I’ve loved being back in Liverpool for Easter, and as I write this I am back again for another week or so. Even so, I was still itching to get back to the big city, so it was great having this weekend away planned, for which I will give you the rundown.
My best friend Rachel and I bought tickets to see The Vaccines at Alexandra Palace a few months back and I have been excited ever since. By the way, I don’t know when this blog became a Vaccines fan page because I realise this is now the third post in a row that I’m mentioning them but hey, with the new album absolutely killing the game at the moment, I guess it’s my band of the moment. So, with this gig in the diary, it was a perfect opportunity for a weekend away with Rachel, because with me living away, and just life getting in the way in general, we don’t always get time alone to chill. It was much needed.
The weekend didn’t get off to the most exciting start. Rach and I both got to London separately at around 1pm, headed straight to my flat, and passed out asleep for about 2 hours lol. After getting my coach at 6.45am that day, being in London or not, I just needed to sleep, and thank god Rachel was also on board for that. After what was definitely one of the nicest naps I’ve ever experienced, we rose from the dead to eat dinner, drink, and get ready for the gig.
After oven pizzas and dark fruits (so Fiat 500 Twitter of us, I know), we did our makeup and got dressed for the gig. One thing we never anticipated was how far away Alexandra Palace is from my flat. I know London is a huge city, but with how organised and frequent the transport is, I am shocked when something is more than 20 minutes away. Little did we know that the wonderful venue Ally Pally was bloody miles away; like a million tube stops away, followed by a bus ride, followed by an extremely dodgy walk through a park. This was a little bit of a nightmare, especially since buses are not 24 hours and we had to walk half an hour back to the tube station afterwards. The things we are willing to do for the Vaccines. But, with water bottles full of vodka and Fanta fruit twist in hand, we faced the journey a lot more enthusiastically than you’d expect.
I won’t turn this into a whole live review, especially since I’ve talked way too much about this band recently already, but the gig was amazing, as expected. Much like the smaller HMV gig I saw recently, the set was a perfect mix of old and new. Opening with ‘Nightclub’ set things off explosively and the set raged on with very little pauses, the band simply launching into song after song, much to the delight of the moshing fans before them. It had been 6 years since the band last played the iconic venue, and frontman Justin was visually beaming to be back, as did the rest of the band seem to be as they enthusiastically smashed every single song with their incomparable talent.
Having seen this band play a few times now, I am still in awe of the atmosphere that they can create. Everybody around me in the crowd knew pretty much every word to every one of their catchy songs, and there is always a sense of unity created when hundreds of people band together to scream the lyrics back at the stage. The atmosphere was only escalated by the beautiful venue that this was held at. As myself and Rachel walked up the hill in Alexandra Park towards the grand venue, I was speechless at how beautiful the building was, and the view of London that could be seen from the hill was insane. The last time I was at a gig this size for The Vaccines was at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool - proof that this band clearly have very grand and decadent taste when it comes to their choice in venues, and the aesthetics that these kind of buildings have only escalates how great the overall experience is on the night.
After a joyous night of screeching the lyrics, moshing, and gazing longingly at Justin, still wondering how one man can be so attractive, the night was over. After a long awaited sleep back at my flat, the next day was set to be just as fun a day in the big smoke. Having only visited Camden Market once or twice since living in London (purely out of laziness, as it is a bit of a journey from where I live), it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show Rachel, and to remind myself too what a cool place it is. Camden has so much character and their our hidden treasures everywhere you look. Perusing the market alone takes hours simply due to the vast amount of stalls there are, and the mix of smells from all of the delicious food stalls make you hungry beyond belief. In typical London style though, things certainly aren’t cheap food-wise, so after eating a humble Pret sandwich I treated myself to an ENORMOUS donut (pictured) that took a good few attempts throughout the day for me to finish, but damn it was so good.
After exploring every inch of the market with Rachel, including a visit to the famous Amy Whinehouse statue, the final stop before Rach headed home was the British Museum. I’ve always found trawling museums very relaxing and this was no exception. I’d visited this particular museum for a lecture field trip in my first year, and had been in awe of how cool the building itself was, never mind the sheer amount of artefacts contained in it. This can also be a downfall of this museum in my eyes though, as there is almost too much to see in each room that it becomes overwhelming, not to mention the confusing layout of the building that has you wondering if the floor you’re on is taking you through portals to other dimensions, because you swear you never passed that clay pot on the way in. That being said, it was a cool way to end the weekend, and after heading home to eat and wave Rachel off at Euston Station, I was pretty knackered - the sign of a good weekend though, I’d say.
