Pledge it!

If you've been bored enough to read any of my previous blog posts, you'll be aware that I'm a big fan of Kingsland Road! This week, they made me prouder than ever before by announcing details of their debut album! Whilst the date is to be confirmed, Kingsland have teamed up with Pledge Music to release their hotly anticipated debut album!

Now what is Pledge Music I hear you ask? Pledge is a very innovative way for artists to release their music, which also allows them to further connect with their fans whilst offering once in a lifetime opportunities. 

A basic pledge for a digital copy of Kingsland's album is £8, which also includes regular updates along the way. Fans can then pledge for additional exclusives, some of which are very rare indeed!

Some of these include tickets to a Kingsland social, dance lesson at Pineapple, party with Kingsland on a canal boat, personalised uke from Matt, being escorted to your prom by the boys or having your own song! Pledges range in price from £10 to £7000, in accordance to the exclusivity of the pledge!

I've been lucky enough to guilt trip mum into buying my birthday present early, therefore I will be getting a guitar lesson with my two faves Thomps and Connor! I'm extremely excited yet anxious, I used to play the guitar but had great difficulty, in fact I don't think I've even touched a guitar since I was 14 haha!

I believe in Kingsland so much and am incredibly proud that they are finally getting the chance to release an album. However they need a lot of support as the pledges (and the album itself) will only happen once the target has been met.  Better still, 5% of the money raised after the goal is reached will go towards BeatBullying, raising money for a worthy charity.

They are already over a fifth of the way with 21% which is a brilliant achievement! There is something here for everyone, and even a pledge for a download of the album will help them towards fulfilling their dreams! Please help these boys in any way you can and let's smash this target! <3

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/kingslandroad

#MCM

If you're a Twitter/Instagram user then you may have come across the #MCM hashtag every Monday. #MCM - Man Crush Monday - celebrates any males you may have a crush on. I thought I'd share with you my top 5, although they're more than just a Monday thing ;)

5. Zac Efron (@zacefron)

Starting with an obvious one, you are seriously not right in the head if you don't find him attractive!

4. David Hunter (@thedavidhunter)

Most of you won't know who he is, but he's the leading man in Once the musical (London), however I first discovered him on ITV's Superstar. He's such a lovely guy and has the most perfect voice! He's gorgeous too!


3. Jay McGuiness (@jaythewanted)

Most definitely one of the kindest people I've ever met, and both beautiful inside and out. He went through a hobo stage which I wasn't too keen on but now he wears bandanas which just adds to his beauty. His eyes are the most piercing, one of my favourite parts of him.


2. JJ Thompson (@thompskingsland)

My favourite Kingsland boy no matter how much I deny it haha! He's been my fave from day one and not just because of his flawless appearance! He can be the biggest little shit and obnoxious brat but he is occasionally very precious to me. Those occasions just cement that he is my fave and always will be, damn lol. His hair is just wow, and I give him rows if he pouts in pictures cos his smile is life <3

1. Tony Oller (@followoller)

I first saw this guy on As The Bell Rings 7 years ago, and I've pretty much loved him from then haha. 7 years later, he's now part of the amazing duo MKTO and he is ridiculously perf, there are no words for how much I fancy him! His accent is my favourite, his tattoos are just gorgeous and I pretty much died when I met him haha :))))

So, who would you name as your top 5 #MCM? Hwyl am y tro ✌️

fangirl friendships - separated at birth, sort of!

You may have gathered by now that I get around quite a bit when it comes to seeing and meeting my faves! Whilst it's my favourite thing being able to meet the bands that mean the world to me, along the way you also get to meet some of the most precious individuals too <3

A year ago today, I met my best friend in person for the first time. Now that sounds absolutely bizarre but let me give you some background history. A few years ago, me and a girl called Miriam followed each other on twitter. I couldn't tell you exactly when or how long ago, but we went years without speaking (I'm awkward and shy which comes across as intimidating apparently oops lol) until 2012/2013 when we both supported a band called Times Red. As a small fanbase, you kinda got to know everyone and we were a little happy family! Ironically, Miriam used to speak more to my mum than me, and before we met we still didn't speak that much, although our mutual love for Kingsland also brought us together.

At this time, Soccer Six were holding their annual events, one being in Reading on the 26th of May 2013. I'd always wanted to go, so mum agreed we could. Both Times Red and Kingsland were announced so Miriam and her sister came along too, as well as a small group of other girls we'd made friends with because of Times Red.

The day came, and it was fabulous. It was the proper start of our friendship, getting to spend the day with her and meeting our faves together! I was worried that she might not like me in person (I was so stroppy that day for a number of reasons and S6 is a long ass event) however she seems to have gotten used to that side of me over the past year lol!

