One Direction & 5SOS: Croke Park

Last month, I spent a weekend in Dublin to go to two One Direction gigs on the 23rd and 25th of May. The weekend went by so quickly and was absolutely incredible.

Friday the 23rd of May:
Makayla and I arrived in the freezing cold and rainy day absolutely ecstatic the weekend was finally here. Not letting the weather bother us we made our way to Croke Park in the evening to queue. Since we arrived a half an hour or so before the gates opened we were expecting to be at the back but to our surprise we saw some girls I knew from England (shoutout to Lauren, Teri, Georgia and Charlie) and ended up about 5 people from the front which was amazing! And so the long wait for 5sos began.

At about 7:30, the band I was most excited to see, 5 Seconds of Summer finally ran onto stage. I was in utter shock that I was seeing them live again and at their first ever stadium show. They were amazing and it was so good to see them in Ireland again.

One Direction came out a while later and I'm not going to lie, they were even better than last year. I spent the whole concert with my thumb in the air trying to get a thumbs up from one of them which Harry eventually noticed and gave me a thumbs up and wave about an hour later. The night ended, we rushed back to the car to go home and get as much sleep as we could before the next day.

Saturday the 24th of May:
We didn't have a concert to go to the Saturday so we dedicated the day to meeting 5sos. Makayla and I got up at the crack of dawn to meet at the train station and return to Dublin after a few hours sleep. We went to their hotel, stood outside their signing in Dundrum aswell as trespassing trying to meet them but it wasn't until about 7pm we got news what hotel they were staying in and went to see what was happening. We stood in the rain just waiting for a few hours when at around 10pm a bus pulled up and Makayla turned and said "I see Michael!". I was in shock and we all stayed calm and waited for them to get off the bus.  Ashton got off, smiled at us and said "Hi friends!" and began taking pictures with fans literally in front of me. Luke got off then and did the same. When Calum got off I approached him and asked for a picture and he said "Yeah sure!" and just as I was getting my camera ready a girl pushed me out of the way, took a selfie with him next thing he was gone. We decided not to leave because Luke tweeted once he got inside saying "I like you guys" because of how calm we were so we hung around till midnight and then headed back to where we were staying after speaking to their bodyguard and waving in the window to Calum, Michael and Ashton who were inside watching a match. It wasn't as successful as we hoped but I'm thankful we got that close to them to be honest.

Sunday the 25th of May:
We woke up and got ready to spend the day walking around but we decided to try catch 5sos leaving their hotel that morning. We waited outside for a while with a few others and a bus pulled up later with a card on the front saying it was for an artist so we realised it was their bus. Makayla and I were at the front of the line by the door of the bus when they came out. We saw them all again and Gemma Styles, Ashton told us they were heading to souncheck in Croke Park and the others waved and said hi to us.

 We spent the day walking and eventually went to Croker for the final night. We were a lot further behind in the line this time but a girl that was good friends with Makayla was a lot further up so we risked our lives and skipped half the queue. We waited and waited but eventually got in and even closer to the stage this time. We were so close we were actually standing in front of girls who paid an extra 100 euros for early entry tickets.

Once again, 5sos came out and their set was even better this day. I was so happy and had absolutely no cares in the world at that moment and honestly would do anything to go back. The security guards were laughing at a few of us for how over excited we were during their time on stage. They left the stage and I felt a sudden sadness knowing that was the last time I would see them for a while.

One Direction came out a while later. It was clear how much closer we were to the stage. The show went by so quickly, it felt like they were there for less than 40 minutes by the time they were leaving the stage. We departed Croke Park for the last time and made our way home.

 

It was an incredible weekend and I doubt anyone read this far but this post really was for myself to read back on in the future. Thank you sooooo much to Makayla for spending the weekend with me and managing not to murder me and to Lauren, Teri, Charlie and Georgia who were so lovely to us!

 

MTV Movie Awards 2014

The MTV Movie Awards were held this past Sunday in Los Angeles, and  it was a much better show than last year. The pre show was hosted by none other than my favourite Hollywood interviewer, Josh Horowitz as well as Tyler Posey from Teen Wolf. I have the strangest obsession with award shows and watch every bit of coverage possible, red carpets, main shows, after parties and so on, which continues to fuel the celebrity obsessed part of my weird brain. The pre show wasn't particularly exciting apart from one of two celebrities but the main show really has improved over the past few years. This year it was hosted by late night TV presenter in America, Conan O' Brien.

The main show opened with a video showing Conan attempting to get fifty celebs to take part in the opening video aswell as one or two hilarious vine videos about some Oscar nominated movies. The awards then started rolling out.

One person I was particularly excited to see win an award was Jared Leto for Best On-Screen Transformation. His role in Dallas Buyers Club was honestly incredible and the award well deserved. Being the amazing human he is, his speech on stage was an inspiring one for people suffering from AIDs, like he did at the Oscars and he once again thanked his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars...

