It's fair to say that I've got out more than a bit throughout
the year, and still in a reflective mood, I thought it would be
good to look back on the visits that more or less changed
my perspective on things and were the most inspiring.
Not to mention being a good laugh as well.
We'll start off with a snowy weekend in February.
The Punk Weekender - Maiden's Head, Canterbury, 05.02.12
The wintry weather didn't put a stop to the third day
of a birthday celebration for one of the Garden's prominent
punk promoters, and to have some of Kent's finest in one
place was something special.
Sets from Captain Bastard, The Half Wits, Criminal Brainstorm
and Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Punk Band were more than
just a perfect warm-up to headline act K*nt and The Gang
who had traveled all the way from a gig in Sutton Coldfield
to be present.
It was also good to meet up with new and old faces,
and regarding the latter I was really pleased to see Alex,
who was in my year (but not in my class) at primary school.
Reminiscing was certainly not on the agenda.
That school temporarily destroyed any elements of
hope and creativity for many of us.
We were here to have a good time, and the antics
of one such attendee resulted in Alex squawking with laughter.
That being this woman who didn't just get into a
scrap with Stuart as seen below;
...but also with the headline act when she thought K*nt was slagging
off her hometown Sheerness.
She was like a foul mouthed Mo Harris from Eastenders
and I even got one of the arguments on video.
I'll save it from the blog however as I wouldn't want to
upset anyone in case.
Overall the day was amazing and an ideal warm up for
a visit to London a couple of days later, for the BBC's Radio Fast
Train day where I met someone even more special who will
pop up later in the blog post.
The Margate Soul Weekender - 03-04.08.12
Having attended one day of the 2011 event,
I was determined to enjoy as much as I could of this
year's event on the Thanet coast.
And I would have gone the whole hog, had I not have
had to be on the radio on the Sunday.
What I loved about this year's weekender was getting to
meet many punters and disc spinners who have become
really good friends and encouraged me to visit more soulful
events in both Margate and beyond.
None more so than Essex boys Jon Layton and Mr Messy,
pictured below with the ever delightful Roni O'Brien.
At the nearby Rokka bar I also discovered a guy
who I reckon has the best taste in soulful house tunes,
that being Max K from Germany, pictured below with
Lancashire attendee Morag who also provided the laughs.
And not to mention the opportunity to rub shoulders with
a few legends who showed up including Capital Radio Soul Spectrum
veteran Greg Edwards who was the headline act
at the Westcoast Bar on the Saturday.
The weekender proved so successful that it's back next
year not once, but twice as there's an one towards the end
of May, not too far after my birthday.
Though it seems I can't wait for that either, as tonight
and on Monday I'll be heading back to the Thanet coast
again for some soulful New Year celebrations.
Foot In The Door at the Radio Festival - Salford, 13.11.12
I'll admit it, I can be rather timid at the worst of times,
as anyone who has met me first time round will be aware of.
This is something I have wanted to go to for years but
I have been scared of, all down to a tiny little thing that
may not be a big deal to most, but to me it results in
me going hysterical.
Basically it's radio speed dating where a small group of
people go round tables with radio experts giving advice and
after 15 minutes a klaxon will go off and they move to the
next one.
It sounds straightforward but the horrible thought of
the noise itself had me worried the night before when
I arrived in Manchester to the point I couldn't get any sleep.
The thought of me turning into the Helen Flanagan
of Foot In The Door was too much to handle.
Thankfully Karen P from Folded Wing (pictured above holding Gordon!)
was one of the experts present and having met up with her before
the event, she was really understanding and helpful despite
me being in tears before going in.
Event organiser Caroline, was also amazing as she went out of her way
to get a bulb horn for them to indicate changeover time instead.
As for the event itself, I loved it.
A really good set of people giving advice including Christian Spooner
from Real Radio giving advice on journalism, Westminster alumni
Sam Gregory giving producer tips, and Kate Cocker from
BBC 6 Music who told it straight and her biggest piece of advice
was "Don't be a dick".
I hope to attend the whole festival in 2013, even if it does mean
saving a bit of money, and overall I was grateful to everyone
there for being understanding and encouraging.
The Westminster Re-Uni-On - London, 15.12.12
The last couple of years have been pretty difficult recovering
from the comedown of leaving university and I know
I'm not the only one to have felt it.
Thankfully on this special event as organized by Denis
from our year, there was no aggro in sight and it was so
good to see a lot of people, a fair number of them I haven't
had seen since graduation.
It was a mini pub crawl of sorts that took us from Central
London all the way up to Harrow where we stopped over
at some of our favourite watering holes.
Though I did end up leaving early as I had another soul
event lined up on the same night, and it was probably
just as well, as the rest of them went to a much noisier
club that I'm not sure I would have survived.
As for the overall highlight of the day, a three for
one deal on VKs did you say?
Let's hope 2013 sees more of the same, many amazing
outings with even more amazing people.
No comments:
Post a Comment