#Live Review

[catherineparrish]

Foo Fighters @ Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand 20/01/2024

Photo by Danny Clinch.

Cussing and cigarettes, Jack Black, and 35,000 people’s love for rock and roll—Foo Fighters return to Auckland, New Zealand after six long years.

Riding the success of their 10th studio album, Foo Fighters were forced to delay their late 2022 tour to Australia and New Zealand when drummer Taylor Hawkins suddenly passed earlier in the year. There was some speculation that the band might retire after 25 years, but after a year of grieving (particularly for frontman Dave Grohl, whose mother also died in 2022) Foo Fighters announced that step-in drummer Josh Freese (The Vandals, Devo) would permanently be joining the band.

In what was their first show of 2024, Foo Fighters return exclusively to New Zealand and delight fans with one of their most dynamic performances to date. Although the set was evenly paced, sprinkled with new songs from last year’s studio album Here We Are (2023) and old classics to get everyone out of their seats, an almost 3 hour set was bound to have more than just a couple of highlights.

“Who came out and saw us when we played at that old speedway? That show was so loud it caused a seismic event,” said Grohl, referring to the volcanic-like tremor caused by the stamping feet of thousands of fans at Western Springs in 2011. “When I think about New Zealand, I think about an audience that can trigger an earthquake.”

It wasn’t the only time Grohl expressed his fondness for New Zealand, noting that he always has a great time whenever the band tours. Whilst Grohl shared stories with the crowd, the band teased snippets of songs from multiple artists (Metallica, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails) throughout the set, and even surprised everyone with a special appearance from actor and singer Jack Black for a cover of AC/DC’s Big Balls.

But in amongst the party, there were sombre moments too, like an acoustic stripped back version of My Hero and a tribute for Hawkins that the band perform every night. “This was the first song we wrote together and his favourite,” Grohl told the crowd before performing Aurora. A few times the lights were dimmed and the stadium lit up like stars as the audience held their torches to the sky, providing the perfect atmosphere for the warm summer’s evening soundtrack.

When the crowd weren't swinging their arms in unison over their heads, they were screaming and thrashing their heads at the peak of all the fan favourites, from The Pretender, to Monkey Wrench, to Best of You and their faithful encore Everlong. It's hard not to admire such a resilient act as this band who can seemingly overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Welcome back, legends.

Review by Catherine Parrish.

#foo fighters #live review #music review #live music #auckland #new zealand #new zealand concerts #dave grohl #pat smear #taylor hawkins #josh freese #nate mendel #chris shiflett #rami jaffee #mt smart stadium #catherine parrish

[wiiildflowerrr]

The 5SOS Show Boston, night 2

📷 Kyle Musser for The Alternative

The Alternative: Review: 5 Seconds of Summer and Meet Me @ The Altar

#the 5sos show boston #5sos #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford #the alternative #Kyle Musser #the 5sos show boston n2 #2023 #placard #live review #gig review #concert review #the 5sos show tour #mmata #meet me @ the altar

[mademoiselleparapluie]

Watching Falling for Christmas

So far we have a slimy unholidayspirit having love interest, a superficial heiress, a good hard working man with a cute kid who does not resemble him in any way and lots and lots of snow, Christmas decor, fabulous over the top outfits and of course a man who looks suspiciously like Santa Claus.

#falling for christmas #Holiday movie watch #live review #Spot the cliche #Love the cliche

[gbhbl]

Live Review: Frozen Soul with Creeping Death, Foreseen and Overthrow at The Underworld, Camden, London (12/02/2024)

Its a chilly Monday night in London and things are about to get a lot colder as we head to The Underworld to check out the icy death metal outfit, Frozen Soul. The Texas based band are a few dates into a huge European tour and this is the first of 5 shows here in the UK with Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham next in line before they head to mainland Europe. Well known for their…

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#Accept #Ascension of the Entombed #Balls to the Wall #Boundless Domain #Camden #Cannibal Corpse #Chad Green #Creeping Death #Crypt of Ice #Death metal #Finland #Foreseen #Frozen Soul #Gigs #Glacial Domination #Hammer Smashed Face #heavy metal #Live Music #Live Review #London #Overthrow #Phil Anselmo #The Underworld #Untamed Force

[underachievers-please-try-harder]

Review // Beabadoobee - Somerset House - 12 July 2023

Appeared in the Evening Standard. Read online.

