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!!”

Rediscovering the beauty of ballet at Swan Lake

When I was five-years-old, I first discovered the beauty of ballet and longed to dance all day long in my pink tutu, silky little shoes and my unruly, curly hair tied firmly back into a bun. My mum sent me along to ballet classes at my insistence, but I soon lost interest and told the teacher I didn’t want to do it any more because it was boring (mainly because each week the class had new members and I was bored of repeating the basics). I never had the staying power, or probably the dancing talent, to make it to the big time. My mum’s hopes of a ballet dancing daughter were dashed when she took me to watch Sleeping Beauty and I fell asleep through the whole thing!

Despite this, I’ve always loved ballet and thought the dancers were just so elegant and effortlessly graceful – as so many of us aspire to be. So when I had the opportunity to write about young dancers from the area being given the opportunity to perform Swan Lake alongside international principal dancers from the English Youth Ballet on the Norwich stage, I was very excited to be offered tickets to review the performance for the newspaper as a thanks. I took along one of my best friends who also loves dance and was never far from her tap shoes growing up.

From the second the curtain went up, the dancers had the whole audience hanging on their every step and pirouette, from the very youngest right up to the principal dancers. I had no choice but to look on in awe as they completed routine after routine, each more complicated than the last with a gentle grace and the most delicate of footsteps.

As a writer I feel ashamed that I don’t think myself capable of finding the right words to describe how utterly stunning the performance was, but eyes sparkling with tears and emotion throughout the audience, and the riotous applause at the end said it all. I was overwhelmed by the amount of time and thought that had gone into every intricate step, lift and movement – all planned to the very finest detail. Particularly with the youngest dancers who had been selected locally to perform, these dancers had spent just two weeks training with the English Youth Ballet and yet you struggled to tell them apart from the professionals. There was some serious up-and-coming talent on that stage and the audience certainly agreed, bursting out into applause at the end of a particularly detailed routine or clapping longer and harder than any audience I have previously come across.

Both me and my friend were left speechless by the performance – the only words we could use to sum it up were “Wow” and quite frankly I’m not even sure I’m doing the production justice in this post. All I know is that I have firmly rediscovered my love of dance, particularly ballet, and that it has certainly inspired me to watch other ballet productions. I am now rather desperate to go and see Matthew Bourne’s all-male version of Swan Lake, which I’m sure is equally breathtaking. For those unsure of whether they would love ballet of not – I can’t tell you whether you would or not, but I had thought I would find it boring when in reality I was transfixed. I would recommend going at least once in your life for an experience that is completely incomparable to theatre or cinema.

Are you a lover or a hater of the ballet? And have you seen a production by the English Youth Ballet?

 

Review: She’s as cold as ice…

I seem to be spending more time in the theatre than anywhere else lately, not that I’m complaining when the quality of the shows is this high. After being lucky enough to see Once – The Musical last week, I was also treated to tickets to see The Snow Queen at the Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich on Friday night. I have to be honest and say that the production was seriously lacking, as was the acting.. But it was a funny little show and we found a lot of entertainment in one of the cast who was clearly taking the mickey out of the whole show. We normally go to the pantomime at the Theatre Royal but all the tickets were sold out on this occasion, nevertheless, it was a lovely evening out and nice to spend some festive time with the boyfriend’s family.

It also reminded me of how utterly creepy and terrifying the tale of The Snow Queen truly is. I remember being terrified of it as a child but couldn’t remember why until I saw it brought to life on stage – the combination of hating children, sapping all of sunlight and happiness out of the world and the ghosts of dead children coming up from under the ice brought it all flooding back to me! Not exactly a children’s story eh Hans Christian Anderson?

This production was the first I had seen at this little theatre and I have to say it definitely had the feeling of a school play where the teachers have stepped in because the children had forgotten their lines. I was in no way expecting a full-blown West End spectacular, but I have been to several other smaller theatres which have provided better staging and acting without hamming it up. I understood that it was a family production but I did feel that it became almost ridiculous as the characters ploughed onwards through the snow.

My highlight of the production was most definitely the red-headed chap who played the Prince and then later one of the robbers. I couldn’t tell in parts if he had been drafted late and didn’t really know what he was doing/couldn’t be bothered or was just taking the mickey out of the production – I came to the conclusion later that it was the latter! He was hilarious and was clearly trying to make the other actors laugh and fluff up their lines. Throw in some ridiculous facial expressions and a mock bow towards the end and I was in hysterics.

Perhaps the family aspect of the show was still there, the young kiddies sitting in front of me seemed to really enjoy it, although I think they were struggling to keep interest towards the end. Another highlight of the show was when one of these kiddies turned round and asked his mum very loudly “What’s a fraction?” – as if the show could get any scarier with complicated maths problems!

I’ll be honest and say I probably won’t be hurrying back to the Maddermarket Theatre, the theatre itself was too much like a school hall and I just felt that the whole thing could have been more polished like many of the other amateur productions I have seen, but I wouldn’t be completely pt off seeing another. Has anyone else seen productions at the theatre? What did you think?

 

Natty Beatts – Come Outside

A few weeks ago I wrote an article for the newspaper about a Norwich-based singer/rapper who had filmed her latest music video at Ringstead with a Hunstanton-based production team. Well the finished product has now been released and here it is. I’ll be honest, I’m not overwhelmed by the quality of the music video or the concept and personally expected more from it, but I love the song and Natty Beatt’s voice.

The article doesn’t focus much on Natty partly because I couldn’t get hold of her before we went to press and partly because she was based in Norwich, which is outside our patch. But, looking into her via Facebook, Twitter etc, she is a very interesting person. She’s a rapper and singer, who has helped create a rap battle competition that runs in the city, she also models, will be starring in a Great Yarmouth pantomime, works as a body coach and does other health related work. A busy girl! But sure seems like lots of fun from her posts.

Nice to write about and find some home-grown talent that actually caters for my type of music. So many of the Norfolk acts that I come across have more of a folky/rock sound, which is nice, but personally I prefer something I can dance to with a drum and bass edge.

What do you think of the song?

The best is yet to come – forgetting my post-festival blues

After a busy summer of travelling around the country, and further afield, to some really amazing festivals – much of which was spent either looking forward to the next event or enjoying the moment at one. I was left feeling pretty bereft when it hit me that there were no more as the season drew to a close. My excitement over my promotion to editor of This Festival Feeling helped to ease my post-festival blues for a short time as the thought of next summer’s festivals sent a thrill down my spine.

But now that too has eased and one must think ahead to the wintery months ahead in which I plan to continue dancing and raving with the same good friends I spent my summer with. It’s funny, during the day I’m the sort of girl that loves vintage clothes, acoustic music and a good book. But at night, I’m the girl who lives in her denim shorts and bum bag, and dances until the sun rises in trainers.

Right now, it is just two weeks until I do just that in Norwich, when I will be seeing one of my favourite DJs, Sub Focus, playing at the University of East Anglia. I downloaded his new album just yesterday and have yet to listen to it, but I think it will definitely spice up my workout and drive to work this week. Here is the video for one of my favourite songs by him, it’s just one that always gets me dancing and singing along.

He headlined the dance stage at Glastonbury this year, and I was gutted he wasn’t at Hideout Festival. I have seen him before at UEA and it was an amazing night, I’m sure it will be even more so this time because we are taking along some amazing friends, and joining in a Zombie Fun Run during the day! There are still tickets available here if anyone else is interested! I’ll be sure to post a review of the night afterwards.

And a day of traditional seaside fun, with a little extra work!

Today was spent at sunny Hunstanton, where I was a determined woman. After a day off enjoying Norwich, I had plenty to be getting on with at our beach hut. My family own a beautiful beach hut at Old Hunstanton, quite close to the lifeboat station, which we bought as a ruin and have done up ourselves. Now, although I admit I am biased, I would argue that it is easily the best looking beach hut on the whole beach!

The beach hut means a lot to our family, we have always been big lovers of the seaside and as kids spent every weekend at a different beach, but always heading back to Old Hunstanton, which was a particular favourite. My parents bought the hut when I was around 14-years-old, a perfect time for  us to still spend every weekend there, for me to help painting and decorating it, and for us to full it with buckets, spades and all the rest of the traditional beach paraphernalia. It came in handy when, shortly after, my nan was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer which quickly took hold of her body and weakened her severely. No longer could she clamber across the sand dunes with ease, but she still longed to go to the seaside with her family. Having the beach hut, especially so close to the road, meant she could easily get down there and sit within the hut to keep warm and sheltered from the weather but still wouldn’t miss out on a second of family time.

Sadly, she died a year after being diagnosed, when I was 16, but I’m pleased to say we made the most of every last second and that hut carries so many wonderful memories for the whole family. We have since redecorated it and have recently had to have further work done on some rotten beams and weather-beaten parts. This meant a further repainting was required to smarten it up and a bit and I thought I would post some pictured of the progress on here for you all to see.

 

    

Here I am painting away – actually painted from 10.30am to 4.30pm without taking a break! Special attention went to the doors and detailing, while my dad worked on the larger areas and touching up the varnish on the decking.

 Here he is hard at work!

After working for hours in the beautiful sunshine, we started to pack everything away before grabbing fish and chips as a treat and got comfy for the sunset.

    

Despite all the hard work, I still made sure that I had time to find sandcastles on the beach, to walk down the hastily retreating tide and pick blackberries. Just some of my favourite things to do at the seaside – and of course, squeezed in an ice cream! It was a fantastic day and so nice to spend with my parents and grandfather. There is still a bit of work left to do on the beach hut, but it should be finished inside and out by next weekend – I will post better pictures then of both inside and outside. And hopefully, the weather will hold so that my photographer friend has time to organise a photo shoot there!

A day of vintage shopping and exploring off the beaten track in my favourite city

After a week of stressing about lots of little things, it was time to unwind over the weekend by spending a little time with my loved ones and trying something different. Saturday was spent in Norwich with my boyfriend, after waking up first thing, we decided to head to the city for a day of browsing the lanes – neither of us needing to buy anything just fancying a look around the city in the sunshine.

First of all we went to the Patisserie for a drink and some gateaux – I indulged in the double chocolate, while Mark went for the chocolate mousse combined with fruit smoothies and chocolate milkshakes. Absolutely delicious – I can never resist this place because all of the cakes look so gorgeous.

After, we headed into the lanes where we wandered among the cobbled streets for hours, popping into little boutique and vintage shops, found adorable cafes and delis that we had never seen before, including one that was selling a type of venison salami. The sun came out in force and it was a beautiful day, which only added to the feeling of being on holiday – I love when you rediscovered a place so familiar to yourself just by wandering off the beaten track.

After a few hours, we suddenly came across this huge vintage and antiques shop, Looses Emporium, which looked incredible. We were instantly sucked in and began to explore the enormous warehouse and its contents. We found some amazing items – mainly furniture that made me wish I were moving out so I could fill my home with these unique pieces – but also books, clothes, ornaments and much, much more. Here are some of my favourites:

A vintage Lotto machine..

A throne!

Obviously need one of these for above the mantlepiece!

Still in perfect working condition – such a beautiful tone to the music that you just don’t get from iPods etc…

As suggested by my friend – a sex gong! Haha

And my favourite item of the day – a classic novel..

Then, after two and a half hours of exploring (which included a flea market we found upstairs where Mark bought the purple 50’s bowling bomber as pictured above and an original 1960’s kimono), we moved on to Aladdin’s Cave, which was just down the street where I had to persuade Mark not to buy a life-size statue of Jesus for his new living room.

Both stored were amazing for one-off pieces and for finding something a little different, something we both love to do. Mark is moving into a new house, that his mum and step-dad are renovating in order to rent out, with one of his mates at the start of November and he is really excited to furniture shop for his own home. The place he shares now with two friends is filled with furniture and items that don’t belong to Mark, either to the others or they were given to the boys. He is definitely getting to that point where he wan’t to have a home to call his own and to have all his own things, rather than just a room in a house.

It was an amazing day and nicely rounded off with a meal in a Tapas restaurant we discovered which had the most amazing food. We shared a selection of dishes including Patatas Bravas, prawns in garlic and oil, mozzarella sticks in breadcrumbs with garlic mayonnaise, meatballs in a tomato sauce with peas, and a phenomenally tasty chorizo, bacon, and pea stew in a smoky tomato sauce that fired up my taste buds.

It was so nice to spend a day with Mark, just the two of us, exploring somewhere we both love. We haven’t had enough couple time lately and haven’t appreciated each other as much as we should so it was nice to be together away from everything and everyone at home.

Networking: Making new friends at the #EABloggerParty

On Friday night I headed to the beautiful city of Norwich in the rain with two photographer friends and a fellow blogger to the first East Anglia Bloggers Party, organised by the fabulous and lovely Gemma Seager – the woman behind Retrochick.

(From left, Mike Chivers of Rebel Heart Photography, myself, Victoria Arndt of Faerie Wishes and Emily Nichols, another photographer)

Gemma had organised the cocktail party as a chance for bloggers and creative types to meet in person instead of just online and it was a great way of developing a community between Norfolk writers.

Here I am hobnobbing with some of the fabulous writers I met at the party (pics courtesy of Rebel Heart Photography) over some gorgeous 241 cocktails – my favourite was the Freak Friday, although I rather enjoyed a raspberry Bellini as well!

 

It was a really lovely party, Gemma had gone to so much effort in organising goody bags, a raffle and tights competition, and I meet some lovely women. It was refreshing to go into a room of women with such a wonderful atmosphere, everyone just wanted to make friends and hear about your work. Talking about what I do also made me realise the value of all my work by seeing it through other people’s eyes. It is very easy to forget or underestimate yourself when you don’t take a step back to put all your work into perspective.

It was also fantastic to finally meet the woman behind Retro Chick – one of my favourite blogs and Gemma is such an inspiration for turning her passion for writing and all things vintage into a career – when she couldn’t find the job she wanted, she created it.

I’m really looking forward to the next gathering and keeping in contact with the bloggers I met.

For the tights competition, we had to choose a pair to take home and wear, then getting a picture of ourselves and posting them on our blogs to stand a chance of winning a hamper. Here’s my offering – and I love the tights I ended up with – gorgeous lace print!

The tights are by Pamela Mann – http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/brands/pamela-mann/