STORY TIME: Mayday Parade

Hey guys, I’m so sorry for not posting in so long! With work and travelling to London so often it’s been difficult to find the time to write out and post my blogs. I promise I’m trying really hard but it is a lot of time and energy that’s unfortunately being taken up by other events. But I will try to post more!

So, I figured every once in a while I’d do a “story time” blog, where I recount a particular event that was funny or interesting or important to me! This one is my second ever concert. Yes I’m 19 and only been to 2 concerts but they cost money I just don’t have. This is a long one though, so brace yourself. I hope you find it all as funny as we did.

A few weeks ago I went to a concert in Leeds with some of my favourite people. This was the first concert I had been to in 11 years - yes, over a decade ago! I was 8 when I went to my first concert and it was for Good Charlotte with my dad and my sister. I remember some of the night like it was yesterday, actually the main thing I remember is being sat on my dad’s shoulders because I was so little and seeing them on the stage and my sister shouting “BENJI HAS HIS PINK GUITAR” as it went really quiet. It was a fun night, from what I remember.

Since I was a kid the last time I went to a concert, I don't know what I was expecting. But it was definitely better than I imagined. The day itself however, was a bit of a rush. It started with getting up late and having to rush to get ready, which always results in some form of a tantrum and having to redo my make up at least twice. Once I'd finally managed to get ready it then meant having to quickly get food and rush around to meet my best friend, who was not at all surprised when I rocked up 15 minutes late - Sorry Gee!

In my defence, I’m ordinarily 2 hours late. I’m very surprised I was only 15 minutes late. Seriously I’m not kidding, my friends always tell me we’re meeting 2 hours prior to our actual meeting time because they know I’ll be late.

After I finally managed to make it to her, she quickly drove us round to her house where we then had to get out of the car and walk around to the train station - a 10 minute walk - in around 5 minutes. Unfortunately, that day I had decided to wear thigh high boots with huge heels which happened to be bending my toes backwards. Which now I think about it was a dumb idea but hey, they really suited my outfit!

So, we got to the train station at around 15:44 and the train was due to leave at 15:45. So just as we got to the platform, the train had driven off. Yay. We then had to pay extra money to get on the next train, which wasn't for another half hour. We just sat and waited at a Burger King in the station until our train arrived. And, by the time we got on our next train, it was leaving. Meaning that we had to jump on the nearest available carriage to make sure we didn't have to pay for a third ticket. We ended up just sitting on the floor in between two carriages until we got to Leeds.

Then, we finally made it into Leeds! It was only a 10 minute walk from the academy to the train station, so just across the road from the academy was a spoons. We obviously had to go in and have one drink - it's spoons, it's mandatory! I was very surprised it only turned out to be one drink though, I'm actually really proud of us all. After the one drink we went to the academy and just stood listening to the opening band "Pronoun", who sounded pretty good actually.

My boyfriend and I sat down for the next two acts "Movements" and "The Wonder Years" who were both really good. And I must admit I really enjoyed listening to the music whilst lounging on a sofa and not having to be stood up for hours. At one point, I was on the verge of falling asleep but it’d been a long week and it was only Wednesday. The mere thought of being sat down almost put me to sleep, let alone actually sitting down.

Although, when the main act came onstage I just had to stand up and join the crowd. This concert was for a band that I will always have a special place in my heart for - Mayday Parade. I remember being 14 years old with my black puffy hair and side swept fringe listening to Mayday Parade and wondering how they always managed to put into song exactly how I felt and capture my emotions so perfectly. I was so profound back then. Now I just listen to their music and cry about how it's been 5 years since then.

Watching them onstage was like a dream coming true, as cheesy and cliché as it sounds. Seeing them up there and screaming their songs as loud as I can with other people who love them just as much as I do was amazing. 14 year old me would be so happy and 19 year old me is too. It was something I'd been waiting for, for 5 years. I just watched them, singing along. I didn't take any photos or videos and just immersed in the moment and I'd never felt so content.

And then we had to leave 20 minutes early to get the train home but by that point my feet were in agony, I couldn't walk another minute in them. As we left the academy I took my shoes off and carried them around with me to the train station. When we got to the entrance of the train station, we figured out that we had come to the wrong entrance and then had to run and find the other entrance - with only 2 minutes until our train. By the time we finally found the entrance and got to our platform, the train was just leaving.

We managed to get another train 10 minutes later for no extra charge though, considering I had no shoes on, stepped in oil in my socks and I swear I had blisters from those shoes, I was pretty grateful. So we got the last train home, which ended up being delayed by 20 minutes due to someone falling onto the tracks. As soon as we got home, it was sleep time for us. Despite the day being eventful, it was  incredible - totally worth it! 

Think back to the last concert you went to, what was it like? Who did you go to see? 
As always my email/DMs are always open if you would like to send in any questions/advice/suggestions and I'll answer them all! 

Shine bright sunshines,
Raye x

"Music is the fastest motivator in the world" - Amit Kalantri 

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