Showing posts with label concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concert. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 August 2018

Fear of Missing Out.

I am a strange anomaly. I love order and structure and knowing exactly what’s happening in the coming days and weeks. But I also love spontaneity, although this has a bad habit of showing itself as impulse buying concert tickets (did that two weeks ago) or flights (did that two days ago). I don’t know if it’s due to FOMO or if it’s some deep seeded motivation to find happiness, but whatever it is it is bad for my bank balance!

The flights I booked two days ago are unlike any I’ve booked before. Because I have booked a city break but I have no idea where we’re going.

My boyfriends birthday is in November and once my own birthday is done with I start thinking about his. What on earth to get him? After a decade together I can no longer surprise him, and there’s only so many times you can buy someone a signed book or print. So I started looking at trips. My first instinct was the Bubble Domes in Fermanagh, but as we live right down south of the country and his birthday is in November I figured it was too unpredictable and too awkward to get to. Spending money to sleep in a bubble in an Irish winter seemed like a possible waste. It rains here more often than not, and as much enjoyment as I get out of watching the rain drip down the side of a window, I don’t think it’s exactly a birthday treat.

So I remembered a website I had come across last year, srprs.me, that offers to take the stress out of planning your trip. You tell them when you want to go and how many people are travelling, and they do the rest. You don’t find out your destination until you are In! The! Airport! 

A friend of mine laughed when I told her I had booked it, saying she thinks I won’t be able for it, that she can’t see me relinquishing control over the hotel and flights and, more importantly, the end destination. But I think that’s exactly why it will be a good thing. He and I travel a lot but its usually to the same few places, visiting family and friends, or going to shows and gigs. And I do the majority of the planning. This will be somewhere completely new and just for us. And with none of the stress that goes into the planning.

This will be a different kind of stress. Wish me luck!
 

Thursday, 26 May 2016

Musical Promises



I made a promise to myself at the start of the year. I promised that I would go to shows, see live music, spend what little extra cash I have on events that make me happy and will give me wonderful moments to create happy memories. I’ve spent far too much of my life not doing the things I wanted because of the cost, or because I really shouldn’t take time off work or for whatever reason. So what it boiled down to was a promise to go see live music more. And on the back of that I booked tickets a couple of months ago to go see one of my favourite groups when they came to Dublin. The gig was Monday night, the place was The Olympia, the band was Pentatonix and the night was phenomenal! They are five of the most stunningly talented people in the music scene at the moment and I am thrilled to have seen them live, and in such a wonderfully intimate venue. PTX can sell out arenas stateside but it was beneficial for the fans here that the same is not true of them in Ireland – yet (give it time.) The Olympia was jam packed and everyone there got an amazing experience. Having seen their documentary and their Youtube videos, I knew that they do a big show, but it translated well to the smaller stage of The Olympia. The setting was simple, these guys and their team know that the voices and songs are the true focus so there is no need for fireworks or costume changes. A light show and some smoke added to the excitement but they needed nothing more. The audience love them as they are.

The highlight of the night for me was the first encore song. A track entitled Light In The Hallway. A lullaby of sorts, they put their individual mics on the ground and curved around two small floor mics, the lighting was simple, resembling firelight washing over them, and they sang a beautiful, almost haunting melody. Avi Kaplan is a joy to listen to and he shines on this song. The whole performance was a joy, with Kevin Olusola’s cello and beatbox solo another highlight. The friends I went with agreed we would happily go to see Kevin perform by himself. The whole group seemed genuinely excited and enthused by the thunderous applause they received, which was much deserved.