Review: We Are FSTVL – A Perfect Start To The Festival Season

Smaller festivals can be a shock to the system if you are more used to the huge crowds moving en masse towards the main stages, but so often they can be a welcome break and a chance to see your favourite artists in an intimate setting.

A newcomer to the festival scene, We Are FSTVL hooked me in with a massive line-up and promises of finally being able to see the likes of Knife Party, Annie Mac, Duke Dumont and the one and only Fatboy Slim hitting up the main stage. Plus the early start to the festival season and the chance to ease myself in with a non-camping event was too much to resist! After months of build up, excitement and pouring over the pictures from last year’s event, finally it arrived and unfortunately so did the rain clouds. Blackened skies and pounding bass awaited us at the festival site, which was amazingly easy to get to and was particularly well-organised, but we refused to don wellies in the hope the weather would hold. (We were glad we stuck to our guns by the end!)Despite being quite surprised by how small the festival site was, we soon appreciated the close quarters as we navigated the stages and bars with ease, something that proved very useful later when trying to run to the bar or the loos during a set. Walking on site, you couldn’t help but be drawn over by the huge main stage and I was overwhelmed with the excitement of the thought of seeing Fatboy Slim on there the following night. I loved the decoration of the stages and across the festival site, it really added to the holiday atmosphere and everyone was certainly in the party mood as they posed for pictures among the flowers. Perhaps the weather put people off slightly, but the festival never felt overly busy as you walked around and was definitely quieter on the first day, but this was great for those who were there and fancied dancing to Disclosure by the main stage. Knife Party finished off a brilliant first day with a banging set that had us all jumping in the mud – as best as we could with our shoes stuck – and their light show and flames were incredible. We were a little disappointed that pretty much the whole festival seemed to shut down straight after their set and their set had just left us wanting to dance long into the night.The second day was much busier and the sunshine had clearly brought everyone out in a good mood and ready to dance – the line-up was fantastic and the bars were busy. On a back to basics not – I was very impressed with the state of the portaloos which were the cleanest I have seen at a festival – probably helped by no camping. But was rather let down to be charged £5 for a tiny 330ml can of beer – I understand the bars are there to make money, but this seemed a bit much. Especially when there were no water points to even fill up a bottle of water. Something else that I found, and heard many others complain about, was the extreme police presence on the second day – the previous day had seen minimal police and plenty of well-mannered and friendly security who were happy to help you find your way around. The second day, everytime I turned around, the police were hauling someone off to be searched or sprinting into the crowd by the stages to tackle someone. Perhaps completely justified, but it did change the atmosphere of the festival slightly with everyone waiting to see who would be dragged off next.

My favourite part of the stages, and the festival, had to be the platforms which had been set back from the main stage and provided the perfect view across the crowd and the stage. I spent a lot of time up on these, and one particular highlight had to be Annie Mac’s sunset set as the final rays of the second day were cast across the crowd and she told us all to turn and look at the view.

Later on, for Fatboy Slim’s set, these provided an incredible view over the crowds as they danced furiously to hits like Renegade Master, Praise You and Eat Sleep Rave Repeat. I’m not sure I can do the set justice with words, but the incredible light show, lasers, fire and confetti that streamed out of the stage just blew everyones’ mind. For those who, like myself, might have seen him play on the Eat Sleep Rave Repeat tour in a dark and dingy club – this was beyond anything I could have imagined and the clubs did not do him justice. He certainly knows how to put on a show.

A shame I wasn’t there to compare this year’s expansion to last year’s but I’ve heard from many people that they were very impressed – looking forward to seeing We Are FSTVL develop in the future! A perfect start to the festival season! Full review is available to read here.

