I've just gotten back from the HIM concert in Wolverhampton and it was absolutely amazingly mind-blowing! I will write up an account now before I go to bed~
At about ten past four - maybe later - I left the house to catch a bus to New Street Station, where I bought a small tea of Cadbury's Buttons and chocolate Frijj, seeing as I'd forgotten to eat again before I went out. I got on a train to Liverpool that was stopping at Wolverhampton on the way, which made its usual stops in Smethwick. When the train pulled in to Wolverhampton station I began to make my way towards the venue, getting there at about quarter to six.
Not long afterward I found out the concert had been moved from the Civic to the Wulfrun, which was fine by me. I went to queue up outside for about an hour and a bit, which was quite annoying because it was so windy and rainy. At 6:50, the doors opened and everyone went inside, and I managed to get a space a row away from the front! I literally did not move for the entire night.
I was a bit skeeved out by the lanky-ass boys around me with their hands around their girlfriends' waists from behind, and I'm pretty sure one boy was dry-humping his girlfriend at one point. It was really quite off-putting. But there was a cool girl next to me who had a massive Polaroid camera in her bag, and she said she'd got it off eBay for £30! We exchanged Tumblr URLs, and I've just found out her name's Yasmin!
The support act was a band called Caspian from Massachusetts. Their set was entirely instrumental and quite shoegazey, somewhat in a similar vein to 65daysofstatic, and they went down really well! Their music was a sort of heavy brand of shoegaze, and two words that came into my head while I was watching them were 'post-rock'. I knew literally nothing about them until tonight, but I'm so glad that I finally do!
HIM came on at about 9:15-ish. They used Unleash the Red, one of the instrumental interludes from Tears on Tape, as an intro, then opened with All Lips Go Blue, and in that moment I remembered why I love them so much! They were on top form and Ville Valo was very engaging and smiley throughout the whole night. They also played songs like Join Me In Death, Buried Alive By Love, Passion's Killing Floor and Soul on Fire! At one point someone threw a thong on stage, and Ville hung it up on his microphone stand. For the encore they played Sleepwalking Past Hope, which is a 10-minute experimental opus from their 2007 album Venus Doom. I slipped out near towards the end to see if I could try and meet Ville Valo, but after a few minutes of waiting I decided to make my way home.
On my way to the train station I dropped in at the Numa Bar, which is a Gary Numan themed bar opposite the Civic Hall. I ordered a Mixed Fruit Kopparberg which I drank within a matter of seconds as I was very thirsty, then quickly left to get either a taxi or the train back home. Luckily enough, I was just in time to get the last train back to Birmingham, which was at 11:21! When I arrived back in Birmingham, I got a taxi from the station to my house, and here I am now, writing all this up.
I think that tonight has been a very successful and enjoyable night, despite all previous worries. My next concert is Gary Numan at the same venue in a month's time, so I think it might be time to start playing his new album ad nauseam! Well, not really nauseam - you can never get nauseam of Gary Numan!
Besides from HIM I've also been listening to Purity Ring's album Shrines, and various music from the anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Friday, 18 October 2013
trapped in autumn
Oh my! It appears I haven't updated this blog in well over two months! Right now I am going to fix that by filling you all in on everything that has happened since the beginning of August!
AUGUST
On the 3rd I went to Galway in Ireland with my mum and my sister to visit my family on my Dad's side. My favourite part of going to Galway is always seeing my cousins Aoife and Gareth, going to Salthill, shopping in Eyre Square, and making delicious gooey chocolate brownies! I couldn't bring my tweezers or my hairspray or my metal comb since it was a hand-luggage flight, which did put a bit of a dampener on things, but I could easily find those things in Ireland. We went to see Monsters University as a family, which was my first time seeing it not on my own, and I'm really glad that everyone enjoyed it because it's a great film! I brought home a scarf, a sleeveless fringed leather jacket (I later cut the fringes off) and a lacy top which I like to wear underneath tops! Because I was going on holiday I missed Zombie Club, which was a bit of a shame.
My second-to-last gender counselling appointment was also this month. Professor Oyebode says that he may be able to refer me directly to a gender identity clinic if everything goes well! I'm feeling really excited and optimistic about the future, as long as it involves transitioning. I'm very excited for that! I also had cyber bite piercings done, which I'm really proud of, and started listening to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. I can't really think what else happened in August unless I look in my Tumblr archive.
SEPTEMBER
A year ago I'd have been going back to college by now, but this wasn't the case, so I've had to find things to do to occupy my time! I've been going to the cafe at Cadbury World to drink hot chocolate, walking around Kings Norton and the city centre, and going to Aspire meetings in Five Ways. Aspire is a training scheme I've started recently to help me gain confidence and renew my social + communication skills, and also help me towards employment. I also got a new 64GB iPhone 4S, giving me more space for music and apps, and I updated it to iOS 7 not long afterwards. Zombie Club was at the Moseley Arms that month, and I enjoyed it a lot there! It was the club night's 4th birthday and there were cupcakes with spooky plastic rings inside. I got a spider ring!