Being the poor gal I am, my journey back to Liverpool for another week was unfortunately on a 6pm coach on Monday, that didn’t arrive back till 1am - not ideal, but never underestimate how much listening to music can approve a lengthy journey, and when National Express WiFi seems to NEVER work (no shade...but shade really), listening to music was really all I could do. I write this now as I sit in the library in Liverpool, aka my second home at the moment, proving that I really am back to reality. Even so, I count myself very lucky that little getaways such as this past weekend are possible, and having a flat that I can invite people to really is one of my favourite things to do - especially if something as fun as a Vaccines gig is involved.
I’m looking forward to another couple of days in Liverpool before I return to uni for pre-exam panic, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my recap of this weekend, hopefully inspiring you to take a similar weekend with your best friend. Next time I do something note worthy with my life, I’ll continue to tell you all about it if people would like; I have both Peace and The Rolling Stones coming up, as well as hopefully a holiday or two over summer.
See ya next week all,
H x
Having seen this band play a few times now, I am still in awe of the atmosphere that they can create. Everybody around me in the crowd knew pretty much every word to every one of their catchy songs, and there is always a sense of unity created when hundreds of people band together to scream the lyrics back at the stage. The atmosphere was only escalated by the beautiful venue that this was held at. As myself and Rachel walked up the hill in Alexandra Park towards the grand venue, I was speechless at how beautiful the building was, and the view of London that could be seen from the hill was insane. The last time I was at a gig this size for The Vaccines was at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool - proof that this band clearly have very grand and decadent taste when it comes to their choice in venues, and the aesthetics that these kind of buildings have only escalates how great the overall experience is on the night.
After a joyous night of screeching the lyrics, moshing, and gazing longingly at Justin, still wondering how one man can be so attractive, the night was over. After a long awaited sleep back at my flat, the next day was set to be just as fun a day in the big smoke. Having only visited Camden Market once or twice since living in London (purely out of laziness, as it is a bit of a journey from where I live), it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show Rachel, and to remind myself too what a cool place it is. Camden has so much character and their our hidden treasures everywhere you look. Perusing the market alone takes hours simply due to the vast amount of stalls there are, and the mix of smells from all of the delicious food stalls make you hungry beyond belief. In typical London style though, things certainly aren’t cheap food-wise, so after eating a humble Pret sandwich I treated myself to an ENORMOUS donut (pictured) that took a good few attempts throughout the day for me to finish, but damn it was so good.
After exploring every inch of the market with Rachel, including a visit to the famous Amy Whinehouse statue, the final stop before Rach headed home was the British Museum. I’ve always found trawling museums very relaxing and this was no exception. I’d visited this particular museum for a lecture field trip in my first year, and had been in awe of how cool the building itself was, never mind the sheer amount of artefacts contained in it. This can also be a downfall of this museum in my eyes though, as there is almost too much to see in each room that it becomes overwhelming, not to mention the confusing layout of the building that has you wondering if the floor you’re on is taking you through portals to other dimensions, because you swear you never passed that clay pot on the way in. That being said, it was a cool way to end the weekend, and after heading home to eat and wave Rachel off at Euston Station, I was pretty knackered - the sign of a good weekend though, I’d say.
Being the poor gal I am, my journey back to Liverpool for another week was unfortunately on a 6pm coach on Monday, that didn’t arrive back till 1am - not ideal, but never underestimate how much listening to music can approve a lengthy journey, and when National Express WiFi seems to NEVER work (no shade...but shade really), listening to music was really all I could do. I write this now as I sit in the library in Liverpool, aka my second home at the moment, proving that I really am back to reality. Even so, I count myself very lucky that little getaways such as this past weekend are possible, and having a flat that I can invite people to really is one of my favourite things to do - especially if something as fun as a Vaccines gig is involved.
I’m looking forward to another couple of days in Liverpool before I return to uni for pre-exam panic, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my recap of this weekend, hopefully inspiring you to take a similar weekend with your best friend. Next time I do something note worthy with my life, I’ll continue to tell you all about it if people would like; I have both Peace and The Rolling Stones coming up, as well as hopefully a holiday or two over summer.
See ya next week all,
H x
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