Solo Female Concert Goer and Traveler

A blog about my experiences as a solo female concert goer and traveler.

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Google Does NOT Know Everything

I had to come to this crushing reality yesterday when I was working on my airport/train station to hostel/Airbnb document yesterday. It turns out, there is public transit in a suburb of one of the cities I’m visiting, although Google Maps gave me an error message when I tried to get from Point A to Point B. Good thing I sought out other resources (the public transit page of the city I’m visiting) and did not base my research solely on Google Maps.

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Did I Really Just Spend that Much in One Day?

So, a week ago I bought the majority of the museum and travel passes for the locations I’ll be visiting on International Concert Trip 2017 (ICT17 for short). That coupled with a VIP pass for a concert I am going to at the end of the year added up to more than I normally spend in a day (or week, and when I can control my shopping, month). In this case, it’s really not a bad deal because everything was concert and/or travel related and that is why the concert account exists. I still have a few more passes to buy, and of course food, other attractions, shopping, and the obligatory concert shirt once I am in the countries are not even part of that number so I will be spending a whole lot more on the trip.

[blacksheep773]

This Definitely Ain’t a Rock Show

So, I travelled to see The Summer Set, a pop-punk band, in concert because I wanted to see them and they were not coming to my city. There was only one date that really worked with my schedule and I took advantage of that. The bus ride there was very interesting because, on two different occasions, someone (or two different people) thought it was OK to smoke on the bus (the driver made them put the cigarette out both times). I was near the front of the bus because that’s where the better behaved people tend to be. We were an hour late getting to my final destination, but that was OK since I had still had plenty of time before the concert.

I got in line a little before the doors were scheduled to open. I decided to make a beeline for the stage rather than the march booth to have as good a spot as possible. Most of the people in front of me paid for VIP so I’d say I did OK with my spot. My spot got even better because I was talking to a mother and daughter before and during the acts. They travelled about two hours to get there and quickly became fascinated when they learned of my concert travels. Turns out the daughter has travelled abroad on trips with the marching band at her school and wants to major in International Relations when she goes to college (she is a junior in high school). 

It was obvious I was out of my element because I did not know some of the songs that were played in between acts or like the bands that everyone else did. I’m mainly into hard rock, and listen to absolutely no Top 40 music. As a result, when Justin Bieber and OneDirection were played, I had no idea what the fascination was or why everyone knew the words.  

The concert itself was great. The Summer Set definitely brought their A-game, since there was a lot of energy in the room. The fans were definitely into it too: singing along, screaming, and jumping up and down. After the show, I was pleasantly surprised that no one was reaching for a pick on the mic stand. I was in the third row, but inched my way through and grabbed one. That opened up the door for someone else to grab the other one (there were only two left on the stand). I don’t even think they threw any picks or drumsticks into the crowd, which is unheard of at the shows I usually attend. After I got my pick, I waited in the merch line to buy my first Summer Set shirt. The show got over early (10 PM) so I didn’t mind having to wait a little.

The next morning, on my way back to my city, at the bus station, I saw someone wearing a Summer Set hoodie. Of course I approached her and asked her whether she was at the show last night. She said that not only was she at that show, but she was en route to one city and then another for the same tour. Concert travel is her thing, by far. She’s a freelance photographer so she can easily fit these travels into her schedule. She knows a lot of band members from all her travels. I don't think I could ever do that because I need some sense of normalcy in my life, and I don't want to be on the road that long (plus she usually drives, and car trips are not my thing at all; her brother damaged her car so that’s why she was traveling by bus). At least my journey back was less eventful than my one getting there.

[blacksheep773]

My Epic (and Successful) Attempt to Buy an Attraction Ticket

So, that ticket I talked about a few posts back where I set a calendar reminder to get it, turns out getting an attraction ticket is not as cut and dry as getting a concert ticket. I received my reminder email and what equated to 12 AM in the country of interest. However, when I went to the site, it had not been updated to allow for January purchases. OK, whatever. Then I see that the office opens at 8:00 local time. Cue setting alarm on phone for said time (middle of the night here). I randomly wake up 40 minutes after my alarm is supposed to have gone off and realize I had to a) set time and b) activate alarm (I only did A). Let’s be real...if this were for a concert, I would have quadruple checked that alarm and made sure it was gonna go off! Still no tickets available online so it’s back to bed for me.