This month has also consisted of really cool and interesting television. I've watched Bates Motel, Peaky Blinders and Breaking Bad, which has already ended in America. I'm catching up with all my friends and I'm nearly finished with season 2! My favourite thing about Breaking Bad is Aaron Paul's character Jesse Pinkman. I want to make him hot chocolate and tuck him into bed because he needs someone to be really really nice to him. I also started playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf! I bought a second-hand copy at GAME in town, dug out an old 3DS, charged it up and erased the previous save data. I'm really enjoying it a lot, and I play it every chance I get.
The new Manic Street Preachers album, Rewind the Film, also came out this month. It's an amazing album, and I must say it's got to be the best thing that the Manics have made since the start of the 21st century. I couldn't stop listening to it when it first came out, especially leading up to the concert in Manchester!
The concert itself was amazing too. I got the train up to Manchester with my mum, then got a taxi to the Ritz. The queue stretched out all the way to the local Sainsbury's! When I got in, I bought a t-shirt and a whiskey and coke. The support act was Public Service Broadcasting, who I didn't get to enjoy properly because I was quite anxious, but they were really good. They sample pieces of dialogue from old public information films from the 1940s and use it in their music. By the time they came off I was quite shaky and weepy but when the Manics came on everything was better, and I immediately became euphoric and happy. I got squashed up to the front as soon as they started to play Motorcycle Emptiness, which was the first song in the set! They also played songs like Sleepflower, Revol, The Everlasting and You Love Us, as well as lots of songs from Rewind the Film as well. At one point a heart sticker on Nicky's face came off so it looked like he we wearing a dangly earring! I nearly cried ever such a lot during both Rewind the Film and As Holy as The Soil (That Buries Your Skin), which is supposed to be about Richey. I love you so won't you please come home? After the concert I went outside to wait to meet Nicky, and bought another t-shirt for a fiver - it says 'Motorcycle Emptiness' on the front and I'm wearing it now - but then I decided to leave to meet my mum at Sainsburys. The hotel we stayed at overnight was the Ancoats Road Travelodge, which was actually really nice.
The next morning I wore my new Manics t-shirt and me and my mum got a train back to Birmingham, but not before coming across the National StreetPass event in Piccadilly Station and getting my photo taken with a giant Pikachu!
I also bought a gluten free ham salad sandwich from M&S, which turned out to be not great because I had to pick out all the veggies and salad, and also it had mustard in it.
OCTOBER
That's this month!
It's started off quite well. The new Gary Numan album, Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) came out this week - I pre-ordered it beforehand and received it two days before its official UK release date!!! - and it's undoubtedly the best thing he's ever done. I've also started listening to HIM again regularly to prepare myself for their concert on Monday, and I can't believe I forgot how good they are! I've been going to town a lot regularly and taking my 3DS with me, picking up cool things on StreetPass, and buying cute + cool autumn and winter clothes.
That's all I can think of for a general sum-up of the last two months so far!
I think that autumn is going to be all about matte lips! I've recently bought some matte lip creams on my travels into the city centre, and I really like them and hope to be wearing them regularly! The Matte Me collection by Sleek Makeup is very good, I own Fandango Purple and Rioja Red, which I'm wearing right now. Rioja Red is also a good substitute for Lime Crime Velvetines, apparently. Topshop's makeup range have also released some 'Velvet Lips' products. They're a series of lip creams in three colours - purple, dark red and black(!!). The black one has tiny sparkles in it as well, and I can see myself wearing it very regularly! These matte lip creams do dry out my lips quite a bit, so I'll have to start putting on lip balm beforehand~
Top 5 Albums of 2013 In No Particular Order:
AUGUST
On the 3rd I went to Galway in Ireland with my mum and my sister to visit my family on my Dad's side. My favourite part of going to Galway is always seeing my cousins Aoife and Gareth, going to Salthill, shopping in Eyre Square, and making delicious gooey chocolate brownies! I couldn't bring my tweezers or my hairspray or my metal comb since it was a hand-luggage flight, which did put a bit of a dampener on things, but I could easily find those things in Ireland. We went to see Monsters University as a family, which was my first time seeing it not on my own, and I'm really glad that everyone enjoyed it because it's a great film! I brought home a scarf, a sleeveless fringed leather jacket (I later cut the fringes off) and a lacy top which I like to wear underneath tops! Because I was going on holiday I missed Zombie Club, which was a bit of a shame.
