My Wish List

Hi everyone!

I’m really writing this blog post as more of a bucket list for myself if I’m honest; I’m hoping I can tick a few of these off ASAP! So here is a list of artists/bands I’d like to see live:

*I’m not including bands I’ve already seen, however I’d see the majority of them again!*

**no particular order**

Ben Howard – I think this would be a really endearing concert, and I would probably cry

Catfish and The Bottlemen – not a bad song on The Balcony! Plus, Van’s gravelly tone is gorgeous

David Bowie – this man is an absolute music legend in my eyes; and a major style icon too

Editors – some really good tracks by these guys, check out ‘Blood’ or ‘Smokers Outside Hospital Doors’ if you’ve not heard of them!

The Fratellis – Costello Music is my feel good album, every song makes me smile and want to dance so seeing them live would be immense

The Stone Roses – my tickets already booked for Etihad Stadium 15/06/16! In my opinion Ian Brown is a Lyrical God, he goes above and beyond genius

Jake Bugg – I admit, when Jake released his single, ‘Two Fingers’, I was rather disappointed and stubbornly refused to listen to the album for a while, until I heard Dad playing ‘Taste It’ and from then on I’ve been obsessed with Jakey B – still think Shangri La is better than his self-titled debut

Last Shadow Puppets - album is out next year – I sense a tour! As a huge fan of both Turner and Kane, I think this tour would be absolutely immense

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – The Chief. The bloke is a mastermind and I’m gutted that my parents have seen him twice! Jammy so-and-so’s

Oasis - I know it’s a long shot but if they ever do a reunion tour I will sell everything I own to go

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – frontman Kiedis is a really charismatic character, that’s evident just from his videos, so I’d be expecting big things from a gig. If you ever get the chance to read his autobiography ‘Scar Tissue’, don’t hesitate! Brilliant stories on his addiction to drugs and how the band came to form!

Royal Blood – genuinely can’t believe there are only 2 of these guys! They’re talents are indescribable and their style is phenomenal. For me they tick all the boxes on what a great band should be

Stereophonics – I’m so jealous that my parents have already been!

The Subways – who also assisted in inspiring the name of this blog

You Me At Six – not my usual taste, but there’s something about them that I really like

The 1975 – their first album was my first vinyl and it’s brilliant, I’m also intrigued to see how different their second album is going to be

Foo Fighters – because Dave Grohl

Florence and The Machine – she’s absolutely mesmerising and her vocal range is insane

The Sex Pistols – rumoured that they’re having an album and comeback tour in 2016

The Sherlocks – wish I’d have gone to Leeds fest just for these guys! Really nice work and I’m expecting big things!

There are so many people that I’d love to see, and there will probably be a Wish List Part 2 in the future, but I hope you enjoyed this post!

Let me know in the comments which top 3 artists you would like to see live and why!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

My Vinyl Collection (Part 1)

Hey Bloggers!

I’ve had my record player for a year at Christmas – a lovely little Crosley Cruiser in blue. Up to now I have 13 vinyls and I can’t wait for my little collection to grow! I’m going to list them kind of in order of preference within the categories.

7” vinyls:

·    Johnny Marr – A side: Easy Money – B side: Use Me Up (The only vinyl I’ve ever purchased myself!)

·        John Lennon – A side: Imagine – B side: Working Class Hero

·        Pink Floyd – A side: Another Brick In The Wall – B side: One Of My Turns

12” vinyls:

·      1975 – Self Titled Debut (My first ever vinyl, hence why it’s a favourite – besides, Arctic Monkeys’ first album skips when it plays and annoys me – this one doesn’t)

·        Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

·        Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

·        David Bowie – Hunky Dory

·        David Bowie – Wild Is The Wind

·        The John Lennon Collection

·        Complete Madness

·        Queen – A Night At The Opera

·        U2 – The Unforgettable Fire

·        Paul McCartney – Tug Of War

Hopefully in the New Year I’ll be able to do a Vinyl Collection part 2!

Comment below what your first vinyl was!