Watching the world through a screen

My first festival of 2014 gave me a good opportunity to ease myself in to a summer of raving in the sunshine. A non-camping festival, We Are FSTVL gave a perfect chance to have a couple of days in the sun (and a bit of rain) dancing with good friends to amazing music. While I was there I was lucky enough to see the likes of Annie Mac, Knife Party and Fatboy Slim giving massive sets on the main stages. It was incredible to finally see three of the top acts I have been dying to see live on a main stage in just one festival and with a huge line-up We Are FSTVL was a surprisingly intimate affair. Despite this, I noticed a continuing theme across the stages and tents, which made me slightly sad. Forget those who are hepped up on pills and the rest, forget those who are too drunk to stand up, forget those who decide to light up flares in the middle of a crowd. At least these guys are living in the moment and are really making the most of the experience. These ones aren’t the ones who bother me.

The ones who really upset me are the ones who are living it through a screen. I might be overreacting slightly, but it actually really offends me to see a crowd full of people who are watching a once-in-a-lifetime set as a DJ they have been wanting to see all their lives closes the main stage, but that they would prefer to watch it through their camera lens. After seeing Fatboy Slim play XOYO in London on the opening night of his Eat Sleep Rave Repeat tour, my mind was blown. I had never expected I would actually get a chance to see him live in my lifetime, let alone playing brand new material. But from then on, the dream grew and I was just desperate to see his set transform from the basement of a tiny, dark club to the main stage at a festival and how lucky I was to find he would be headlining the first festival of my summer! I, and all my friends, were beyond excited to see him play live and we made sure we got up on one of the platforms facing the main stage nice and early so we could get a good spot for Annie Mac as well. We had a perfect view of the whole crowd, the main stage and the sky above it which was filled with fireworks, flames and confetti throughout.So imagine my dismay at seeing the people around us pulling out their camera phones and holding them up for the entire set. Not just up on the platform, but even down in the crowd, there was a sea of phones raised to the sky. What is the point? Can anyone tell me? In the days of Woodstock and early Glasto – when some would argue festivals were at their finest – no-one had camera phones or insisted on Instagramming every moment. Instead they lived every second, they dances to the music, felt it in their bones and spent the time meeting people, making friends and singing along. THIS is what festivals are all about. I know the convenience of camera phones means people want to capture every moment, and I have no problem with that as I too love to take photos of my friends smiling and happy, to keep those memories for long after the hangover had faded.

My problem is that people are choosing to do this rather than live the festival and the music. They would rather watch the whole explosive and incredible set through the phone screen and be sure that it is perfectly framed and looks like you are having an amazing time rather than actually experiencing it themselves. These are the people who don’t end up dancing at the festival, the ones who arrive home looking as perfect as when they set out and care more about the way the festival looks than feels. To me, the most important thing has always been they way I felt in that moment. When you see an incredible headliner take over the main stage after waiting months to see them live, when the stage explodes with confetti and flames, when you are singing along so hard you lose your voice, when you’re dancing so hard you nearly knock out the person next to you, and when you and a complete stranger throw your arms round each other and bellow out the words because you’re both just so excited. THAT is what festivals are about, losing yourself in the moment. They are about getting home and trying to tell people about it, but knowing that words just cannot do that moment justice. That no matter how you try to describe it, that those who weren’t there just won’t understand.My concern is that our technology is so convenient that so many are missing out on this experience. They don’t know the beauty of having a single picture that transports you back to that moment and how you felt, rather than an hour-long video of the set with terrible sound and a jiggly camera focus. Who really wants to sit there watching it back later on? Do you really think your friends will be jealous when they see you spent that hours-long set videoing it rather than enjoying it? I certainly wouldn’t be jealous of that, I would just consider it a wasted ticket. I have lots more festivals in the pipeline for this summer and I just hope I will be seeing a lot less of this and a lot more people living in the moment. Ironically, one of my favourite festivals from last summer was BoomTown fair which was all about the experience and I barely have any pictures from it because I was so caught up in the moment and thoroughly enjoyed myself. (See my preview for BoomTown here.)

What kind of festival-goer are you – guilty of living behind a lens or totally in the moment and forgetting you have a camera?

The songs that will make my summer soundtrack

After last year’s incredible summer, I plan on hitting up a heck of a lot of festivals this year with good friends, a crate of warm cider and a muddy tent in tow. What more could a girl want over those summer months? With the first festival of the season taking place over this weekend – my birthday weekend – I’m so excited to get properly in the summer mood and get dancing. But what is it I’ll be dancing to this summer? Well, here are my top summery songs of the moment – these are the ones that have me dancing along in my car and singing along to with the radio.