My second-to-last gender counselling appointment was also this month. Professor Oyebode says that he may be able to refer me directly to a gender identity clinic if everything goes well! I'm feeling really excited and optimistic about the future, as long as it involves transitioning. I'm very excited for that! I also had cyber bite piercings done, which I'm really proud of, and started listening to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. I can't really think what else happened in August unless I look in my Tumblr archive.
SEPTEMBER
A year ago I'd have been going back to college by now, but this wasn't the case, so I've had to find things to do to occupy my time! I've been going to the cafe at Cadbury World to drink hot chocolate, walking around Kings Norton and the city centre, and going to Aspire meetings in Five Ways. Aspire is a training scheme I've started recently to help me gain confidence and renew my social + communication skills, and also help me towards employment. I also got a new 64GB iPhone 4S, giving me more space for music and apps, and I updated it to iOS 7 not long afterwards. Zombie Club was at the Moseley Arms that month, and I enjoyed it a lot there! It was the club night's 4th birthday and there were cupcakes with spooky plastic rings inside. I got a spider ring!
This month has also consisted of really cool and interesting television. I've watched Bates Motel, Peaky Blinders and Breaking Bad, which has already ended in America. I'm catching up with all my friends and I'm nearly finished with season 2! My favourite thing about Breaking Bad is Aaron Paul's character Jesse Pinkman. I want to make him hot chocolate and tuck him into bed because he needs someone to be really really nice to him. I also started playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf! I bought a second-hand copy at GAME in town, dug out an old 3DS, charged it up and erased the previous save data. I'm really enjoying it a lot, and I play it every chance I get.
The new Manic Street Preachers album, Rewind the Film, also came out this month. It's an amazing album, and I must say it's got to be the best thing that the Manics have made since the start of the 21st century. I couldn't stop listening to it when it first came out, especially leading up to the concert in Manchester!
The concert itself was amazing too. I got the train up to Manchester with my mum, then got a taxi to the Ritz. The queue stretched out all the way to the local Sainsbury's! When I got in, I bought a t-shirt and a whiskey and coke. The support act was Public Service Broadcasting, who I didn't get to enjoy properly because I was quite anxious, but they were really good. They sample pieces of dialogue from old public information films from the 1940s and use it in their music. By the time they came off I was quite shaky and weepy but when the Manics came on everything was better, and I immediately became euphoric and happy. I got squashed up to the front as soon as they started to play Motorcycle Emptiness, which was the first song in the set! They also played songs like Sleepflower, Revol, The Everlasting and You Love Us, as well as lots of songs from Rewind the Film as well. At one point a heart sticker on Nicky's face came off so it looked like he we wearing a dangly earring! I nearly cried ever such a lot during both Rewind the Film and As Holy as The Soil (That Buries Your Skin), which is supposed to be about Richey. I love you so won't you please come home? After the concert I went outside to wait to meet Nicky, and bought another t-shirt for a fiver - it says 'Motorcycle Emptiness' on the front and I'm wearing it now - but then I decided to leave to meet my mum at Sainsburys. The hotel we stayed at overnight was the Ancoats Road Travelodge, which was actually really nice.
The next morning I wore my new Manics t-shirt and me and my mum got a train back to Birmingham, but not before coming across the National StreetPass event in Piccadilly Station and getting my photo taken with a giant Pikachu!
I also bought a gluten free ham salad sandwich from M&S, which turned out to be not great because I had to pick out all the veggies and salad, and also it had mustard in it.
OCTOBER
That's this month!
It's started off quite well. The new Gary Numan album, Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) came out this week - I pre-ordered it beforehand and received it two days before its official UK release date!!! - and it's undoubtedly the best thing he's ever done. I've also started listening to HIM again regularly to prepare myself for their concert on Monday, and I can't believe I forgot how good they are! I've been going to town a lot regularly and taking my 3DS with me, picking up cool things on StreetPass, and buying cute + cool autumn and winter clothes.
That's all I can think of for a general sum-up of the last two months so far!
I think that autumn is going to be all about matte lips! I've recently bought some matte lip creams on my travels into the city centre, and I really like them and hope to be wearing them regularly! The Matte Me collection by Sleek Makeup is very good, I own Fandango Purple and Rioja Red, which I'm wearing right now. Rioja Red is also a good substitute for Lime Crime Velvetines, apparently. Topshop's makeup range have also released some 'Velvet Lips' products. They're a series of lip creams in three colours - purple, dark red and black(!!). The black one has tiny sparkles in it as well, and I can see myself wearing it very regularly! These matte lip creams do dry out my lips quite a bit, so I'll have to start putting on lip balm beforehand~
Top 5 Albums of 2013 In No Particular Order:
- David Bowie - The Next Day
- Gary Numan - Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind)
- Manic Street Preachers - Rewind the Film
- Kanye West - Yeezus
- HIM - Tears on Tape
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