(If you have any vinyls that you would like rehoming – feel free to send them my way J)

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

The Courteeners Statement

'We're sad to say that, due to mutual agreement, we've parted ways with Mark. We'd like to thank him for all the good times over the years & we wish him all the best in the future.
We are a close-knit family here and we will always be so with your continued love and support. Our good friend and long time collaborator Joe Cross will be on bass duties with us for the foreseeable future. Now get down the front and help us make these buildings shake.
Big love, Courteeners We Stand x'

This is the official statement that The Courteeners released today, in which it is revealed that bassist Mark Cuppello is leaving the band as part of a 'mutual agreement'. Liam's housemate - Joe - will be performing with the band on what seems to be a permanent basis. This has caused a lot of heartbreak for any fans, however some are disgusted at the decision. It has been suggested that Mark has perhaps been asked to leave the band rather than this being his decision. Facebooker, Tom Crossland, has commented on the status made by The Courteeners saying, 'A mutual agreement isn't sacking your mate and replacing them with your housemate Liam.' - a statement which many of the fans seem to agree with, and are outraged by the fact that Liam could be making a huge mistake that could have major repercussions for the future of the band.

Personally, I'm absolutely gutted that Mark is leaving the band - as I always am when a member leaves a group; it almost seems like the end of an era. However, I'd like to think that it's the beginning of a new chapter for the band. I'm just praying that Joe is able to fill Mark's role sufficiently so that the music and live performances aren't affected! I think that IF what is rumoured, with regards to Liam kicking Mark out, is true, then that's just poor quality friendship skills on Liam's part and Mark deserves better. I hope that when I go to see the band perform live in December that they are as good as when I saw them perform at V Fest; and I also hope that The Courteeners career will continue to flourish, despite the change in dynamics.

Let me know in the comments section what you think of the statement and the situation in general!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

My Playlist

Hey!

So I conducted a poll on twitter (one of my favourite things to do at the minute) to see what you guys want to see me post next. The result came back that you want to know what my current playlist is. Unfortunately, I don’t have much music on my iTunes as I’m currently putting all of the CD’s in the house onto the laptop, so I should be completing a fortnightly/monthly playlist. Here is my ‘chilled’ playlist:

If you don't know some of the songs on the playlist, go and listen to them! They're brill for when you're in the bath or just about to go to sleep!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Maximo Park Gig Review

So on 15^th of November 2015 (last Sunday) I had the pleasure of going to see the alternative rock band Maximo Park at The Sugarmill. The gig was in honour of the 10^th anniversary of their first album ‘A Certain Trigger’, released back in May 2005, which they played in full - including some singles and rarities from other albums.

The first time I went to see Maximo, Paul had recently had an emergency operation on his eye and shouldn’t have really been performing at all exclaiming that his ‘eye might explode’ - I knew I was to expect something bigger and better this time! I was definitely not disappointed! From the minute the boys came on stage, to the minute they left I was captivated, not only because of the striking riffs, punchy drum beats and the unique Geordie vocals, but because of the extraordinary energy and stage presence they perform with - in particularly Paul, who’s entire set is choreographed beautifully! Don’t get me wrong, the dancing can look a bit odd to an unknowing onlooker, however Paul’s slinky hips, kicks and jumps are just down right fabulous, and there is a somewhat of sass about him. That’s right… I’ve just described Paul Smith as sassy.

Highlights of the evening included Books from Boxes from their second album ‘Our Earthly Pleasures’ (a personal favourite of mine due to the beautiful metaphoric lyrics); Our Velocity also from the second album – one of the more well-known songs so the buzz from crowd really added to the rock vibe; Apply Some Pressure and Going Missing (both from ‘A Certain Trigger’); and finally a hit from their fifth album ‘Too Much Information’ called ‘Give, Get, Take’ which was accompanied by some bizarre robot dancing on Smith’s part. One of the things I loved most about the show was that the size of the venue made the performance a lot more intimate which enabled Paul to relax and have a laugh on stage, making jokes comparing the song ‘The Night I Lost My Head’ to a night out in Stoke (after all, we are rated 2^nd worst place to go out drinking) and even answering questions from members in the crowd. (I’ll put links to the named songs below).

All in all I had an excellent night and will definitely be going to see the lads tour again as it is always a pleasure! Just a bit gutted that they didn’t perform Questing, Not Coasting from ‘Quicken The Heart’.

I’ll include some photos/videos from the 2014 and 2015 gigs too so you can check those out.

