Summertime Ball 2015

On Saturday it was time for Capital's annual Summertime Ball. This was our fourth year of going and Capital promised to deliver an even more insane line up than ever!

WEMBLEYYYYY

This year we decided to sit, which was a wise move as I felt as if my feet were going to fall off after standing in golden circle last year!!! We still arrived at Wembley quite early to soak in the atmosphere and to speak to some of our friends that were queuing for standing.

After waiting for our friends we went in just before 3 and caught some of Marvin Humes' brilliant DJ set - he always knows how to get the ball party started! 

During the afternoon we saw 21 world class acts - only at Summertime Ball would you find such a combination of people! I won't go through all of the acts but I will mention some of my highlights!

One Direction opened the show and it was my first time seeing them perform. They were so good! I did feel as if something was missing, following Zayn's departure, but I have nothing to compare it to so I enjoyed their set regardless. I'm so excited to see them on their own tour in September and after STB my love for Niall has just grown even further! (side note; Liam Payne should wear a fedora at all times bc he looks so good in it...!)

One Direction - photo credit @helz999 

Lunchmoney Lewis was one of my favourite acts of the day, purely for the fact that he came out in his dressing gown to perform! I imagine he did this to emulate his video for Bills, which is the most annoyingly catchy song I've ever heard!!!

Lunchmoney in his dressing gown!

Jason Derulo was insane as always! He's so energetic and his songs are some of my favourites. He's a brilliant dancer and as per, he ended up with no shirt on by the end of his performance! 

Jason and his peculiar belly button haha :)

My childhood love, Nick Jonas was absolutely amazing! His song Jealous is constantly on repeat on my phone and it was incredible to see him live again after 6 years!

Rixton were one of my main highlights - it's funny actually, they were one of the Ball Breakers last year and I refused to get involved as I didn't like or want to like them at all. Literally a few days after, I regretted that as I was hooked on them. I most definitely made up for it this year by screaming as loudly as possible haha. I was a bit gutted that they didn't get to sing Wait on Me but they were fantastic - I can't wait to get my hands on their album this month! 

Jake from Rixton

Martin Garrix was a surprise hit for me. I wasn't too familiar with his songs beforehand, but he's actually a phenomenal DJ and he's still only 19 I believe! He really got the crowd going, which is difficult for someone who has to stay behind decks. He was also very pretty which helped a bit haha.

One of the people I was most excited for was Nathan Sykes and he definitely did not disappoint! Having stolen the show for me the past two years, he finally performed solo on the Capital stage and smashed his performances of More Than You'll Ever Know and his debut single Kiss Me Quick!  I was so proud of him - he seemed so nervous but I have so much belief in him, he's going to be a superstar.

Nathan Sykes smashing it!

It was my first time seeing Neyo at the ball and whilst it's been a long time coming, it was so worth the wait! He was incredible and has such classic songs. He also came on during Pitbull's set to sing Give Me Everything, whilst Pitbull returned the favour for Time Of Our Lives.

Finally, hands down the best performer of the day was Olly Murs. What a showman!! He has this universal likeable quality, the whole crowd seemed to enjoy his set whether male or female, young or old! His songs are so catchy and there are no words for some of his dance moves, they're enough to make your heart skip a beat (get it??? I'm not funny I know, sorry lol).

We left before the end of Avicii's set to catch the tube and bumped into our friend Nikki and her mum. This actually turned out to be a hilarious encounter as we were stood next to Sonny Jay (ex Loveable Rogue) on the tube and Nikki's mum was chatting away to him as if they were old pals haha!

always wanted to be a minion!

If you haven't been to a STB yet, please do!! There's guaranteed to always be at least one act you like on the line up, and whilst tickets may seem pricey it is actually such good value for money, considering the calibre of acts and the length of the gig! I paid £95 for my ticket but in return I got to witness 21 world famous acts during 7 hours at one of the world's most famous venues! I would 100% recommend it to anyone, I can't wait to go again next year!

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Tasks, Take That and Tribute Acts...

Last weekend I went to see some of my faves up north and once again it was full of random things but fun nonetheless!

