My Vinyl Collection (Part 2)

Hey!

So for Christmas I was treated to some lovely Vinyls with a lot of sentimental value! I can’t thank my family and friends enough for them!

·        The Stone Roses (self-titled) – because me and my parents are going to see them at the Ethiad

·        The Stone Roses – The Second Coming – for the same reason

·        Ed Sheeran – X – my sister brought me this because she knows I love a bit of Ed – She didn’t realise Jordan’s funeral song was on the album

·        Bob Marley and the Wailers – because 3 Little Birds gets me through the hard times

My vinyl collection is growing into a beautiful little set and my 2016 mission is to make it expand even more!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Courteeners Review and Set List

Hey!

As part of my 18^th Birthday present, I got Courteeners tickets for the Manchester Apollo!

Firstly, the boys came on stage to Oasis – Morning Glory, which instantly got the crowd geared up for a cracking set. Their persona as soon as they walked on stage was incredible – really rock and roll with a ‘let’s f***ing have it’ attitude – isn’t that what we love about them?

This was the set list for the night:

·        Morning Glory - Oasis

·        Are You in Love With a Notion?

·        Cavorting

·        Acrylic

·        How Good It Was

·        Please Don't

·        Kings of the New Road

·        Lose Control

·        Bide Your Time

·        You Overdid It Doll

·        Winter Wonderland

·        Take Over the World

·        Small Bones

Liam Solo

·        Hometown One

·        Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow

·        No You Didn't, No You Don't

·        Smiths Disco

Full Band

·        Next Time You Call

·        Here Come the Young Men

·        Beautiful Head

·        Not Nineteen Forever

·        What Took You So Long?

The first 4 songs of the set are really well known as well as rocky and quite heavy/punchy which meant that people were able to jump around and sing their lungs out – and you could see Liam basking in the glory that is people singing your own songs at you.

In the middle of the set, Liam performed a short solo acoustic set which was absolutely beautiful. It was really quite emotional actually; and it was even lovelier that the Apollo is fairly small, so, whilst having seated tickets, it still felt like an intimate performance.

Additionally, I was kind of worried about new bassist Joe Cross playing this tour as I wasn’t sure what I was going to make of him – I’ve got to hand it to him – he smashed it. It’s made me really look forward to hearing some new stuff, because I really think he can bring something new to The Courteeners.

Highlights of the night consisted of:

·        Cavorting (because it reminds me of V Festival)

·        Lose Control

·        You Overdid It Doll

·        No You Didn’t, No You Don’t

·        Smiths Disco (which I’d not heard previously, so was nice to hear for the first time!)

·        Not Nineteen Forever (Do I even need to give a reason?!)

·        What Took You So Long (Which everyone continued to chant as we left)

I also love the bromance that Fray and Moores have on stage – everyone seems to have a laugh on the stage, but those two especially just make my heart melt when Liam goes over and plays next to him.

The lads didn’t bother going off for an encore (what’s the point in them anyway? We all know they’re going to come back, play 3 more songs, then leave again), but they did say a few heart felt words and continued the set.

The only negative I will say, is that I’m gutted they didn’t perform Fallowfield Hillbilly; I guess they can’t play everything though!

I’m going to post the photos sometime this week or next hopefully – depends on how quickly I can get them edited!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Man Made Review

Hello!

I went to go and see The Courteeners at Manchester Apollo on Wednesday (9^th), sadly, I missed the first support act due to an absolutely ridiculous amount of traffic on arrival, but I was lucky enough to get there in time to hear Mancunian band ‘Man Made’ perform their set.

Prior to the gig, I hadn’t bothered to check out any of the support acts music – this is something I now deeply regret! I’d like to compare some of their work to The 1975; even frontman Nile Marr has a Matt Healy-esque aura in terms of both persona and tone. Despite this comparison, the band’s overall sound is contemporary and very distinctive - it was really enjoyable to listen to.

