Grace Petrie in Leeds

On the 24th of May I was going to see Grace Petrie in Leeds with Sam and Jodie. But before that Lee and I had to go into town to buy a suitcase for my mum for her birthday, so we had a wander round too. There was something going on in the town centre which made it quite busy, but we first of all went up the arcade so we could go into Fosters bookshop and the record shop. In the bookshop they had some mystery boxes of books for £8, so I took a chance and bought one. Lee bought a record in the record shop. We needed some lunch but not loads, so we went into a cafe on the arcade. Lee had soup and a sandwich and I had a sandwich which came with crisps and salad and coleslaw. It was good, we've never been in that cafe before but liked it. 

We went into the market and got my mum's suitcase, had a look round a couple of other places, but then headed home because Lee was going out at 2pm. There was an all day gig on in Sheffield that he had tickets for, so he set off out. I chilled out until 4pm when I got dressed and headed to Leeds.

Sam and Jodie and I had planned to eat at Lupe's Cantina so I drove there, but when I got there Sam and Jodie were outside because they didn't have any tables. So that was a bit annoying but maybe we should have booked. We decided to go to My Lahore which isn't too far away so I drove us there. We got in there fine. I've been to the one in Bradford but not the Leeds one before. 

We all had samosa chaat to start with and then I had a vegetable biryani. It was a special one - it had potatoes in too and it had like a paratha baked on top. It was really nice but very filling, so I only ate half of it and brought the rest home. It came with raita too. We also shared a jug of mango lassi. The food was nice, and cheap enough. 

We drove up to the Irish Centre at about 7pm and joined the queue, at the front for accessibility. I haven't been there before and it's a weird place, right off a dual carriageway. But it has a big car park so that was good. We got in and sat on some of the banquettes at the back of the main room. The support act was Jasmine, who is in Grace's band. She's from the area which I hadn't realised, and she was good, we enjoyed her. 

I saw my friend Phoenix, who had also been at Patrick Wolf just ten days before, so it was nice to see him again. Grace took the stage and was brilliant, as always. Then I also realised my friend Ingrid was also there! They were at the bar so I went over to speak to them too. Sam and Jodie had to leave before the end of the gig because they had to get the last train back to Huddersfield, but I stayed and it was a good gig! Grace is a brilliant protest singer and we need more of her, I think. Afterwards, I spoke to Phoenix again briefly and then Ingrid came over too, which was nice. I spoke to Ben, Grace's fiddle player and all round excellent human, and then set off home. 

I got home about 11.30 and got into bed, but Lee wasn't back because there was a gig he had wanted to see who didn't finish until midnight. So he got home closer to 1am and I made sure he was okay but was falling asleep so I told him I would speak to him in the morning and went to sleep! 

It has been nice to see so many gigs in such a short amount of time, and there was one still to come when I wrote this post. I'm not sure why so many people were touring but it was good! 

I was wearing my new Springsteen t shirt that I got at the gig previously, I love it. Someone in the queue at the Grace gig told me they liked it and had been there in Manchester too!

The mystery box I got. The other choice was crime and thriller, which I do also read a lot of... 

This is what I got inside and I am SO impressed. Four of them are hardbacks! They all look so interesting and I will have to get to them soon

Samosa chaat, it was spicy and tangy and delicious

My baked biryani

I got these Converse off Vinted, as usual. For eight quid! I couldn't believe it. I had been wanting to try some of the ones with zips and was happy to get these. The zips and the logo on the inside edge are pink, and the rest of a kind of bluey purple. I like them! And they are easy to get on and off

Sam and Jodie look like perfectly normal human beings and I.... do not

And there's Grace and her band!