Rock Werchter 09 - Life in Technicolour

The main part of our journey to Werchter was a 10 hour (approximately) coach from London to Brussels, and seeing as how we had two hours to kill before catching it we went to a nearby pub to have a final meal before the epic adventure that lay ahead of us. The coach was pretty uneventful, I managed to get a seat near the back with Jason where we probably ate far too many jelly beans; Jason in particular was prone to sudden hysterics, especially when he tried to secretly take a photo of Rob, Rhian, Tim and Chrispy with the flash on. The majority of us slept at some point on the journey there, a certain rarity as I cannot fall off unless I am properly sleep-deprived, but I managed it nonetheless between Lille and the Belgian border. We crossed the channel itself by Ferry (our return journey would be by Eurotunnel) and due to it being midnight there was not much to see from the deck, something which was probably more disappointing for those among us who hadn't been on a ferry before.

Once in Brussels we had to catch a train to Leuven and from there a bus to the actual festival site. Numerous queues and some excessive walking later we were finally given a wristband to the campsite and once we had got a decent spot began to assemble our tents. We managed to get the Tepee up fairly quickly and seeing as how we had a few hours before the bands begun we sat down and had a few drinks.

The festival itself was very well organised, I never came across a dirty portaloo, crowd control seemed reasonable and people seemed pretty friendly. To top it all the weather was extremely good all weekend; save for during the Mars Volta's set where a sudden downpour soaked us all. The line-up didn't fail to provide the great performances I had been expected and I retrospect each day seemed to peak at around the right times. Whilst it would have been nice to have discovered or stumbled on a few new bands I can't argue with the quality of what I did see and the bragging rights I would have thanks to some bands. For me the highlights had to be; Fleet Foxes, 2ManyDJs, Coldplay, Nick Cave and Metallica, but of course this is only a small list. The Festival however became another milestone in music for me though, because as well as being my first foriegn Festival, it also meant I had now seen over 100 different live bands. This will be something I will be looking at soon as I try to decide what was my favourite live band from the first 100.

The festival ended in spectacular style with a 2 and a half hour set from Metallica, it was impressive and powerful stuff, complete with fireworks, explosions and pyrotechnics. In fact it was pretty much everything you expected from a Heavy Metal show, it was just terrible that it marked the end of a truly awesome journey...

Rob -x-

Werchter 09 - Wishful Beginnings

It has been over three weeks since I returned from Rock Werchter and I still haven't got around to writing a blog about it, so please forgive me and here is my best shot at describing this epic journey to Belgium's leading music festival.

It all began many months ago, I was round a friend's house waiting for Reading and Leeds tickets to go on sale, excitement was building, the line-up was revealed to be incredible and after 2 hours of furious clicking we were still empty handed. Many of the ticket sites were showing sold-out signs all over their pages, every now and again a link would work, but it always led to a dead end. This was not the way we had imagined this particular evening to pan out and we still had a desire to buy tickets for some form of festival. We began a quick search of the internet, the majority of UK festivals that had already gone on sale were now sold out as well; we suspected other disappointed music fans were doing the same thing as us so we widened the net. Then we saw it, a European festival that was still on sale with a line-up that would make Glastonbury green with envy. Boasting the likes of Coldplay, The Killers, Nick Cave and Metallica, we could be excused for being caught in the moment and not considering the various implications of festivalling in Europe; transport you ask? we shall go by Eurostar! After reading around the offical site to ensure we booked the correct tickets, we held our breath as we hit that pay now button, then it sank in...

"WE ARE GOING TO BELGIUM!" I yelled
"WE'RE GOING TO SEE NICK CAVE!" exclaimed Rob
"SEASICK STEVE" added Jason
"METALLICA" Tim shouted
(this isn't exactly what happened but it's probably pretty accurate)

That was it, the six of us were heading to Rock Werchter, we booked coach tickets, bought tents that never showed up and then bought a teepee to make up for it. We boarded the coach on Wednesday and began the 14 hour journey to Brussels.

Rob
-x-

Lost in the Void

It has been a long time since I bothered to write anything, I haven't really had much going on that seems that interesting, although I currently have a few projects in mind that I might be starting soon. I'm currently in lichfield using an incredibly poor internet connection, so i will keep this brief...but here is a quick summary of what I have been up to.

- I have finally found myself a job, I work in a bar in Leicester on weekends.
- I recently went to a music festival in Belgium (more on that soon)
- I looked at my (currently sidelined) novel and decided I needed to finish it.

More updates soon!

Rob -x-

Better Things

Something bizarre is happening to me. Ever since I posted that last blog entry, the one about how I was going change my outlook on life, I have felt...different. I woke up the following morning in an extremely good mood (one which I haven't yet managed to shake off despite being in the midst of hay fever) which resulted in a strange walk into town where I was constantly trying to resist the temptation to break into dance; we are talking full-on west end musical dancing as well. I'm not sure what it is but for some reason I have this feeling that everything is about to go my way. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I am relieved, it is nice to regain that euphoric feeling and self confidence that I believe I used to have.