Think my next post will either be bands/artists I’d like to see or a playlist - let me know in the comments which you want to see!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Links to songs:

Books From Boxes – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jmlWcItwxc

Our Velocity – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMHHCpQ9M-Y

Apply Some Pressure – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ue193sAcrE

Going Missing – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YkoGvnjW7I

Give, Get, Take – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No0tgjeShd8

The Night I Lost My Head – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRbn-Mab8Zc

Questing, Not Coasting – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYkiZ4a1oQ

(all photos are my own, I apologise for the lack of uniformity with the watermark, I've recently changed my stamp)

Gigliography

So to kick this blog off, I’m going to share with you my gigliography (see what I did there?) starting as far back as I can remember!

·      November 2011 – Arctic Monkeys with The Vaccines supporting – this was my first ever proper gig! Let’s just say the Vaccines are very good recording artists… not so brilliant live; nevertheless I was 13 and any gig is exciting! Arctic Monkeys were my ‘first love’ and I still am obsessed with them (In particularly Alex and Matt) but it seems so strange to think that Suck It and See is 4 years old?! AM were absolutely incredible though - and as a first gig, I couldn’t have asked for anything more brilliant!

·       October 2012 – The Enemy with States of Emotion supporting – my first standing gig. To this day, the Enemy still hold the top spot for the best crowd atmosphere! Tom’s only a little lad but he’s got a belting voice! The Enemy were also my first ‘souvenir’ after Andy gave me his bass pick! States of Emotion are some of the loveliest lads ever – former drummer Luke Lloyd told security I was his sister so he could come and have a photo with me and a chat, and since the gig, me and frontman Olly have spoken frequently, even skyping me to sing ‘The Way That I’m Wired’ *fangirl*, but in seriousness, that man sings from the bottom of his heart and with such raw emotion it is beautiful.

·       November 2012 – Rizzle Kicks – I’m not even ashamed. These lads are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me because of their insane energy! They’re so fun to watch perform! Real feel good vibes. My personal favourite cover by them is currently their reggae rock take on Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’.

·    September 2013 – Paramore – after Paramore’s reformation, there was no way I was missing this tour… or so I thought until I passed out at the gig during ‘daydreaming’ which was pretty ironic because that’s what fainting feels like… I viewed half the show from the side until security let me back in the standing section. Despite the obvious, it was a fabulous night and I’d definitely go and see them again, even if it’s just to stare at Jeremy’s face.

·     October 2013 – Madina Lake with Fearless Vampire Killers supporting – I can’t even justify why I went. It was the Madina Lake farewell tour so I thought ‘why not’, then realised why not. FVK are the most bizarre act I have ever witnessed. I watched the entire act in horror and disgust. The frontman was touching fellow bandmates in places that need not be touched and making vulgar hand gestures. That’s honestly all I remember from that gig. It’s forever burned into my memory, although I have tried to file it away never to be seen again.

·      October 2013 – Arctic Monkeys with The Strypes supporting – yet another amazing performance by AM, the AM album is a contender for favourite by them (up against Whatever People Say I am…) because of the new rock vibe they developed. Unfortunately, I missed the majority of the support act (The Strypes) because we arrived late, however I remember saying ‘This is pretty catchy’, little did I know that a couple of years down the line I would have met them twice (I’ll discuss this later).

·      March 2014 – Maximo Park – I just remember singing my little heart out all the way through this gig. Paul’s voice is so beautiful and captivating. His stage presence (and his hips) is (are) insane. Unfortunately, Paul had a condition with his eye with prevented him from performing to his usual capabilities (he was supposed to cancel the show), so he wore sunglasses exclaiming something along the lines of ‘yes, I’m wearing sunglasses indoors. No, I’m not trying to be Bono’.

·     March 2014 – Nina Nesbitt – Nina is a little Scottish beauty with the most unusual voice! With her being rather ordinary and young, I feel I can relate to a lot of her songs, so this cute intimate little gig was lovely! This intimacy was accentuated by Nina’s slower songs on the piano, especially her cover of ‘Say Something’. This really did contrast to her more upbeat tracks in which she would often play the drums during the instrumental – her talents are endless. An added personal touch was that during ‘Selfies’ there was a film of images running behind which included images of the crowd when we were outside queuing!

·     May 2014 – Professor Green – Whilst I enjoy Pro Green’s music (and face), I was pretty disappointed with the atmosphere at the gig – this was no fault of Pro Green whatsoever, his performance was spot on, I just think the crowd needed to be a bit more enthusiastic… I’ll probably just stick to YouTube; try to learn/rap all of the lyrics to his songs and try to pronounce pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.