Forest Fires by Fred V and Grafix is just one of those chilled out songs that instantly puts a smile on my face. It makes me think of summer drives with a car-full of friends and the sun beaming down on us, lots of cocktails and laughs. It’s a perfect summer warm-up song and I just know I’m going to be hearing it a lot this summer.

Another huge tune that I absolutely love has got to be Mr Probz – Waves which is my ultimate driving song of the moment. This song is the perfect length for my drive to work and when the sun is shining in the mornings, it is perfet for de-stressing me and chilling me out before the chaos starts.

Any song with a hefty dose of saxophone is always going to make me happy and Faul & Wad Ad vs. Pnau do exactly that with Changes. Although released a little while ago now, I’m still not bored of this and I can’t imagine it going away. This is the sort of song that is used as the soundtrack to festival videos and that’s why I love it. Hippie Sabotage – Stay High  is another of those really chilled out songs that I just love. It reminds me of being at BoomTown Fair last summer sunbathing and hanging out at the Shisha Tent with the boys or dancing in the woods.

Duke Dumont – I Got You is such a happy sound, the steel drums just scream summer and it just makes me want to dance around at a festival and pull silly faces in photos with my girls. When you listen to the lyrics, it is such a cute song and I love what it is about.

Again, like Duke Dumont, Sigma – Nobody To Love also puts a huge smile on my face and I love that everyone always sings along. It’s such a fun song and no-one can resist a teensy bit of Kanye thrown into the mix. If you haven’t heard this song, I’ll be shocked because it is everywhere at the moment.

What would summer be without Paolo Nutini to light up my life with his latest album? Pretty dark I’ll tell you. I love his soulful sound and it’s perfect for lazy summer days in the park. I would absolutely love to see him live at a festival but sadly he won’t be performing at any I go to this summer.

Let it be known that I heart Bastille. Last summer, I saw them perform their whole album in the gorgeous sunshine at Secret Garden Party and it was one of my favourite festival moments of the summer. They were amazing live and it cemented my love of them entirely. A year on and their album is still one of my automatic go-to playlists and I still know all the words.

What’s your summer anthem of the moment? Leave me recommendations below and I’ll add them to my playlist!

 

Review – David Rodigan headlines Outlook Festival Launch Party

After months of waiting impatiently for festival season to begin, finally we kicked off a summer of sunshine, smelly tents and great music at the Outlook Festival Launch Party held in Norwich at the weekend. A huge coup for the city, organisers of the regular reggae and bass nights across Norwich were given the chance to host the event, with the one-and-only David Rodigan set to headline. Put simply, the event was a huge success with a great turnout and perfectly captured the spirit of the Croatian festival with everyone in the festival and holiday mood after a day in the sunshine. Taking over one of Norwich’s newest clubs, and giving me the opportunity to check out Wonderland for the first time, it was a perfect venue for such an event, with two huge rooms dedicated to a collection of incredible local talent pitted against top UK DJs.

After seeing Rodigan live at Secret garden Party and Hideout Festival last summer, within the space of a few weeks I went from having never heard of him to a massive fan – his sets are amazing for those who haven’t seen him –  perfect for summer festivals or lazing around in the sunshine. The whole venue was buzzing with excitement as we waited for the DJ to take to the stage as crowds flooded through the doors and between the two rooms. In the second room there was plenty to keep you dancing as T>I and Tango & Ratty took over with some serious jungle/drum & bass beats and a fire-dancer.