This year is shaping up to be something of a rollercoaster for Beatrice “Beabadoobee” Laus. Peaks have included scoring a viral hit with February’s single Glue Song and spending much of March and April touring the US as the opening act on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

On the flipside, the Filipino-English singer-songwriter was recently forced to cancel an EU tour due to lingering illness. And then there’s the ongoing controversies at Bea’s record label, Dirty Hit, where label-mate Rina Sawayama is publicly feuding with Matty Healy of The 1975 over culturally insensitive comments made on a podcast.

If any of this drama is weighing on Bea, there were no visible signs at Somerset House, where the 23-year-old was headlining as part of the annual Summer Series. Quietly nonchalant behind a Kermit-green Telecaster, she and her three-piece band strode onstage and ripped through the barbed guitar-pop of Talk from last year’s acclaimed LP Beatopia, before launching straight into 2019’s Apple Cider.

Concision was the watchword throughout, with Bea and her band packing in an impressive 18 songs in just under an hour. Between-song interaction was kept to a minimum too, beyond air kisses and regular declarations of love for her fans. That affection was reciprocated and then some by the youthful, largely female audience, who shrieked wildly during guitar solos and bellowed back every lyric.

On the strength of performances like this, it’s not difficult to see why Bea continues to strike such a chord with Gen Z. Putting a TikTok-friendly twist on Nineties grunge, she proved her guitar hero credentials during Charlie Brown and Care from 2020 debut Fake It Flowers, which balanced sugary vocals with thrillingly serrated guitar distortion. She Plays Bass saw Bea dueling with her bassist during the middle eight, and was briefly reprised at the end to allow the audience to mosh en masse.

Interestingly, the set’s gentler moments were arguably stronger, serving to reinforce Bea’s bedroom-pop roots. The acoustic tropicalia of The Perfect Pair proved especially gorgeous, as did Glue Song’s string-embellished, lullaby-like sweetness, which was cheekily dedicated to “that one sexy motherf**ker out there.”

Stepping out on stage alone at the start of the encore, Bea delivered a dreamy acoustic one-two of forthcoming single The Way Things Go and breakout hit Coffee – as sampled on Powfu’s 2020-smash Death Bed (Coffee For Your Head). Though not due to be released for another week, the breezy guitar-pop of the former elicited a word-perfect singalong.

It all augurs extremely well for album number three – which is reportedly “in the works” – and by extension the rest of the year. Because, after a bumpy few months, there’s no denying that last night Bea got 2023 back on course.

#tearsheet #tearsheets #beabadoobee #dirty hit #evening standard #the evening standard #live review #live reviews #review #reviews #live

[senorboombastic]

Live Review: Electric Six at New Century Hall in Manchester 29 November 2023

Words: Andy Hughes Christmas 2003 – I remember it well. Underneath the Christmas tree that year, alongside copies of ‘Tony Hawk’s Underground‘ and ‘The Simpsons: Hit & Run‘, there were musical treats in the form of a No Doubt singles compilation, Metallica’s solo-free whopper ‘St. Anger‘ and ‘Fire‘, the debut album from Electric Six. Quite why it took half a year to pick up the first Electric…

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#29 November 2023 #Birthday cake for breakfast #Dance Commander #Danger High Voltage #Dick Valentine #Electric Six #Fire #Gay Bar #Live Review #Manchester #Metropolis Records #New Century Hall #Turquoise

[yuko-araki]

#yukoaraki #yukoarakinoise #live review #live performance #room40

[kefalion]

Prev

4: Jedi Trap

And so, with the murder of Count Dooku, the final part of Anakin’s fall begins.

It was heartbreaking to read, how it’s shown as a madness of sort which Anakin has opened himself up to, a state of being where he’s outside of himself and his immediate desires become reality with little conscious thoughts and then an awakening to the horror of what reality has become. Not to take away from his agency and remove responsibility from his shoulders, but the way it was described I got the impression that it’s what he felt was happening. Things we dream of and imagine aren’t always what we want in reality. “Be careful what you wish for” is a saying for a reason and it would be scary to be in a state where your thoughts become reality, to not have the safe space of your mind to imagine things so you can make measured decisions.