 

 

The next highlight of the night was Zac Efron obviously. He won an award for Best Shirtless Scene and it was once again well deserved. Rita Ora and Jessica Alba presented him with the award and in the middle of his thank you speech, Rita Ora ripped his shirt open. No complaints from Zac Efron himself as he continued to take his top off and stood there with a smug grin on his face as the crowd went crazy.

 

 

 

My favourite part of the show was the short scene from The Fault In Our Stars that was premiered. It's one of my favourite parts of the book itself and I was anxious to see what Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort were going to be like portraying the parts of Hazel and Gus. The scene has made me even more impatient in waiting for the movie to be released this June. The scene is below for anybody who wants to see it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Favourite Albums

I listen to music pretty much all the time but I think I finally have a top 5 albums that I love the most. My music taste is so strange and I will listen to anything really but lately I've been listening to a lot of music I listened to a few years ago. I really think you should try some of the songs I recommend to see what you think!

1) The 1975 - The 1975

 

 

 



This self titled album from my favourite band is so amazing. They write and produce all their own music and their songs have hidden meanings that make you appreciate them so much more. I honestly rarely listen to anything but their album these past few months especially after seeing them live which made me love them even more. I honestly think if you are really into music you will absolutely love this album. Songs by the 1975 I recommend would be Antichrist, Sex, Menswear and Settle Down.

 

 

 

2) My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

I remember buying this album when I was ten years old and it being my most prized possession. This album is absolutely incredible and the songs never get old (to me anyway) even after listening to them for seven years I still manage to listen to them constantly and love them. All of My Chemical Romance's albums are incredible but this one just appealed to me the most. Songs from this album I would personally recommend would be Welcome To The Black Parade, House of Wolves, Cancer and Sleep.

 

 

3) The Neighbourhood - I Love You

I only recently discovered The Neighbourhood but their album is phenomenal. They're music is really easy to listen to and enjoy. They're not that popular yet but I'm sure they will become popular enough in a few years once more people have heard their music. Songs I recommend from their album would include Sweater Weather, Afraid, Lurk and Let It Go.

 

 

 

 

 

4) Thirty Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie

I really love all of their albums but at the moment this one is my favourite! It's one of the older albums but just as good as the others in my opinion. This one was released in 2005 and I think it was probably one of their most successful albums. Jared Leto's vocals are perfect and the videos for some of the songs on this particular album are really cool. My favourites from this album would be From Yesterday, The Kill and A Beautiful Lie.

 

 

 

5) Lorde - Pure Heroine

Once again I haven't been listening to Lorde for too long but this album is one of my favourites. She's so young and has had so much success with this album which is completely deserved since she writes all her songs herself. Each song on the album is just as good as the last but there's a few I prefer like Tennis Court, White Teeth Teens, Royals and Buzzcut Season. She's going to have such a huge year this year because of this album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oscars Highlights

                                    

So I know this post is a bit late but I wanted to cover it! The 86th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles on March 2nd 2014. It was one of my favourite award shows to watch so far this year which I think is mainly because of Ellen DeGeneres hosting and actually knowing what half the movies up for nominations were about. Ellen really did make it an unforgettable show and absolutely hilarious. It is the most watched Academy Awards since 2000 with an audience of over 44 million viewers?!

First off, Ellen DeGeneres. She was an absolutely amazing host and made the usually unexciting award show hilarious and enjoyable. From bringing an unexpected pizza guy onto the stage to hand out food to some of the biggest celebrities in the world today to beating twitters record for most retweeted tweet, she did an incredible job! She made fun of celebrities sitting right in front of her but wasn't that offensive of off putting. She really did a fantastic job and deserves to receive ongoing recognition for her hosting skills not only on The Oscars but her own chat show.

 

 



The movies nominated were all incredibly good but my personal favourite would have to be "Dallas Buyers Club". I think it's the only movie nominated that I've watched but the others looked interesting. I was drawn to "Dallas Buyers Club" because of the cast that featured Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner who I've seen in other movies and thought they were incredible. "Dallas Buyers Club" won awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor which were well deserved as the roles that Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto filled were difficult to play but they did a flawless job. I got this short summary of the plot from Wikipedia to describe the film in more detail -

 

"Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical drama film. Matthew McConaughey stars as the real-life AIDS patient Ron Woodroof, who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas when he found them effective at improving his symptoms, distributing them to fellow sufferers by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club" while facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."



The final thing I want to talk about is the Red Carpet! I don't know why but I absolutely obsess over spending two hours watching celebrities walk down a Red Carpet in suits and expensive dresses and talk absolute rubbish with interviewers. Many celebs find Red Carpets nerve-wracking and I find some form of comfort in seeing they are actual real people with actual emotions no matter how famous they are or how much their clothes cost or who they're wearing.

