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Another (concert-) day
Had a rather rough awakening Saturday morning. Although I love hotels and hotel-beds, I sometimes wake up not knowing exactly where I am, and most importantly, I don’t know the size of the bed – cause it’s always different.
Basically, I thought I was just rolling over to a less warm part of the bed, but…. ended up rolling RIGHT down on the floor – landing between the bed and the wall, almost knocking my head in the bedside table, BAM!!! What the f…..?! GOOD MORNING to me. Ouch!
But the questionably wonderful morning didn’t stop there. When I opened the drapes, it was raining cats and dogs…! Of course. It’s Britain. :) I waited for a while but then I decided to go out anyway, I couldn’t just sit in a hotel room all day. After all, I was prepared – had my raincoat and all.
Just before I left the room, I saw that Ronnie (who’s one of the few people who’s been reading my stuff online since the very beginning, my first ever website, then MySpace and now this) left a message saying that I was apparently in his “hood” so to speak. Always nice to actually meet people in real life after having talked a bit back and forth for a few years. :)
So, he was already in Manchester when I texted to say where I was at. Before I even had time to open the text-reply, the guy had already found his way to Boots where I had just been shopping a few things! :)
I ended up having my personal Manchester-guide! Took a long walk, had a burger on the way, and then when we finally got to Manchester Apollo, he was going to show me how to find my way back to my hotel after the show. Picadilly station was close, so I figured I’d take the train just one station – at least I knew how to find my way back from there. Once we were at the station, I saw there was a STARBUCKS!
Sooo – of COURSE I HAD to have my Mocha Frappucino. :)) I should start writing down how many different countries I’ve enjoyed a Mocha Frappucino in. Ronnie was very british with his cup of tea (what else?) haha.
Went back to the Apollo and got in line. Ronnie kept me company a while, until the line started filling up and he hadn’t planned on going to the show anyway.
Like I said to my friend Mari earlier today, this is one of the best things about travelling alone – you get to meet new people. If you’re travelling with friends, you don’t get the same natural opportunity, so this is great.
Once again I experienced the polite british crowd. I stood there, front row – ALWAYS front row – and there was a little bit of space between me and the girl next to me. Had this been in Sweden – you would have had some drunk asshole pushing his way to get that spot, regardless who he might end up hitting or shoving in the process. HERE it was more like…. first there was a hand on the barrier – then I heard this male voice saying: “Excuse me…. is it okay if I hold my hand here?”
Uh – what? I’m not used to people asking, they usually just act like Terminators, moving (or re-moving….) everything that gets in their way…! It felt almost like a private show, I didnt notice anyone really – nobody headbanging, flapping his/her hair in my face, nobody jumping on my toes, nobody going bezerk at the barriers, it was so civilized I could barely believe it!
The show? That was described in the blog from yesterday, but here are some more videos! :-)
After the show I went to the station and guess what – trains were NOT running anymore! What the f….?! I specifically ASKED when I was there earlier that day, and now I had a ticket that I wouldn’t be able to use.
One of the station employees offered to show me the way to Oxford road. It was the sweetest, nicest thing. I thought he would just go to the entrance and then point me in the right direction, but he walked with me for a good five-ten minutes until we got to a street that led STRAIGHT to Oxford Rd! Another good reason to travel alone – you get to meet nice people like that.
Can’t believe Ronnie spent half his day walking me around Manchester too, so its very cool to get to know all these great people!
Well…. sleepy time here. Next trip is High Voltage. I think. Something might prevent me from going but I still don’t know for sure. I hope I will be able to go, I really want to. Would want to see Thunder and Skin, two bands that we are not likely to see in Sweden anytime soon.
One of my favorite songs by Thunder…:
We’ll see what happens.
Judas Priest ROCKED Manchester!
At Manchester airport, got here way too early because the cellphone clock somehow changed BACK to Swedish time (WTF???!) so now I’ve got some time to kill.
I will write more about my journey when I get home, with this limited internet time you get at airports, it feels like you have to hurrrryyy to get anything done.
But to just say something about last night’s concert…. GOD how it was worth coming here!! I didn’t have any expecations at all, cause like I said before, Queensryche were terrible at Sweden Rock, Judas Priest sucked big time at Sweden Rock and Graspop in Belgium. They got their energy back in Thessaloniki, Greece, but I didn’t dare to hope that they would KEEP that energy throughout the rest of the tour.
[Queensryche last night at Manchester Apollo]
So I went there yesterday thinking “…what the hell… It’s better than staying at home watching TV…”. But then Queensryche did their thing and although they’ve never really been an entertaining live band, at least they didn’t suck. It sounded good, and Geoff Tate was in a much better vocal shape than he was at Sweden Rock – thank god. Technically, they have always been impressive, so I’m not surprised about that, but all in all, I was pleasently surprised.
Then – PRIEST time…..
All I can say is that they blew me away. Holy shit. I guess that FESTIVALS are not their thing. When it was THEIR stage, THEIR show – they certainly knew how to work it!
I realized that I’d been smiling the whole time, when my facial muscles began to ache! Crazy! :)) But I was enjoying it 100%.
Rob sounded way better than he did at the earlier shows – and not only that, he was in a fantastic mood, was smiling, communicating with the crowd – it was just such a pleasure to see! Same thing goes for the rest of the band.
Glenn was jumping around, smiling, just simply having fun and it was so evident. Scott also. I was zooming in on him to take a photo, and just when I saw him perfectly through my lens, he did this funny gesture to let me know that he had seen me and I started laughing so much that I forgot to take the damn picture! He just looked so funny in that particular moment, then when he saw me laugh, he started laughing too. :)
[Ha! Looks like I did take a pic of Scott after all, without realizing it, must have been his first attempt to get me to realize that he saw my “paparazzi”-ing…!]
