I got out to a gig!

Suffered for it the next day but it was so much fun. It was at the O2 in Islington and my daughter arranged the tickets for me.

The line up was Biomechanimal, Army of the Universe, Will Control & Aesthetic Perfection.

Now if you've never heard of any of those it's fine, but I have wanted to see Aesthetic Perfection for some time.

Chloe, Me, Cat

Me & Sarah Kawaii

Me with Crilly from Ashes to Angels (he joined Will Control, playing keyboards for this tour)

Me with Will Control

Me with Ian MacWilliams from Will Control

And finally with Daniel Graves from Aesthetic Perfection.

At this point I was in serious pain and high on pain killers in order to keep standing but even big girls have to fan girl once in a while...

Cupcakes if you dare

Cat baked for FVK when she found out Llz Bellz had a b-day on 23rd Feb. She took them along to the gig at Theale Green School on 26th February.

 I baked a red velvet cake for Macmillan Cancer Relief - we had a coffee morning at work to officially launch it as Barclays Corporate Churchill Plaza's Charity of the Year - the cake sale alone raised £240 - total was over £2000 that day from our office building

Fearless in a church in North London

Alan, Cat and I took a trip on Wednesday evening to St Luke's Church, Holloway, North London to see Fearless Vampire Killers again. This time they were doing an acoustic set supported by a couple of bands we hadn't seen before - Tin Soldiers and Hearts Under Fire

Here is someone else's video of the night, sound quality varies unfortunately but shows off the unusual location


Tin Soldiers: 24 Hours


Hearts Under Fire: It's Not Me, It's You


Fearless Vampire Killers:


An awesome night out was had by all. 

Saturday Night was Gig Night

for a local band, Bad Penny. Catherine and I went along... and of course Catherine's hair had to change colour as it was a night out! Pics were taken on my phone camera so they really don't show the vibrancy of the purple hair. I will have to try to corner Catherine for a daylight picture before she returns to school and we have to normalise her hair!


Took this somewhat interesting picture of the guitarist Ant, wearing a skirt (as he seems to most gigs, the list of unusual outfits I've seen him in...) but this was in aid of charity - the gig was to raise funds for Women For Women

Music from the year I graduated...

From Kristin's blog.. top 100 s0ngs from the year I graduated college (equivalent to US high school as I was 18)

The ones in bold are favourites, the ones in italics i don't like.

