Geth and I got back to Newcastle today after spending the night in Leeds for an A-ha gig. The gig was one of my favourites of 2019 and I’ll be posting a review later this week once I’ve caught up with some other review posts!
Have had a fairly relaxed afternoon catching up with all the things I didn’t do last week when I was busy finishing off my text adventure game.
Looking forward to a good few days of working on my NaNoWriMo project before the next gig!
Not an OOTD: it’s still Hallowe’en in my house until after Bonfire Night!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Dead Or Alive – Something In My House Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me Sam Smith – Too Good At Goodbyes Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine Michael Land – Monkey Island Main Theme A-ha – Hunting High And Low
Not an OOTD: a stunning Hallowe’en display that I saw while out and about today!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me Timecop1983 and Primo – My DeLorean Duran Duran – Secret Oktober Regard – Ride It The Lancashire Hotpots – We Love The North
Have had a very busy day that included driving to a new parkrun and going to an awesome gig. Will update fully tomorrow!
OOTD: with all the elephants at the Sage Gateshead! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), dress Rhona Roy (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2019), tights Primark (2017), boots Clarks (2016).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas – Jack’s Lament Jason Paige – Pokémon Theme (Gotta Catch ‘Em All) Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Take Me Home Grant Lee Buffalo – The Whole Shebang Squeeze – Up The Junction Duran Duran – 911 Is A Joke
A full day working on my game today. Back on the treadmill again in the evening too!
I’m trying out a new (to me) parkrun tomorrow morning, and then going to a gig in the evening. Sunday will be spent working on my game again. Should be a good weekend 🙂
Sort of an OOTD: my old running shoes have briefly come out of retirement for my treadmill runs/walks! I find they hurt my feet now, though, so I’m going to get some new ones specially for the treadmill.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) Abba – Super Trouper The Proclaimers – Misty Blue
Last night, in retrospect, wasn’t the best night to have scheduled a trip out to see a gig. Well, it might have been when I booked the tickets a few months ago, but by the time it actually rolled around, Geth and I were both fairly exhausted due to the preceding fortnight being absolutely non-stop for both of us.
However, I’d been waiting to see Gary Numan for a long time (I believe I was first planning to see him play at the notoriously cancelled Alt-Fest festival in 2014) and so I was determined to go out, enjoy myself and not fall asleep! It helped that we arrived just in time for doors, as it meant we were able to get a seat close to the bar and enjoy the show from further back.
The support act was Kanga. I quite liked their industrial stylings at first, although the tracks did start to get a bit samey towards the end. Both Geth and I are in a place where we’ve reached industrial music saturation point over the last year or two – this does happen periodically – and so I will keep the artist in mind for when I’m more in the mood for listening to that kind of thing again.
Kanga’s stage lighting was not very photography-friendly so this is as clear a picture as you’re getting, I’m afraid!
Once Gary Numan came on, though, the energy in the room was fantastic. He kicked off with ‘My Name Is Ruin’, which is very familiar to audiences now having been the lead single off last year’s hit album Savage. We then had a selection of tracks from pretty much every era of his career, with the ’70s and ’80s hits not really making an appearance until towards the end – being a fan of those early albums I would have liked to hear a few more, but I loved the variation in the set and appreciated the chance to hear some songs that I’m not so familiar with! The encore was also a nice touch, with some quieter songs in the mix, including a demo track (‘Intruder’) that hasn’t been released anywhere yet.
Very quick update due to getting back late from the Gary Numan gig at the O2 Academy in Newcastle tonight. It was IMMENSE and I will tell you all about it tomorrow!
Shiny ticket!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Michael Land – Big Tree Michael Land – The Drinking Contest Jackson Browne – Rosie Michael Land – The Lua Bar Mesh – What Are You Scared Of? Duran Duran – Serious Wham! – Freedom Gary Numan – Are Friends Electric? Andy Taylor – I Might Lie Jim Croce – Bad, Bad Leroy Brown Levellers – Carry Me Gary Numan – I Die, You Die The Wonder Stuff – Give Give Give Me More More More
I’ve had a fairly quiet one today. Yesterday was a fun but long day – I went to an ’80s nostalgia mini-festival at the Wheatsheaf pub in Newcastle in the afternoon so that I could see the Breakfast Club (the ’80s tribute band that played at South Shields a few weeks ago) again.
I was probably the closest person to the stage, but it was still difficult to see the band under that marquee. I reckon the venue were expecting rain!
Geth joined me for the second half of the gig, as well as some pub chips!
Both the Breakfast Club’s guitarist and the DJ complimented me on my ‘Rio’ top. Duranies represent!
After that, we went home to get ready for a night out clubbing. It took a little longer than expected, largely because our next-door neighbours are away and so their cat wants a lot of attention at the moment!
Cat cuddles are the BESTEST.
We took a quick detour to the Brewdog pub to meet up with friends and see the Re-Issues – yet another covers band! They had a lot of energy and really worked up a good atmosphere in the room.
More blurry gig photography. Highlights of this covers set included ‘Town Called Malice’, ‘Zombie’, ‘Sit Down’ and ‘Mr Brightside’.
Finally, we headed to Grey’s for the Rise Or Die synthwave night, NightDrive. It’s only the second time they’ve run the night (the first was four months ago, on Maundy Thursday), so it was really good to be able to hear some of my synthwave favourites on a night out.
Photo by Mish. I forgot to take a proper photo of my going-out outfit – will have to recreate it sometime soon!
I’m still finding nights out sober to be a bit difficult when everyone else is drinking, but hopefully I’ll get more used to it as time goes on. Either way, it would be nice if synthwave nights in Newcastle became a little more regular.
