Burning Wexford

BLOG TIME. Favourite time of the.. well.. now.. This blog comes to you in one part, written over the day. Two parts in one. I'm currently waiting for my lift to Wexford, so I am writing about last night's gig. Burning Amber played the Harbour Bar in Bray.

The band were fantastic. Check out (and please like) their Facebook page, Burning Amber! The light was shit so I had to use flash a lot, but still I got some good pictures! It was a mad fun experience. It was their first gig and I think they did a fantastic job! Great experience for them. They headlined, too. Not shabby.

They played 11 songs. They had to repeat the first song simply due to time running out, but it all went fairly smoothly. If you exclude the guitar cutting out, a string snapping and the drum sticks going missing at the start.

Their set was fun and easy to bop along to. It was really cool! I got loads of videos, but I have yet to check their quality. Beyond that, we're heading to Wexford now shortly so Mum can check out a house. Hopefully all goes well and she can move there. We lived there before, so we kind of know the area. But we'll see how it goes.

Ok.. so.. I saw how it goes.. It was.. interesting. Here's a breakdown of the day.

Playlist:
Muse - The 2nd Law
Tremonti - All I Was
Alter Bridge - ABIII
Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold

This basically made our car ride seem less long (aka shorter). It takes roughly 2 hours to get to where we were going. Wexford is a very backwards place. I have a quote to help quantify the mind boggling place that is Wexford.

A almost 9 years ago I got a necklace custom made from my Mom. She had it made in a place called "Wexford Silver". I went in there today to ask to get it cleaned and not only did he (Kieran) clean it, he did it for free. I knew it was dirty but I didn't really know how bad it was until he was done. He made it look like new. I adore this necklace. I wear it every day. It is the piece of art you see in the photo next to this paragraph thingy thing.

What else happened? I showed Emz the glorious (HA!) town of Wexford. I believe her next quote should sum up everything quite nicely.

Emz quote of the day - "in Dublin you find used condoms on the ground, in Wexford you find used tea bags"

I love that quote. There was a lot to see, today. I ran in to a really old friend from waaaaay back when. He happened to be in town just basically doing what we were doing for the day. That was pretty cool. He's wayyy taller now, but I guess that's the difference in 6-7 years. 

<- I love this sign. The picture is fantastic, although I'm not sure if you can actually see it. If not.. y'know.. tough. 

So beyond that it was pretty uneventful. The house we went to see with Mum was pretty much under construction, so it'll need to be checked back in on in a few weeks to see. Seems like a nice enough place, though. Sort of. All-in-all, good day. We got chocolate, so. There's that. I feel that the most appropriate quote I could think of pretty much sums up our trip once we hit Wexford. Take it easy, folks!

Roads? 

Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads

- The Doc, Back to the Future

Stick to My Guns in a World Full of Weapons

I found the meaning of life. Unfortunately I am contractually obligated not to tell any one what it is. Contracts.. they hold the key to everything. You can gain and lose a job over a contract. You can make or break a life with a contract. Contracts literally can give someone everything they've ever dreamed of, or they could take it away.

I read a fantastic (but long) quote yesterday. I believe it needs to be seen! "Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what’s printed on the contract. It’s too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody’s eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there’s only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says “Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke”. And he does, of course." - Steve Albini

It's insanely accurate and incredibly awesome. I simply HAD to share it.

Any-who, moving swiftly along. I can't help but notice that Norway is moving ever closer. Or I guess we're moving ever closer to Norway. We got our tickets yesterday for the 9th of October. 4 days later but I think that's probably a good thing. I'm looking forward to spending a little more time with my Mom and 

family before I ship out.

I'm getting quite excited about spending some time with the Norwegian branch of the family lagoon. I would call it a tree but, y'know. It's a lagoon. It's got many different things in there and it makes for one interesting trip. I know some familiar faces that I'm looking forward to seeing again like Terje, Karoline and Jenny and there are a LOT of people in Emz life that I have yet to meet, which is also exciting. 

I don't really know any one of there so well, but I'm looking forward to getting the people who are most important to Emz. Because they are most important to me as long as they make her happy! I think I posted a picture before but I can probably post it again for any new-comers. Do remember that my 2nd (I think) blog post is a basic description of any one that I will probably mention here. 

So I think it's time for some top 5's. It's something I am always fond of, and I think it should be a regular segment.. or paragraph.. or whatever. If you have any suggestions, let me know! Today's top 5 should beeee.. top 5 hats.. not really though, it'll be my all time top 5 favourite songs. I have not yet decided if I will explain why they are my favourite songs. Ok, so, here we go. 

5. Requiem - The Confession

Requiem is a stunning song. I love the lyrics, mostly. This band is one of a kind. If you haven't heard their album then do it. They're amazing. This band generally has the best lyrics. Two of the members are now in another band called Sons of the Damned. Check them out if you like the Confession, or just have good taste in music. They're good, too. 

4. Simply Unstoppable (Yes Remix) - Tinie Tempah ft. Travis Barker & Katie Taylor

This song gets me pumped. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I will get pumped for this song. Well, maybe not at a funeral or something, but in a normal situation.

3. Slither - Velvet Revolver

This song was one of the first songs I learned completely on guitar, and it's the only one I'm not sick of because I spent so much time learning it in year 1 of learning guitar. I love it. 

2. Blackbird - Alter Bridge

Another stunning song. The lyrics are my favourite, but I adore the entire thing. I know it on guitar (probably backwards at this point). Amazing track.

1. Afterlife - Avenged Sevenfold

This song is the one I used to get so many people in to A7X. I have a lot of fond memories of this song, and the people it reminds me of.

That's my list for today. Let me know if you have any ideas for any others. I tend to be pretty uninspired to make these types of things, but once I have an idea I can roll with it. Well, I think this is bloggy enough. 

Free my soul from ridicule, let it fly away

This is not the end

- Taylor Armstrong