Highlights of the set included Marr’s gold glittery jacket, the performance of their single ‘TV Broke My Brain’, and Callum Rogers absolutely insane simultaneous drumming and head-banging ability – how the lad doesn’t have some form of brain damage after that show is unbeknown to me. 

I hate to discuss negatives about performances, and I do not discredit bassist Scott Strange’s talents as a musician, because frankly, he is very talented; however I was not the only one in the audience to comment on his lack of enthusiasm whilst performing. He seemed bored and somewhat vacant; his personality also became a little lost behind Marr and Rogers who, seemingly, have rather large personas.

By no means did this ruin the set though – it was still fantastic! I’ll post a few of the photos I captured and a link to their single ‘TV Broke My Brain’ below.

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

TV Broke My Brain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yslWgDnChiI

Puppet Rebellion Review and Photos

Hey!

As you may know, Puppet Rebellion let me interview and photograph them last week, which simultaneously gave me the opportunity to listen to some incredible music and hang out with some of the most amazing, down to earth guys I’ve ever been blessed enough to meet!

On twitter, the band describes themselves as ‘choppy riffs, heartfelt lyrics & a powerful live show’ and they are definitely not wrong! Ollie and Craig write the lyrics for Ollie to sing and they really are powerful, gritty and raw – there’s so much emotion and honesty behind them! Ollie’s tone can contrast beautifully from gravelly to smooth and his vocal range is also incredible – the chorus of their single ‘Life is in your hands’ certainly highlights this and was an overall highlight of the set for me too. Paul writes the music and, as stated in the interview by Jim, he has his own unique tone which is prominent in their songs – it gives them a really indie vibe – he’s an outstanding, talented guitarist and his work is so unique which gives them the edge on other bands. The lads put on a really great, energetic set! Jim and Craig in particular really move around the stage a lot which makes it difficult to get a good photo of them, however, their energy really makes the performance as you can see the passion in what they do! ‘King of the Kit’ Henry was absolutely mesmerising to watch perform as his talents are unbelievable! It was nice to be in such a small, intimate venue as it allowed me to be able to see each band member – there’s nothing worse than when the drummer gets lost behind the rest of the band! It also meant that I could get some really cool action shots of him!

All in all, it was a brilliant experience for me – the lads smashed it! I received a message from Paul this morning saying that he wants me to photograph ALL of their Stoke gigs which I am WAY more than happy to do! It’s always an exhilarating experience to photograph a band and being invited back is so exciting!

I want to thank Puppet Rebellion for having me and allowing me this experience! Many more to come hopefully!

I’ll put some links to their music below so that you can all go and check them out – you won’t regret it! Photos will be below, too!

See my previous blog post for the interview!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

Links to songs:

Life is in Your Hands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY3YbJ2pElg

Claim to Fame - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQRbZhsxsuE

Watch Me Fall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFa-z25MMUU

Cupboards Painted Red - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtpLoddYruo

Pirouette - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNL7__dB35Y

Puppet Rebellion Interview

Hey Bloggers!

I was lucky enough to catch up with Puppet Rebellion (minus Craig who had to stay inside with the stuff) after I photographed their gig at The Full Moon in Newcastle on 4/12/15 (last Friday)! Unfortunately, part of the interview didn’t save so I had to get Jim to email me all of the information again – I’ve learned from my school boy error and will be purchasing a dictaphone for future events!

Here’s how the interview went!

How did you all meet?

Henry: match.com

Ollie: Tinder

Jim: Pretty boring really! Our original singer was looking for like-minded musicians. He was already friends with our old drummer. He put an ad up on various band websites. Craig answered, then so did Paul and I. We were very lucky to find Ollie after our old singer left, and our latest recruit is our new drummer Henry - who is awesome!

Describe your sound/influences?