I wake up for work and totally forget that 6 hours earlier I tried to buy tickets. It’s not until a half hour into work that I remember I have tickets to buy. Good thing I’ve been bringing my laptop just in case I need it since I power that thing on for Operation Tickets. 

The whole story is kinda boring (me waiting for page after page to load and freaking out since they’re not), but long story short, I got the ticket thanks to a coworker telling me to use 4G on my phone rather than wifi (on phone or computer). Good thing I live close to work because I had to enter my passport number in order to buy the ticket. After the whole ordeal, I checked my email and saw the confirmation and my bank and saw that the charge went through.

I just checked, 4 days after the tickets went on sale, and they are completely sold out for the two days I will be in that city (they probably sold out the same day they went on sale, but I had a busy day at work and forgot to check).

[blacksheep773]

Did I Really Choose to Miss a Concert?

Yes, I did. I had a crazy week of work last week, plus I started a dog sitting gig (my side job) the end of the week, and I really didn’t want to spend more than half the day away from the dog. I’ve watched him on and off for two years now and we are as close as a client and sitter can be. There were seven bands at the concert so it started early (6 PM...and I wanted to see bands 1 and 2, and 5-7), and I was 30-40 minutes away from the venue (when I’m at my real house, I’m a lot closer to the venue). I had to go into work for a little that morning when sometimes I’m off on Fridays or else maybe I would have gone to the concert. 

So, what did I do instead? Take the dog to the beach! He loves the beach (and knows the word “beach”), and this weekend may well have been the last two days with beach-appropriate weather. I was rewarded for it too because he was too tired to bother me all night (whine whenever he wants something) as he is prone to do. 

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Pictured: The world's biggest bouncy castle, which is 893ft long

Currently in Belgium but coming to London in 2017, it's been created to give adults the chance to be 'a kid again', and is made up of 32 inflatables across the length of more than two football pitches.

I may just have to go to London in 2018... There’s currently one in Belgium, but that’s not a destination for International Concert Trip 2017 (although I want to go there one day).

[blacksheep773]

You know you’re a traveller when...

...you set a reminder on your calendar to buy tickets for an attraction the second they go on sale. 

So, it turns out I learned a few hours ago it’s advisable to book tickets ahead of time for a must-see attraction at one of the locations for International Concert Trip 2017. Since this is the cheapest way to get them and no guided tour to see the attraction is required this way (I plan on keeping the “no guided tour” rule from International Concert Trip 2016), it made logical sense to make a simple reminder. Tickets sold this way sell out wicked quick so I’m gonna jump on them right away when I can in the hopes I can score one. Who knew I’d act the same way to see historical stuff as I do to see a concert? 

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All Good Things Must End (aka Day 11 - February 6)

Good thing I didn’t have anything important to do today because it’s not like I got any sleep the night before. I came back to the hostel around 10, 10:30 from the church and went to my room for the first time. I switched hostels too early the morning before to be able to leave stuff in my room so I stored it in storage until I got back. When I got to the room, it was really hot, as it was the last time I was at that hostel. I didn’t think much of it at first, but more on that later.

Within an hour, I dropped my phone down the bed. I was on the top bunk and there was a locker blocking where the phone is, so I had to go to the front desk. Long story short, someone had to move the bunk to get my phone because it was impossible to get it otherwise. Good thing the person in the lower bunk wasn’t there yet so it was really easy and no one had to be woken up. I made it clear I needed my phone right then and there because I had an early flight the next morning so that’s why they got it then. The commotion woke people up, but I honestly didn’t care because I was only going to be in that room for 5 more hours and I really needed my phone to take back to the US. 

At the end of all this, my bunk mate came back. She quickly commented about the heat and tried to open a window. That’s when I found out why the window was closed. Some girl right by it put up a fight when the other one tried to open it, even though when a poll was taken, everyone wanted it open. That’s when the one went to the front desk so the other would be forced to open it. The agreement became it could be open for 10 minutes, not nearly enough to cool down the room.