1. Hold On, Wilson Phillips
2. It Must Have Been Love, Roxette
3. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O'Connor
4. Poison, Bell Biv Devoe
5. Vogue, Madonna
6. Vision Of Love, Mariah Carey
7. Another Day In Paradise, Phil Collins
8. Hold On, En Vogue
9. Cradle Of Love, Billy Idol
10. Blaze Of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi
11. Do Me!, Bell Biv Devoe
12. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Michael Bolton
13. Pump Up The Jam, Technotronic
14. Opposites Attract, Paula Abdul
15. Escapade, Janet Jackson
16. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Heart
17. Close To You, Maxi Priest
18. Black Velvet, Alannah Myles
19. Release Me, Wilson Phillips
20. Don't Know Much, Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
21. All Around The World, Lisa Stansfield
22. l Wanna Be Rich, Calloway
23. I Remember You, Skid Row
24. Rub You The Right Way, Johnny Gill
25. She Ain't Worth It, Glenn Medeiros Featuring Bobby Brown
26. If Wishes Came True, Sweet Sensation
27. The Power, Snap 28. (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection, Nelson
29. Love Will Lead You Back, Taylor Dayne
30. Don't Wanna Fall In Love, Jane Child
31. Two To Make It Right, Seduction
32. Sending All My Love, Linear
33. Unskinny Bop, Poison
34. Step By Step, New Kids On The Block
35. Dangerous, Roxette
36. We Didn't Start The Fire, Billy Joel
37. I Don't Have The Heart, James Ingram
38. Downtown Train, Rod Stewart
39. Rhythm Nation, Janet Jackson
40. I'll Be Your Everything, Tommy Page
41. Roam, B-52's
42. Everything, Jody Watley
43. Back To Life, Soul II Soul
44. Here and Now, Luther Vandross
45. Alright, Janet Jackson 46. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
47. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
48. Have You Seen Her, M.C. Hammer
49. With Every Beat Of My Heart, Taylor Dayne
50. Come Back To Me, Janet Jackson
51. No More Lies, Michel'le
52. Praying For Time, George Michael
53. How Can We Be Lovers, Michael Bolton
54. Do You Remember, Phil Collins
55. Ready Or Not, After 7
56. U Can't Touch This, M.C. Hammer
57. I Wish It Would Rain Down, Phil Collins
58. Just Between You and Me, Lou Gramm
59. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, Phil Collins
60. Black Cat, Janet Jackson
61. Can't Stop, After 7
62. Janie's Got A Gun, Aerosmith
63. The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground
64. I'll Be Your Shelter, Taylor Dayne
65. Free Fallin', Tom Petty
66. Giving You The Benefit, Pebbles
67. Enjoy The Silence, Depeche Mode
68. Love Song, Tesla
69. Price Of Love, Bad English
70. Girls Nite Out, Tyler Collins
71. King Of Wishful Thinking, Go West
72. What Kind Of Man Would I Be?, Chicago
73. Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over), Technotroic
74. Here We Are, Gloria Estefan
75. Epic, Faith No More
76. Love Takes Time, Mariah Carey
77. Just Like Jesse James, Cher
78. Love Shack, B-52's
79. All Or Nothing, Milli Vanilli
80. Romeo, Dino
81. Everybody Everybody, Black Box
82. I Go To Extremes, Billy Joel
83. Whip Appeal, Babyface
84. Oh Girl, Paul Young
85. C'mon and Get My Love, D-Mob With Cathy Dennis
85. (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me, Paula Abdul
87. We Can't Go Wrong, Cover Girls
88. When I'm Back On My Feet Again, Michael Bolton
89. Make You Sweat, Keith Sweat
90. This One's For The Children, New Kids On The Block
91. What It Takes, Aerosmith
92. Forever, Kiss
93. Jerk Out, Time
94. Just A Friend, Biz Markie
95. Whole Wide World, A'me Lorain
96. Without You, Motley Crue
97. Swing The Mood, Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers
98. Thieves In The Temple, Prince
99. Mentirosa, Mellow Man Ace
100. Tic-Tac-Toe, Kyper

Videos from Queen + Paul Rodgers

sound quality isn't great but you do get a sense of the great atmosphere

Queen Concert...

was fantastic.. I took some pics and short videos. Pics in this post. Have to upload the vids to YouTube so they will be in the next post.

If anyone could step into the shoes of Freddie Mercury then I think Paul Rodgers could. Amazing voice. Fabulous show. Just the right balance between classic Queen, new Queen + Paul Rodgers and remembering Freddie.

Beautiful tribute in a song written by Freddie Mercury 'Love of My Life' sung by Bryan May playing an acoustic guitar.

Fabulous acoustic number from Paul Rodgers solo, Bad Company and All Right Now.

The O2 Arena at 6:30pm, slowly filling up


The O2 Arena just before the concert started.


I had a great time :) and I know someone else did too even though it meant less than 3 hours sleep before getting a 5am taxi to go to work.

Presents for myself ...

Yesterday I bought myself a new slow cooker, with the aim of at least a few days a week making a meal before i go to work so I don't have to cook when I come home and I'm tired and we don't eat so late. I'll be on the lookout for fool-proof crockpot recipes or sites to get them from so if you know any... please share!



I also indulged my love of music and bought two CDs, but I think I am showing my age!!!

A post is long overdue

as i was reminded earlier by a Certain Someone. We are going to a concert soon to see this guy sing with Queen (at the O2 arena in London) and can't wait. I pretty sure they are going to play this song but i really hope they do. It's a real rock classic.

you know you're getting old...

when your daughter introduces you to music that's 'cool'

Having said that I quite like the latest thing she shared with me.. Paramore



And i only wish i had as much energy as Hayley the singer does...

Tokio Hotel at the VMAs

I have to post about this just for Catherine, as she loves Tokio Hotel and they won a MTV VMA yesterday (the first international act to do so for some time)

Here's a clip of Best Newcomer Announcement and Bill's speech. I've been subjected to lots of TH over the past few months and it's not often that Mr. Kaulitz is lost for words!!!



It might also explain why my sweet red-head has turned into a funky black-haired music loving tween!