On Friday we travelled to Manchester as we were going to see Take That again on the Saturday. When we got to Manchester we dropped our luggage off at our hotel and went for a nosy around the Arndale shopping centre. Whilst looking round the shops, we walked past a discount shop which appeared to be selling junk and I jokingly said to mum "gosh that looks a stall they'd have on The Apprentice!". As the words came out of my mouth, I saw Karren Brady stood by the door and I genuinely had a fangirl moment! I wish I was joking but the excitement was so real. I've been a major fangirl for The Apprentice for years (mind that time I wanted to apply for the Junior version but was six months too old but I'm definitely not good enough for the normal version haha). I kind of just gawped at Karren, she's such an inspirational woman!!

'Discount Haven', spot Karren analysing by the door!

We went to stand round the corner to watch what was going on, I only then noticed the film crew etc which confirmed that they were indeed filming for the show. Obviously we had to go in to the shop and have a closer look.....we walked past again and noticed some headphones in the window so we went in and this lovely guy sold us a pair as well as a portable charger at a discount. I think his name was Sam but I'm not 100%, however he will definitely get my support on the show!

We went to look for the other team's shop too (I wanted to see Claude but no luck) however I wasn't very impressed - half of the team were dragging passers by into the shop, the other half couldn't care less! I'm so looking forward to The Apprentice returning soon though, especially now that we've sort of been a part of one of their tasks!

On Saturday we got up early to go and queue for Take That. Despite having pit tickets, which is the area at the front, we still wanted to try and get barrier so started queuing at around 9:15am. Despite some initial queuing issues with lists/confused security etc, I was 28th in the right pit queue. We had a very pleasant queuing experience - can't complain at being sheltered indoors with a Maccies at hand for food and toilet stops right?!

standard gig selfie

At 5:45 as promised, we were moved inside the arena in what was the most organised walk to the pit I've ever seen, no running or anything! Unfortunately the front barrier was full by the time we made it down but I turned around and saw that the B stage was still empty so we ran over and I got the spot next to the red carpet. We got chatting to the security who were super lovely and this passed the time until the support act came on.

B stage view

This time, Ella Henderson was back and to be honest she was brilliant. I wasn't a fan of hers on the X Factor, however when she released her debut single Ghost I started to appreciate her music.  She sang several songs from her album Chapter One which went down well with the crowd.  Aside from Ghost, which initiated a mass crowd sing-a-long, my favourite song of hers was Mirror Man.

Ella Henderson

Just before Take That came on, we noticed a few people being taken in to sit around the inner bit of the B stage.  We knew that some of Take That's family members were in the crowd that night and after some hush-hushing amongst us, we realised one of Howard's daughters Lola was the mystery girl in front of us.  To be honest, she was the spitting image of Howard!

Finally it was time for Take That to come on.  Once again, it was a phenomenal show.  This time we had a clearer view of the main stage as there were less tall people in front of me, and as we were barrier for the B stage, we were quite close to them when they performed certain songs.  It's amazing what you can miss when you see a such a big production for the first time - for example, during These Days some of the dancers pop their heads through the B stage, we completely missed that the first time!!

During Portrait, someone brought Daisy (one of Gary's daughters) into the B stage area and he made such a fuss of her as he flew over us in the car.  He spotted her straight away and my heart just melted!  Howard gave Lola plenty of attention too, it was so cute.  Soon after, Daisy was taken back into the back of the crowd and we saw that she was with Dawn, Gary's wife, which was odd to see as in previous years she's actually been one of the dancers on stage!

As I mentioned earlier, I was also stood on the red carpet and during Relight My Fire I was fortunate enough to hold Gary's hand again twice! I tried to film it but failed miserably but here's a screencap of when he was coming towards us!

Take That never fail to put on a wonderful spectacle and once we got back to the hotel we started chatting to two ladies down in the bar about how amazing the show was. They'd bought VIP seats and had seen Take That numerous times like we have. However, an ignorant and drunk couple thought it was a good idea to start slagging us all off (despite having been at the concert themselves) but I shall save that episode for another blog post...!

The next day we got up early to travel to Barrow-in-Furness to see Thomps in his first presenting role. The gig was called Kidfest, a family festival which mainly constituted of tribute acts as well as headliners Luke Friend and Paul Akister. 

We arrived late and the first person we saw was Thomps. He'd already been up on stage a few times presenting and he broke the news to me that I'd missed Steven Hall performing. I'm genuinely still gutted about that haha, he was the old man from Britain's Got Talent who used to dance and I really wanted to see him!!

Thomps presenting

The first few acts we actually saw were tribute acts of Rita Ora and Meghan Trainor. I've sat through some odd things in my time just to support a fave, but this was one of those better events if I'm honest. Whilst most of the tribute acts weren't very realistic, they were still enjoyable as they sang songs that were familiar to everyone.

