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| The Real Queen G |
For my many many regular readers (and by that I mean all 0 of you) you will know that I went to see Ellie Lifegoals Goulding live in Newcastle on Wednesday the 16th of March and it was a truly celestial experience... The closest I've felt to heaven in my whole 21 years thus far! Well B and I had such an incredible time that the day after we returned to Edinburgh, work and our drab reality we decided to blow all of our savings and book to go see Ellie for a second time in London. As you can probably predict, both from the beginning of this post and from it's title, this post is dedicated to our second, and sadly final, attendance of the Delirium World Tour.
Wednesday 23 March 2016
I spent the day working a 12 hour shift and then returned to my flat at 8.30/9pm. I messaged B to come through to my room so we could discuss the final plans for the next day (Goulding day) and so she came through, poster making supplies in hand, and we came to the sad realization that it would be a 4am wake up call for us the next day. B and I had a quick catch up and then got down to business making posters for the concert, it was sheer carnage as glitter, super glue and black marker got everywhere but ultimately we ended up with 3 wonderful pieces of artwork and one John Newman appreciation poster.
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What are you some kind of artist or
something? |
The posters read:
- I've got Ellie On My Mind
- Ellie's got that Fire Fire FiiiiiIIiiire
- Ellie is Gould-en, she makes us Delirious
- John, I need to know now, know now will you Love Me?
As you can probably tell we are hella original and I'm 100% sure nobody has thought of those phrases to put on their posters before, 100%! The whole process took a while and before we knew it the clock stuck 12 and we had to accept that it was bed time. I was so excited i didn't think that I would be able to sleep but in the end the 12 hour shifts caught up with me and I was in a deep slumber the second my head hit the pillow.
Thursday 24 March 2016
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| Too soon? |
4am and my alarm sounds... "Come on Jessica, come on Tori, let's go to the mall you wont be sorry" as Robin Sparkles welcomes me into the day. Everything hurt and I was dying, I knew that I was getting out of bed for a good cause, a great cause even but it was just so damn early! As the blinding pain of exhaustion hit I thought of what Ellie would say, "Bite down on your lip, take another sip, dont panic!" and just like that I was buzzing for the wonderful life making event that was mere hours away from me. B and I reconvened in the hall and I told her about how I couldn't get Don't Panic out of my head, just like that "bite down on your lip, take another sip, don't panic" became the saying/song of the trip. We set out for the tram and as we waited we discussed matters such as the UK early 2000 trend of listening to high pitched DJ music #DJCammyInTheMix2k6 and other equally interesting subjects and then we were en route to the airport. It was 6.30am by the time we cleared security and I insisted on visiting the whiz palace before boarding the plane because airplane bathrooms are ew. B was getting worried because our boarding time was 6.30 and she thought we were going to miss the plane, we had a slight difference of opinions as to whi
ch gate we were boarding from and then we decided to listen to me because I am always right when it comes to directions. I was wrong. After humiliating us by trying to board the wrong plane we set out towards the actual gate, B almost in a run for fear of missing the plane and myself trying to connect the the wifi in order to snapchat B saying "Bite down on your lip, take another sip". We made it in time for our flight and before we knew it we were off, up in the air, on our way to see Ellie.
The flight was spent listening to music, chatting and then writing a letter each to Ellie, the 02 arena website stated that there was an information desk where you could hand in letters to singers and this was not an opportunity we were willing to miss. My Letter went a little like this I (give or take the wording of the first section):
Dear Ellie,
I am currently on a flight from Edinburgh to London with my main man Beth to see your Delirium tour for a second time and I am so excited. Although this is my second time seeing the Delirium tour it will be the 5th time I have seen you live. I also seen you at T in the Park in the King Tut's tend many moons ago, at the 02ABC in Glasgow for Halcyon, at Hyde Park for the British Summertime Festival and now Delirium twice...(more ramblings)...