That room was hot when I left it to take a taxi to nearby Paddington Station. I would have walked it, but it was 5 AM. When I was waiting in the lobby, the receptionist, who was the one for the phone and windows debacles, asked me about the window one and I said how everyone except the one girl wanted it open. He said they were probably going to move the antagonist because some of the others, like her, were going to be in that room for at least one more night and wanted to be comfortable.

My taxi was early, but I made it wait because I was still organizing my stuff. I did this in the lobby so I wouldn’t make noise in the room. Taxi to train station was fairly unadventurous, although the taxi didn’t know where to go once at the station (I knew how to get there on foot but not car). I was early so this did not cause me to miss my train to the airport. 

Nothing exciting on the train or in the airport. I was really early to the airport since you’re supposed to be there 3 hours early for international flights. The strangest thing is you can’t wait at the gate as you can here in the US. Instead, you’re in these large communal seating areas since they don’t announce your gate until an hour or so before the flight. The same thing happened in Bristol, but I thought that was because I was taking a budget airline. 

No problems on the plane. I was in a row with four seats and the seat to my left was empty so that was awesome. I mainly watched movies, but that got old after a while so I switched to my ebook. This flight was longer than the one to London because of tail wind or whatever so there was more time to kill.

We finally made it to Atlanta, where it was an endless array of lines: Customs, leaving the International Terminal, and TSA to essentially re-enter the airport. The only other times I’ve flown international I flew on non-stop flights so it was way easier. 

Once I made it through all the lines, priority #1 was coffee. I was exhausted since it was 3 PM (or so) EST and, accounting for the different time zones, I’d been up since 12 AM EST and really didn’t sleep the night before. That all went well, but within 30 minutes of being at the gate I spilt it since I was tired. When I went back they filled my cup for free because they remembered me (and it was probably obvious I was tired). 

Nothing else to report on happened before I got on the plane. For most of the trip, I ended up talking to my seat mate, who sailed on boats in the Atlantic or something like that (I think he and his wife were retired, or the sailing was part of their business).

Once I got to my final destination, I contacted the then-coworker who volunteered to pick me up from the airport. We then went for takeout Chinese food because that’s what I felt like eating. I know for a fact I was not the friendliest person because by this point I’d been up for 20 hours (I can’t sleep on planes so there was not even a nap mixed in). I then got dropped off at my house, where I ate the Chinese food and unpacked a little before going to bed.

[blacksheep773]

My Epic Walk Down Memory Lane (aka Day 10 cont.)

For the first time in 7 1/2 years, I walked into the church that played a huge role in me being the person I am today. This church, All Souls Langham Place, is the one I attended when I studied abroad in London, on the recommendation of a friend from my home institution. During my time here, I was involved in the student and international student groups (at this time they were two separate groups, although they are not anymore). I connected more with the international students and made great friends from that group who helped make my study abroad experience amazing.  

If you look at a calendar, you will see that February 5 is a Friday, not a Sunday as is traditionally associated with church attendance. That is because I was attending an event that became a main part of my study abroad experience. When I was in London, it was called iCafe, where international students got together to talk, eat a cheap yet delicious dinner, and hear a short lesson. It was this event that helped cement a lot of my UK friendships because it was great to have casual time to get to know them outside of our Sunday afternoon Bible study. As I got to know them better, I also went to the restaurant at a nearby hotel to talk further after the event.

Some time in the eight years in between my visits, they combined the student and international student ministry into one group, called one. Instead of Wednesday evenings being student Bible study, Sunday afternoons being international student Bible study, and Friday evenings being international student iCafe, all three events are for all students and partially resemble what they were when I was there. For example, one.friday is held in the main worship space, with the chairs used in worship removed and replaced with comfortable chairs and some tables with chairs around them. In contrast, iCafe was held in a room below the main worship space. 

