James Bay... Hold Back the River Tour

So James Bay seems to have came from nowhere but boy has he made an impact over the last few months. He's getting a lot of airplay on Radio 1 and Xfm and now he's been nominated for the Brits critics choice award im sure he's going to be getting even more media attention. I only came across him a few months ago but instantly fell in love with his voice and the rawness and emotion he puts across in his vocals. He's also very easy on the eye which is always a bonus. As soon as I saw he was doing a tour I knew we had to go and we managed to snap up tickets for his birmingham date before it sold out.

Me and Alice were both working that day so I headed over to meet her from work then we got the train to Birmingham. We were both starving so headed to slug and lettuce for some pre gig fuel as it was 50% off food. I was extremely disappointed that the only meal I wanted wasn't available in the promotion (how annoying) and they didn't do 2 for 1 cocktails on a monday like our local slug did. So after the slight disappointment I opted for calamari to start and steak and sweet potato fries (gotta be greedy it's half price). It was gorgeous so I wasn't so upset about the original meal and cocktail fiasco. We quickly headed over to pitcher and piano to claim our free drink of the month (we love a freebie) it was some kind of whisky sour and was soo strong and not that fab, but waste not want not! 

As usual we were cutting it fine but had decided we'd walk as it wasn't that far, after a wildgoose chase from rubbish directions from our phone we arrived at the 02 academy. We were just in time, it was in the acdemy 2 which was an awful shape and the toilets were a nightmare to get to so we kind of got stuck next to the bar near the stage. We did have a fairly good view apart from a huge speaker covering James's head. He had a small band and the songs all sounded perfect, the band went off for a few songs and he played solo acoustically. 

He told us the story behind 'scars' and how he'd struggled to continue writing it after his girlfriend had to go away but two years later she came back and he completed the song. He really spoke from the heart and the audience were nearly in tears. The people working on the bar were talking so loud so we decided to make a move and to try and get a better view. It was a struggle to try and get out and we ended up near the back but could actually see better. He doesn't have a debut album out yet but the set was still nearly an hour long and the crowd sang along to every song. It's a slightly different gig to what I usually go to as its a lot calmer but I really enjoy this kind of gig as you can really appreciate his talent and his vocals were just perfect. I have no doubt that there are big things to come from this guy he truly is amazing, so keep your eyes peeled and if you haven't heard of him go check out his eps. He's also just announced a uk tour for next spring so I'd definitely recommend getting tickets before they're gone! 

I came straight from work so just made a quick change of top for the gig. So i wore my mono print trousers and my white Bardot top with my Bethans. A perfect gig outfit, comfy and casual. 

Mono jaquard trousers - Oasis

White Bardot top - Primark

Dr Martens Bethan - Dr Martens

Chunky socks - Primark

Backpack - Urban Outfitters

Double tattoo chokers - Ebay

Gold earrings - Miss Selfridge

What I'm wearing..... Etia Design Tees and Leather

Last week I received two fab tees from London based brand Etia Design. They create original designs to surprise, shock, impress and inspire. They have a range of women's and men's tees with the same great designs. I was lucky enough to be sent the 'heart beats in its cage' and 'encrypt' tees. I like my tees to fit quite loosely so went for size M but it was still rather fitted so I was glad I'd opted for a bigger size, so if you are after a slightly looser fit i'd advise going up a size.

The first tee was the cage design, it has a heart inside a birdcage with a chain at the top going up around the neck giving a necklace effect. The design itself is slightly shiny rather than a Matte finish. I love birdcages (I have a birdcage tattoo) so I really liked this design and it's unique with the heart inside instead of a bird. It has the slogan 'and the heart beats in its cage' underneath. I rolled the sleeves slightly and tucked it into a quilted leather look skirt making sure the writing could still be seen. I went for a slightly dressy look but still wanted to keep it quite causal too. I wore my leopard print fur coat which I think complimented the outfit perfectly and finished it off with my fur collar from my new coat.

Heart beats in its cage tee - Etia Design

Quilted leather look skirt - Oasis

Jeffrey Campbell Nextranes - Office

Backpack - Urban Outfitters

Leopard coat - River Island

Fur collar - from my felicity boyfriend coat (NaaNaa)

The scond tee is the 'encrypt' tee which simply has the words 'join illuminati' in a bold font and the Etia deisign logo on the arm. The reason behind this tee is the world is obsessed with this idea so they decided to be controversial. You can interpret it in your own way, they merely referred to the original meaning which is simply to be enlightened. I went for a casual look with this tee and kept it simple with leather look joggers my fedora and a chunky necklace.

Encrypt tee - Etia Design

Leather look joggers - H&M

Jeffrey Campbell Nextranes - Office

Gold necklace - New Look

Black fedora - Primark

Backpack - Urban Outfitters

You should definitely check out the Website and their Instagram and Facebook pages where you can also find information and pictures of upcoming designs and any offers and promotions they have on. They're really great quality tees with cool designs and great for everyday wear.

What I'm wearing..... LDNLA clothing

A week or two ago i received the most fabulous tank from LDNLA clothing. It is a black loose fit tank with low scoop arms and a round neck. It has 'Dream like a unicorn' on the front with a picture of a unicorn above. I'm such a big kid so as soon as I saw this design I knew I had to have it. LDNLA is a british based company and as the initials would suggest it stands for London-Los Angeles and their tag line is 'urban jungle meets beach chic'. They stock a range of slogan tees, tanks and sweaters and they ship worldwide. The styles are nice loose shapes and the slogans are all really fun and the prices are really reasonable ranging from £18-£35. I like my tees and tanks to be loose so went for a size medium which is the perfect fit for me. 