“It was wrong,” he says. “I shouldn’t have done it,” he says, and “it’s not the Jedi way,” he says. It gives me another perspective on Old Ben’s explanation to Luke: “Vader betrayed and murdered your father.” This feels like Anakin betraying himself and it hurts.

Maybe more than he chose to kill Dooku, he chose to give in to his fear which was what sent him into the state where thought became reality as the dark side opened him up to more power than he knew what to do with. And he also chose to trust the word of a man he loves and admires.

Palpatine telling him to kill makes a difference.

Anakin’s decisions overall lead me to contemplate determinism. How much can we choose if all our decisions are informed by things outside our control, our biological limits, the place and time we live through, the people and events we come across?

I suppose I generally believe in choices. Limited choices. We are primed for certain things, but can choose within those parameters, and as Anakin says, he shouldn’t have don’t it. He didn’t have to. With all his Jedi training, he had as much priming to hold back as to strike. It was a choice he made and feeling out of control does not remove his agency.

Going back to Anakin feeling out of control, the perspective this scene gives on his slaughter of the Sand People sets it in the same light. Anakin feels like he was mad, out of control, and doesn’t identify with who he was for the duration of it. No wonder he as Vader can push his old life aside and settle into a different existence. He’s felt split for a long time.

Anyway! Excellent, excellent writing. Usually I take issue with mixed point of view, but the start of this chapter proved that it can be used well. From moment to moment it played with Anakin’s pov and Dooku’s, seamlessly mingling them and making the scene stronger. I’ll have to come back later and analyze it in detail to see how Stover pulled it off.

Next

#kefalion reads revenge of the sith #revenge of the sith #matthew stover #star wars #anakin skywalker #read along #live review

[booptunes]

PVRIS Review + Photos!

Altcorner has given me the opportunity to see PVRIS as press!

Here is my review:

And here are the photos! (Not a professional)

#PVRIS #charlotte sands #maggie lindemann #the academy #manchester #review #music review #live review #journalist #journalism #music journalism #photography #music photography #live photography

[belwoodmusic]

Live Review: Hozier, O2 Academy Sheffield, 21st June 2023

The summer solstice – midsummer, the longest day. It’s always fun when a gig falls on a significant date, and this one couldn’t have felt more fitting. In folklore it’s believed to be a day when magic is at its strongest, and who better to capitalise on that energy than Hozier. His lyricism steeped in myth and legend, his deep soulful vocals adding gravity to his words; his music feels like it…

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#Hozier #live review #mega #music #unreal unearth

[radionotfound]

I was blessed by the post-punk gods and was granted access to The Cure’s Chicago show!

“Seven years to the date of their 2016 Chicago appearance, The Cure returned for another stunning show in the Windy City. The post-punk elder statesmen delivered a phenomenal 31-song set at United Center filled with classic hits, deep cuts, and new material from their long-awaited album (Songs From a Lost World), proving again why they remain one of alternative music’s best live bands.

The two-and-a-half-hour career-spanning setlist perfectly captured the chameleon nature of The Cure. One minute, things are bleak and gloomy with cuts like “A Forest,” “Plainsong,” and “A Night Like This.” The next, everything is bright, upbeat, and vibrant with hits like “Friday I’m In Love,” “The Walk,” “Lovesong,” and “Just Like Heaven.” Fan favorites like “Lullaby,” “Pictures of You,” “Play for Today,” and “Shake Dog Shake” earned the biggest screams from the crowd, often drowning out the band. And as a reward for (im)patient fans, the band performed new songs “I Can Never Say Goodbye,” “A Fragile Thing,” “Endsong,” “And Nothing Is Forever,” and “It Can Never Be the Same” as a preview of what’s to come. Spoiler alert: it’s deliciously dark.“

Read the full review on Illinois Entertainer. Link in source.

#The cure #cure #cureheads #robert smith #my writing #live review #concert review #chicago #post punk #alternative rock #rock music

[wiiildflowerrr]

The Whirlwind Of 5SOS (5 Seconds Of Summer at Madison Square Garden)

By Tanvi Sivakumar, Her Campus at the University of Maryland

'I’ve reached my peak being able to photograph for 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) in August. Hands down. Nothing beats being less than three feet away from one of my favorite bands and taking professional pictures...