Another DJ I was just dying to see live and have done ever since catching his remix of Rudimental (see above) is Phaeleh (pronounced Fella). He’s an incredibly talented DJ with a totally fresh sound and I love his music, which I have seen described as “cinematic electronica, but his roots are in dubstep, garage and house” – I have no idea what that means but I know I like it! His set was just magical, and all my friends who had never heard of him were all impressed – I was just over the moon to have finally seen him live and so close to home. His set was perfect right before Rodigan’s – chilled us all out right before we kicked off the dancing again for the reggae master.This is the only good picture I managed to get from the night – the others are just a touch too blurry thanks to my awful dancing. Rodigan smashed on to the stage and the whole room went wild, his set was incredible as usual – I would expect nothing less – and played all of our favourites with plenty of “Pull upppps”. I can’t describe my happiness when he cracked out My Boy Lollipop – always puts a huge smile on my face and I love it when everyone starts singing along. The crowd was filled with all ages, and everyone was singing and dancing along. I go out in Norwich quite a lot and I have to say this was the happiest and most chilled out event I have seen there yet. After such an amazing night – I just wish I was going to Outlook Festival to see the full line-up in action! I’ll definitely be looking out for further Bassjam events in Norwich. Organisers BassJam said: “Wow what a night!! Was an absolute honour having David ‘Ram Jam’ Rodigan bless the decks, sick sets all round too!! Big love to each and every person in the dance!!”

10 incredible music acts I have to see live before I die

If you want to get a taste for my favourite artists and the music that gets me dancing and singing along, take a quick scroll down my Instagram feed for just some of the incredible acts I stalk for pictures of their latest incredible performances. After last year turned out to be such an incredible year for seeing so many of the acts I had been longing to see live for years, I am even more determined to get round more of my favourites in the next few years. I cannot describe my excitement at getting to see Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Major Lazer, Beyonce, Bastille, Of Monsters and Men, Julian Marley, Paloma Faith, Sub Focus, Chase and Status, Pendulum and so many others perform live in the last 12 months. But as I tick each off, I add even more acts to my list and it grows even longer. Here are just some of the incredible acts I am determined to see live in the next few years:

1. Steve Aoki – The king of crazy. His performances are high-energy, complete chaos and simply ridiculous – everything I love about live shows and every time I see pictures of him leaping into the crowd or shooting off fire extinguishers or throwing cake at the crowd, I just wish I was there in the thick of it.
2. The Prodigy – I just LOVE their music and have done for years but to be honest, I have seen live footage of the crowds at their gigs and I’m more than a little bit scared of leaping in there. Things often get a lot moshier than I am willing to go, and I’m not sure I want my face smashed in! Knife Party are another one that although I would love to see, I’m a bit scared! Ha.
3. The Chemical Brothers – Like Fatboy, the sound of the nineties and my youth. It’s the music I grew up with and I just know it would be an incredible experience to hear live, plus I know how much those songs get the crowd going even now.
4. Annie Mac – I missed out on seeing her at Parklife two summers ago because of the queue at the gate, but am still desperate to go to a club night or festival where she is DJing, her set lists fill my iPod and her Friday night sessions on Radio One always get me dancing and wanting to go out.
5. Kanye West – See, it’s not all DJs! Love his music and know he would put on an awesome show. Would also be happy to see Drake or Pharrell live as well.
6. Daft Punk – A bit like The Chemical Brothers, they are just an institution and I loved their new album, had it on repeat in my car, so I think it would be amazing to see them live.
7. The Arctic Monkeys – Such good music, a bit of a different scene to all the dance music acts but just one of those ones you know all the words to. Their new stuff is great and although their attitude at the BRITs stank, I still would love to see them. To be in the crowd at a festival when they dropped bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor would be a fantastic experience.
8. The XX – Their album was just stunning and is still my go-to album on my iPod, I never get bored of its stunning sound and I just know it would be such a magical experience to hear live. I would also like to see Chvrches and London Grammar.
9. Cee-Lo Green/Gnarls Barkley – Do I even need to explain this one? That voice? Those songs! And that suit… Winner. Simple as.
10. Paolo Nutini – He is just dreamy, and his music is beautiful. He’s a singer that I have liked for years now and often they don’t stick in my mind that long, or I don’t continue to like their music as their style changes. Paolo has changed his style but I still love it.

I’m sure there are many more I could list and I could go on forever, but these are just some of those that immediately came to mind. He’s hoping I get the chance to see some of them live very soon!

Who would you love to see perform live and why? What was your favourite live act of last year?

