My Moon My Man...

Everytime i see Feist I want to see more of her. When she started singing i wished I had tickets for the next day so I can hear her sing oh so beautifully again. However, I was annoyed that upon arrival, security made me check in my digital camera- band's orders she says. So I'm there wondering- is it Leslie that didn't want ligthbulbs in her face- or was it something else? I surreptiously took pictures on my cell phone also, in fear that somebody might come up behind me and confiscate that too. Alas, i still am clueless on how to transfer pictures from my phone to the PC. Hence, the idea to take a picture of the Fillmore poster- this will go nicely in my office cubicle. Anyways- she sang a lot of her new songs in the first half- i must say, i'm not as familiar with her new album and didn't enjoy myself too much till the second half when she started singing her hits. Unfortunately one of my favourites- her rendition of Inside and Out was not performed. Oh well... i'm still humming her tunes a week later.

Une billet sil vous plait!

I rushed out of my hotel and headed off to the Porte St. Cloud Station. As soon as i got off, somebody was in the station waving tickets. Not to miss out since i'm here on a whim, I approached him and asked "Parlez vous Anglais?" Fortunately he did and he sold me the ticket for two euro less than the face value (70 Euro total) and even gave me a Kit Kat bar. Out of the station i went with the rest of the crowd to find many many many other scalpers and also concert go-ers selling their tics too. Perhaps I was too hasty? But no worries- as long as i didn't over pay- I'm happy. In fact this is the first time i've ever bought a tic from a scalper- the transaction wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be- perhaps the Kit Kat won me over. Ahh... Parc des Princes is not has large as Wembley- hence i got a better view. A UK band named Archive was performing. Truthfully- not my cup of tea at all- it got a little better- but then it went back to- you suck. Patiently i waited once more to see my beloved Matt, Dom and Chris. (I also found later that I missed Biffy Clyro- who i'm curious about). Here they are for their dramatic entrance from the center of the stadium. I'm happy to say it wasn't an exact same line-up at Wembley. And perhaps I was closer, I felt the energy in Paris was much higher in comparison to Wembley- there were middle age people attending too! What an interesting fan base they have. However, I was semi tired and was zoning in and out throughout. Fortunately, the organizers must be fairly used to this set-up and there was crowd control on Le Metro heading back to the hotel.

Live @ Wembley!

This is it! The moment i've been waiting for. I can now proudly say that i've been at the famous Wembley Stadium. Indeed, i was exteremely impressed with how orderly everything was conducted here. I was a little worried after my experience of utter dissarray at the O2 Fest. So up i went to my nosebleed section seat. I walked in when My Chemical Romance was performing. A semi warm welcome from from me and the English too i would say- but i did start to mouth words from Helena when they performed that piece. In between sets, I participated for the first time in a mexican wave- a little pre show/ in between show entertainment before Muse came on.

As expected the whole crowd went ballistic as Muse entered the stadium from the center walkway. My nosebleed section wasn't the best- view wise and soundwise :-(, i fervently wished i was in the massive crowd in the general admission area-i might have hated it though if i was in the thick of things, I just wished i was closer. They kicked of the show with Knights of Cydonia and lots confetti showering the crowd. The highlight of the show were these brilliant balloon trapeze artists floating high above the crowd as Matt sang Soldier's Poem (I think). Oh! Correction, it was Blackout.

As I followed the herd of people heading towards Wembley Park Underground- I met two other Muse fans, Dave and Kev. Sweeties that they are kept me company and teased me about my american accent till i got off at Tottenham Court Road. xxx

O2 Wireless Festival- Hyde Park, London

As i recently discovered, going stag to a festival is not fun. The long lines you have to wait by yourself, the down time in between sets, etc. etc. The first tent i saw as i entered the festival grounds was the XFM tent! I believe the organizers underestimated the popularity of the performers on this stage. One has to actually wait in line to get in the tent. From the outside, I heard bits of Calvin Harris- haven't heard of them but they sounded good. Will try to check out their CD.

As the crowd cleared out in between sets, i marched forward to get a good spot. After waiting for like 1/2 hr- Digitalism started their set (i've seen their name splashed across flyers and posters but i didn't know what to expect. The term "worshipping the DJ" finally made sense to me (well...i must admit i still don't understand it), the whole tent was facing this one DJ and raising their hands in praise! The crowd was jumping, folks were pushing each other, sprays of water from water bottles thrown in the air... "THUNK!" aw.... a boot (i think it was a wellie) just landed on my headed. This is a first! I left the tent shortly after, a little too rowdy for me.


Out to the sunshine i went exploring the rest of the festival grounds and this ingenious contraption caught my eye! Don't you think it's great? Around and around i went taking in the sights and sounds, the XFM stage was running late so i rushed out to watch CSS but only managed to catch her singing "Let's make love" in her signature colourful cat suit before rushing off stage. LCD Soundsystem came on shortly after but after a few songs, off i went back to the XFM stage for the sole reason I was at the fest. The Klaxons!!!!

Can you believe i was one of those peeps i was telling you about earlier? Jumping, pushing, screaming!!! woo hoo! too bad i wasn't on something- some dude was weaving around the crowd selling MDNA (sp?) for about 30 quid. I'm sure it would have enhanced my experience. Perhaps next time?

Home Sweet Home

Isn't it marvvy? This is the where dearest Jane lives (w/ Peter). Awww.... Peter and Jane, wasn't there a book series named after them ;) These sweeties picked me up at the airport wearing stripey tanks too! and they welcomed me to their humble abode. So cozy and warm. There's no place like home... xx dearies.