·     June 2014 – The Enemy with The Ends supporting – Absolutely cracking couple of tunes from the Ends here, in particularly ‘You write the hits, I write the B-sides’. The performance by The Enemy was even better than the first time I’d been to see them (didn’t know that was possible), I think this was also due to Manchester being a little more energetic than Stoke! I also met Tom’s brother which was pretty rad, as well as gaining another of Andy’s bass picks for the collection.

·       March 2015 – Johnny Marr – The best gig the Sugarmill (Stoke) has ever seen. I was always a huge fan of The Smiths anyway, but we all know Johnny is better than Morrissey. He did a few Smiths tunes as well as a few of his own tracks such as ‘Easy Money’ and ‘Use Me Up’ which I decided to buy on 7” vinyl after the show. His guitar playing was absolutely immense and I pretty much spent the majority of the gig just staring at him, absolutely mesmerised as his fingers glided up and down the guitar with such ease! This man will always be a legend in my eyes. Truly amazing.

·       May 2015 – The Strypes – I’d not really listened to The Strypes much since the AM gig in 2013, however a few months before going to see The Strypes I really got into their bluesy rock music. I took 3 trains to get to Wrexham and waited outside the venue from 4:30pm, but it was definitely worth it! Managed to meet the band and get a signed shirt and signed tickets and had a lovely little chat! The lads are of a similar age to me and it’s great how modest they are, it was just like talking to a few of my mates! Their stage presence is brilliant and the choreography and bromance between Ross and Pete is adorable. How Pete doesn’t end up with brain damage after a performance I will never know, but it’s always an exhilarating experience!

·       V Festival – best weekend of my life so far. I will definitely be returning! Over the weekend I had the pleasure of viewing Ella Eyre’s performance, whose choreography and energy is always fabulous. Clean Bandit (fairly average) but still a lovely vibe! The Kooks, which was a cute, nostalgic, feel good performance. Calvin Harris, who blew up the generator on the second song… he made a joke of it though, and proceeded with a fantastic performance with stunning lighting shows. Reverend and The Makers, I couldn’t miss this one – Heavyweight Champion of the World was definitely the highlight of this set. The Courteeners was absolutely mad, I love their sound and Liam Fray’s voice is just golden. The flares from the crowd definitely added the v-fest vibe, even if they made me ill… Their cover of Oasis’s ‘Champagne Supernova’ was also an added bonus as they really did do it justice. Finally, KASABIAN. I literally have no words to describe this experience. I get excited just thinking about it! The Intro to ‘Treat’ always reminds me of this amazing weekend with absolutely incredible people. If you’re ever undecided as to whether you should go to V or not – do it. You will not regret it and it will give you some of the best memories of your adolescence. 

·      September 2015 – The Strypes – I introduced my Dad to The Strypes’ music after the gig in May, and because he loved it so much, I thought we should go to this gig together. It was another beautifully intimate gig and they didn’t fail to provide another extraordinary show! What shocked me most though was, after the show, I met with the lads again and they remembered who I was! After the May gig my little niece vomited on my signed shirt and so the lads sent me a new one in the post because they are ABSOLUTE GEMS, however I will forever be known to them as ‘Beth, the girl who got sick on her shirt’, and I’m fine with that because at least they remember me.

I have a few gigs coming up soon too! The Courteeners, Rudimental and The Stone Roses!

Let me know in the comments section what your first gig experience was and what you thought because I love hearing about this kind of stuff!

I went to see Maximo Park again on Sunday 15^th so my next post is going to be a gig review which is something I’ve never tried before so that’ll be exciting!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Introduction

Hey Bloggers,

Music is something central to my everyday life; I don’t think it’s possible for me to wake up in the morning and not make a playlist reflective of how I’m feeling that day. I’ve decided to start this blog to review various music events and albums and discuss my thoughts on other music related stuff, in particularly the Indie-Rock scene. 

I’ve been exposed to Indie Rock music, quite literally, from birth – sitting in my living room absolutely mesmerised by MTV Rocks… I’m still the same almost 18 years later. It used to be the only thing that would keep me quiet, but now it’s basically all I talk about! My dad and I are always dramatically singing Oasis duets around the house like we’re the Gallagher brothers and going to gigs together, so it only seems natural that I would share my adrenaline buzz with you.

My next post is going to be a list of the gigs I've been to over the past 4 years including my opinion on each of them!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx