Two Gigs over the Summer

I went to two gigs over the summer and they both featured Peter Doherty. 

First of all, he played a solo gig in Sheffield, at Crookes Social Club, which was the most random venue ever, but fine. I would have gone by myself but then my friend Jo messaged me and asked if I wanted to go, so I of course said yes and got us two tickets. On the day itself, I drove to Jo's house near Meadowhall and she drove us to Crookes because she knew the area better than I did. We managed to park just opposite the tour bus, and then we went and joined the queue. We wanted to be there early to get seats. We got in, at first looked at the seats at the back, but then went and sat on one of the banquettes down the side, so we weren't too far from the stage. The club has a distinct 1970s faded air to it, but that kind of suits Peter perfectly so I wasn't too fussed. 

I met Jo through The Libertines and we were at York St John at the same time twenty years ago, but I hadn't seen her in about ten years. So it was nice to catch up! Peter came on first and played three songs, to warm himself and the crowd up, and then there was a support guy who was fine, I guess, nothing too offensive. Jo and I chatted. Then Peter and his band came on! There was Mike Joyce from the Smiths playing drums which was quite exciting, he was good. The set was really fun and joyful and I had a really good time. I bought a t shirt on the way out in this gorgeous purple colour, and Jo got a different one. 

Two weeks later, I saw The Libertines at The Piece Hall in Halifax. I had arranged to go with Lucinda and Sam, ages ago, so the three of us sorted out when and where to meet in Halifax on the Friday. Lucinda arrived into Barnsley train station so I went to pick her up, and then we got some lunch and ate that at my house before Lee took us to the village station for a train to Huddersfield. We had over 40 minutes to wait before our train to Halifax so we left the station and went to the Hive opposite for a drink. It's a workers co op and I had heard of it but I had never been before. It's really LGBTQ+ inclusive and cool so I would love to go back to eat there. I had a hot chocolate which was nice.

We went back into the station and caught our train to Halifax. It was better for me to not have to worry about parking in Halifax as I don't know it very well. We had arranged to go to a Sri Lankan restaurant a bit of a walk away so Lucinda and I got into a taxi to go up there as Halifax is all hills and I knew I couldn't walk up that far. We were a bit early so we hung around on the street for a few minutes before it opened. 

My friend Courtney was visiting from Texas to see the Libs and we had talked about eating together, but she decided to stay close to the Piece Hall. But then my friend Rachael was around so I told her to come up, and she ended up meeting Sam on the way up so they arrived together! 

The restaurant was really lovely but service was really slow which was annoying. I had a mojito which was somehow too sugary and minty at the same time, and jackfruit biryani. I don't really like jackfruit - I've tried it a few times but it's just not for me. But it was the only veggie option on the menu. I did enjoy the rice and the curry and the egg on top, I just left most of the jackfruit. 

When we had finished it was maybe 6.30ish so we all headed down to the Piece Hall. I've been a bunch of times but not for ages, and not as a gig venue. Sam had been though so she knew how it worked and where the benches are etc. The three of us had a different entrance to Rachael but then they let us all go in at hers, which was good and better for me as I'd walked a long way by then. We got in and found two benches to sit on the ends of. 

Rachael went off for a drink and discovered there was churro stall! All gigs should have churro stalls! She brought a portion back for us to share, they were delicious. The first support act was a young woman and she was kind of fine, nothing offensive. Peter came on stage to sell copies of his zine so Rachael skipped off to get one for me, I really wanted a copy of the first one but wasn't able to, so I'm excited for the second one.

The second support act were called Gans and they were pretty terrible and far too bass heavy. I read my book on my tablet. The sun had gove from above so it wasn't too warm, so I was glad I had taken a jumper and my hoodie to sit on. I had them both on by the time the Libs came on at 9pm. 

They were really good - they were fast and tight and sounded good. Carl was in a good mood which seemed to lift everyone else too. But they had only been playing for a bit when they had to go offstage for some reason... Which was weird. It turned out some people at the front were being crushed so they wanted to make sure there wasn't any injuries or anything of course. The Libs came back on only a few minutes later and didn't appear to miss anything out of their set, which was good. I enjoyed it, especially being with Sam and Lucinda (Rachael had found herself a spot much nearer the front). 

Afterwards we met up with Sarah and Courtney and spoke for a few minutes before heading to the train station where we had a taxi booked. Courtney was staying in Huddersfield so she came with us. I haven't seen her in about fifteen years! Lee picked me and Lucinda up in Huddersfield - thankfully, as the last trains are so early, it's ridiculous. We just went to bed when we got back! 

I love this band so much, and a lot of their solo stuff, and I will say it every time that I would not be the same person without them. I wouldn't know Lucinda OR Sam OR Rachael - I met them all online 20 years ago when I got into the Libs and I love them all so much and it was so good to go to a gig with them!

Here's a bunch of photos:

Peter at the beginning doing his warm up three songs. I could honestly listen to him play most songs by himself on a guitar

And here he is with the full band

Here's my t shirt, which I have worn a couple of times but haven't managed to get a photo of it worn yet

Then two weeks later:

Here's Lucinda and I on the train to Huddersfield

Here is me, Cinders, Rachael and Sam in the restaurant 

My hot chocolate in the Hive

Weird mojito... we had some wine in the gig too

My curry, glad I went for the egg on it

Churros with Nutella! Delicious! I could have eaten them all but didn't 

Just as the band came on

Getting a bit darker...

And so on! 

Weekend in Barrow-on-Furness

At the beginning of August I headed up to Barrow-in-Furness for the weekend. Charlie, who used to live in Leeds and used to come to clothes swaps and stuff, moved up there quite a few years ago, so I haven't seen her since then although we're still friends on social media etc. For the past year and a bit I think she has been battling breast cancer and she has been declared No Active Disease, so she was throwing a party to celebrate! I wanted to go anyway but of course because my mum has battled breast cancer again this year I really wanted to go and donate some money. Then it turned out that Lolly, Gary, and Franklin would be on holiday nearby so they were going to go too, so it was ideal. I booked a single hotel room in Barrow for myself. 

I have a friend, Rachael, who lives in Carlisle, so I asked if she wanted to meet me on the Saturday, and she agreed and booked her train tickets. Lolly and I arranged to have brunch on the Sunday before I set off home, and it was all set. 

Then Kiki needed to go to the vet on Friday morning, as an emergency, because she seemed to have a bit of a water infection. She is fine, and had some painkillers. But it meant I was a bit later setting off than I wanted to. I ran into a bit of traffic too, which was annoying. I stopped for some lunch at some place or other, and managed to avoid a traffic jam. When I got to Barrow I couldn't find my hotel to start off with, so it was nearly 4pm by the time I actually checked in. I was tired by then!

My room didn't have a window in it - the window was in the bathroom so I could have it open and let some air in, but I did also shut the bathroom door at night so it made it nice and dark for when I was sleeping. It was fine, I really didn't need a fancier hotel room, but it did look a lot like my room in university halls. I laid down for a bit and watched crap TV which was fine, and read my book. 

I'm guessing it was about 6.30 when I set out again. I wanted to find like a Zizzi or something, a chain restaurant where I could sit and read my book and have some food without being bothered. However, Barrow appears to not have anything like this AT ALL. There was a KFC and a McDonalds but I didn't want either of those; I wanted to sit in for a bit. I drove around and around and was considering just going into Tesco for snacks or a sandwich, but then I saw on my map that there was a Starbucks. The directions took me round the houses and I ended up back at the bloody Tesco. I swear to god, I was just cursed. BUT Starbucks was near Asda and I eventually found it. I had a veggie sausage sandwich and a coffee, and got a coffee to take away too. 

I went back to the hotel and watched more rubbish telly and did some of my cross stitch. A family had arrived and were in two or three rooms and they kept knocking on each other's doors, so that was annoying, especially when they kept doing it after midnight. I put my earplugs in and went to sleep, but they woke me up before 8am which I was not thrilled about!

I went down and had some breakfast, which was not that inspired but it was fine, so whatever, and then I relaxed in my room for a bit. Rachael had been told her trains were cancelled, but she managed to get on different ones and I picked her up at the station at about 11.30. We decided to go to Piel Island. We were hoping to get on a boat to see some seals, so we joined the queue on the jetty. But the seal trip was full so we waited for the other boat which goes to Piel Island only. It was a tiny boat but a pretty fun trip. it was only a few minutes though! The island is tiny, it has a pub, a ruined castle, and about four houses on it. 

We went into the pub and both got cheesy chips and sat inside to eat them. We sat for a bit in the sunshine and then queued to get the boat back. By this point it was coming up to 3pm so we decided to go to Stollers, this furniture shop, for cake. I had had it recommended to me and had been past it the night before (it's near Starbucks). I had a strawberry trifle and a coffee. We left just after 4pm and I took Rachael back to the train station to go home. It was nice to spend such a long time with her though! 

I popped into Tesco to get some sushi and snacks for later, as I knew there wasn't food at the party and wasn't sure how hungry I would be. I got back to my hotel room and laid in the bed to have a nap, but couldn't sleep. I rested instead, though, which was good. About 6.15 I started to get ready for the party. I wore the same dress that I had worn to Prashad the previous week and I had taken lots of glitter to wear as make up to celebrate! I found some contact lenses in my bag so put them in, and went to town with glitter and gems. As you can see, I had caught the sun during the day! 

I left the hotel about 7pm and walked round to the party venue. It was close enough for me to walk. I was one of the first people there so got to talk to Charlie which was lovely. Lolly and Gary turned up not too long after me. The bar had created two special cocktails to raise money - a Pink Colada and a Cherry Sour. Lolly and I both had a Pink Colada to start off with. We bought raffle tickets and then a piece of Polish strawberry cake each, all of which was to raise money too. Gary bought a copy off the quiz so we filled that in. 

Around 9pm Charlie drew the raffle and one of my tickets was drawn, so I got to choose a prize. I went for a bottle of Mumm champagne because I bloody love champagne! I'll save it for a special occasion. Lolly and Gary left about 9.30. I talked to Charlie and a woman called Lou who also used to come to clothes swaps, so it was nice to see her. I got back to the hotel about 10.45 which was perfect for me. I had had quite a few of the Cherry Sours, they were lovely! I again didn't sleep amazingly due to loud people (maybe the same loud people, although I don't think they were) and woke up about 8am again.

I decided to make my life easier for the next day by having a shower as I had time, and then I packed up my stuff and left the hotel just after 10am. I then drove to Industry Kitchen where I was having brunch with Lolly and Gary and Franklin. It's only small and it was busy, so I had to wait, but then I got a booth table so sat down. The others arrived about 11am and we ordered food. I went for shrooms on toast which were delicious, with pesto and hummus and other stuff on. Lolly gave me one of her hash browns, too. Then I had millionaire's shortbread too which was yummy. 

I set off home about midday and got home in really good time, I was home before 3pm and laid down for a nap! This is the longest post on earth but no matter, here's all the photos:

My hotel room, definitely halls vibes

I also had alcohol and snacks on hand, too 

Oh yeah I drove out to Biggar Island when I was driving to try to find food, and took some photos of the sea

And the Lake District hills in the distance 

Here's Saturday when we were standing on the jetty waiting for boat. The water was so clear and I would have loved a paddle

The jetty, looking towards Piel Island

Rachael and I on the boat

Looking back as we were on the way

And looking forward. It was a tiny boat!

The wind had whipped up my hair so I tied it up while on the island to keep it out of the way, I was not impressed

Queueing at the top of the jetty to go back

Standing on the jetty waiting, I'm so glad the weather was nice because it made it much nicer for us

On the way back

Rachael 

Strawberry trifle which was only okay, but not to worry

Here I am all make up and glitter, ready for the party

The roof of the party venue had all these really cute umbrellas

Polish strawberry cake

A cherry sour cocktail, they were fizzy and delicious

Lolly and I 

And here we are with the party girl herself, Charlie. She was looking really good!

Champagne that I won!

And here's Charlie singing the Pokemon theme song as karaoke, haha

Finally, here's my brunch of mushrooms on toast

And the millionaires slice afterwards!

Films of the Month - July

Again a rubbish month for films! I only managed seven in thirty-one days! But here's what I did see:

I've been meaning to watch I'm Not There since it came out in literally 2007. I can remember reading all about Cate Blanchett, mostly, playing Bob Dylan, and I was intrigued, but I just hadn't got round to it. But I'm making my way through all of Heath Ledger's films and this is obviously one of them, so I finally got round to it and I liked it a lot

Lee and I watched Reservoir Dogs together. I have seen it before but not for ages. I always like it, it's a classic for a reason

A WEEK later Lee and I watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, it was a Friday so we watched it over tea. I love it, it's always funny

I've never seen The Damned Utd but I was reminded of it while reading about something - can't remember what now - so watched it. Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall were good, and I generally liked it

I also read somewhere about this biopic of Morrissey and I'm not sure how it had passed me by before. I like The Smiths but obviously don't like Morrissey's racist beliefs, but I was interested to see this anyway. I liked it, it's a good story. I could have used more Johnny Marr though

Next in my run of Heath Ledger films I watched Candy, which I've never seen before and hadn't even heard of. I liked it, but it was hard to watch at times. It's about heroin addicts so like what do you expect. I probably wouldn't watch it again though

And finally Lee and I watched Back to the Future again because I felt like it was a while since we had seen it!