1017th
Dec

More gigs this week! December has been a pretty busy month for me.

Tuesday was Tim Minchin at the O2 Arena. Having seen him on his last tour a stupid number of times, I had gotten a bit weary of seeing the same show over and over, so this was a welcome change. It was mostly new material, beefed out with a 40 piece orchestra and theatrics that can only come with touring arena-sized venues. Tim seemed to make it work, although I do miss the days when I used to see him in tiny 200 capacity rooms. The new stuff was very funny, and I especially enjoyed his religion-based rants and songs about taking things out of context. No doubt some of the dates on the tour have been filmed for a new DVD, so everyone will be able to enjoy it.

On Wednesday I went to Brixton Academy with my mum for the XFM Winter Wonderland. Due to tube fuckups we arrived late and missed all of Mona (not a great loss) and all but one song by The Drums. We slotted into our favourite position (front right, just by the middle barriers) in time to see Two Door Cinema Club. I hadn’t realised before just how many singles they had released, so it came as a surprise to me when all but one of their 6 song setlist was a single. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though and bounced around gleefully. The music may not be a work of genius, but it is very catchy and fun.

Next up was White Lies, who surprised everyone else by not playing many singles at all. It was mostly tracks from their new album, which as it is released in January they are obviously very keen to promote. I’m not sure how well it went down with the XFM crowd though, as the audience seemed to thin out towards the end as people headed for the bar. I liked it and I’m definitely going to be getting a copy of their new album.

The penultimate act was Suede, who unfortunately had to do a quick acoustic set as their drummer was off sick. It was a bit of a disappointment for me as I had been looking forward to seeing them, but it was still pretty good. They played ‘Trash’, ‘Animal Nitrate’ and ‘Beautiful Ones’.

Lastly it was time for the Manic Street Preachers who chose the right route and played a set consisting of their greatest hits, rather than tracks from their new album. There were clearly a lot of die-hard Manics fans in the audience and everyone had a great time. It really got me excited for their rescheduled Brixton gigs next month.


Two Door Cinema Club


Suede


Manic Street Preachers

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1013th
Dec

As promised, a few drunken photos with my new lens. It has such a smooth autofocus, I think I’m in love!

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1010th
Dec

I got my final results back from my first Open University module today, and I passed with 94%! I’m pretty pleased to say the least. I’m already part of the way through my next module and I have a Maths one starting at the end of January, so it’s all going very well so far. Let’s hope that trend continues.

In-between all my gigs in the past week, I finalised the new acrylic designs and sent them off. They should be arriving sometime before Christmas, although I’m not sure if I will have time to get them up on the site until my holidays start. More Christmas orders have been coming in which is exciting. I’ve been very busy in my workshop making everything. The Star Trek necklaces especially seem to be a hit, so look out early next year as there should be the science, medical and engineering ones coming in.

My new lens has arrived, and it is massive! (In comparison to my kit lens anyway) It looks a bit ridiculous on my small 450D body, which leads me to think I should invest in an upgrade next year.. I’ll be testing it out this weekend at my friends party, so expect a few choice ridiculous photos.

Finally, I have caved in to internet peer pressure and got myself a Tumblr. It’s mostly going to be full of photos of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine, but if you are that way inclined feel free to add me: Tumblr

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108th
Dec

I solved my previous dilemma and just went ahead and ordered the lens. It was a good price for it and I didn’t want to get to Christmas and have to spend £100 more for a new one. I’ll just have to cope with being a bit poorer this month. It should be arriving in the next few days and I’m keen to try it out.

Last night was the Patrick Wolf gig at the Bloomsbury Ballroom. I was especially looking forward to this as I had a ticket for his Bush Hall gig in the summer, but decided not to attend due to tiredness and travelling to Scotland the next morning. I’d never been to the venue either, so that was a first for me, although all that really sticks in my mind is the terrible queue to get in or out via one tiny doorway.

The gig itself was superb. Patrick has a whole new backing band (seeming to consist of mostly women?) and played a selection of tracks from his upcoming album. It was originally slated to be ‘The Conqueror’, a follow up to the dark, electronic ‘The Bachelor’, but Patrick has since changed direction after falling in love and getting engaged. This really reflects in the new songs as they are very upbeat and almost 80s influenced with their bouncy synths and horns, quite a contrast to his previous work. It all seems to flow quite nicely though, with Patrick’s giddy enthusiasm and theatrics managing to delight the audience. We all had a nice sing along and a dance to some of his older hits, with the fairly short set ending on (as ever) ‘The Magic Position’. I’m looking forward to hearing the album in full next year, and of course the inevitable UK tour that will follow.

Bluebells
House
The Bachelor
Damaris
The Libertine
The City
Tristan
Slow Motion
Who Will?
Together
Hard Times
Time of My Life
—————
Bermondsey Street
The Magic Position

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102nd
Dec

Since I got back from New York I have realised that my trusty 18-55mm kit lens is well and truly broken. It just won’t autofocus any more, despite trying various fixes from the internet. So I have decided, rather than just replacing it, to upgrade to a better, multi-purpose lens. And my investigations have led me to the Canon 15-85mm. I have found one on the Amazon marketplace for £400 but I don’t know whether to buy it now and risk being pretty poor for the rest of December, or wait til I get my Christmas money, by which point it may have already been sold. Decisions!

I will be putting in an order for some new acrylic soon, this time in pink and silver. Just finalising the designs and then it will be sent off. There are some winter-themed pieces and small pink logos to be put onto each necklace chain.

Last night I went to see Arcade Fire at the O2 Arena, but I don’t think words can properly justify the experience. It was simply sublime, and I really wish I was going tonight as well. From the opener ‘Ready to Start’ to the closing song, the whole crowd was with them 100%, dancing and singing along to every track as though their lives depended on it. Arcade Fire appeared to be humbled by the massive audience response and thanked everyone profusely for coming out in the bad weather to see a band who “haven’t even had a hit song”. The setlist was pretty evenly split between the new album and the previous two, and I was incredibly excited to hear them play ‘My Body Is A Cage’, which is one of my all time favourite songs. The segue from ‘Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)’ into ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ is so perfect you would think they had planned it when they wrote the songs, and it is this combination that gets the biggest crowd reaction of the night. As the last strains of ‘Wake Up’ faded into the air, many people felt acutely aware that they had witnessed something special. It is a testament to Arcade Fire’s live show that they can make every gig they play feel unique, and I can’t wait to see them again.

Ready to Start
Keep the Car Running
Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Rococo
My Body Is a Cage
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Crown of Love
Intervention
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Month Of May
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
———————–
We Used To Wait
Wake Up

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