Walking into that church was surreal because I had a flood of memories come back to me at once. I ended up talking to one of the greeters, because it’s not like I know a lot of the people there. I knew one of my friends from eight years ago was still there, and it turns out someone else there remembered me from our attending the same events, and we talked about the people who were there at that time, but other than that I was a stranger to everyone. This was fine because I got to talk to some people I’ve never talked to before. I ended up staying for the whole program (3 hours) when my initial plan was to leave after 2 because I had to get up early the next day to get a train to the airport. I didn’t stay and help put the room back in order for this reason and because I was kind of a guest. It would have been different if I were a regular. I then made my way to the Tube station and got on one of the lines that went to one of the two stations close to my hostel. It was a quick walk back to the hostel, and I knew I’d be fine walking back alone since I scoped out the area when I was there a week and a half ago for my first night in the city.

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Day 10 - February 5 (London)

My roommates started stirring before I was ready to get out of bed (they did go to bed before me the night before). They were hesitant to put a light on, but I was awake (I just didn’t want to get out of bed) and told them it was OK. After they left, I decided time was not going to stop so I could both get more rest and have a full day of tourism so it was time to start planning my day. Luckily, this did not require leaving my bed since I always did the planning on my phone while still in bed. I knew I wanted to go to Abbey Road some time that day and my London church for an event at night, but other than that I had time to do other things. I still don’t know how, but Google brought up an ad for this thing called “Up at the O2″ in the midst of all my searching. It sounded interesting, and when I went to the page it became a must do. What it was was scaling the length of an arena while attached to a harness. As someone who has to do the CN Tower Edge Walk (which is even crazier than this), I was sold. I picked a time for my walk and now had to schedule everything else around it. I chose to do Abbey Road in the morning because of its location, followed by Up at the O2, and then a few other things I was considering (but ended up not doing). 

After I got ready for the day, one where I decided to wear the Black Stone Cherry shirt I bought the previous night just because, I had to check out of my hostel because I chose to stay at one close to Paddington Station for my last night (the same one I was in my first night in London). I just took the Tube since it was the fastest and I knew my way around the neighborhood of the next hostel from already staying there. It was too early to check in when I got there so I just stored my stuff in storage because I planned to be out and about until 10 PM or so. 

I headed to Abbey Road first because it was not that far away from this hostel and the closest Tube line to it went straight to the O2. It turned out that Abbey Road was more a thing to cross off your list and say you crossed the famous crosswalk than to actually see. You’re not allowed in the actual recording studio, just the gift shop next door. I browsed the gift shop and ended up getting jelly beans for a coworker and coasters of the graffiti wall for me (since they were different and where else would I find something like that). The best part was, when I went to check out, one of the workers said that the day before, there were people wearing jackets that had the same symbol on my t-shirt. What does that mean? I missed Black Stone Cherry’s crew by one day! That was fine by me because I was en route the day before and my trip was not about stalking bands but rather seeing them perform and making the most of my trip by doing a lot of tourist things. After I left the gift shop, I had strangers take my photo crossing the cross walk. Since it’s an actual street, we always had to wait until it was clear to make the famous walk (and in my case, to walk back to get my phone).

Since Abbey Road did not take nearly as much time as I thought it would, I decided to go into a few stores on Oxford Street to kill time. I was trying to find a UK stress ball for a coworker (which I never did) and I went in the nearly H&M hoping they’d have a similar style of the pants I got in Glasgow (they didn’t, which held true for all subsequent H&Ms I entered). It was getting closer to the time of my climb so I made my way back to the Tube station. 

After an uneventful Tube ride, I made it to my stop. I then walked to the arena, which was easy to find because it was close to the station and impossible to miss. 

After a safety briefing, we got suited up and went outside to start our climb. They took our first photo on the ground. Then, it was time to climb! I got to be head of the line because I was the only one on vacation (the rest were locals...this was February after all and not prime vacation season). They took our second photo when we were a little ways up the climb. The climb was a little steep (I’m far from a hiker), but manageable. When we made it to the top, we got some time to take photos from the observation deck. It was a typical foggy London day so the view was so so. The view got better around the time we were to climb down. The climb down was steeper than the one up, but it was OK because it was the climb down. Like most exhibits, we ended up in the gift shop. I ended up buying a magnet of one of the photos and a keychain. I then went to lunch at this place called Frankie and Benny’s in the arena, and followed that up with a cafe americano from Starbucks, also in the arena. 

