Arctic Monkeys, no Arctic Monkeys, wear your shell suit on Bonfire Night

So once again I've failed to regularly update this blog.

Since I last wrote here I've seen Arctic Monkeys, I've not seen Arctic Monkeys, I took a really long train ride, I've tackled Marxism and I've managed to avoid being set alight on Bonfire Night.

I'll start with October 25th - the day that we'd been waiting for for months. Yes, you've guessed it. Arctic Monkeys at Earls Court in London! Italian Laura and I probably annoyed everyone for the week leading up to it, constantly singing and dancing to Snap Out of It.

The gig itself was really great. The venue was huge. And I mean huge! I'd never stood that far back before (probably because I've never been to a gig in a venue that big...well...unless you count Kylie Minogue when I was nine...somehow I never do). I also wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of how rough the crowd would be...as once again, I'm usually at the front being a fangirl totally awesome fan who knows all the lyrics. Ahem.

Firstly The Strypes came on, and they were awful. Really. I mean, the singer was about 16 years old and was wearing sunglasses indoors. Ridiculous.

But then, sweet relief, The Strypes' set was over, and it was Arctic Monkeys time. I won't give you a play by play, but highlights would have to be Fireside, Cornerstone and Arabella. The crowd wasn't too rough, although it seems quite a common occurrence here to throw beer during gigs, which I've never seen in Australia (nor have I seen anyone pee in a cup and throw it before - the UK is a weird place). We had quite a lot of beer hit us throughout the night, but hey, it was a relief that it was a cold liquid rather than warm...

Obligatory ticket photo

Earls Court - so big!

Arctic Monkeys! 

Check out the lights during Cornerstone - so lovely. I'd been wanting to hear that song live for years - yay! 

Confetti! 

So then not much happened for the following week except that I wrote an essay about Marxism and the Russian Revolution...but that's boring so I'll shut up now.

So Laura and I were super excited because the next weekend would be Arctic Monkeys round 2 - only this time we'd be heading to Sheffield on a pilgrimage for a lovely weekend. We were so excited! We'd booked our accommodation and our train, and had practised our moves to Snap Out of It.

But then, tragedy struck! Alex Turner had come down with laryngitis and the gig was postponed until the 18th of November. What a shit. We had no idea what there was to do in Sheffield. But we went anyway...four or so hours on a bumpy train. Fact: it's incredibly difficult to pee on a moving train - it's like peeing on an aeroplane but in EXTREME turbulence.

So we arrived in Sheffield. We ate Pizza Hut (and it was different to Australia), and a little girl threw up everywhere - it was delightful. Luckily there were quite a few Arctic Monkeys fans staying in the same hotel as us (conveniently located next to the venue, but inconveniently located not near the city centre!) So we all got in a taxi and went into the city centre to some pub (still have no clue what it's called), then onto The Bowery (I don't know whether to be excited about this, or to cringe about its obviousness), and then onto the Leadmill where they were having an Arctic Monkeys night (wowow almost as good as the real thing...not really). Excitingly, they played Shotgun Woman by Dead Sons - to which Laura and I danced like it was the last day on earth. It also rained! It was cold - very cold. I think at one point I may have said, 'Guys, I don't want to exaggerate, but this is the coldest I've ever been in all my life' - and I wasn't exaggerating.

The Bowery: Franz managed to catch a hideous, I mean interesting photo of us laughing...

Not quite sure why we're making faces here - but I'm sure it's because Laura was so impressed by my striking wit.

Aw group shot minus Gina. From left to right: Franz, Laura, Meagan and Tessah

The next day we went into the city centre again - although this time it felt more like we were actually there - and something super exciting happened! So exciting that I forgot to take any photos of the city centre (so you can enjoy these photos taken directly from google). We were on our way to get a steak pie because Laura hadn't stopped talking about steak pies for ages and I was sick of it because yum, when just as we almost reached the door of the pub we saw two members of Dead Sons walk by. Now anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Dead Sons. Never say a bad word about them, or I'll hurt you. Unfortunately I wasn't able to say hello, because that would have required me chasing them down the street like a maniac. There's always a next time...

Oh and one thing I found funny - there were five of us in a taxi, and the driver said to Tessah 'Are you not British?' and she said 'No I'm Swedish, and she's Italian, she's Dutch, she's Australian and she's from Luxembourg.' His face was so surprised - so many foreigners in one place - wow, what a time to be alive!

Nice photography. Thank you Wikipedia. 

Hmm, I don't think we went here...but hey, it seems nice!

On Tuesday night Anna and I went to Bonfire Night in Lewes, with German Elena and some of her lovely friends. I was so excited I forgot that I'm scared of flames, ha! Nonetheless, it was quite spectacular, and quite spooky as well. I was surprised that there were even small children carrying pieces of wood that were on fire - would this ever happen in Australia? Actually, the whole night probably wouldn't happen in Australia because it'd be an OHS issue. Enjoy the photos - all credit goes to Elena, who I stole these off.

Spooky!

Lots of Mary I's?

More burning crosses - to hell with the Catholics (that's not me saying that - it's the event saying it)!

Micaela, Jess and I

Umm yep

Oh, look! We found Christina!

Hopefully I'll have more to say after next week as I'll have been to Bath and to Sheffield again!

Finally, I'll leave you with something my flatmate, Anna, said to me tonight - 'This country is weird...but I like it!'