Meghan in Barrow ;)

One of my highlights was "One and Only Direction" despite not sounding or looking much at all like 1D. I met 'Niall', 'Harry' and 'Zayn' (yes, he is still a member in tribute land!) as they were probably the most life-like, that's if you squint a bit and use a lot of imagination!! What threw me was that 'Niall' was called Liam in real life and they were from Scotland so shattered any illusion as soon as they spoke haha. Then again I can't complain as it's the closest I'll ever get to meeting the real deal!

One and Only Direction

Luke Friend and Paul Akister were the headliners and both were brilliant. Luke really got the crowd going and singing along with his covers as well as his debut single Hole in My Heart. Paul was also fantastic with his soulful voice - his covers of Nick Jonas' Jealous and James Bay's Hold Back The River were superb.

Luke Friend

Paul Akister

In between acts, Thomps was doing his presenting thing and it was nice to see him so happy on stage. Thomps being Thomps, he managed to lower the tone on several occasions, for example when there was a big dinosaur in the crowd for the kids to look at, he goes "I think a lot of nappies needed changing after that, mine included", typical Thomps banter ha. He also had to put his boyband dancing skills to the test, doing the cha cha slide, macarena and conga on stage with some of the acts. I think he has a natural flair for presenting because he's so cheeky and upbeat.

favourite person!!!

Overall it was another fun filled weekend and well worth the travelling up north! This weekend in going to Capital's Summertime Ball so expect a blog about that for sure (I also have half a dozen on the go which I will get around to posting lol).

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Get Ready For Take That!

Our second gig on Saturday was Take That in Birmingham!  Following a four year tour hiatus, the ultimate performers are back on the road with another spectacular show.  Take That shows are always my favourite and I was so excited so see them live once again!

We had pit tickets for the show, a special area in between the main and B stage, and despite arriving quite late we managed to get a spot on the red carpet which went down the middle between both stages.  After reading countless tour spoilers, I knew that it was potentially one of the best places to stand and for us it indeed did pay off! (More on that later on...).

Ella Henderson was due to be the support act but a few days before we were told that she would be replaced by Lawson for this night.  To be honest I couldn't have been happier as I am a big fan of theirs and hadn't seen them live since August!  Their set was brilliant and they received a really good crowd reaction.  They performed their hits When She Was Mine, Taking Over Me, Standing in the Dark, Brokenhearted, Juliet and their new single Roads.

All roads lead to Lawson...

Andy and Ryan doing their thing

Finally it was time for Take That!  Normally at a concert, the lights go down and that signifies the start of the show however Take That always build up the suspense to the spectacle ahead by having a mini show involving some of the cast members which sets the tone for the rest of the night!

Once the music kicked in, they opened with I Like It, which involved a routine around the entire main and B stage with the cast.  It's hard to know where to focus your attention as there is so much going on around you, it's extremely overwhelming and I for one am really pleased that I'm going to see the show again as you simply cannot take it all in the first time!

Mark and some of the cast during I Like It

The set was over two hours long and featured some of my favourite songs including Get Ready For It (combine Howard banging a drum and intense fire flames and I really wasn't okay tbqh haha!!) and Said It All (which in my eyes is one of their most underrated songs).  One of the stand out performances for me was Flaws, which features Gary's haunting vocals and a stunning contemporary dance from Howard and Mark.  I don't usually like that type of dancing but it was genuinely beautiful.  I must also mention the amazing Portrait, in which they drove around the arena in a flying car.  Of course, the classic songs are always the biggest crowd pleasers, with Could It Be Magic and Pray getting rapturous applause especially when the dance moves were dusted off!!!

flying over the crowd!

I mentioned earlier about spoilers implying that the red carpet was a good place to stand and I can confirm that was true!  During Relight My Fire, the crowd were split in order to clear the red carpet and we were held back by a rope and burly security men.  However that didn't stop us from getting to touch Gary, Howard and Mark's hands as they walked through the crowd!  I was genuinely so excited to be in such close contact despite having met them before haha!  On the topic of spoilers - I'm a sucker for them.  I never have the patience to wait and be surprised!  I like to know what's being sung, who does what, every costume change and other little detail and some people think this spoils the show but it really doesn't.  Despite knowing the set list and biggest spoilers, it enhanced my experience as I was prepared for the red carpet scenario and got to stand in one of the best places. Also reading people's tweets etc really does not compare to the real thing - it is such a breathtaking show that watching all the spoilers in the world could never live up to what I actually witnessed in the Genting Arena.

the ever beautiful Howard!

