Dreaming out loud

It's been a nice rounded 2 years, 3 months and 4 days since I last posted about a concert, and in that time I've seen many more artists, including Gary Barlow, Scouting For Girls, half a dozen Eurovision winners, NKOTB (once), Lawson (twice) 5ive (three times) and most recently, Take That (including Howard for the first time)! However, my all-time favourite band continues to elude me. It's kind of my own fault for becoming a fan a few months after the tickets for their tour had been sold, but how was I to know they wouldn't come back to my country on the next European leg?! Anyway, they will not elude me for much longer...

Last September, U2 surprised the world with the release of their new album, Songs of Innocence, when it turned up on the Apple devices of millions of people worldwide. I was in the minority who were delighted by this, and eager to learn whether seeing them live would be a possibility in the coming year or so. It seemed likely, so I decided to convert my u2.com free membership to a paid subscription in order to get access to presale tickets. Sure enough, on 3 December the tour was announced, including four nights in London, which I could easily get to. But things weren't all positive: the shows were on weeknights in late October, so I'm extremely likely to be in uni on those days (I won't know for sure until 18 September this year); the presale code only allowed me to buy two tickets, but my sister and mother both wanted to come; and signing up after the album release meant I was in the Innocence presale group, so wouldn't have access until a day after long-term subscribers, by which time the general admission tickets I wanted to go for could well have sold out. Setting aside my GA dreams, I decided to try for two presale tickets anyway, and managed to get a pair of seated tickets for my sister and I! The following Monday my mother entered the general sale and succeeded getting herself a ticket only a few blocks away from us!

But that's not all! A week ago, six Irish dates were added to the tour itinerary: two in Belfast and four in Dublin, including one Saturday. Getting to Ireland for this date seemed feasible, as I could fly over after university on Friday evening, so I decided to try to get tickets. Having already used my presale code, I had to enter the general sale on 14 September. While setting up a Ticketmaster account, I noticed some student tickets would be available. I decided to go for them, as my sister and I are both eligible, and the demand for them would be lower than for general admission tickets. I was entered into the ticket queue at 9:00 am and after about 15 minutes, was able to select two student general admission tickets! At 9:23 am I received email confirmation of my purchase and the fact that I'll be going to Dublin to see U2!

So I now have two opportunities to see my favourite band and hear my favourite songs live, the first in just over six weeks! I'll try to keep this blog updated as the time approaches...

Show of a Lifetime

On Saturday 11th May 2013 I was one of roughly 5,000 concert-goers to witness the spectacle that was The Big Reunion tour, when it hit the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. I woke up that day buzzing with excitement, so much so that waiting forty minutes for the bus, trying not to gag while having to sprint through underpasses and only just arriving at the bus station on time hardly phased me. Promptly, we boarded the coach, and after 1 hour and 20 minutes of delightful tunes in my ears and serene thoughts in my mind, we arrived in Cardiff. Becoming instantly windswept, we quickly headed over to the shopping centre and spent most of the afternoon there. I purchased seven CDs from That's Entertainment for £5.99, including Honeyz's Wonder No. 8, Liberty X's second album and two 911 albums. We also bought loads of food for lunch and tea, half of which we didn't end up eating, for reasons which will become clear. By 5:00pm we had finished shopping, so ambled over to the arena entrance and a little bit further round the corner where, to our great surprise, we spotted the tour bus parked up ahead! We took a few pictures including the one below, and decided to join the other people standing there for no particular reason.

OMG tour bus!!!

The placement of barriers perplexed me, and my sister continually pleaded that we go somewhere warm, but the atmosphere was pleasant enough that we decided to tough it out, because you never know. If nothing else, it was exciting to know that the groups we had flocked here to see were only metres away… but then something happened. The people standing at the other barrier started to screech with excitement, and we soon realise why: Ritchie from 5ive was there! I couldn't believe it. Not only was a member of 5ive stood a few metres away; he was also my favourite member, back when I was a 5-year-old! I became rooted to the spot and could hardly speak, but did manage to take a photo of him before he returned to the venue.

Ritchie!

Soon I noticed another figure approaching, who looked vaguely like Lee from 911… and he was! To our surprise, he came straight over to our side, and my sister and I both managed to get pictures with him! 

My photo with Lee!
(That is me, I just don't want to properly put my face on here)

I was really hyped up now and couldn't stop grinning as we watched Lee meeting fans on the opposite side. A little bit later we saw Abz from 5ive, then at 7pm it started raining, so we decided to head into the venue.

Abz!

We bought some merchandise then headed into the arena as "Price You Pay", the new song by Honeyz played. We found that row DD really isn't as far from the stage as we thought, and settled in for a phenomenal evening! I was on video camera duty while Emily took pictures including these ones:

5ive first set

B*Witched first set

911 first set

Honeyz first set

Atomic Kitten first set

Liberty X first set

Honeyz second set

911 second set

Liberty X second set

B*Witched second set

Atomic Kitten second set

5ive second set

And finally... the finale

It was certainly a night to remember!

The Big Reunion

Last night saw the finale of ITV2's The Big Reunion, a show charting the reunion of a selection of popular music groups from the 1990s and 2000s. The series, which began on 31st January, culminated in a 1½ hour concert special. I thought it was spectacular, and I'm very glad we've purchased tickets for a show on the tour!

Watching the acts live will be nostalgic if nothing else; although I'm a bit too young to remember the 90s first-hand, I bought both B*Witched albums a few years ago, and I'm familiar with 911's greatest hits from spending hours watching 90s boyband countdowns, in which 5ive also featured. 5ive was probably my first "favourite band", even though they split up when I was 5. On Sunday afternoons my mum would blast their Greatest Hits album while I danced around and sang along. My sister and I listened to the Atomic Kitten album "Right Now" regularly on our stereo; once I cried because we were told to turn it off! I actually remember the song "X" by Liberty X, despite it failing to reach the UK Top 40, and although I hadn't heard of Honeyz before the show, I think I will enjoy their live performance.

My excitement for the tour has already manifested itself in my B*Witched inspired nails:

Keavy even tweeted me about them!