To sum up what I really want to say is that if you were Harry Potter then I would want to be your invisibility cloak so that I could shelter you from all of the worlds evils. If I was a 2 horned unicorn and you were a horse I would give up one of my horns for you. If I was Dr Meredith Grey and you were a patient who was coding then I would for sure push one of epi for you! Here is a joke: 2 fish are in a tank, one fish turns to the other and says "do you know how to drive this thing?" haha love Gemma *inster twitter account name here* xoxo
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| legs for days |
We arrived in London and I practiced my English accent and we made our way into the city centre. I wont go into how we spent the first part of our day before we could check into our hostel because I will write a separate London post so let skip forward to 2pm, check in time at the hostel. We walked in circles in the rain for a dogs age before finding the hostel and I must say the 4 hours sleep almost got the better of me when I almost went off on one at B... I had to remidn myself to bite down on my lip and take another sip! I had to continue to remind myself to do this after arriving at the hostel as the man on reception had no idea what he was doing and took forever and a day to check us in. B and I raced to our dorm and began to get ready for Ellie as quickly as we could after the delay at reception! I was ready before B so I grabbed my straighteners and began to use them to curl one side of her hair as she tackled the other. As I came across a knot in her hair I began trying to juggle my tangle teezer, straighteners and B's hair between my two hands which ultimately resulted in
my straighteners bouncing back onto my arm and leaving a massive burn (burn burn burn gonna let it burn burn burn). There was no time to nurse the wound and I grabbed the essentials: purse, phone, ipod, wireless charger, happy thoughts and a pocket full of sunshine before skipping to the underground for a one way trip to the one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
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"still pee but run"
"Actually run now!" |
We arrive at the 02 by 3ish and claimed our spots in the line. There were already a fair amount of people waiting to see Ellie and I was a little nervous about our chances of getting the exact spot we had been dreaming of for the past week but once again I bit down on my lip and took another sip. B and I had 3 and a half hours to kill in the line and so after we had our spot I sent B on a one woman mission to get snacks and boy did she deliver... B got us salt and vinegar crisps, diet soda, cream eggs, cereal bar and a magazine. Around 5pm I took my turn of leaving the line for a final pre-Ellie bathroom break, I climbed over all of the people behind us in the queue who were obviously at least just a little bit less fans of Ellie than us and as I made my way to the bathroom I passed a bar that was playing the Delirium album on a loop. I. WAS. SO. FREAKIN. HYPED! I returned to the line and then B left of her turn emptying her bladder. While B was away I listened to Ellie on my ipod until the line, which consisted of fans sitting on the cold hard ground, raised to their feet and I instantly sent B 5000 Milliom texts requesting that she return to the queue immediately. She ran back from the toilets and then we had another hour to wait until the gates actually opened... lolgoodtimes.
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We made it into the London Snapchat
Story |
The gates opened at 6.30 and before we knew it we were in, we had exchanged our tickets for orange wrist bands and we had handed over our letters for Ellie to a woman who promised she would try to get them backstage to her (I may never know if Ellie actually received them or not). The next hurdle was bag check, just our luck for B and I to be stuck behind someone who took ages to get checked. B swapped lines and then I got through and she was delayed again, a bunch of people who had been behind us got in first but it was fine because B and I got in there to the exact spots we wanted (slightly behind the people at the barrier rather than actually at the barrier but not a bad achievement nonetheless and still the best spots in the house imo). The only issue was we were stood behind 2 girls that very quickly became me new enemies, so much so that they put me off buy a Delirium beanie because I didn't want to be associated with them. To sum up they took up so much space with their elbows, they just stood there, didn't dance, didn't sing. I put my hand on the barrier for support in between acts and she shoved me back out of the way ugh just the worst.
So 6.30 turned to 7pm and Lany graced the stage. The hair was still a mop and the confidence was still 0/10 but I have to say as Lany sang their hearts out they won over mines. The slow song was still sleep inducing and I was a little pissed off on behalf of the guitarist when the lead singer told the crowed that "this guy (the drummer) is my very best friend!" and failed to acknowledge the third and equally as important member of their little group. Lany stepped it up from Newcastle though and I wish them well on their journey from unknown to slightly less unknown band. I officially added 3 of their songs to my spotify playlist, I'm feeling their music rn. They sang until 7.30 and then they stepped of the stage never to be heard of again jokes I'm a huge fan no hate all the best lads.
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| Hey John |
7.30 turned to 8pm and and John bounced out looking alive and slightly less like he was buzzed on ecstasy than he had in Newcastle. Somehow this was my third time seeing John live, I guess you could call me a big fan...He sand all of his best songs: Come and get it (ahnanananaohh), Tiring Game Tarrengale, Cheating, Blame It On The Night, Not Giving In and others. As he did in Newcastle John finished with Love Me Again ft a walk through the crowed and B lost her mind (see this video: https://youtu.be/buxApIT42gA). I will admit that when the gruesome twosome on front of us leaped forward to touch John I did try to claim a space at the barrier beside them but then when they came back I slipper back behind them for fear of being killed by murder after the show. John put on such a great performance I really love him now such a great performer! He left the stage at 8.30pm.
8.30 turned to 9pm and the lights dropped as the beautiful harmonies from Intro (Delirium) begin to play. I freak the fuck out and B can't stop saying OMG. The beginning video transitions of Ellie's face were amazing and as the intro ends and blends into Aftertaste I know Ellie is only seconds away from appearing right there on the stage on front of me. The first few songs were sang, each one amazing. Aftertaste will forever take me back to the moment Ellie first appears on the stage, the first song she sings. Something In The Way You Move (which I hope does well in the charts) had an amazing dance routine and Goodness Gracious has always been a fave of mine, she really got into it by the end and hit some amazing notes!