I’ve been a fan since I was ten years old and seen multiple shows of 5SOS. This one was by far my favorite – my version of “The Eras Tour,” if you will. Getting to walk out in front of the barricade and setting up my camera was probably one of the most daunting moments I’ve had to prepare for. It was my first time shooting a show at Madison Square Garden and I can’t believe I had the privilege of doing it for a band I know and love. Beginning to build my concert photography portfolio, I had reached out to their publicist about this opportunity as well as doing a concert review, and was grateful she had accepted.

Words can’t describe the pure adrenaline pumping through me as the intro video was screened and the first notes to “Bad Omens” started playing. The show began with a sense of anticipation and excitement as the iconic guitar riffs filled the arena; fans were transported back to their early days of discovering 5SOS. It was a nod to the band’s roots and the audience reveled in the nostalgia of those early hits.

5SOS has evolved remarkably since their early days and that evolution was evident in every song they played. Tracks like “Easier” and “Babylon” showcased a newfound depth and maturity in their music and proved that they are more than just a pop-punk sensation. Although I have always loved their boyband sound, sonically I have grown to love the new maturity in their music that comes along with getting older.

For a lot of fans, being part of this experience was a full circle moment. Many have followed 5SOS from their early YouTube covers to global fame. Starting out with the early pop punk music from 5 Seconds of Summer, the band grew in popularity for their distinct sound. Over the years they developed into a more mature sound, and after the hiatus the band took their quality shifted towards making music more personal and connecting to each of their lives with their most recent 5SOS5. The nostalgia wasn’t just about the songs; it was about the memories and milestones associated with the band’s music.

I believe this concert was more than just a musical performance. Every show that I’ve attended of theirs sends me back to my favorite early 2010s memories. The show was well-thought out with state-of-the-art lighting coloring the stage in scenes representing various eras. Personally, I enjoyed their use of pyrotechnics and how even though it was unconventional, they had confetti blowing during their second song. Typically I don’t see confetti until a grande finale, but I appreciated the gesture even though it was early in the show.

From the early pop-punk aesthetic to starting a collection of my favorite band tees, the production value demonstrated the band’s commitment to delivering an unforgettable show and highlights their evolution as seasoned entertainers.

I witnessed not just a band, but a group of artists I grew up with. That night was a testament to the power of music to connect generations and create cherished memories. This concert wasn’t just a gig; it was a lifelong dream realized and a memory engraved in me forever.'

X

#the 5sos show new york #madison square garden #5sos #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford #the 5sos show nyc #the 5sos show tour #gig review #concert review #2023 #student writer #live review

[lilmackiereads]

A Kinda-Sorta Live Review of “The Girl on the Train” (2015) by Paula Hawkins Pt 1

SO, the version of this novel that I have is 323 pages, and nearly a third of the way through I thought to myself I should really be live-reacting to this. Alas, I don’t want to stream myself reading this book out loud in my leopard-print snuggie, but I can type my thoughts on the chapters as I go since I love to write. 

I have been taking notes on my phone full of my hypotheses and reactions toward plot points, character development, and sassy dialogue/ inner-monologue. If you are a fan of the book or film and want to see if I can solve the mystery as I go, cool! There will be plenty of spoilers below. 

I found this novel a month or two back in a Little Free Library in Boise, Idaho and I remember seeing the trailer for the film. I haven’t watched the movie, but I remember thinking that the trailer seemed like a rip-off of Rear Window (1954) so I thought I would pass. However, the fact that the gorgeous and talented Emily Blunt is the lead is urging me to give it a shot if I like the book. When reading the synopsis and spoiler-free reviews, I saw that the book was compared to Gone Girl which is one of my favorite mystery-thriller novels and films. 

Blog Live React Part 1 is separated into the following 4 parts (pages 00 to 27)

Paragraph One - Narrator Not Revealed -- pg 00

Paragraph Two - Narrator Not Revealed -- pg 0 

Rachel - Friday July 5th, 2013 to Thursday July 11th, 2013 -- pgs 1-15

Megan -- One Year Earlier -- Wednesday May 16th, 2012 to Tuesday September 25, 2012 -- pgs 16-27

----

Paragraph One - Narrator Not Yet Revealed (pg 00)

Beginning with the sentence “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks, her grave marked with a cairn.” I was immediately sucked in! Since the Narrator for this passage has still not been revealed 100 pages in, my guess is that it is probably Rachel because she is “the girl on the train” and the first Narrator we meet. I like that you can’t tell the Narrator’s sex or background relation to the victim from the paragraph; it makes it much more mysterious.

