They Will Rock You
Yesterday was my Father-in-Law’s birthday and both Katie and I had been asked to take the day off and help him celebrate his 62nd year in existence. Waking up and slowly getting ready, we made our way over to their house, in time to decide where to have lunch.
We enjoyed a lovely three course meal, put the world to rights and counted down the hours until we due to head to the theatre and enjoy an evening of live music in the form of “They Will Rock You”. This was a Queen tribute act that quite obviously took the show name from the very popular West End musical “We Will Rock You”.
We arrived at the theatre early enough to enjoy a drink in the bar, before settling down to the evenings entertainment. Firstly we enjoyed a Boy George tribute act, one that Katie and I really couldn’t relate to, perhaps because we didn’t know any of the songs he performed other than “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?”.
Next up was a Michael Jackson act who couldn’t sing for toffee but had a few good dance moves so it was still enjoyable. Just before the halftime interval we were treated to a Bee Gee’s act which did very well to motivate the crowd before the Queen act hit the stage.
There was one thing that threatened to put a dampener on the night, the group of three behind us. They had been drinking all day and were massively pumped, a little too much so. The oldest of them was at least sixty and he was banging into all the seats in front of him, taking photos when he was told not to and shouting words that echoed similarity to Sloth from The Goonies. That said, when the Queen act go into their show, he was too busy trying to lurch over some weird looking girl in the aisle than annoy us from kick our seats. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to see him fall over, and believe me he wasn’t far from it.
We were treated to a good few Queen classics before we headed home, getting in just after midnight. A good night was had by all.
Songs for a Funeral
Deciding the songs for a funeral isn’t the first thing you think of when planning to say goodbye to your loved one but I think they are one of the most important parts of the whole process. The songs are an extension of your emotions and relations to your loved one, helping you remember the good, the bad and the unforgettable moments you shared with them.
Katie and her mother decided the songs, each have a different memory or sentiment attached, some memories I was lucky to be a part of:
1. Nessun Dorma – Pavarotti
My memory of this song with Katie’s nan was just a few months back on Christmas Day. We were all in the lounge and they had the Three Tenors performance playing on Channel 4, with the occasional story from nan about how she remembered them when they sang it etc.
2. Lost – Michael Buble
This song is a personal favourite of myself and Katie. The song is about death and support, that he is always there with his loved one. It’s a poignant song for such an occasion, but we also want the same song at our wedding!
3. Songbird – Eva Cassidy
This song a beautiful song, great lyrics and delivery. There isn’t much relation to nan herself but the song is a fitting tribute.
The Referee’s A W****r
This weekend I was asked to referee a football match for the 2nd Team of my club. £30 would see me ref the whole 90 minutes in the freezing cold…….but I’ll come to that later.
On Friday night myself and Katie with friends; Lauren, Cheg and Graeme took to Southend for a chinese, knowing full well it was statistically the busiest night of the year for Christmas parties (some blond bird on GMTV told me this). We were lucky, we chose the place that myself and Katie held our Engagement Party and it was dead quiet, perhaps other people knew something we didnt (cats in the Egg Foo Yung?). After that, we ventured to a bar for a few Southern Comforts and then crashed out, staying up after 12am doesn’t feel as easy as it used too!
Saturday was a mixed bag, Katie had her piano re-tuned so we decided to head to the local music shop to purchase some piano song books…..and nothing else……I thought. Wandering in, we happened upon a family who were all musical genii (plural for geniuses?) who were strumming, beating, playing every instrument possible, I think it must have inspired Katie. Finding a few books with “I Will Always Love You” and “Tears In Heaven”, we ventured to the stringed section with lots of fantastic looking guitars.
A geeky looking bloke silently walks up to us and asks us for help; we kindly accept and get him to talk us through the guitars worth buying. He picks one up, plays it a little and tunes it, tells us thats the best for a beginner and plays a little ditty on it. He then proceeds to tell us he cant play guitar…..yeah and I don’t own a blog. The sales magic (or lack thereof) and Katie’s smiling little face persuaded me to give in and buy a guitar for both myself and Katie to learn, hopefully making our home a musical home when we eventually move in.
Sunday was of course Ref day. Arriving in all back, I went over to the pitch, received a ribbing from all my friends who played on the team that asked me to ref and waited for the opposing team to turn up….and waited and waited. Then struts over a coloured guy with a bunch of misfits behind him, 10 minutes late and grinning from ear to ear. We shake hands and attempt to get the match underway.
Little did I know they were a community team, full of migrants, ex-convicts and weird indiviudals. To be fair, they were completely fine bar a bald guy threatening to punch a guy from the home team and the extra fat goalkeeper who kept blaming the ball for his 3 yard kickouts. The game went smoothly, the home team winning 12-2 and my hands almost black with frostbite.
Later in the evening it was over to church again and singing carols, it’s a lovely church, but I must admit but it’s got it’s fair share of “different” people.
Beverley Knight
Saturday, myself and Katie ventured upto Oxford Street to do a spot of Christmas shopping with the intention of attending the Beverley Knight concert at the Royal Albert Hall in the evening. Apon arriving, we grabbed a spot of lunch (for some reason everytime we visit London we always end up eating at Pizza Hut) and set to shopping our little hearts out.
It didnt quite happen. I was on a mission to get a new phone and visited the number of different shops along the street, finally settling for a Carphone Warehouse and targeting a poor employee who ended up probably getting the sack because of me. I managed to get him to credit £70 to my account for my existing contract, give me a nice new Nokia N81 and a pretty decent price plan too.
Walking out of the shop with a smile on my face, Katie treated us to a belgian waffle from one of the shops on Oxford Street, we both had melted chocolate on them and they were lip smackingly good.
It was then about time for us to head to the Albert Hall. We jumped in a cab and got to the venue about an hour early. After supping a few diet coke’s, we were finally allowed in and took our seats in the Upper Circle. The seats had a good vantage point but I could only imagine how good the view was from the seating just infront of the stage. The first two acts were average, we were treated to a band called Cherry Black Stone and a very effeminate solo singer named David Jordan.
The main event was spectacular, Beverley walked on to a standing ovation and there was me thinking am I/arent I going to like it? As she started, the sheer power of her voice was immense, it shook the foundations of the old hall it was so strong. She started with a few songs I couldnt recognise but as the event unfolded, she had the 5000 or so people dancing away, some with more effort than others (a bald guy dancing on the stairs for instance).
Finishing around half past ten, she ended with my favourite song of hers; Gold. The whole place was singing away, leaving us smiling as we left the venue after her final bow.
I sincerely suggest you go see her, she was fantastic (and this comes from someone who didn’t know quite what to expect).