I feel like a weight has been lifted, but I can't figure out what. I am still obsessing over the same trivial details and I still carry the same regrets, but now I seem to have reconditioned myself into seeing them as learning experiences rather than being negative. Things I used to think of with a certain reluctance have changed in my view. I seem to be forgiving myself and at the same time coming to terms with the fact that if I was to go back to these events I wouldn't change the way I had acted. Indeed I have begun to look more at the positive in these situations, and the good times as well, as opposed to the negativity I used to seek. I can feel the benefits already, my new frame of mind is encouraging me to take up a more healthy lifestyle and my new confidence is a welcome change.

For now I hope this lasts.

Rob
x

One Month Off

Wow...It has been almost a month since I updated this thing, so much for my empty promise of being able to write more due to my new-found free time. It appears I have slipped into a rather horrific routine of doing absolutely nothing, well actually that's not entirely true I have done the odd bit of job hunting and going to interviews, but given that I still need to figure out a research area for next year's major project I really should be doing more. I have a few ideas but need to get off my arse and make phone calls to start the ball rolling. With the dawning realisation that I am close to getting into a routine that could ruin my Summer, and ultimately my third year I need to give myself a kick start and not just with my project (although that is the most important thing to get onto) I also need to kick start my life again and head outside...into that glorious sunshine we seem to be blessed with, especially while I am still jobless.

Consider this a real promise, not an empty one, consider this my new philosophy, not my old one.

Until next time (which hopefully will be sooner rather than later)

I Hear You, But I'm Not Afraid Of You

My second year of University has ended; in true style it ended with a sudden burst, a last gasp attempt at correcting the mistakes of my poor planning and from the ensuing wreckage I emerged with my sanity almost fully intact. The last three weeks have been a bit of a blur and have usually consisted of waking at 7.30am getting to Uni for 8.45am and working there until 9pm I would then continue to work until around midnight. As a result I have been living in a kind of half-conciousness that isn't a good thing to be in for more than a few days, but four deadlines and 2 and a bit weeks later I am finally out of it.

Now I have chance to slow down, catch my breath and resume what life I have. I have few plans on what to do between now and the beginning of the third year but I fully intend to make this Summer as great as possible.

Rob out!

You Can't Go Home Again

It may be a clichéd idea, but it's true you never realise just how much something means to you until you lose it; this is something I have had to deal with today as I learned that my parents have lost the family home and it is to be repossessed in 28 days. The home in which I have spent the first 20 years of my life is now to become someone else's and we have to find somewhere new to live. Whilst I am living (for the most part) in Leicester, I still feel a strong tie to that house because it has always been the place I call home, after a year of living in my accommodation in Leicester I can't say that it feels like a 'home' to me...it is just a place I live, it doesn't hold the same meaning that the house in Francis Road has.

I last visited home for the first week of my Easter Holidays and my parents had already explained to me that they were facing court proceedings over the house as they had fallen behind on the mortgage. While I was home the conversation was never far from the subject and my parents had already begun looking for new accommodation, rented houses mainly, and the general consensus was that whether we won the case or not we would be moving to a new place.

The UK recession has hit the family quite hard especially due to the apparent death of the UK construction industry due to which my dad lost his job. He was out of work for around three months, which is a very long time for my dad as he has rarely been out of work since I was born, in fact he states that he has rarely been jobless since leaving school. We know at this point that it was going to be tough keeping up with bills after losing a £40,000 a year job (he had been working in London before becoming un-employed and for once it appeared that everything was going our way) Jobseeker's allowance didn't help as that gradually decreased, luckily though he found work in a factory for Minimum wage and whilst it was better than the 10p a week he was due to be getting by now from the Government (this is no exaggeration, he really was told he would be getting 10p a week jobseeker's) it was still a lot less than what we were used to. This just highlighted the fact that my parents could no longer afford to keep us living in the family house; whether we won in court or not.

My parents had managed to get themselves in a good position to get a council house and we also looked at privately rented homes as well, somewhere in the back of our minds we believed that the court would go easy on us and allow us to stay, for me in particular that house is part of who I am. We even saw a small glimmer of hope as my dad managed to get himself a better paid job working for some locksmiths, but it was never to be. Looking back we should have realised that given the current climate banks are going to be forceful in regards to money and at the end of the day they won. My mum told me, before bursting into tears, that GE Money had already repossessed 13 houses recently, they now had enough for a small estate agency.

My parents have taken it hard, I have too, but it is a lot worse for them, as my mum said 'it feels as though they have let us down'. Of course they haven't, they have done everything they can to keep us where we are, somehow I think it has been an inevitable event, we have never been that secure with finances, but this was the first time we faced repossession. I understand that it might be hard for my parents to find a new place to call home, but I have assured them that I will be happy anywhere, I know they have been looking at two bedroom houses because they are cheaper meaning that I would have to sleep on the sofa when I visit, but my dad is adamant that will get a three bedroom to ensure that I always have a room, another example of them putting the family before finances, and for that I admire them...that is why I am always proud to call them my parents.

Rob -x-

p.s. I am heading off to Milan tomorrow with some of my course mates for the Furniture Fair and when I return I hope to have a more upbeat post.