I then headed to the London Transport Museum, because I wanted to go to something in London I hadn’t done before. It was not the easiest to find upon exiting the Tube station, but after I went in the wrong way, I was directed to the right way. I only had an hour at the museum because it was close to closing time, but I made the most of the hour and tried to see as much as I could and read as many of the displays of interest as possible. After the museum closed I browsed the gift shop for a little (which was conveniently open an hour later than the museum) and then looked for a few more souvenirs. After looking at some exhibits in a nearby market but finding nothing of interest, I found this stereotypical UK souvenir shop. I ended up getting a clock for a coworker and a stuffed bulldog with a UK flag jacket for a dog sitting client. 

Now it was time to find the Superdry. I didn’t know how important this shop would be the first time I was in London and browsed a lot of stores. The one near the museum closed down or moved, but I just kept walking up Regent Street and found one. This worked out because it was on the way to where I was going next. After looking around, I ended up getting a wind cheater jacket that was on sale. It was not the popular model, with the logo on the right shoulder blade, but probably an older one, where the logo was on the right sleeve.  I didn’t care because I was saving money and still buying something no one would have heard of back in the US. 

It was then time for the most epic part of the trip that was not a concert...

[blacksheep773]

Pop Evil + Headline = Awesome!

I got to see Pop Evil headline for the first time yesterday and let me say it was amazing! I’ve seen them twice before, once in 2012 and once last year, but each time they were direct support for someone else (2012 for Theory of a Deadman, 2015 for Three Days Grace). They’ve headlined shows before; it’s just that none of the dates before now fit my schedule. Leigh definitely knows how to work a crowd, but I already knew that from their performance last year. I almost got to touch him when he came into the crowd, but I was one or two people back. And Hayley…wow! If I ever learn how to play the drums, it’ll be because of her. She is thriving in what is traditionally a male-dominated role in a rock band. I wanted to hear her talk to hear her British accent, but I didn’t get that lucky.

It was a nice, smaller venue. I wasn't front row because it’s one of those bar venues where you can’t run to the front and stay there, but my spot turned out to be A-OK! Why, you may be wondering? Well, I got a pick that was thrown into the crowd that no one else saw (or the people at the one table were too lazy to get off their chairs to retrieve it). And I caught one of Hayley’s drum sticks. That’s right, my first drum stick! I was in the right place at the right time, that’s for sure. All I remember is reaching up and it landing cleanly in my hand, like it was meant to be. I missed out on the trifecta because I didn’t get a set list, but I did get to meet my stick catching buddy when trying to get one (I’m not even sure where the other stick was thrown to because once I caught mine, I was too happy to think about that). The best part is the stick fit into my backpack easily so taking it back to where I live was hassle-free (I traveled just for the show, because I just HAD to see Pop Evil headline).

[blacksheep773]

Guess Who’s Going to Europe in 2017?

Me! 

That’s right...International Concert Trip 2017 is more than an illusive concept now! It’s a reality (and hopefully nothing will prevent me from going).

So, about a month ago, I was hunkered down for an overnight thunderstorm (I absolutely hate them and was hiding in a windowless bathroom around 3 AM) and decided to browse Facebook to kill some time. Lo and behold as I’m scrolling through my Newsfeed, I noticed a photo from Black Stone Cherry. What’s on this photo you may ask? European tour dates! I immediately was well, not grateful for the storm, but feeling better about it than I was a minute earlier. The best part was it was for their Experience Kentucky tour. A week earlier, I saw the UK dates they posted for that tour and considered going because it was hitting up some UK cities I hadn’t visited, but I was already in the country once that year so where’s the cultural expansion opportunities in that? My mind was now in trip planning mode and forgot all about the storm (it was not that bad). I am pretty sure I stayed in that bathroom long after the Doppler radar indicated the storm had past because I was considering trip itineraries. In fact, I’m fairly confident 80+% of what became the final itinerary (at least the cities I’d visit, the travel dates, and the locations where I’d see the show) was decided in that bathroom on that date.