There is not a day that goes by where we don't speak and I genuinely don't know what I would do without her in my life. Best friends are normally someone you've grown up with, gone to school with or known for years, but mine is this hilarious and thoughtful girl that lives miles away, is obsessed with chicken and thinks it's funny to ship non existent things ;) I feel as if I've known her all my life, we're forever on the same wavelength hence why she's my twinny haha

I can't believe it's been a year, in fact it's mad to think how meeting somebody from the internet can change your life for the better! They always tell you not to talk to strangers online but in a fandom they can be some of the most precious people in the world. I've made lots of friends through the internet/bands that I love dearly but in all honesty nobody comes close to this girl. 

Throughout my life I've never been one to have lots of friends, I'm a difficult person and people get fed up of me or just put up with me for the sake of it, but I do genuinely believe that I have found a friend for life in Mim. She puts up with so much of my nonsense, it's ridiculous, but she never makes me feel shit about myself, in fact she's always at hand with her silly comments that put a smile on my face. I'm seriously so lucky to know her.

The past year has been amazing - we've had numerous Times Red and Kingsland craves, some successful and some not, we've even (separately) met our American baes MKTO after so long! Seeing Kingsland and Concept in Balham will forever be one of my favourite nights, it was just perfect :) I know that we'll continue to have many more crazy MKBR adventures and there's no one better that I could share them with!

Basically, I just want to thank Mim for always being there for me. When I'm sad or insecure, she's there to cheer me up. When I'm dead set on hating my faves because they're being silly, she's there to save the ship and convince me that I'm the silly one after all haha! When I need a rant, she's the one that will listen and not judge, regardless of what I have to say. 

I will forever be grateful to Times Red/Kingsland for allowing me to cross paths with this amazing person! Love you twinny and know that I will always have your back no matter what <3

#sozlongasspost #cheesy #butnecessary #sentimental 

Swizzle in Ozzel Twizzel ✌️

Often enough, me and ma have a dumbass idea about going to a strange gig in the back of beyond just to see a fave. The gig on this occasion was in Oswaldtwistle (up north somewhere, still unsure of it's pronunciation but Wiki tells me it's actually Ozzel-Twizzel haha) to see Kingsland Road.

A 4 and a half journey turned into 8 and a half hours thanks to bank holiday traffic, pouring rain and accidents but after our longest road trip and a quick change in the hotel, we arrived at Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre!

My first thoughts? School talent show. Quaint venue but we've been to some strange things in our time so nothing surprises me anymore haha! There was a tuck shop and raffle tickets to win a meet and greet with the acts (definitely didn't spend £16 on tickets....!). It was brilliant how it was technically a Sam Callahan show, yet the front row (and the next few rows) were full of Kingsland fans, was so lovely to be able to speak to people that I haven't met before/spoken much to in the past!

There was three acts before Kingsland which were: Charlee Drew,  The Parades and Reece Bibby. I thought they were all brilliant actually, Charlee could probably pass off as a comedian also due to his commentary about the sound problems hah! I've seen The Parades before and I've always thought that they were good at what they did. Reece was a local lad, and at 15, he was ridiculously good!

Finally it was time for Kingsland, who were super excited as they were performing a brand new set for us. Unfortunately, there was a lot of sound problems that were beyond the control of all the acts which disappointed the boys, but seriously they were brilliant. The new songs sound awesome and will really surprise people that think they're the "cheesy boyband off X Factor". It made me even more excited for tour, where they'll truly be able to show off what they can do!

In the break they drew the raffle, and lucky old me won a meet and greet ;) it was so good to see them and to try and knock some sense into them regarding how good their performance actually was!! 

(funny faces with Jay)

(Josh and Connor)

(Thomps and Matt)

It was so worth the random trek to see them, considering I was lucky enough to guarantee a meet and greet and I got to witness their new songs! Come and check out their new music on The Kingsland Road Show tour in August - tickets available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk now!

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Baby you're so classic <3

Around 7 years ago, Disney Channel was the in thing to watch, and although I was probably too old for it even then, I would often tune in, one of my favourites being As The Bell Rings.

This was a ten minute show, documenting the ins and outs of school break times and what the characters would do. It was here that I first discovered Tony Oller, one of the stars of the show alongside Demi Lovato. This was the first episode I ever saw and subsequently I fell in love with Tony and forever wanted to be Demi loool! http://youtu.be/kZM12S-UG4c

Fast forward to 2013, where I saw an advert online for a film called The Purge, with one of the staring roles going to Tony. This reminded me of my obsession with him when I was younger so I casually did a search on him to discover he was now in a duo called MKTO. 

Possibly the best/worst thing I did was check out some of their covers, and also an original song they'd just released called 'Thank You'. I instantly fell in love with this duo, their music made me feel that it was ok to be yourself even if that meant you were a misfit. The only downside to loving MKTO (which stands for both Malcolm Kelley Tony Oller and misfit kids total outcasts) was that they lived in America, making it highly unlikely that I would ever meet them.

Despite this, I continued to support them along with my twinny Miriam, and we could only dream that one day they might come to the UK. We've had their album shipped from Australia, I bought their tshirt from America, we've stayed up late for livestreams and shows, and supported as much as we could from the UK! We've even emulated a picture of them, seeing as we are the female version lol! *i won't share the pic bc cringe*

At the end of April they announced that they'd be coming here in May and from that point on we panicked, trying to think when/where and generally failing at being detectives haha!