I think maybe this was the perfect venue for Priest. It was just the right size and close enough to the crowd to create that exchange of energy that makes a good show. When the band and their crowd actually get to interact, when they SEE eachother – not just from FAR away from a huge festival stage. This was totally different.
For the first time this summer, it actually looked like the band was enjoying playing together and they just loved being at Manchester Apollo. I haven’t felt that at ALL at the other shows.
Well, so much more to be said, but I’ll leave it at that for now and continue when I get home. And I got to meet one of those guys who’s been reading my stuff for YEARS, cool to meet in person as well! :) Well,,, as usual: I’ll be back!
At Manchester Apollo
Front row waiting for Priest! :-) Queensryche just finished their set. More later…..:-)
Day of decadence
Made it to Manchester, UK. I honestly didn’t even know if I’d been here before. But everything was effortless for a change – no drama like in Greece or the Sonisphere/Heathrow experience. :
Bought a train ticket at the airport, was going to Oxford Road, and didn’t know what to choose “off peak”? “Regular”? What’s the difference? I took the most expensive one for £5 just to be sure not to have any problems, and £5 pounds wasn’t so bad. Turns out I had bought a First Class ticket, so the lady that checked my ticket said I was welcome to go and sit in the First Class section if I wanted to. Nah. Didn’t feel like moving, I had a good seat right where I was.
And Ronnie – if you’re reading this – the trains are STILL clean and they are running on time, so I guess that your “alternate universe Britain” is still alive and kicking, lol!
Had no idea what to expect of Manchester. I don’t have any references that I can think of, no particular memories, people I know that are from there or anything… So when I finally arrived, right in the heart of the city, it was like a mini-New York! :-)
My first impression was that it had a very young and modern vibe, people everywhere, theaters, casinos, restaurants, just a high tempo. Really nice city, I can’t wait to explore it further today. It was raining when I got here, and I was tired so I had no plans to go anywhere yesterday. It was late in the evening anyway.
My plan was to just treat myself like a queen and create my own little luxury den in my hotel room. :) THIS was plan number one:
Red wine (got two cause it was 2 for the price of 1) a few snacks…. Not exactly WeightWatchers-evening, but sometimes you’ve got to just LIVE…! :-)
Plan number two was this:
And plan number 3 was plain and simple:
The hotel is great. My room is the cleanest, most spotless hotel room I’ve ever seen! It’s as if it was built yesterday! I couldn’t find anything dirty in here if I TRIED – even the bath tub and sink were perfectly clean, brand new. Bed was ridiculously comfortable. :-)
Had tea right before bedtime, there’s a kettle in here – even THAT is brand new! You know what they usually look like after a year or so… Yeah. I would recommend this place to anyone, great location, great value for the money, clean, easy check-in…! And no, nobody paid me to say that, lol! Oh, it’s Premier Inn by the way.
It’s still pissing down. Sigh… Well, I knew it might, after all, this is England. So I’m prepared – brought my raincoat. :) I AM going sightseeing! And later this evening… JUDAS PRIEST! :))
Off to Manchester, UK for more JUDAS PRIEST
Off to Manchester (UK) tomorrow for more Judas Priest. Queensryche opening. I can only hope that Priest will be anywhere NEAR the shape they were in the last time I saw them in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Or that the horribly embarrassing performance by Queensryche at Sweden Rock Festival was just a temporary thing. It was so bad, that I couldn’t even watch it, I had to leave.
So, a few questionmarks still, but this will be the first REAL Priest-show (for me) this year, that isn’t just a summer-festival appearance, so I’m sure it will be a different experience. We’ll see.
Regardless the concerts, I still love the travelling. It’s like a drug, I get so restless and low when I have to stay home for too long doing nothing. I need the atmosphere of an airport – which is what I think of as the only free zone where all people are the same. No racism belongs there because we are all either visitors or we are about to become visitors somewhere. I absolutely love seeing all these different kinds of people from all corners of the world, all in that one spot called an “airport”. It’s like a mini-version of our planet right there.
I love the takeoffs, when the plane starts to speed and you’re being pushed back in your seat right before it goes up in the sky and you can look out the window at what you’re leaving, for however long… It’s a kick.
It’s just that whole sense of freedom, that the whole world is…available. It’s there, just waiting to be explored. I might not get to see all the “touristy” things of every city. Sometimes all I get to see is pretty much the same as the bands: Airport. Hotel. Venue.
But if I choose to go one day earlier, at least I get to see something more than that. I love anything that’s OLD, I’m a history freak. But even if I don’t get to see that either, I’m happy just to be able to walk around feeling the vibe of a city.
Last month I went to Munich (Germany), Luxembourg and Belgium. This month I visited Greece and London/Knebworth and now Manchester is up next. Next month it will be Gdansk in Poland and Skanderborg in Denmark. September Southampton, Manchester and Glasgow over in the UK, then Split in Croatia. And October Tampa (St Pete) Florida (USA), Atlanta and NYC.
After that, I haven’t made any plans. I wonder if I will even be able to just stay home and do nothing. Once you start living like this, it’s very hard to stop.
It wasn’t in the stars for me to make it with my own music, so I’m not out there touring with my own band – which is what I would have loved to do more than anything.But I can still be out there seeing the world, feeling the energy of a crowd by being a part of it. When it comes down to it, it’s all about the love of music. That’s all it is. Music is my greatest love and it always will be.
And life is good. :-D
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 