I talked myself out of the dates in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway because of the lack of daylight and freezing cold temps in January. I love cold weather, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a little too cold in those places in January to really be able to see anything (I do want to go to those places one day in a month when it’s a little warmer).  

I zeroed in on the Paris date because, well, I want to go there. However, the dates around that didn’t work because of how far away the next country was located and the countries I wanted to visit. It was time to go back to the drawing board to find a 2 week trip that would land me 3+ tour dates in 3+ countries. With some research and planning, a solid plan emerged by the time I emerged from the bathroom.

The following day at work, I took a little bit of time to dive deeper into what I planned in the bathroom only 6 hours earlier. I wrote down some preliminary transportation plans that morning of how I would get to/from the tentative first and last city and the US, and later in the day planned out which cities to visit and on which days. The adrenaline was racing because the trip was becoming more and more of a reality with every stroke of the pen. I kept my excitement a secret from my coworkers at this point because I wanted to have a solid itinerary before I filled out my time off form and booked the majority of my trip.

[blacksheep773]

My 3 1/2 Month Concert Drought is Over

A few weeks ago, I finally had a concert to see what was close by and fit into my schedule. I saw Better than Ezra in the city where I currently live. The venue is close enough that I can walk there when it’s still light out. My plan was to get there a little before doors were set to open. When I did that exact same thing at the exact same venue two years ago, I was front row. 

The plan worked! I was maybe the 10th person in line and, sure enough, front row I was. I didn’t even know how awesome my spot was going to be until BTE came on because the stage was set for the opener. Speaking of the opener, I ended up right by his posse. He was a local artist who apparently was more famous when he was 8 than he is now. The most interesting part of that was seeing a text his girlfriend sent to someone not there yet calling the people in near the front row vultures (since we will take your spot for a better view). She was so only front row to see her boyfriend, since she obviously doesn’t understand the mindset of us front row dwellers. 

He was OK, nothing special. Just another country-oriented singer/songwriter trying to make it (I don’t know if he still lives here or made the move to Nashville). He played a few covers of 90s songs. The best was that he closed with “Shine.” Even though he’s no Ed Roland, I recorded it just because he was nonetheless performing a Collective Soul song. 

When BTE’s crew starting setting the stage up for them, I realized how awesome my spot really was because the one mic stand was moved slightly to the left of me, meaning I wouldn’t have a mic stand in my view the whole night and the performers would come up close on the stage to where I was standing. 

That proved to be true. I can’t count how many times Tom, the guitarist, stepped away from that stand and was no more than 6 feet away from me. Kevin came over a few times too. 

All in all it was an awesome show. Kevin definitely brought his A game, and he was goofy and random as usual. One of the best parts was seeing Michael play 4 cow bells, purely because Kevin kinda made him. Not sure why no one screamed, “We need more cow bell” as a joke. The best part...getting a pick! It’s my third BTE pick, and they all look the same, but each one is a symbol of the fun time I had at the show. 

When I got back, I was running on concert adrenaline and way too excited to go to bed right away. I’ve realized I have more concert adrenaline when I’ve been front row or see Collective Soul (my favorite band).

[blacksheep773]

Ticketmaster Settlement

As a concert blogger of sorts, I’d be remiss if I did not mention the Ticketmaster settlement. In brief, Ticketmaster was sued for attaching a lot of fees to the base price of a ticket. As part of the settlement, they agreed to provide people who bought tickets between 1999-2013 with discounts on future tickets and vouchers for free tickets, up to 17 of each, which were dependent on past purchases. I ended up getting 16 out of 17, my mom got the maximum 17, and for some reason my aunt got none. Some of my purchases were for concerts I went to with family who then paid for the ticket so I made out on the deal in that regard. 

Of course there’s catches, as there are with lots of stuff of this sort. The free tickets are only for certain events, and only a limited number of them are made available (and as my mom and I both learned, it’s only for lawn seats for those type of venues). Apparently, if you read the suit, it says Ticketmaster only has to release $5 million worth of free tickets. They’re already at $15 million so they technically (aka legally) don’t have to release more, although I think they will, just not now. 