Henry: loud

Paul: kind of indie/rock ish

Jim: I like to think we’re quite contemporary like, we’ve got our own style. We have quite varied tastes within the band! Like Paul’s got his own distinct tone. Some names that come up pretty often though are Bloc Party, The Strokes and Interpol

What is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Jim: I think we all enjoy playing a song off our last EP called Claim to Fame. It's great to play live and our fans seem to really enjoy it. We usually play it after one of our slower songs, so it really picks things up again!

Henry and Ollie: yeah

Paul: I also like cupboards painted red because everyone thinks it’s a love song but it’s actually about domestic violence

Jim has been voted the funniest and the fan favourite - do any other band members have a trademark or nickname?

 Jim: Everybody loves Jim - he's amazing.

Henry is 'King of the Kit'. Paul has massive feet, but that's not trademarked or anything

What are your future plans?

Jim: World domination! We hope to release our debut album in 2017 (we're not rushing and want to make it as good as it can be). Before then we'll maybe do a couple of small releases... watch this space!

I’m going to be writing a short review of the night and will include some of the photos I took for the guys!

Follow the boys on twitter @PuppetRebellion and facebook Puppet Rebellion and keep an eye out for their tracks!

Thanks for reading!

Bethan xx

31 Day Music Challenge

Hey!

I wanted to do a 31 Day Music Challenge so that I can post frequently through December :) I'll be combining a few of the challenges that I've seen and will update this post every day of the month!

Day 1: a song from your childhood: Afternoons and Coffeespoons - Crash Test Dummies - it used to be mandatory to listen to the album on our way down to Newquay every year, but now we just put this song in the playlist

Day 2: a song that reminds you of an ex: Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

Day 3: a song that reminds you of your parents: Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden - it was the song for their first dance

Day 4: a song from today: Life is in your hands - Puppet Rebellion - because I've just been to interview and photograph them at their gig!

Day 5: a song that reminds you of this summer: Treat - Kasabian - every time I hear it, it takes me back to V Festival with all of my amazing friends when we were just singing it for the entire day before we went to see Kasabian

Day 6: first song alphabetically in your phone: Afraid - The Neighbourhood

Day 7: last song alphabetically in your phone: 505 - Arctic Monkeys

Day 8: a song from the hard times - Three Little Birds - Bob Marley - Rest in Peace Jord x

Day 9: a song you want played at your wedding - Live Forever - Oasis

Day 10: a song that reminds you of a place - Stand Tall - The Dirty Heads - their Reggae/Rock style always reminds me of being on holiday because my brother used to play it in the car

Day 11: the last CD you purchased - Hard-Fi, One Night Only and REM - brought them all for 99p

Day 12: first song on shuffle on your phone - Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night - The Fratellis

Day 13: last song you heard live - What Took You So Long - The Courteeners

Day 14: a song with food in the title - The Apple Tree - Nina Nesbitt

Day 15: a song you wouldn't have thought you'd like - Justin Bieber's new album is banging

Day 16: a song you can play on an instrument - Oasis - Wonderwall (who can't)

Day 17: a song from an unsigned band - DeLorean - The Gurus

Day 18: your favourite acoustic album - Arctic Monkeys - Straighten the Rudder

Day 19: a song that reminds you of your best friend - Ignition - R Kelly (party song)

Day 20: a cleverly written song - FEAR - Ian Brown

Day 21: a christmas song you heard today - All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey (singing our hearts out in Chicagos)

Day 22: song of the day - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Day 23: a song that's playing right now - There She Goes - The La's

Day 24: a song in your youtube recommendations - Fallout - Catfiish and the Bottlemen

Day 25: your favourite Christmas song - Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Day 26: the song that was number 1 when you were born - Too Much - Spice Girls

Day 27: a song that reminds your parents of you - Strawberry Blonde - The Subways

Day 28: a song on the soundtrack of your favourite disney movie - Why Should I Worry from Oliver and Company

Day 29: TV series with the best soundtrack - This Is England

Day 30:

Day 31:
  

Keep checking back through the month for more songs!

Give me some ideas of what 'challenges' I can do e.g. a song that reminds you of.........

Also, let me know your answers to the challenges!

Bethan xx