! I was ecstatic and gave them both a big hug. So I told them to come with me to the store and join me in slicing the cake and taking a quick picture. And because I'm so generous, I made sure everyone had a piece quickly as it was going fast. John my Manager  said I could go home half an hour early which was excellent.
Kurt wasn't joining me for tonight after he texted me in the morning to admit he'd overdone it last night!

Left to right: (Back) Caleb, Bradley, Cathy, Matt, Craig, Ryan, Luna, Lin.
(Front) Chelsea, Me, Becky, Joe and James
Thank you to everyone who came and made my day so special!

Thank you Mills for coming by before heading back to work! Ryan... why did you photobomb?

So as I arrived home near 5.10pm, I quickly got changed and got a hug from Dad (Mum was sadly still at work) before heading out to go to "Wagamamas" in Horsham to join 13 of my friends from my college days, it was so lovely and great to catch up with all those that could make it, we all enjoyed the food. I had a Chicken Ramen which was a big bowl of Bamboo strips, noodles, diced spring onions, thick slices of chicken breast and rockets salad all in a delicious bowl of goodness. My friend Camilla "Mills" popped by at the beginning with Craig and they got me an amazing A1 sized Captain America: The Winter Soldier poster (like the one from my post!) I enjoyed chatting to everyone and later that evening everyone went to Lewis Cranfield's house as he had planned a 3 day party round his so we all stayed over for a few hours chatting, drinking, trying to play this confusing boardgame (which I will explain later) and all having a fun time. Later around midnight I headed for home and got a lift home with Luna.So  after the meal, we headed to "The Lyndd Cross" for a quick drink (I even had a Hooch).

The 2 Deadpool graphic novels Rebecca bought me!

Here's the playing field for the "Twilight Imperium" boardgame

Saturday 7th June  I FINALLY with my family opened all my cards that I got and my 2 presents from Rebecca my sister which were two awesome "Deadpool" Graphic Novels! Shortly after I headed back to Lewis's to see some of the others and I joined them at what was possibly the most complicated, confusing and head scratching board game I have ever played called "Twilight Imperium"! I dare you to google it or play it yourself! It was like Yugioh and Dungeons and Dragons had a baby and boy was it ugly ha ha. Anyway as me and the others played on for a couple rounds which took over 5 hours soon me and Camilla "Mills" had to leave for Pulborough to go to another friend Henny's 23rd birthday. So I drove Mills to her new house in Southwater and after seeing her new beautiful house and meeting her parents again. I then followed them to Pulborough for the first time. After arriving, we saw Craig, James, Luna and Lin to be there too and we all stuck together as we didn't really know anyone there. Henny was happy to see us all and I had fun that night listening to the house music which was mostly heavy rock and metal and I met one of Mills's friends called Tom who is a big Kingdom Hearts and MARVEL fan like me. The food was lovely and the night turned out better than expected and Henny was glad to see me and the others again. Around 11.30pm, I had to drive home with Mills and Tom as Mills was doing the "Race For Life" tomorrow morning and I was her ride home.

Also on Sunday, it mostly consisted of sunbathing on that scorching 22degrees Sunday, trying to plan this out while making plans for next Saturday when me and Lewis Cox (from Alt:Mag) go to our first festival together, The Download Festival! I was also making phone calls to family saying thank you for the cards and money and also replying to all my facebook birthday wishes.

So this was a very busy weekend for me. So I thought to myself that Sunday night "What's in store for me now that I'm a fully fledged grown up?" Well this year has already been something and it's been challenging to sometimes cope with like change and learning that things sometimes take time to plan or take longer to finish (like organising my blog posts and sometime they come up later than expected). My original plan as a celebration present from my parents was to go SKYDIVING!! But it's been a pain organising it and finding a near-by location. So it's been delayed and may happen in end of June or in July depending on when it finally gets booked and on the UK weather really!
But I think this Saturday when I go to a Rock/ Metal festival will really be something to remember and joke about in years to come. I was originally gonna upload posts about my 3 previous concerts I have been to so that this 4th one would be chronologically correct, but I've had no time to plan and to be honest this is a "First Time" at a Festival!

Anyway, I hope your all doing great and cheers for reading this big post and stay tuned for more! ;)