Ironically, my mom didn’t know about it until I told her, and it became her who told me that the first batch of freebies were available. As you can imagine, I went straight to that website to see what was available for my area. Sadly, my favorite venue around here switched to another ticket company or I’d really be lucky. 

I did get one set of tickets for a venue 30 minutes away: Collective Soul with the Goo Goo Dolls. I did not buy tickets to this concert because Collective Soul is not the headliner. I was not going to spend money to see them not headline when I’ve seen them headline 7 times, sometimes playing for as long as 2 hours. Now that I had a chance to get tickets for free, I’m so there!

[blacksheep773]

One Year Ago...

...I started this blog! Which translates to an even bigger milestone...I bought my tickets at 4 AM on this very day last year! I still remember it as if it were practically yesterday. I woke up at 3:30 so I’d have everything ready when the tickets went on sale at 9 AM GMT (UK time, which is 4 AM EST). After a few issues (ex. forgetting to inform my credit card company I’d be making a lot of international purchases in a short amount of time, so my card was locked until I called them), I had my tickets to all four of my locations of interest. Of course I was too excited to go back to bed so instead I walked to Starbucks to get coffee to survive the day and to start this blog. I had to meet up with friends later for dissertation help (me doing the helping). All I remember was all the coffee I had in the morning didn’t help and I was exhausted and not the most helpful person that day. As all the fun on the trip proved, walking up this early for he tickets was more than worth it!

[blacksheep773]

Carnival of Madness Date #4 (London)

I decided to get to the venue early for the Black Stone Cherry meet and greet that was held before the first band performed. This was a great venue to do that because I was in the seats so trying to be as close as possible wasn’t an issue. It was just a 10 minute Tube ride from the station by the hostel to the one for the venue. There was a 10 minute or so walk from the station to the venue. I was at this venue 8 years ago, and I don’t remember the walk being that long. Anyway, there were enough signs and people around that I didn’t get lost. 

Once I got in, I headed to the meet and greet location. There were enough signs so I knew where to go. I was probably at least 50 people deep. They weren’t cutting people off so I thought I was safe. Nothing great happened while waiting, a few surface-level conversations, but that was it. Once I got there, it was really quick, get the signature and move along. That was OK by me because it was better than nothing. I didn’t have album sleeves or anything to get signed because a) I didn’t know about it when I packed and b) that would have been one more thing to bring and pack so I just got my ticket signed. 

Next it was time to find my seat. It turned out I was in the back, with the stage in my immediate line of sight. I was OK with that because you can hear from anywhere and it’s not like it was my only (or first, for that matter) time seeing the tour. I was a little tired by this point from the lack of sleep and the delayed bus (no time to really nap) so I was glad to be in the seats. This wasn’t the case in Cardiff because if the family sitting next to me wasn’t so friendly, I would have made my way to the standing section once I realized there was not going to be any moshing or crowd-surfing (this was possible because there was nothing separating the two sections, which wasn’t the case in the other venues).

During the Halestorm performance, I learned they were gonna do a meet and greet after Shinedown. I don’t know if they did this at any of the other locations I went to because I may have gone in Cardiff because I was in the seats. I didn’t leave the Shinedown performance early to get in line because I wanted to see the whole thing (yes, I know I had already seen it 3 times in full, but I still wanted to be there for the energy). This came back to haunt me because they cut the line off early and I was too far back to see them. 

Since there was nothing I could do about it, I just went back to my seat. It was around this time that I started talking to some people behind me. They said bands like Black Stone Cherry are really popular in the UK because there are no bands that sound like them in the country. This also explains why The Black Crowes were popular there before they broke up (and I saw them in London in 2008 when I was studying there), and why Blackberry Smoke is gaining a UK following (that group did not hear of BBS).

Nothing else out-of-the ordinary or memorable happened, so after the concert I ended back to the Tube station. Right outside the venue I decided to buy a t-shirt from a street vendor because they had one with the British flag in the Black Stone Cherry logo (I’ve wanted one of those for a while, and they weren’t part of the shirts on sale in the venue). Yes, the tour dates on the back were from 2014, but I didn’t care, not to mention the shirt was only 10 GBP. There was a crowd heading to the station, but I had room to breathe on the Tube and stayed near the door because my stop was closer than the stops of most people on it (my stop was before all the Central London stops). 