Trials and tribulations of travelling via BA

As great as British Airways is known to be, note that their fame stem from having great non-stop routes and sleeper seats. Not for having the best customer service. This European adventure of mine started out fine, super shuttle came on time- i was the only one on board and got promptly dropped off at the airport to find... a fairly long meandering line to check in BUT a fairly short line if you did an online check in earlier. Not having much patience in a slow line, i called my bud Rage up and he promptly offered to try to check me in while i was in line. And he did and saved me from more bitching and whining on this page. Alas, no window seats available (tip 1: Check-in online early! They allow you to start 24 hours before the journey). Belatedly i realized i left my black scarf on Super Shuttle but i took a couple of breaths and told myself to let it go. It was a cheopo anyways and not a Laura Piana.

Before take-off, i had my customary meal before going my "no-plane" food diet at Fireside Grill. It may look appetizing, but it was only alright. After lounging by the gate while entertaining myself with text messages to Rage, final boarding call was announced and off i went.

"May I have a glass of red wine please?" I said politely in proper English (not a british accent mind you, just proper school room English).

"Whiees?" he replied. My eyes mirrored my confusion, "Red!"

"Whiees?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Red or Whieees?"

Heh?- I silently thought. "RED PLEASE!"

An we're off to a not so great start of understanding British accents.

To tell you the truth- I think it was this particular air steward that bugged me. Ask me for details later and i'll tell you why. Next trial came from this lady who was sitting a seat after me. We shared a luxurius empty seat between us where i promptly took the extra pillow before she could. She was giving me looks and holding on to her handbag for dear life! Wonder whether she was just a distrustful person in general or i looked semi shady in my stripey H&M top. Anyways- i rolled my eyes and chanted the "W" mantra in my head. After watching The Holiday (no way in hell lives a great looking guy like Jude with a sensitive heart and have 2 of the most adorable kids), I leaned my head on the tip of the seat next to mine and promptly fell asleep.

Something woke me up shortly after, my foggy mind registered there was someone sitting right next to me and when the fog cleared up, another shocker was her head was right next to mine! Argh!! Eew!! Geez! Not only that- she started taking the left side of my arm rest. WTF. The empty seat is meant to be shared. And even so- no touching!!! She was crossing invisible lines and obviously did not know the rules of engagement. I took the extra pillow i comandeered earlier, put it between the both of us and gave her a gentle shove (not like that helped, but at least there was no touching).

Slowly drifting off to sleep again, I noticed that the lady had turned the other way and was now curled up on two of the seats. Phew! No more face to face time. BUT, her leg started inching past the armrest towards my side. This means WAR! I took my seat belt buckle and started poking her toes. Hah! Take that. Nothing much more to report after this except to say- not my greatest flight as i thought to myself silently while passing the sleeper business class to disembark.

2 Rum and Cokes and a Screwdriver...

apparently isn't a good combo. Lightweight that i am, if i had a 4th drink- i would not have made it all the way home. Apparently sleeping in the "VIP" lounge area was not allowed too. Sweetie barman/bouncer woke me up gently by tapping my leg, so at least i didn't wake up pissy.

The night kicked off with Every Move a Picture. Hmm, catchy band name? I'll leave that for you to decide. We saw them looking cool in the VIP area and were guessing they belonged to a band because they had that "look". But when the lead went on stage to perform, i definitely gave him a + 10 points. When he pumped his fist in the air and showed a strip of waistline, +10 points. When I found out his name was Brent +10. All of the above plus being a local band, priceless. But i couldn't help but think that if they added a little more nonesensical catchy vocal ooo-ing and ahh-ing, ala Fratellis, Klaxons, Kaiser Cheifs- I would have drooled a little more.

Back to more lounging at the VIP area- cool peeps that we are before The Lovemakers came on and there I was in groupie mode pushing myself while dragging Gigi to the front. Boy was it worth it! I love them. I don't know what else to say. They were the highlight of my night. I love Lisa's new wild hair and Scott definitely brought "sexy back".

About half past midnight, LCD Soundsystem emerged (see picture on how far I was from the stage). Was not surviving the alcohol and the stresses of the week (what can i say, i'm not a huge partay-er) and started dozing. So I sent my goodbyes to the rest of the peeps via text and gathered Gigi and Paul and descended from the VIP lounge staircase. North American Scum was playing in the background. Um, yea- they're not English.

And the Winner is...

Sophie!!! Step right up and bring 10 friends (me being one of them!). Thank you!! Wasn't going to stand in line to try to get into this gig- but Ms. S came through with not one but 10 tickets. Congratulations dearie. Drinks on me! too bad I can't join you the next day for the big BFD event :( I'm super-excited for Lovemakers! Who's my all-time fav local band.

Fan Pics...

The Coachella org. sent an email sometime last week, for a call to submit their favourite photos of Coachella 2007. It's really a thrill to see pics and know that i was there! Did I mention that my hair was super duper gorgeous out in the desert? Super hot air without humidity. I had the porn star hair I've always dreamed about. Here's one of me chillin under the clear blue sky of coachella- sans porn hair.

The Kooks- Streets of Paris

Sophie*, my brit-pop phile /guru friend, sent me a link of The Kooks doing their version of Gnarls Barkleys' Crazy which was pretty cool. But that led me to this video of one of my fav songs- Ooh La. So they confirmed their gig at Glastonbury Fest (holy guac! can you believe the line-up?) which i would have happily given up Paris for if i knew earlier- not like i could have bought last minute tickets for the fest anyhow. One can hope that someday soon i'll watch a show at the iconic pyramid stage.

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of the innocent.