Jared Leto

Jennifer Lawrence

Emma Watson

Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Roberts were some of my favourites from the Red Carpet this year. Jared walked the carpet with his mother and brother, Jennifer with her actor boyfriend Nicholas Hoult and Emma Watson, who was making her Oscars debut, walked the carpet herself.
   








The 1975 - 21st February 2014

Yesterday after weeks and weeks of counting down, the day of the 1975 gig in Dublin finally arrived. I'm not going to lie, it was probably the longest day of my life. I got up at 5:40am to get ready and had to leave for Makayla's house by 8:00am. We got the train to Dublin and headed straight to the Olympia. We ran into a girl we met last time we were in Dublin and her friend and ended up spending the day with them queuing from 11:ooam in the cold, rain and wind.

At about 2pm a car drove towards the stage door and it was The 1975 arriving. Matty had told fans he's come out to us later. We stood there and listened to soundcheck and eventually we saw Matty upstairs looking out at us. He opened the door and was recording us and said he's sorry but they're really busy and he'll be out after the show.
So it was back to queuing for a few more hours. 



We went to get tea about an hour before the doors were to open but about 20 minutes later we got a call from the girls we were with saying the doors were opening. We ran as fast as we could back to the Olympia and got there just in time and thank god we got the very front and centre of the stage.





The support act "Wolf Alice" were on first and they were so good! They're a band from London and I didn't get any video's or pictures of them but they have their songs up on youtube for anyone interested.

Eventually, the lights went out and The 1975 came onstage. It was absolutely amazing, we were so close to them. They played most of their songs and it was incredible. Their best live performances in my opinion would be "Sex", "Settle Down" and "Menswear". After listening and watching the band religiously I was still in shock that they were in front of me. I will definitely be going to see them again next time they're here! 


I didn't get home till around 1am and after the day I had and the 4 hours sleep I got the previous night I was wrecked.

George during "Menswear"

Matty during the gig

I should be uploading the youtube videos soon if anybody is interested.

My Chemical Romance - May Death Never Stop You

When I was younger, I went through a phase of listening to nothing but Linkin Park, Sum 41, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Paramore and so on. To this day I still have their music playing non-stop. This is why when March last year came along, I was absolutely heartbroken to find out one of my favourite bands from the age of about 10 was ending. My Chemical Romance.

It's weird that there is no more new music to wait for by them but their greatest hits album "May Death Never Stop You" will be released next month which I can't wait to own! 

Yesterday, they released the last ever song that will be new to their fans, "Fake Your Death". The song is so good I can't even explain. The video they put together for it is a montage of all their old music videos, which hurt a bit to watch.


I needed to make a post since it is the end of them but I am praying they'll do some sort of reunion so I can see them live whether it's 5 or 15 years down the road, I can guarantee I will be there.

I have their latest song/video "Fake Your Death" below. 

Enjoy, and don't cry.

Music Favourites This Month

The past month or two my music library has expanded dramatically. I love finding new artists or songs that I really like listening to. Some of the following are part of my favourites from the past month!

1) Lorde

So what I've gathered from looking at people's reactions to Lorde, you either love her or hate her. I, obviously, love her. She's only seventeen and has been #1 in America and other countries around the world for weeks on end for her FIRST single. Not only is she an amazing artist but she's unique. Just two weeks ago she won her first Grammy for Song of The Year. Her debut album "Pure Heroine" is incredible and I can't wait to see where her career goes from here.

2) Ellie Goulding

I absolutely ADORE Ellie Goulding. She's so cool and just an amazing artist in general. Her latest single "Goodness Gracious" has not gone a day without being played at least ten times, I love it. Her album "Halcyon" and "Halcyon Days" has amazing songs that are really enjoyable. Her voice is one of a kind and just amazing. It's impossible to dislike her, she seems so down - to - earth and a genuinely nice person. She's absolutely gorgeous too.



3) Beyonce
I don't think any artist other than Beyonce can drop a surprise album and have such a success with it. Her self titled visual album "Beyonce" is amazing! Her performance on the Grammy's with Jay Z was incredible aswell. I don't think I've stopped singing her songs this week? Some of my favourites from her latest album have to be "XO", "Drunk In Love" and "Pretty Hurts". I recommend you all go check it out it's fab!


4) Luke Friend

I love Luke Friend so much it's not even funny. I'm telling you all now that he is going to be soooo successful, wait and see. His original songs are absolutely amazing and worth a listen. He's only a seventeen year old busker and is already recieving media attention and has been signed to SYCO music. I supported him the whole way through 'The X Factor' and although he didn't win he has a larger fanbase than the actual winner. His first album is going to be amazing I can't wait to hear it.

Ellie x