When I got off, I chose to walk back to the hostel because I knew I was in a safe neighborhood. Nothing happened to me nor did I ever feel unsafe so I made an OK decision. When I got to the room, my roommates were there and were kind enough to leave a little light on when they realized there was someone else in the room who was not back yet. One was still awake so I whispered to her I’ll turn it off after I got back from taking a shower, which I did. I then surfed the web a little on my phone before going to bed to rest up for what would be my only full day of tourism in London (which was OK since I did a lot of stuff 8 years earlier when I was studying there).

[blacksheep773]

Day 9 - February 4 (Birmingham < London)

I can’t believe I’m traveling to my final city today! Where did the time go since I’ve had a blast! I got to the main building a little before breakfast so it was still closed and I waited in the entryway of the annex (not sure how guests into or out of the main building before breakfast because I certainly would not want to exit via a secret door in that neighborhood). There was one other person waiting for breakfast so I was glad to know I was not the only one. 

Five minutes later, it was 8 AM so we were good to go. I got my stuff and ended up talking to this other person. Turns out, he was finishing up a PhD somewhere in the UK and was in town for a conference or an interview. As someone who, at the time, cared about their own PhD, this commonality gave us something to talk about. The conversation started to get awkward, as it sometimes does when talking to males from other countries who either mistake friendliness for romantic interest or are desperate to get into America and see being with an American as the easiest way. Luckily, I had an out: I had a bus to catch. So, when I was done, that’s exactly what I said, washed my dishes, and was off. Did I leave a little early, partly to get coffee and partly to get away? Sure did. But at the same time, I went where I said I was going to go. 

To that end, I walked to Starbucks when I left the hostel to get my usual cafe americano. I then went to the bus stop, and by “stop,” I mean side of the street where Megabus operated. I accidentally passed it on Tuesday when I went to the concert so I knew roughly where to go. Google further helped, and it wasn’t long before I found myself amongst a bunch of people waiting for buses. Five minutes after I got there, a bus to a different location came. 

Long story short, my bus was an hour and a half late. Before it arrived, we called some customer service number on the phone of someone also waiting. I think all they said was that the bus was stuck in traffic...yeah, really helpful! Finally, a bus arrived and we all got on. Next thing I know, they’re telling us to get off because the driver needed rest from driving X number of hours or something like that. At least there was another bus heading to London behind us so we just got on that. I talked to the person who’s phone was used to make the call to customer service (and who I had been walking to in line earlier) for a little before he started talking to friends on his phone and I put my headphones in and continued my ebook.

The bus ride was really uneventful. There was a time or two I was shocked the bus went on certain roads since they were rather narrow, but nothing went wrong. I guess this is a good time to mention the worst thing that happened on my trip was the fact that this bus was 1 1/2 late. 

We finally made it to London and I went in search of food. We came into the same bus station as the one I left out of to go to Cardiff so I knew the lay of the land. I went to the nearby train station knowing between that and the mall right next to it, there were more than enough choices. Instead of Subway, I chose an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet because I was really hungry and hoped it would suffice as dinner too. The food was awesome and I’ve never seen so many pizza toppings with corn in the mix.

Now it was time to head to the Tube so I could get to the hostel. I chose one outside the central city because of the concert location. I knew exactly how to get there between mapping it out ahead of time and the fact that the hostel sent a very detailed email of directions a few days earlier. It all worked out well because I did not get lost. I scoped out the neighborhood as I made my way to the hostel and determined it was safe enough to walk back from the concert alone. As I got there, I noticed there was a bar on one side that had rooms and was hoping my room would be on the other side because of the potential for noise (it was!). 

When I got to the room, I noticed the lockers opened with your room key. I thought that was unique because none of the other hostels were that modern. As an added bonus, these lockers were also huge. I laid down for a little bit before it was time to head to the venue. I really didn’t have much down time because of my bus being late.