Paragraph Two - Narrator Not Yet Revealed (pg 0)

Even before the Narrator finished the rhyme, I knew they were talking about magpies. They are usually considered a symbol of melancholy which is really nailing in the spooky and sad undertone of the story before we’ve even committed to page one. There is a chapter early on in the book that is narrated by Megan that mentions magpies, which made me think this was her narrating. But on second thought I’m wondering if it’s Rachel or Drunk Rachel since she is wrapped up in the idea of motherhood. “Now look what you made me do.” The italics is a nice touch. Is this the killer doing a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing?

-----

Rachel - Friday July 5th, 2013 to Thursday July 11th, 2013

--- From this point on I will write just based on the text presented at the time without reference to future chapters. These notes are based on the notes I took on my phone while reading the book. ---

* Friday July 5th, 2013 (pgs 1-3)

A couple things I notice right out of the gate are that this is summertime and it’s on a Friday. A lot of people who work Monday to Friday are, in my opinion, less aware of their mundane surroundings on Fridays and Mondays because they are thinking about starting the work week or their weekend plans. The fact that Rachel is very attuned to detail tells me that she is very sensitive to change, is really nosy, or is very bored (or a combination of all three.)

I connected with Rachel very quickly when she mentioned her “overactive imagination” when trying to give a backstory to the abandoned clothes. I tend to personify or imagine scenarios due to my interest in true-crime and overly-anxious personality. 

Rachel mentions her Mother and Tom right away. Is he her husband/ boyfriend? Ex? Brother? Can’t be a parent or grandparent because she would call them “Dad” or “Grandpa Tom.” Also, she uses past tense “said.” Is she estranged from them both? Or maybe they’re dead? DID SHE KILL THEM? No murder victims have been found yet, but I’m just waiting for it to happen.

Rachel keeps personifying the loneliness of the clothes. Can you say “projecting my problems instead of acknowledging them?” She also personifies the houses by saying “their backs turned squarely to the track” (2). Who left this woman so broken? Part of me wants to give her a hug and the other part wants to take her to therapy.

Oof... she’s drinking a lot to forget Tom. What did he do, sis? At least she’s not drinking before work...

*Monday July 8th, 2013 (pgs 3-6)

Man, she is living for work and routine. Very few people that I know who think that it’s a “relief” (3) to be back on their M-F schedule. Now that she’s introducing “Jess and Jason” I find it kind of endearing... and creepy. I have favorite houses that I pass by and I like to people watch, too. However, projecting onto them as “perfect, golden couple” (4) is only going to bring her pain when they move away or she actually meets them and find that they have human flaws like everyone else. 

Ah, there’s the mention of Tom. Definitely a romantic partner then. 

OOOH, she is drinking again. And on a Monday night? How does she get on the train at 8am every day without a hangover? Does she just have a major tolerance? If alcoholism is her baseline how much can I trust her narrative?

Ok, imagining Jason’s hands on her shoulders is not just spooky, but also a bit sad. Girl needs to move on from Tom. I’d feel bad though if Tom died and that’s why she’s drinking. 

*Tuesday July 9th, 2013 (pgs 6-9)

Aw, it’s sad that she lost her home. Especially her first true place on her own.

Who is this Anna chick? I already don’t like her.

I feel like I know too many Controlling Cathys and I HATE that feeling like a guest in your own house (whether you own it or pay rent). I’ve been there too many times throughout college. At the same time though, is Cathy actually controlling or is Rachel just projecting this controlling personality onto Cathy because she feels like her own life is out of control? 

“I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head” (9). I have only known Rachel for ten minutes and I need to adopt her and tell her it’s going to be ok. 

*Wednesday July 10, 2013 (pgs 9-11)

How would she know that Jason is a doctor? He could be working retail for all she knows (not a diss; I work retail). She really has a thing for the strong-male-savior-types, doesn’t she?