Despite all the stress, last week our dream came true when they visited Manchester and Kent, meaning we both got to meet our American baes :) the only thing that would have made it more perfect was if we could have met them together!

I went to Manchester on Monday, and it was the most surreal experience! There was only 4 of us, which was disappointing considering the amount of people that wanted them there but it was short notice! I can't complain as it meant we had an extremely pleasant experience with no screaming fangirls or people hogging haha!

As soon as they came out of the car, I heard Tony say "wow look at that shirt!" about my MKTO tee and they were both so happy to see I was wearing proper merch! One of the other girls started taking selfies so Tony said to me "hey we gotta take a selfie, it's the in thing right now" in the most beautiful American accent ever <3 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying a bit inside, seven years in the making that selfie!!!!

Malcolm came over next, and he's so casual it's hilarious! He was proper lovely and said we needed more selfies haha!

Whilst they were in for their interview I had a chance to try and take in what had just happened but to be honest, even now nearly a week on, I still feel as if I'm dreaming! As they were leaving, I got another picture with Tony and they signed my album!

(It did say 'love you' until I smudged it ffs)

Mum also managed to capture some shots whilst I was chatting...

The morning after, I woke up to a very excited Miriam telling me to look at Tony's Instagram immediately!!

He seriously made my life with this!! Malcolm and Tony are two of the nicest people I've met, they're so talented and I only hope that they make it here in the UK so that they come here more often! It sounds promising that they will be back soon, as they are releasing their single 'Classic' on June 29th and their album on July 7th!

I think I've rambled enough for this post, so I'll leave you with the brilliant video for Classic! http://youtu.be/4Ba_qTPA4Ds

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Flying footballs and headbutts

Last Sunday, I went to my fourth Soccer Six event at Charlton football stadium. For anyone that hasn't heard of Soccer Six, it's a massive celebrity football tournament that raises money for charity. They used to hold two events a year, before having additional 'Next Generation' events!

On this occasion, despite there being a host of famous names such as Olly Murs, James Arthur, You Me At Six and Heather from Eastenders, the main people I wanted to see were Kingsland Road and Callum Oakley, both of whom I managed to have a red faced experience with....

This particular Kingsland Road crave was far from my favourite for numerous reasons however Connor was lovely as per, and went out of his way by climbing over the fence to make sure we had a picture...

However, the boys also caused me great embarrassment when a shoddy kick meant the ball came flying at me and subsequently hit me in the head...!!! (I clearly styled it out quite well as no-one knew I'd ACTUALLY been hit until I complained that my head was still sore half an hour later lol)

Unfortunately, my head traumas continued in the afternoon when I met Callum Oakley. He was a comedian on Britain's Got Talent a few years ago and I've met him before but felt awkward asking for a picture so Malika shouted at him for me... he'd promised to go in the photo booth with some girls but said he'd come back. He kept his promise and whilst I was sat down, he came to hug me. Now everyone knows a sitting down hug is extremely awkward so I went to stand up and accidentally headbutted him in the face oops!

This led to him pretending to headbutt me every time he walked past us for the rest of the afternoon... he's a lovely boy tho, you should check out his auditions on YouTube! 

Those were the main talking points of my day haha I always find Soccer Six a bit of a weird event, mainly because there's always one person I'm dead set on seeing. If you were to go as a general fangirl and wanting to meet everyone then you'd have the best time ever and I'd recommend you to go! 

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

  

First post...bare with!

Hiiii, my name's Katrina and I'm a 22 year old Welsh fangirl. Outside of "real life", I devote my time to going to different concerts all across the country (mainly because Wales is rubbish and my faves rarely come here). Not only do I enjoy going to watch different (boy)bands perform, it also means seeing the many friends I've made over the years, all thanks to a shared love of all things fangirl on twitter!

On Friday night, I went to see one of my mum's favourite groups Britroyal play a gig in Islington. Knowing how well travelled we are, they suggested that I should start a blog as people might enjoy reading my concert experiences - personally I don't think anyone cares about what I get up to in my spare time but it will be a nice way for me to document the different gigs I go to and something  for me to look back on in years to come!

For anyone that doesn't know me, here's a few things you should probably know:

• My partner in crime on all my fangirling trips is my mum - she's just as crazy as I am, although we always meet up with other people that we've met through different bands.
• Boybands are where it's at - sadly two of my faves (JLS and The Wanted) have decided to end but PTL that I still have Kingsland Road haha! I'm also obsessed with an American duo called MKTO who are currently the bane of my life as they're supposed to be coming to the UK this month. I also love Concept! 
• I also have non-boyband faves, such as David Hunter (leading man in Once the musical), Ray Quinn (Brookside/X Factor/Dancing on Ice) and Callum Oakley (comedian on Britain's Got Talent)

I'll do my first official post after Soccer Six next week, although I might do a little post before then.... :)  hwyl am y tro ✌️