Lots to look forward to this March

Swan Lake

Any of my readers will know I had a pretty terrible start to the year and that all of this drama has carried on throughout the last few weeks – but thankfully I’m starting to reach the other side of things. You know how it is, when you are in a situation you often struggle to see beyond it and to put things in perspective until suddenly, one day, you start to realise that things will sort themselves out.

With everything going on, I haven’t really been in the mood to do the usual of going out for meals, to gigs and the like, so you may have noticed the lack of reviews over the past two months. I will soon be changing that, because I have suddenly realised quite how many things I have lined up for March – it’s going to be a busy month for shows, theatre and music, which will be great to really get back to normal. Here are some of the fantastic shows I have coming up:

Ella Eyre

I will be seeing the English Youth Ballet performing Swan Lake at Norwich Theatre Royal to start with –  this I am very excited about having not been to the ballet for several years. I absolutely adore the story of the white and black swan and am really looking forward to seeing a national touring company perform live on stage – especially since the tickets are official review ones thanks to a huge entertainments feature I wrote about the show.

Comedian Miles Jupp is also on the list for a night of hilarity at the Arts Centre in my home town – the tickets were a Christmas present and I am looking forward to seeing another comedian because it has been a while since the last one. I haven’t seen any of Jupp before now, so am intrigued to see what kind of set he will be doing. From the blurb on the website, it seems he discusses everything from fatherhood to other people’s pants!

Jim Cartwright’s Two will take me back to the gorgeous Westacre Theatre with my family for a night. All of the productions at this theatre are of fantastic quality and I always look forward to reviewing any of the shows because they are just so easy to write about! I’m looking forward to this one because it is so different to any I have seen before – mixing business and marriage with a lot of oddball characters.

Back to XOYO London for another amazing gig – Ella Eyre tickets were another Christmas present and I am so excited to see her perform live, especially after the BRITS! She has such an incredible voice and I loved seeing her perform with Rudimental but it will be totally different seeing her perform on her own. And do I even have to say, I have incredible hair envy of her locks.

Finally, my Christmas present to my Grandad was tickets for the whole family to go and see West End show, Dreamboats and Petticoats, on tour in my home town. He absolutely loves the music from the shows and we buy him a CD every Christmas, so when I heard the show was coming to us, I just had to get him tickets. Looking forward to a nice family evening out.

Dreamboats and Petticoats

I will review all of these shows for you guys and I can’t wait to share these with you all. I’m also really excited to have so much lined up for next month – it will be nice to have some fun after a tough few months. After a few gorgeous sunny days, it seems like spring is well and truly on the way so I see it as a good time to put things in the past and move on to summer fun.

Have you seen any of these shows – what did you think? What else have you guys got planned for March?

Wilkinson – Songs that are putting a smile on my face

I’ve shared some of his songs on here before now, but couldn’t resist with this one. I am absolutely in love with Wilkinson and the use of powerful vocals in his music. I adored his last release of Afterglow – particularly the lyrics and the video which I thought were really beautiful and such a realistic portrayal of a young couple. Despite being released later on, this song perfectly summed up my summer of nights out, dancing and festivals with good friends, and of course my boyfriend. The song was so beautiful and simple, but amazing for the dance floor. I’ve actually just looked up the name of the singer on the track – Becky Hill – who also features on Rudimental’s Powerless track – another beauty. She has such an amazing voice and apparently was a semi-finalist on The Voice. Amazingly, she has actually featured on quite a few other great tracks that I also love without me even realising – alongside Rudimental, Paolo Nutini and Alex Clare. I’d say she’s one to watch!

This latest track, Too Close, is another gem and I really can’t get enough of it – it’s constantly being played in my car, along with Clean Bandit’s Rather Be. Another stunning vocal and it really makes me want to dance – it makes me think of summer days back at Hideout Festival in Croatia and all the summer fun that is yet to come. I love music that does that to you. I’m desperate to go and see Wilkinson live now – having caught Clean Bandit supporting Basement Jaxx in December – amazing performance and right before they made it big! I’ve just spotted Wilkinson are playing Cambridge Junction next month so I may have to see if I can get along to see them. I wish they would play Norwich instead though, it is a much better venue for dance music gigs, while Cambridge is better for more acoustic performers.

Who are you listening to on repeat at the moment? And what are your favourite live music venues?

Some of my favourite pictures of 2013

These first few days of the new year have been spent thinking back over the past 12 months, over the amazing memories, over the mistakes that have been made by both myself and others, and of course, the hopes and dreams I had and achieved, or didn’t. Here are some of my favourite memories of 2013, captured, by myself, in a series of photographs:

House of Boobs visit King’s Lynn

Still not entirely sure what the heck what was going on in this picture but we were all a bit tipsy and had been playing lots of games including a hula-hoop competition that my team won! The university girls all came to visit, and although they are not all in this picture, this one best sums up the chaos and fun of that weekend.

Me and the boys go to Jaguar Skills

An epic, and very messy night, I still don’t remember much of what happened, but I know that I was with my boys and having an awesome time at Jaguar Skills and Matrix & Futurebound earlier in the year at the Waterfront in Norwich.

Glamping at Sedgeford

This picture might not have any faces in it, but it perfectly expresses what my weekend Glamping with the girls was all about – a freebie treat for my best friend’s birthday – it was a great blag and a fantastic weekend filled with barbecues, gossiping, wine and good fun. We drove all over eating ice creams, chilling in gorgeous coastal pubs, and fed the goats on site – it was so much fun and some well-deserved time with amazing friends.

Mr T – loving the sunshine

My gorgeous little tortoise, Mr T, was loving the sunshine this summer and spent hours exploring our garden, testing the boundaries and generally making me laugh by pushing things over. We built him his own enclosure, which he loved, and he spent so much time out there, we even lost him in a few times when he wanted to sleep outside!

At Wyndstock in the summer with the boyfriend

One of the best festivals/events I have ever been to – loved playing lawn games and croquet in the sunshine, eating cream teas at the fete, swing dancing and going to literary talks before watching fencing matches – such a variety and we all ended up dancing with our dirty bass faces in the woods until dawn – Amazing.

Hideout Festival

Partying from dawn until dusk with the ‘we stay out all night’ crew, meeting up with more amazing friends out there in Croatia and making lots of new party pals was an amazing experience that I will never forget. It was also the deal-breaker for certain other friends and I’m glad that it happened, although it may have broken a friendship up, it also forged many others that were far more worthy than this one. Not even half the people who should be are in this pictre, but this sums up the holiday – dancing to Vogue as the sun rose over Zcre Beach.

London Hen Do

Definitely not the most attractive photo of the three of us, but we’re besties to the end and this was an amazing night celebrating my best friend, Rachel Auker’s engagement before her wedding a few weeks later. We headed to London to a posh hotel for cocktail making, a nice meal, spa session, night out and lots of fun. It was a fab trip and a great hen do – the perfect send off for my friend before her wedding! Especially when we ended up racing through Piccadilly Circus at 4am on a rickshaw!

Pig racing – just one of the many crazy moments at Secret Garden Party

Secret Garden Party was an incredible festival and an amazing weekend of fun and madness with the boyfriend – it was like Disneyland for adults and I loved it. Watching Bastille play in the sunshine was one of my favourite moments, and the fireworks after Faithless will always stay in my memory. So much happened at this festival, and so many amazing pictures were taken, but I just felt that this best expressed the randomness of the event. Can’t wait for next year!

Three best friends at the Wedding

Here I am with my beautiful best friends at Rach’s wedding, which was the most beautiful wedding ever, Leanne and I are bridesmaids. It really was the most perfect day for Rach & Vito, they really deserved it after waiting so long just to be together, and we all had so much fun. Such a wonderful day and it really was amazing to watch two people who mean so much to me tie the knot.

Boomtown Fair

The most insane place I have ever been and with a great bunch of people – it was a crazy weekend and one I will never forget. I love this picture, it looks like a vintage photograph of a festival and this was one of my happiest days of the year so I am glad someone captured the moment. I will always remember this day and how amazing it was – the things I saw and did. So much fun and I can’t wait to go back this year.