The boys performed These Days and Rule The World to "end the show", with the promise of a "well rehearsed encore if we cheered loud enough" - considering the arena was full to the brim of Thatters, it didn't take long for them to reappear and perform Shine, before finishing with the ultimate classic Never Forget.  There is literally no better feeling in the world than watching Take That perform that song - it doesn't matter where or who you are, every single member of the audience will always raise their arms during the chorus and it is quite a marvellous sight!

Captain Barlow!

To end the night on a high, as we were leaving the arena we bumped into Carmen, a fellow Kingsland fan who was trying to meet Lawson outside.  As we were chatting, I turned around and noticed a lad chatting to a small group of girls - it was only Joel! He was so lovely and stopped for a photo with us.

my goals - a smiley pic with Joel!

Having been to see Take That tours as a five, four and now three piece, I can honestly say that they did not disappoint at all,  Whilst TT4 has always been my favourite, being a three piece makes them work that little bit harder and you can see the effort they put in when they deliver such a triumphal show night after night.  The chemistry between them is something you cannot break and I think they're possibly even closer since Jason's departure.

a breathtaking show - nobody does it better!

I really urge anyone to go and see them  - whether you're a fan or not, I don't doubt that you will leave feeling in awe at the phenomenal production.  Their set is incredibly inspiring - they are men in their forties yet perform such a physically demanding show.  I felt real admiration looking at what they had achieved - in their previous stadium shows they've had enormous robots and elephants to create the wow factor, whilst this time round they've toned it down to suit an arena setting yet still manage to take your breath away.

I write this as I'm waiting for the train to Manchester, really hyped for round 2 on Saturday - I haven't felt so excited about a concert in a long time!

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Jamie Scott - the kid from the UK!

On Saturday we went to two gigs - another Foxy Presents in Camden (despite vowing to never go to another event ha) and Take That in Birmingham! I also remember saying a few weeks ago that I would never go to two gigs in the same day again but we took a risk and it paid off as we had one of the best days in ages!

This post is going to focus solely on Jamie Scott (or Jay as I will always call him soz) and his Camden gig. Seeing him perform live really was a case of third time lucky - we missed his first gig in Birmingham because his set times were changed whilst we were trying to meet Nathan Sykes, and he had to pull out of his second gig at the last minute. After deciding last minute to go to London, I was really excited about finally seeing him perform on his own!

We got to see him a bit before he performed. I went to the shop across the road to get money out and he happened to be going in at the same time so we had a nice chat in there haha. We also had this picture taken inside, #squadlife.

squad goals ;-)

Thankfully, this Foxy gig was well organised and ran to time as Jay was on at 4pm and we needed to leave at half past in order to go back to Birmingham. He came on and started with B-B-B-B-Bounce (which is now firmly imprinted in my brain, I keep singing it all the time!) then did a cover of Clean Bandit's Rather Be which is one of my favourite songs.

Next he performed another cover, this time Rihanna's Talk That Talk (i've legit never heard the song before but I was reliably informed that this was the song haha).  I filmed this cover - despite never hearing it before, I really enjoyed it!

Jay's next song was called Dancing With Darkness and he got four fans up on stage to sing and dance with him.  I really like this song - it's so catchy and Jay really goes for it with the dance moves! Finally, he sang another original called In My Thoughts - this is such a good song and you can hear it on Soundcloud.

(Dancing with Darkness)

We got to speak to Jay quickly after his set and congratulated him on his set.  Unfortunately we had to rush off to catch the train back to Birmingham for Take That but I was so glad that we made the trip to London and finally saw him perform on his own for the first time.  It was well worth the wait - he is so energetic and brings something new to the table compared to most male artists these days.  I really hope he is successful as a solo artist, he deserves it.

Be sure to follow Jay on the following:

Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

Soundcloud

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

  

Happy Blog Anniversary!

One year ago today I started this blog! It was always my intention to use the blog as a diary of my fangirl activities, and 35 posts later it's already proving to be a cute keepsake that I can look back on.

