Timehop's got me feeling (happy) emosh today and I try not to be as overly cheesy and soppy anymore if I can help it but sometimes you just have to and this is one of those times so soz in advance. (I also don't know if any of this will make sense as I'm just offloading to myself ha)
November 23rd 2012 was a day that changed a lot of things for me, in the most positive way. I didn't do anything particularly earth shattering, or possibly important for some of you reading but meeting three people for the first time on that day changed and defined me as a person.
I posted this a year ago, reminiscing about a night that'll always have a special place in my heart. Times Red were the first band that I grew a proper personal attachment to, in terms of getting to know them as people. I've lost count of how many times I met them as a group, but this one night in Cardiff three years ago today kick started everything. I'll always have so much to thank that band for.
First and foremost, and most importantly of all, without them I wouldn't have met two girls that I know are lifelong friends. They're not even friends anymore, they're family. I made a lot of friends during the TR days, and despite not always keeping in contact as much, the friends I made are still very precious to me. However I'm fortunate that these two have stood by me through everything and are subsequently stuck with me for life ha. It's rare to find people who positively impact your life so much, but I've got two gems in Twinny and Sis.
Secondly, supporting TR opened my eyes to living for the moment. You don't know what's ahead of you in life, which is why mum and I would often do something that we love and decide to go and see them in a random place at the spur of the moment. We had road trips, travelled to the strangest of places and have the best memories to look back on.
After a while, anything we did for them became our sort of barrier, "is it acceptable to go to *such and such place?*" and this continued into our time supporting Kingsland. Had we not pushed our boundaries so much when supporting TR, we would never have gone so mad for Kingsland - the first time we did the entirety of their six date tour was a novelty, the second time was just a given that we had to do haha. I've been extremely fortunate (so far) that every job I've been in is flexible when it comes to holiday leave - just another reason why I make the most of things now, before I'm truly tied down.
Of course, in turn, supporting another band in extreme measures meant getting to know even more people and making new friends along the way. There are people that I love all across the country, even across the ocean in Australia.
Kingsland are long gone by now but obviously some of the boys have moved on to solo careers which I've tried to support as much as possible. It was during Jay's (can't call you Shaun soz) first gig that I got to meet and see a singer called David Bulley perform for the first time. I'd been a fan for a little while before hand but in all honesty, the fact that he was on the line up was just an added bonus. However, since that day, he's become someone very dear to me and it's heart warming to see him grow as a person and performer.
It's like the six degrees of separation, as everything leads back to when I first supported Times Red. Had we not gone so mad over TR, we would never have gone crazy for Kingsland, thus I wouldn't have been supporting any solo careers and stumbled across David along the way.
Over the past three years I've learnt to live life to the full by doing something you enjoy. I've travelled the country and met the best people along the way. I'd like to think that loyalty is a personal trait associated with me, as I've always tried to support both bands and friends alike as much as physically possible. It's funny how supporting one band can be the catalyst to a chain of mind-blowingly brilliant events and memories that really have impacted my life.
Scott, Staz and Luke - I miss those TR days SO badly but yanoe what, I'm happy to have the memories than not to have lived them at all. Thank you for everything 💗
Hwyl am y tro ✌️this