Sister sister time at V Festival

My birthday present was tickets for me and my sister to go see Beyonce perform at V Festival – such a good present! We had a great day out at the festival and we managed to see loads of amazing acts including a special secret performance by Wretch 32!

Ireland for the Wedding

An amazing long weekend away with the boyfriend and his family for a beautiful wedding with lots of delicious food, Irish music and plenty of booze. It was such a beautiful place and I was so glad we could get away just the two of us after being with so many others all summer at the festivals – some much needed couple time.

House of Boobs reunion

Me and my beautiful ex-housemates were reunited for another weekend of sleepovers, snuggles, food, Disney movies, drinking and dancing – it was a perfect weekend with my girls and gave me the fix I needed to make it through to the next reunion. Still miss my girlies so much though!

Zombies & Sub Focus

A bunch of us went on a Zombie fun run before heading to a Sub Focus gig in Norwich one weekend – it was brilliant! Stupid fun running around in the woods pretending to be zombies before heading to the union to dance the night away to Sub Focu (one of my fave DJs) and get smashed. Such a good night and a great chance for me to make up friends with a girl who I had earlier fallen out with.

Natural History Museum

Me and the boyfriend went on a little trip to London to the Natural History Museum and it was one of the best days out ever! We saw all kinds of animals, learnt loads of facts and just had so much fun walking around getting excited about everything like little kids.

Fatboy Slim

Major Lazer

Basement Jaxx

My three best gigs of the year have to put altogether, both Major Lazer and Basement Jaxx were with the boyfriend and Basement Jaxx was my absolute best of the year – also my birthday present! Fatboy Slim was incredible and all the boys came along – such an epic night!!

Christmas with the family

The year was finished off with the perfect family Christmas – what more could a girl ask for?!

Review: Something Special in the Madness when Five Ska come to town

Last Saturday, I headed to one of King’s Lynn’s best local music venues to watch what is without doubt, my favourite band ever to play the town – Five Ska. I was so excited, after seeing them play Bar Red once before and loving their set that I was thrilled to see they were returning. I dragged along a group of friends who really weren’t expecting to like the band even though I was raving about them, but they soon changed their tune!

The band are a group of experienced musicians who formed in 2010 with a set list that includes all those mazing songs from Bad Manners, Madness, The Specials (One of my faves!), The Dead 60s and many more.

Here I am with the man himself! Amazing singer and definitely knows how to get the crowd up and dancing..

I have always loved ska music, in fact anything lively that you can dance to is usually on my radar, but it was particularly while at Boomtown Fair in the summer that I really started to love this type of music and the freedom that comes with it. Especially after seeing Neville Staple Band give a surprise performance, along with several other amazing acts. I love the way this music gets people of all ages up dancing and it certainly has that effect every time I see the band play – what starts as an empty bar soon packs out with people in their 60’s dancing next to 18-year-olds – it’s a great combination and creates a good atmosphere.

The band play a tight set and the crowd aren’t shy in singing along to all their favourites – Town Called Malice always gets everyone singing and dancing along and is one that I’m always waiting for. My sister and friend both came along with me, more for the drinks than the band, but they were straight up the front dancing away and singing along with a group of guys who had turned up in their braces and were dancing like crazy.

Leanne, myself and my sister, Laura

Five Ska are a refreshing change from the rock and acoustic-heavy music scene in West Norfolk and the packed out bar/huge queue waiting outside just shows you how good this band really are. For those who aren’t much about the heavy metal or heavier music and just want something lively and fun on a Saturday night, this is the band for you and this is certainly the venue. We had a great night and it was brilliant to go up to the band and chat in the interval, they even recognised me from last time!

They are a bunch of awesome guys playing fantastic music and I am very pleased to have heard they will be playing Bar Red four times next year so I’ll have lots more chances to see them. Looking forward to it already!