The concert was completely amazing, Ellie stopped to talk to the crowed and, like in Newcastle, she did explain to the crowed that she had water and party petrol on stage with her. Unlike in Newcastle the crowd did not request Ellie down the party petrol and in London after Ellie said she had water on stage with her she did the most adorable little giggle I ever did hear (which sadly was drowned out a bit by the crowds adoring cheers and laughs in the video I took). As she knelt on the catwalk and began explosions I was prepared, I knew she was about to make her way straight down the catwalk to me.
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| Angel in every way |
Ellie abso killed Explosions, hitting every note out of the park and then she stood up and walked onto stage in her knew 'Ellie-proof' dress which she explained was a but short so she wouldn't trip over it. The first song she sand on the mini stage was How Long Will I Love You and it was so beautiful (Link to video:https://youtu.be/nn403IKVEQ0 ). After HLWIL ended with her singing "as long as stars are above you, and longer if I may" she stated "to be fair that is a realy long time" and then she stopped to talk to the crowed. She talked about how fun but scary it was being on the mini stage because it mean she was "in us" and then she realised that a fan in the crowed has just gotten engaged during HLWIL which she thought was amazing, "aw it is that kind of song isn't it!" and she went on to say "Everybody's getting bloddy married!" she asked the girl how she was feeling and if she saw it coming and then she said she was feeling very emotional so she better just get back to singing. Finally she asked "Anybody else getting married tonight?" to which B responded, quite loud and desperately "I WISH!" (https://youtu.be/KXRgOkDHuWE see full thing here). She went on to sing Army (watch video here and note her adorable smile at the start of it:https://youtu.be/q3wFEOt-9dI ) and then they rest of the show went on. The whole show was breathtaking and just too good for words and just everything else complimentary that I said about the show in Newcastle x100000000. She asked everyone to put their phones away while she sang burn and it was involuntary, like she had a power over all of us and we couldn't help but put the Iphones away for even just one song.
Ellie is such an amazing talent and she is so beautiful and the definition of goals, I mean someone get that girl a frame because she belongs in the Louvre #workofart. Which leads me nicely into a future post of mine that I will be working on shortly about my week as a Vegan (which I am currently on day 2 of in hopes of feeling harder, better, faster, stronger and all in all a little more Ellie). I would gladly go see Ellie again, not the UK delirium tour because I have seen it twice now and I'm not made of money but I cant wait to see clips from the next stages of her tour (even though I know Ellie prefers people to watch her rather than film her at concerts) and after she has taken her break from music after this tour I'll be front row at her next one waving my hands in the air like I just don't care. One day I hope to attend a concert that goes on all day and all night (with reasonable breaks for Ellie of course) where she just sings every one of her songs to me, maybe Taylor Swift can come too and they can swap about with one another during breaks.
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| Hey Ellie |
Anyway, after the concert B and I went to the bar that was playing Delirium and had a brief dance about before accepting that we had to leave the o2 arena. We went back to the hostel to look at our picks and I was very unsociable (perhaps even a little rude) with anyone that tried to talk to me because I just wanted to bask in Ellie. The next day we returned to the O2 arena because we do what we love and we love what we do. We did some cool stuff which I'll talk about in the London post and then we ended up in the "Chill/refreshments room" (which I dubbed the Ellie Goulding room) at the Nissan Innovation experience place which was like an out of body experience. As we stepped in they were playing all of Ellie's music videos on loads of screens, there was a table set up like one in a dressing room and it was like stepping out of the real world into our very own Ellie Goulding-esqu paradise heaven. We stayed there for a while and then as we left I said a final farewell to the o2 arena and it's weird and wonderful temporary Ellie-centric world.
Finally, on the train home we were more than just delirious from exhaustion. B and I played Ellie Goudling/Delirium tour/Our trips to see Ellie themed hangman and pictionary, probably too loudly for the other passengers at times. I was so content. When we got back to the flat it was like back to reality whoop there goes gravity and it was really hard to believe everything that had happened Ellie related over the past week had actually happened. As I said the o2 was like another world dedicated entirely to her and it was magical and celestial and as ethereal as the woman herself but it just didn't feel real.
I dont know if I'll ever feel like that again, it truly was a strange yet perfect experience.
The moral of the story is in times of trouble bite down on your lip, take another sip and DONT PANIC!
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| classic G collage |
xoxo
Queen G.
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