August Gigs Round-Up

Welcome to August’s instalment of monthly posts all about what gigs I have been to. 

Private Life @ The Monarch

You may remember these guys being mentioned in July’s gigpost. They were back this month at The Monarch. This time I brought along a big bunch of friends (6 of us altogether), and they all loved Private Life! Make sure you give them a like over on Facebook to keep up-to-date with more gigs.

Secret Cinema Presents Star Wars Episode V @ Secret Location

Not quite a gig, but I feel it needs a mention. Words cannot even begin to describe this event! I would urge you all to grab yourselves tickets and go, even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, but it finishes today. I’d only seen Episode IV for the first time earlier this year, but I still had the most amazing time and was so sad to leave. The details the folks at Secret Cinema put into this is absolutely mind-blowing! The actors are all on top form, from the moment you check-in, to when you leave. I'm desperate to go back!

Visions Festival @ Various venues around Bethnal Green/Cambridge Heath/London Fields*

We only ended up seeing 1 band, and that was Toy who were bloody amazing, as usual! There’s just something about the lead singer that I find so mesmerising. I remember the first time I saw them play, quite a few years ago, upstairs at The Old Blue Last. It’s amazing to have seen them grow!

Demons of Ruby Mae @ Sebright Arms*

Yet another random, spare-of-the-moment Jukely gig. I’d listened to a few of Demons of Ruby Mae’s songs on Spotify and quite liked what I heard. Having never been to Sebright Arms before, I was excited to finally check it out. It’s a great little intimate venue underneath the pub bar. One of the support acts, Matt Wills, did a wicked medley of 90’s garage hits! Demons of Ruby Mae sound like they should be a heavy rock metal band, but they’re far from that. Lead singer, Jonny Gavin, has a wonderful voice that I could listen to forever.

V Festival @ Hyland Park in Chelmsford *

Jukely had announced a few weeks ago they would be releasing passes for Saturday and Sunday at V Festival. As soon as the passes went live the Thursday before, I was lucky enough to grab a pair in time. It was a scorcher of a day, and we managed to catch sets from James Bay, Tove Lo, Annie Mac, Hozier, Chvrches, Kasabian, Nero, and our personal favourite, Tom Jones!! You can read the full blog post here.

New Found Glory @ O2 Islington Academy*

My 15 year old self was crying inside when passes for NFG popped up on Jukely! These pop-punk legends did not disappoint, with a set full of so much energy! Lead singer Chad came bouncing onto the stage and didn't stop until it was time to bounce off again. I am so happy I have finally had the chance to see them!

Spector @ The Barfly

A big favourite of mine and Amy’s is Spector. This was our 4^th time this year seeing them play live. I swear, these boys just get better each time. There was some fantastic support from Hippo Campus, who I didn't realise I’d actually heard of before until they burst into their hit Little Grace.

The Correspondents @ The Old Queen’s Head

Any time I’ve been to see The Correspondents, it’s been a mad, crazy, amazing night. This night was no exception. There was a top notch DJ playing some old skool 90’s tunes to really get us into the mood. As soon as lead singer Mr Bruce hits the stage, you just can’t help but dance like crazy (although no one will ever dance as crazy as him!!). I'm really looking forward to catching them again in November, this time with their live band.

Be sure to check out my big gig post, with the reason why I attend so many live music events.

*These gigs I got passes to through Jukely. Click through using any of my links to get £10 off your first month!

DealSale App Review

You may remember a few weeks ago I made a little wishlist of items from the DealSale App. Well my 3 chosen items have arrived. Here’s what I picked.

First up is this sweet little crochet collar/cape. This originally caught my eye as I thought it would be a great and easy way of updating items that I've had in my wardrobe for a while. It’s great quality, especially for the incredibly cheap selling price ($3.85). The only thing that bothers me about it is that it’s quite wide, so looks a little strange layered over high necked dresses/tops. It’s best worn over a strappy dress, like my little orange polka dot one above.

How adorable is this kitty print dress, and in my favourite (and most worn) colour – Blue! I particularly love the cat print around the sleeve cuffs. Here, I'm wearing a size M, and it’s a little bit on the short side, but the elasticated waist means it’s comfortable to wear, even when I'm feeling bloated. You may have noticed a bit of an error with this dress. Yep, the print on the skirt is upside down! I contacted them about this and received a reply within 24 hours. DealSale do take returns, so if you’re unhappy with an item, you can just email them back for a refund or to exchange it for something else. As I was sent this dress for free, I wasn't too bothered about exchanging it. I'm just gonna make the upside down cat face look work for me. At least it’s the right way up when I look at it when I've got it on XD

I love these shorts! They’re soft and silky, and the colours are so beautifully vibrant. The elasticated waistline makes them so comfy, and the tie bow on the front helps with hiding that inevitable food baby! I can’t wait to pair these with thick woolly tights and soft winter jumpers this A/W. These shorts come in a variety of different patterns, including some cool skull print ones. At only $4.30, it’s tempting to grab one of each! They come in just the one size but the elasticated waist means they'll easily fit sizes 6-14.

Now, the actual app itself is really easy to navigate. It’s not currently available for Windows phones, but Amy kindly let me use her iPhone to download it and order these items. As I’m not used to using an iPhone, I was unfamiliar with the menu setups, but it does work in a pretty standard way (so I’m told). I found it quick and simple to use whilst on the go.

It's a free app, so why not give it a go. You're guaranteed to find something you like!

V Festival 2015 - Hylands Park

This may just be the best pass offer from Jukely yet! There was a pre-warning that passes would go live 2 days before, so I set myself a reminder and grabbed 2 passes for Saturday at Highlands Park in Chelmsford. After a bit of a palaver picking up our tickets, we finally made it into the site just in time for James Bay.

I’ve been a fan of James Bay since the beginning (Spotify even confirmed I was in the top 1% of users listening to him before the hype!) so it’s been great to see him grow and play to bigger audiences. After his set, that had everyone singing, we legged it to one of the tents to catch the end of Tove Lo’s set. Next, we wandered around the rest of the site, taking in the fairground rides and market stalls. We finally bought ourselves friendship bracelets, picked up some vintage accessories, and grabbed ourselves some tasty food!

Amy bought us some seafood and chicken paella, and a chorizo dish with rice. I definitely preferred the seafood to the chorizo – absolutely delicious! We sat in the shade eating and listening to The Courteeners' set from the main stage. Dessert came in the form of a Twister ice lolly from one of the many ice cream vans scattered around the site. Fed and watered, it was time to get our place for Hozier’s very much anticipated set. That man has such a beautiful voice, which was even more so in the glorious sunshine.

After Hozier’s set, we had to make a dash to the MTV stage where we managed to catch the last few songs from Chvrches. Their new stuff is sounding great! The crowds around this stage started to quickly fill up as next on was the legend that is Sir Tom Jones!! This was who me and Amy were most excited to see. His snazzy version of Sexbomb was probably my highlight of the festival, closely followed by Imelda May joining him on stage for a couple of songs. This made me exceptionally happy as we’d missed her own set earlier that day.

We joined the crowd at the main stage for a couple of Kasabian’s tunes before heading into the Arena tent for Nero’s spectacular lightshow! Their set was intensely epic, with only the 2 DJ’s silhouettes visible in front of a brightly lit perfect white triangle. Nero’s songs feature such amazing build-ups, they’re perfect for festivals with your bestest friends!

Did you go to V Festival? Who did you manage to catch?