July 2017 Favourites

Hello and welcome back.

July was a month filled with weather that seemed to be just as indecisive as myself. However, it appears that whilst the rain continues to pour from a sunny sky, I have actually managed to get myself together and pick some of the things I've been loving for the past month! So let's get into it shall we?

FBF: Halsey Badlands Tour

Hello everyone,
I apologise for the slump my blog has been in recently, what with my DISSERTATION and procrastination levels at an all time high.
I love Halsey. I've bragged about her in several posts and I really wanted to share the great experiences I had seeing her whilst she was in the UK. She may be a new artist but she is one of my all time favourite people to see live; her crowds are diverse, glitter coats my skin and I get to see some of my favourite humans in the process.

Let's kick this off with the Birmingham show and my trip to Camp Badlands. Emmy, Amy and I had a little stop off at TGI's for cocktails (mine was a hurricane, how fitting) before we headed to the venue. There were a few queues which seemed confusing but we weren't in the cold for too long. A guy (I'm really sad I don't know his name because he was SO POLITE, and a itty bitty little bit cute) gave us our wristbands and passports, which were stamped upon entry. Inside, all of the freaking amazing artwork that Halsey's shared at a few other events were displayed. Film poster esque versions of her songs, which I really hope become merch because I want to plaster my walls with them. There was a cute pink and blue Badlands backdrop where you could take photos and have them printed as cute post cards using a hashtag, and there was also the opportunity to buy discounted merch (we as a squad opted for the 'Send Help' dad caps).

My Sound of 2015

Hello everyone,
it seems that 2015 is almost behind us. I think one thing you've probably learnt if you've been a devout follower of my blog this year is that I love music. Yeah I know, 99% of my posts are about some band from Sydney, but today I'm going to be highlighting the realm of my musical interests, and in no particular order, telling you why they're the best. Let's go!

Halsey's London Shows

Hello everyone,
please forgive me for the rambling that will take place in this post as I attempt to convey the experiences I had seeing Halsey at her first headlining UK shows. Let's see how this goes, shall we?
First things first let's go to the day before the Islington show, where I met up with 5 of the Halsey Squad to begin our camp out. Given how fast the shows sold out, and the fact the venue had been upgraded, we'd anticipated a strong turnout for campers, but in fact we were the only 6 people, and so our night of playing the Seven Second Challenge, watching Boobah YouTube videos and running away from foxes began. The morning of the show fans turned up in mini groups and the atmosphere came to life, we cosied up in Starbucks and this is a PSA for you to NEVER DRINK A PEPPERMINT LATTE! We had a little issue with the queue being unaware there was an O2 priority queue but resolved any doubts we had about our campout being worthless and our tiny hearts grew as we raced to  the barrier for the show.

HALSEY: BADLANDS REVIEW

For most people, Friday August 28th was like any other day. However, for some souls, the day marked the release of the long anticipated debut record from American singer/songwriter, Halsey, as she released Badlands to the world.
The alternative musician, who is signed to Astralwerks, has an intense following. I remember when she released Ghost in 2014 and I listened to it on repeat as I paraded to university, some time later came her well received EP Room 93, which spurned out fan favourites such as Hurricane and Trouble. Badlands promised to depart from the days Halsey was better known as Ashley Frangipane and with its release, fans such as myself have been pulled into the dark, imaginative spiral which the bad lands entail.
Castle, the opening track for the record throws the listener in at the deep end, as Halsey embarks upon the dystopian metropolis and is 'headed straight for the castle' supposedly to become queen of the bad lands. There's a choir trickled into the chorous which backs up her inauguration into this seemingly sinister place. Lyrically the song offers an insight into Halsey's position as a woman fighting in a predominantly male industry. On several occasions Halsey has bought up the topic of the struggles that are placed in her way as she climbs her position within the music industry. She's rejected labels who didn't support her intentions, and took control of having a female-female love relationship for her video for Ghost. With the statement 'there's an old man sitting on the throne, that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut,' this power struggle punches through the hypnotic rhythm of the song.

Once Upon a Time I Met Halsey

One thing you're going to learn about me if I manage to keep this whole blogging thing up, is that I heart music. Just like every person on the planet, I have songs I could listen to 600 times in a row and not hate, musicians I would kill to see live and musicians I would love to meet.

For over a year now I've been obsessing over an American musician called Halsey, an anagram of her real name Ashley (Frangipane). I'm going to be honest and say that I did come across Halsey because of her friendship with Ashton from 5SOS, but nonetheless she's grown to become one of my favourite rising music stars, and her music is the complete opposite to 5SOS.

Just over a year ago she released Ghost, which I played on the way to uni and knew all the words to by the time I got there. Then came her Room 93 EP which features tracks I'm still obsessing over, especially 'Trouble' and 'Empty Gold.' The EP was only released in America, but Halsey encouraged anyone who is a fan to download the EP in any way (illegally) so that they could obtain the music. When Halsey gets signed to a UK label I will be putting in the money to purchase any music she releases, and I cannot wait for the day I get to see her
perform live (if only she could've supported The Kooks here).