It was a long walk home from town (next time I’m taking the car!), so I didn’t get to bed until nearly 5am. As such, today has been a bit of a write-off! Geth and I ordered Domino’s for something to eat, and our friend Pete has been round to play some Keyforge with Geth, but we’re planning just to have a quiet evening with a film tonight.
Back to work tomorrow.
OOTD: ‘still half asleep’ outfit! T-shirt Gildan for Preverse (2015, modified 2018), leggings Miss Fiori (2015), boots Carefree (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Timecop1983 and Primo – My DeLorean Timecop1983 and The Bad Dreamers – Back To You The Midnight and Nikki Flores – Jason Rod Stewart – Baby Jane The Midnight – Crystalline
It’s taken me nearly a week to get round to doing this review due to all my internet issues earlier in the week. Better late than never!
South Tyneside Council puts on a lot of free gigs in Bents Park in South Shields during the summer, but Geth and I hadn’t been to one for three years. The last one we went to was the Proclaimers and Lindisfarne in 2016, on a much more changeable day that required both suncream and a brolly!
However, it was a no-brainer when we heard about this one – Midge Ure was fantastic when we saw him in November supporting the Human League, and neither of us had seen Nick Heyward before – so I bought early-access tickets (well worth it at six quid each, as it means you’ve actually got the chance to set your deckchair up fairly close to the stage) and we headed out to South Shields for the day with my beloved vintage deckchairs in tow.
I love these chairs. Around since my childhood (and probably before) and still going strong!
The support act were a local ’80s tribute band called The Breakfast Club. They played a lot of the most well-known pop hits of the decade, which went down very well with the dreaded ‘I’m wearing an ’80s costume’ crowd (those people are an absolute scourge – I see them at every gig now!). It got a good atmosphere going, and I might go see them again if they come across to Newcastle and I fancy a cheesy ’80s night out.
Their setlist included two Duran Duran tracks, and I’m still not sure whether to be pleased as a Duranie or annoyed as a setlist purist who was always taught when learning to DJ that you should never repeat artists within a set!
We hadn’t been organised enough to bring lunch, so we scraped enough change together for a couple of portions of chips from one of the food stalls. I need to remember to take some snacks with us next time we go to one of these things.
Nick Heyward was on next, performing a very well-balanced set of two big hits (‘Love Plus One’ and ‘Take That Situation’), followed by a bunch of stuff you’d have to be a fan of his to know, followed by another two big hits at the end (‘Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)’ and ‘Fantastic Day’). I really enjoyed this set, largely because the people in front of us weren’t standing up to dance during the middle bit so I could actually see! I’m not familiar with his catalogue other than the ’80s hits, but they were all very nice tunes and I’ll have to look into them some more.
Midge Ure finished the day with his usual hit-laden set – highlights for me included ‘Vienna’, ‘Fade To Grey’, ‘If I Was’, and an epic crowd singalong to ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’. It was a slightly rockier performance than when he was playing with Electronica in November (Geth dubbed it ‘if Ultravox had been prog’), but I enjoyed it just as much.
Already hoping that there’ll be some exciting choices of artists for next year’s Bents Park gigs – it’s always a good day out when the weather holds!
I know I shouldn’t wish my life away, but today is the day I always start to get excited about autumn, my favourite season of the year.
It’s the first of August – just a month away from meteorological autumn – and while I know most people are still enjoying the summer (I’m not sure how, given that after last week’s brief heatwave the weather has since returned to a constant cool, grey dampness that means Geth can’t mow the lawn), I’m already dreaming of darker evenings and Hallowe’en chocolate and getting my ’80s jumper collection out again.
The BBC are starting to announce the first few Strictly contestants, and I’m stepping up my training for the Great North Run, and I’m already busy planning out my writing for all the fiction and poetry competitions I’m going to be entering from September to November. I’ve got a lot of gigs lined up for that period as well – it’s going to be a really great autumn this year!
In the meantime, I’ve got one last summer trip away to enjoy this month. It is Shetland, though, so I’m not hopeful for the weather (last time I was there, it rained the whole time).
A nice normal Thursday today now that we’ve got the internet back – Geth and I went to the earlier Slimming World group today so that we could be in when the new router arrived, and we’ve got boardgaming guests coming round this evening for more adventures in the Lord of the Rings universe.
OOTD: weigh-in top with added cosy hoodie due to the cooler weather. Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Gildan for Resistanz (2016), vest top Primark (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Haim Saban and Shuki Levy – The Mysterious Cities Of Gold Main Theme Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill A-ha – Take On Me Andy Taylor – Broken Window Lizzo – Truth Hurts Gunship – Dark All Day
I was out most of today watching bands play in a large outdoor space, which is the number one thing I used to associate with summer. I’ve deliberately not done much of it this year because it’s also the number one thing I used to associate with drinking. However, today went really well. I did occasionally feel uncomfortable due to drunk people in my vicinity, but on the whole it was a really nice day out and a good gig – and I will actually remember the whole thing! Review to come later this week.
Internet is still being problematic, but it looks like we will have our new router either tomorrow or Tuesday, so fingers crossed the remaining disruption will be minimal.
OOTD: gotta wear a Duran shirt for an ’80s-related gig! (Unless it’s Spandau Ballet of course.) Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), t-shirt Amplified (2018), jeans H&M (thrifted from Steff 2016).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Katy Perry – Never Really Over Duran Duran – Burning The Ground Janet Jackson – Whoops Now Bobby Brown – Two Can Play That Game Ultravox – Dancing With Tears In My Eyes Nick Heyward – Take That Situation
