In 2015 I was lucky enough to go along to Ed Sheeran's VH1 Storytellers gig in Whelans in Dublin. I won the tickets online and I brought along my brother Ger as we are both really big fans. The night itself was was amazing, we both had a lovely time. I wish I could get tickets for his gig in the 3 Arena but tickets are like gold dust and are pretty pricey. I'm going to other gigs this Summer though so I'm looking forward to them.
Back to the gig in Whelans, the atmosphere was unreal like nothing I ever experienced before. We both had such a good night. He sang lots of his hits from his first and second album e.g. Lego House, A Team and Sing etc.
We definitely danced the night away and I'd love to see him again. I'm so jealous any of you that are going to see him tonight in the 3Arena. I love Ed Sheeran's new album especially the song Galway Girl.
Last night I went along to my first Underground Hip Hop gig at the Sugar Club. I went to see Jay Z at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground two years ago but that was a much bigger scale concert than this one. I went with Paddy as he is really into this genre of music, he even writes for a well known Hip Hop website. I bought these tickets for Paddy's Valentines Day present last month, I was surprised the gig came around so fast. He was really upbeat and excited about going, I on the other hand wasn't too sure what to expect from it. Homeboy Sandman isn't an artist I'd be familiar with at all. From what Paddy told me before the gig, Homeboy Sandman hails from Queens, New York and he's quite a popular Underground Hip Hop act. I'll listen to just about anything, you just have to see the selection of music on my Ipod to notice this but I'd never heard of this artist before.
We headed over to the Sugar Club at around 8pm when the doors opened. I went into town extremely early so to kill some time we went to see Broken City. It's such a brilliant film I'd definitely recommend it if you love Mark Wahlberg movies like I do, which is a lot. Russell Crowe also stars in this movie which I presume was filmed around the same time as Les Miserables. He couldn't look more different in this movie he plays a permatan New York City Major a far cry from his performance as Javert. The venue itself was pretty nice, it's all seated which I definitely prefer for smaller gigs. The Sugar Club have amazing cocktails, seeing as they were only €5 I took advantage of it.
Of course in the time leading up to the support act taking to the stage Paddy and I took some funny pictures, the result is the above picture. I caught the boy striking a pose, don't think he'll be too happy seeing this up here. After watching Butter for a little under two hours, Homeboy Sandman took to the stage at just before 11pm. Pretty late for a gig to start but he certainly got the crowd going right away with his charisma. I ended up really enjoying the gig, it went on for just over a hour. It only spotted because another act was due to go on after him which was a shame as I know the crowd would of stayed to listen to more. After going along to his show, I'll definitely be looking into his music more. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets added to my Ipod playlist.
When Paddy and I were leaving the venue post gig we ran into the man himself , Homeboy Sandman signing merchandise. He was such a ace bloke and unbelieveably nice. Paddy bought his CD to get signed, he goes to a lot of these sort of gigs so he's built quite the collection of signed merchandise. He was going to get a tshirt but they only had a S and XXL left which would either be way too small or way too big. I didn't buy anything as I'll probably just get a loan of the CD off Paddy at some point or another. I did get my ticket signed though and a cheeky picture avec Paddy and Homeboy Sandman.
As you all know by now, I arrived back from Manchester last Sunday. I've been to this wonderful city twice already and I'm in love with it. There's so much to do and see over there compared to Dublin which is a serious plus. I went for 10 days in total and I certainly squeezed alot into that period of time. First and foremost I went to Manchester for a PR Internship. It took place over five days so realistically it was more like work experience per se. I wish I had of worked for a longer period of time as I had such a ball. The people were lovely and over the five days I got a great insight into what I want to do in the future. The hours were indeed long (8.30-5.30), but they actually flew by too fast. I may be heading back to college in September now to study PR & Marketing which I'm rather excited about so as they say watch this space.
When I first arrived in Manchester on Friday I was joined by my lovely Mom. Having never traveled to England herself, when I mentioned I was going she jumped at the chance to come for the weekend too. The hotel we stayed in was the MacDonald Manchester Spa Hotel. It was really nice, even though it was a bit of a trek away from the City Centre itself but this didn't bother us in the slightest.The weather was a dream for the full ten days I was there which couldn't of been better. My Mom and I spent most of are time shopping, there will be a post up on what I bought soon. She loved the Arndale and The Trafford Centre. Everyone we met were nothing but nice to us. The three days she came for went by so fast so when Sunday came I was left on my own. This was a completely new experience for me, even though I know Manchester quite well it felt different in a way as I had no one there with me. I really don't know how the rock stars do it at all, I'd miss everyone too much.
When Wednesday came around, my boyfriend Paddy arrived over from Dublin. I couldn't of been happier to see him. We had lots of stuff planned for the remainder of my trip. The first of which was the Olympic football in Old Trafford. To say security there was tight is definitely an understatement but once that was dealt with everything was plain sailing from there. For £35 we got to see two games, UAE vs Uruguay and Team GB vs Senegal. I like my football so I really enjoyed both games alot and it's nice to be able to tell people I seen a Olympic game I suppose. What I didn't like were the horrible crowds after the match it was such a nightmare walking home. We both did alot of shopping between us as everything seems so much cheaper in England. My favourite shopping centre is the Trafford Centre. I've seriously seen nothing like it over here. If you live in Dublin the only thing I could describe it to is Dundrum Town Centre and at that it's about five times the size and much nicer.
The day before we came home, Paddy treated me to my Morrissey ticket. Being honest before Paddy mentioned this concert I'd heard very little about the singer and never listened to his music. On the day of the gig, we went into town early as it was practically are last full day in Manchester. One of our destinations was the Museum of Science and Industry, if your ever in the city you should definitely take a visit as there is so much to do and see. It's very interesting altogether and I'm glad we went. After killing a few hours in town, we headed into the MEN Arena to see Morrissey. I've been to this venue once already to see Taylor Swift almost two years ago, it's one of my favourites. The concert was brilliant, I enjoyed every minute of it. For someone who didn't know Morrissey before the gig I definitely knew who he was when I left. That man has no filter, I think that's why I liked him so much cause he says what he thinks and doesn't care about people reactions. I said to my boyfriend we'd see him again if he played in Manchester as we both loved the gig.
I'll probably be heading back to Manchester before Christmas so if you know of any places Paddy and I should visit while we're are there let me know in the comments.