At the beginning I was very anxious about having anyone else read my posts which was silly really, but over time I have become more open about sharing my posts on twitter. Obviously I don't expect anyone to actually read the crap I post, considering as I write it for my benefit, however it turns out that some people do give it a read from time to time and this makes me happy! Sometimes it even encourages people to check out a certain artist, which makes me even happier. Thank you to anyone that does give the blog a read, it really means a lot :)

In a few days time I'll be going to see Take That, which will kick off the next lot of blog posts. May is a super busy month and I can't wait to go back on the road after not going anywhere for a few weeks! 

I've also been thinking about other type of posts, about non-fangirl stuff which are a part of my life. I don't really want to start a second blog for them so they might appear on here - I guess "adventures of a welsh fangirl" can stretch to general life things such as work too!

Anyway, here's to a second year of blogging! If you do read any of my posts then please let me know or leave a comment :) 

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Introducing.......David Bulley

I've spent the past two weekends in Birmingham and London for a series of gigs called Foxy Presents.  Normally I would love to write about such gigs, something for me to look back on in years to come but quite frankly both gigs were disastrous for me and ones that I'd rather forget lol!!

However, there was one good point from these gigs, which was getting to see David Bulley perform for the first time.  David is an extremely talented singer songwriter and to be honest I haven't known about him for that long.  Mum has been a fan for a while and back in January she was watching one of his YouNow's and for once I actually paid attention to the random person she was listening to and I'm so glad I did! David was performing a series of covers and originals that already sounded so familiar - I downloaded his EP immediately afterwards.

Birmingham was the first chance we got to see him perform.  We had VIP tickets for the gig and got to meet him before his performance.  I thought he was quite shy yet so lovely!  His accent is my favourite and aside from his stunning voice and kind nature, he's also quite the looker ;-)

me and David :)

David was the opening act for the gig and performed two covers and two original songs.  He went down really well with the crowd and definitely gained some new fans including some of our fellow Kingsland pals.

Here's a video of one of his original songs, A Thousand Bonfires. His debut EP, of the same name, is available to download from iTunes - click here! (credit @helz999)

It was brilliant to actually see him perform live.  He was so good at getting the crowd involved and his voice is just brilliant.  I'm really excited to see David perform again in July as he is supporting David Coslett on his summer tour!  You can find all the dates and ticket info here - tickets are only £6.60!  Alongside this UK tour, he will also be visiting Poland where he already has a huge following!  David will also be releasing his new EP soon, I can't wait for it!

In the meantime I shall leave you with his beautiful cover of Ella Henderson's Ghost, my personal favourite!

Please follow David on Twitter - @DavidMarkBulley and subscribe to his YouTube here!

Hwyl am y tro ✌️

Nathan Sykes in Birmingham

On Saturday I saw Nathan Sykes perform in Birmingham as part of his first solo tour. Having been a fan of The Wanted since 2010, I knew it would be surreal to see him do a set without the boys however I had no doubt that he would be brilliant. His voice has always been one of my favourites.

Before the gig I got to meet him again briefly! Unfortunately due to football rioters/general annoying fangirl conduct i.e pushing, hogging, blah blah, by the time I had my turn he'd been pulled in from the crowd and we had to meet him behind a fence. Nonetheless he was lovely as per and the song Behind Bars proved to be ridiculously relevant! I must also applaud Nathan for being so gracious and still spending as much time as possible with the fans despite any obstructions.

His gig was incredible. That boy can SING, there is literally no end to his talent. Whilst I knew the gig would be amazing, he exceeded all expectations with his original songs. 

There was a mixture of uptempo songs, beautiful ballads and even a brilliant cover of Adele's Rolling in the Deep thrown in for good measure! Despite most of the songs being unfamiliar, they had an instant likeable quality and some were so easy to sing along to by the end.

My favourite song was definitely Over and Over Again. This was a stunning ballad accompanied by Nathan on the piano and I am a sucker for these types of songs. The chorus gives me goosebumps and his voice is just flawless. He managed to captivate the audience and silence a 300 strong crowd of fans during this song!

Another standout song was Money - accompanied by some fab dance moves ;-) the last song Nathan performed was his debut single Kiss Me Quick - this will no doubt be a future hit so listen out for it!

credit @nathansykes

His 40 minute set was a nice little showcase into what we can expect from his debut album and solo career and I'm excited to see what the future holds for him! His music speaks for itself and I have no doubt that he is going to become a worldwide superstar in his own right. I can't wait to continue supporting Nathan on the next part of his journey, this is just the start for him.

Twitter: @NathanSykes

Hwyl am y tro ✌️