Basement Jaxx blew it out of the park with plenty of bass and soul

Now you would have thought that two gigs in a row was a bad idea, but I have a habit of signing myself up for these things – I just can’t bear to miss anything that good! My boyfriend bought me Basement Jaxx tickets for my birthday and it has been a long summer waiting for the day to arrive. Then the FatBoy Slim tickets went on sale and we just had to go to that as well! Luckily they were on consecutive nights so it saved us the train fares on separate journeys, but it did mean two expensive nights out in London, plus accommodation and travel. On this night we stayed in the London Balham Travelodge, which I would recommend to anyone who is going to a Brixton Academy gig, it is right next to the tube station and so easy to get between them, close enough for a taxi if it finishes late but amazing access to the tube as well to save costs.

After a heavy and long night out at FatBoy Slim that had seen us partying until around 5am at a second club that had a pool in it, we had spent the day wandering around the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland eating moose and venison burgers, drinking hot mulled cider and wine. It had been a long day with very little sleep, but nothing was going to dampen our spirits. After one night spent raving to the soundtrack to my nineties childhood, I was eager to start dancing to the amazing hits of Basement Jaxx and relive my love of Bingo Bango, Good Luck and Romeo!

The group started with a powerful introduction by the incredibly soulful singers – all fabulous women with huge, multicoloured hairdos and elaborate outfits. It was clear that a lot of thought had been put into every aspect of the staging, with one of the singers being bathed in the spotlight on the balcony above the waiting crowd, before hurriedly making it to the main stage for the rest of the song. From the very beginning, the group had the entire crowd dancing and singing along at the top of their lungs to every word. It was as though Mardi Gras had exploded on to the stage, but with added soul, attitude and bass. Despite the huge range in ages, from the youngsters coming out with their mates, or even their mums, to the older groups of women and middle-aged couples who made up the crowd – everyone was bonded by their love of the music from whichever era.

The gig was explosive, and amazingly even managed to outdo the Major Lazer one I saw there last month. The showmanship was spectacular and just kept surprising the audience, from an incredible body-popping dancer who writhed her way across the stage, to dancers in morph suits with lights all over the front, to a huge robot that came on stage and did the robot dance with a bunch of gorillas! It was chaos, but well organised and perfectly put together. My favourite moments had to be when the group had a slightly more chilled number followed by the huge Good Luck and Bingo Bango – both huge, loud and explosive songs that had me screeching out the lyrics. My boyfriend and I were dancing like maniacs and I couldn’t keep my feet still – it was amazing. A moment that gave me chills, and still does now, was when a stunning ballet dancer reminiscent of Black Swan took to the stage and delicately danced her way around the stage while one of the singers began to sing the lyrics to Raindrops. Amazingly, I had managed to forget that these guys sang that song, despite loving it so completely when it was released. But hearing it sung so beautifully, so delicately and yet so powerfully was incredible. She stripped the song bare and, in contrast to the huge bangers they had just been playing, seemed so stunning in comparison.

I was also impressed by the performance of one of their latest releases, Back to the Wild, which to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of when I had heard it previously at home or on the radio, but which had a huge impact live and although not as catchy as their older stuff, it certainly made everyone dance and sing along, including myself. Finally, my absolute highlight of the night was, without a shadow of a doubt, hearing the start of Where’s Your Head At. It was one of those moments, like when the Project X theme tune comes on in a club when everyone is smashed, when everyone turns round to each other with their mouths agape and then loses the plot seconds later. It is one of those songs that, ever since seeing it performed live on TV, I have always wanted to see live at a gig and I am so glad it has happened. The atmosphere was beyond anything I have ever experienced – it was electric and sizzling.

It sounds silly, but I’m getting chills just thinking about how amazing this gig was. I am so lucky to have experienced two of my top acts in two nights and I will never forget this weekend – I just hope that I am lucky enough to see them again in the years to come. The nineties were my favourite decade for music because so many of my favourite vintage acts were at their height at this time, but I’m glad to see now that electronic dance music is making it into the top 10 – it is about time we escaped talentless, boring pop music – I can’t deal with any more cutesy love songs by kiddies too young to have experienced their first kiss! Give me hard, dirty, filthy base music in a dark club or a huge venue and I’m happy.