She’s describing Jess and her “bold prints and her Converse trainers” (9) and how edgy and quirky she is. It’s making me not like Jess as much because she’s projecting the Amy Elliot Dunne’s “Cool-Girl” philosophy onto her. I used to want to be Cool-Girl for so long as a teen and now it makes me wanna gag. Thanks, Amy for showing me the light of how lame and over-idolized the “Cool-Girl” concept is (like Manic-Pixie-Dreamgirl, just for the male gaze...)

I feel bad for Rachel on her way home sitting across from the well-dressed man. Her self-esteem is shot and she really projects these feelings of self-loathing onto anyone who even looks at her when they probably don’t really have an opinion of her. It’s sad, too, that her roommate doesn’t stand up for her and just lets her boyfriend poke fun at her. She’s clearly depressed.

*Thursday July 11, 2013 (pgs 11-15)

It took me a while to realize that “plaster” is British for “bandage.” 

I feel a little embarrassed because like Rachel, I literally cut myself a couple days ago while cooking and had to lay down cuz I got woozy. I probably would have fallen asleep, too, if my boyfriend wasn’t there to clean my finger and bandage me. I’m a little wimpy. What a waste of steak. :(

Girl, don’t drink on an empty stomach. Alcohol is not your friend!

Ok... don’t drink on an empty stomach and call your ex!!!!

She called him FOUR times and left TWO messages? Kill me now.

Wow, it’s almost like these very specific instances of getting drunk and humiliating herself in front of her husband, strangers, friends, and her boss are real. Oh wait, they are. Her denial is so strong that I had to read the section twice to realize they were memories and not made up. Girl needs anger management sessions if she went after her husband with a golf club. I wonder if he provoked it in any way? Not saying that makes it ok, but it makes me think HE HAD IT COMIN from Chicago (2002).

She’s thinking all these strong, supportive thoughts about Jess. But get this: what if she’s just as depressed as she is? What if she’s a MURDERER? I don’t think that’s likely cuz of the synopsis that the girl she sees goes missing. What if she fakes her own death/ disappearance? Or like, what if Jess is actually the worst? Like when you think someone is really cool and then you meet them and they kinda suck...

Oop, her ex is calling her back. I mean, he’s right, she does need AA big time.

(Squishing her scab on her bandaged finger open) Ooh she’s one of those who when she feels emotional pain she has to redirect it to physical pain to distract herself. Is this gonna escalate toward others? Dun dun dun. *TV Voice* Tune in next week to see if she does!

Megan -  One Year Earlier - Wednesday May 16th, 2012 to Tuesday September 25, 2012

*Wednesday, May 16, 2012 (pgs 16-18)

Ooh new Narrator. I love books like this. Multiple first-person chapters are so much more interesting to me than a whole book in third person.

Already it seems like she would rather be anywhere else but here. Is she going to run away and fake her murder like in Gone Girl? 

What the heck was going on with those two ladies and the baby? Was one of them kidnapping the child or just playing too rough? I hope we get to see more of this later on in a flashback.

*Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 (pgs 18-20)

She definitely does not like kids. If she was an artist why is she nannying? Wouldn’t it be better to use the off time to make more art? I guess maybe she’s in a major depression slump, but doing something she doesn’t like probably won’t get her out of it. Unless she’s hoping that doing something that she doesn’t like inspires new art...

Also, their names are Scott and Megan. This is going to be weird to try and keep characters straight with two names.

Oof, she doesn’t like Anna either. Three of us in this boat now. (Me, Megan, and Rachel.)

*Thursday, August 16, 2012 (pgs 20-21)

Damn, girl, quitting after 48 hours? At least this is inspiring new art projects.

*Thursday, September 20th, 2012 (pgs 21-24)

Reading snippets of her life and then jumping a month ahead is a bit jarring. Is she really not doing much in this time? It’s making it hard for me to get to know her. I feel like I know Rachel quite a bit more despite the fact that I’ve seen five days into her life and a few months into Megan’s.

Oh wow. Poor Megan! That’s a terrible and traumatic way to lose someone. I wonder how long ago her brother passed away. It definitely makes her depression make more sense. I think therapy would be good for her so I’m glad that Scott is pushing her to go instead of sitting around at home all day. 

Girl is horny af crushing on her therapist. I mean, he does sound a bit dreamy, but she is a married woman. She needs to calm tf down. 

*Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 (pgs 24-27)

“The only places I seem to go these days are to the shops, my Pilates classes, and my therapist” (24). --> That is literally me when I am not at work, haha. I am such a homebody and the only exercise I get is Pilates. I get really restless, too, if I’m not creating so I have to scrapbook, paint, write, or read to feel better.

She imagines really morbid things, too! Maybe she and Rachel should start a true crime club. 

OK WHO IS THE SMILING MAN? Is he a stranger? Is she imagining her dead brother? A lover? Her therapist? Tom the neighbor? I feel like if it was someone she knew she would just use their name instead of “he” and “his.” Ugh and now we have to wait until her next section. How ruuuudeeee.

----

This is the end of my part 1 reaction! Part 2 will consist of pages 28 to 62!

#the girl on the train #live review #live react #book review #spoiler review #paula hawkins #book blog #book blogger

[gbhbl]

Live Review: Ice Nine Kills @ O2 Forum Kentish Town – (01/06/2023)

Ice Nine Kills opens the UK leg of their Wurst Vacation tour with a bang at O2 Forum Kentish Town.

Ice Nine Kills were set to kick off the UK leg of their tour back in March, but after a delay it was pushed back to June. I first saw them at O2 Academy Islington back in 2019, when I knew little about them but thoroughly enjoyed what I heard. This time around, I’m a huge fan and after waiting a few extra months to see them, I was eager for them to come on stage. The venue was packed solid and…

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#Classic Horror #Dan Sugarman #Fearless Records #horror #Ice Nine Kills #Ink #Joe Occhiuti #Live #Live Review #Melodic Metalcore #Metal #Metalcore #O2 Forum Kentish Town #Patrick Galante #Ricky Armellino #silver scream #silver scream 2 #Spencer Charnas #welcome to horrorwood #wurst vacation tour

[altarus]

[Live Review] Roger Waters, Ziggo Dome Amsterdam

Well that was something else indeed… (more…) “”

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#2023 #Amsterdam #Animals #Is This The Life We Really Want? #Live review #Pink Floyd #prog rock #progressive rock #rock concert #Roger Waters #This Is Not A Drill #Ziggo Dome

[underachievers-please-try-harder]

Review // Lizzo - The O2 - 16 March 2023

Appeared in the Evening Standard. Read online.

Part performer, part life coach, Melissa “Lizzo” Jefferson was preaching the radical power of self-love long before it was in fashion. A decade on from her debut, the multiple Grammy-winner has now firmly infiltrated the mainstream with her agenda, influencing millions with her body-positive bangers.

Finishing up her European tour at the O2 Arena last night, the US singer-songwriter remained resolute in her mission to uplift and empower. Supported by an all-female backing band and the plus-size dance troupe she recruited on her Emmy-winning Amazon series Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, she delivered a set of relentlessly joyous disco-pop regularly interspersed with motivational speeches, both live and pre-recorded.

Subtle it wasn’t, and by the third time she’d told the crowd they were beautiful, more cynical audience members might have been forgiven for rolling their eyes. That it didn’t occur to those in attendance last night is testament to Lizzo’s immense charisma and the environment of pure fun she fostered.

The Eighties-inspired 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) came complete with aerobics-style choreography, and Soulmate saw her twerking in blue diamante to bars delivered by her DJ, Sophia Eris. There were Chaka Khan and Lauryn Hill covers, featuring Lizzo’s powerhouse vocals embellished by exquisite harmonies from backing vocalists Little Bigs. During Coldplay she solo-ed on Sasha Flute (a flute that has its own Instagram account), while Naked saw her underscoring a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, projecting “My body my choice,” onto her flesh-coloured catsuit.

Interestingly, the night’s most powerful moments arrived when the music stopped. Moved to tears at the end of Special, she told the audience, “I’m milking this,” and enjoyed an arena-wide ovation that steadily grew in intensity. Then, following a barnstorming rendition of Truth Hurts, she spent upwards of eight minutes complimenting audience members on their outfits, before autographing a woman’s breast to provide a template for a tattoo.

This overwhelming atmosphere of love and acceptance more than made up for any of the less inspiring material from her latest LP, and succeeded in elevating Lizzo-classics like Juice and Cuz I Love You to another level entirely.

Which all augurs extremely well for this summer’s co-headline slot at Glastonbury. Because if performances like these prove anything, it’s that a good Lizzo show ranks up there with the very best of life’s natural highs.

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