I've styled it two ways, both quite casual but one tucked in and one out. Firstly i teamed it with a red tartan skirt which I think works really well together for a cool daytime look or even for a few casual drinks at night. I wore my nextranes, fedora and my fur coat as it's super cold now.

Dream like a Unicorn - LDNLA

Tartan skirt - Ark

Jeffrey Campbell Nextranes - Office

Black fedora - Primark

Fur coat - Vintage 

Backpack - Urban Outfitters

Next up was a slightly more causal look wearing the tank untucked with my black and white stripe motel rocks jeans. With the tank being black and white too they look really cool together for a monochrome look. I added a splash of colour with my Bethans and again wore my fur coat. 

Dream like a Unicorn tank - LDNLA

Stripe Jordan jeans - Motel Rocks

Dr Martens Bethan - Dr Martens

Fishnet socks - New Look

Fur coat - Vintage 

I love this tank and it's really great for everyday wear and super comfy. The unicorn design is so fab and im definitely going to be wearing it alot and for £20 it's an absolute steal. You should definitely check out the website and their Instagram for more designs, I'm looking forward to seeing more designs from them in future too.

Courteeners @ Liverpool Echo Arena

So if you've seen my previous posts you will know I've been to a couple of Courteeners gigs recently. Every year for the last 6 or 7 years Courteeners have done a Christmas gig in December and its tradition that we go and I've never missed one. Unfortunately there was no 'Courteeners Christmas party' gig this year so the Liverpool date was our substitute with it being the final date on the tour and the biggest with it being at Echo arena. We were super lucky again and were put on the guestlist for this date, it did mean we'd be seated which was going to be weird as I've never seated for one of their gigs. 

So on the Friday Me and Alice got the train to Liverpool first thing and we arrived just after dinner time. Unfortunately the weather was pretty grim so our plans for a bit of sight seeing was not going to happen. We decided to walk to our hotel and got absolutely soaked, after dropping our stuff off and drying off we headed back into town and had a look around the shops. The trees and huge reindeers in the city centre looked so nice lit up as it went dark. The weather seemed to get worse as the day went on but we didn't want to let that dampen our spirits. We decided to go to the ice lodge for a mulled wine to warm up whilst we waited for our friend Sophie to arrive. The lodge was super cute and looked really authentic with antler lights on the ceiling, wooden ski decorations and a Christmas tree, it was really fab to say it's just a temporary fixture, it would've been nice to have a ice skate or go on the ice slide but the weather was still awful and we were pushing it for time as usual. 

We headed over to Albert docks to have food as it was near to our hotel, we'd decided to go to smugglers cove after hearing good things about it, but after a treacherous walk in the wind and rain was told there were no tables all night, it looked so fab aswell so we were a bit guttered. We headed over to revolution instead and it was happy hour so it was cocktails all round, the bubblegum sour I had was soo nice. I had a chicken burger, it was so delicious it had fried pickles and onion rings and was pretty big but after not eating all day it went down a treat. 

By the time we got back to our hotel to get ready we were very behind schedule. We really wanted to see support bands Blossoms and Circa waves but with half an hour till the first act came on we accepted it wasn't going to happen so got ready and had some wine before we had to leave. The arena was only across from us so luckily it didn't take long to walk over but there was still huge queues outside even thought we were cutting it fine. The queing system was a bit ridiculous with it being a bit of a free for all, although we'd actually left with enough time it meant they came on as we were still waiting at the box office. We could hear them so it eased the pain of missing the start a little, although they mixed up the set starting with two of my faves 'Are you in love with a notion' followed by 'cavorting' so I was sad to not see them fully. We headed to our seats and was in the first block right at the front, it might have been weird seating but we certainly had some of the best seats in the arena. We also didn't sit down once, it was kind of nice to actually fully see the stage and see the standing crowd from above and not get squished with 50 drinks and God knows what else chucked all over us. 

The set was perfect again and the band put everything into it, aswell as the crowd with people on shoulders and crowd surfing all throughout. I always get sad as a tour comes to an end as I never know when I'll get to see them next, but when Liam told us to keep the first weekend of June free for a big manchester gig, the crowd went wild with joy. As the set drew to a close the boys ended on the usual crowd pleasers and as expected people in the standing area set off flares. Every single person from the front to the back were on their feet and singing along, they really do have the best fans in the world (if I do say so myself) and rightly so, they deserve it. 

We had wristbands for their private afterparty at Almost Famous so after the gig we headed over. We knew quite a few people there so it was nice to have a few drinks (well more than a few) with everyone and end the tour on a high.

The next day we had to be out the hotel by 10 and although the weather was better we literally had no energy to do anything active. We had to wait till 12 for Almost famous to open then we were back again, we had bacon bacon fries and the wonderland burger that was ridiculously huge but amazingly tasty, I love that place! After that we headed to the train station to start the mammoth journey home. 

It's always hard to decide what to wear for gigs when you're going out after, as you want to be sensible but also look dressy. I'd been rushing around when I was packing so had took minimal outfits to choose from and the most unsensible shoes for the weather. So I decided to go for a fishnet bodysuit which I have customised myself with palm trees on the nipples to cover my modesty. I've seen a lot of them around and loved them but thought they were quite over priced so thought I'd have a go at making my own, I don't think it went too badly actually. Although pvc and fishnet could be a recipe for disaster, I thought the length of my black pvc skirt still gave it a touch of class rather than trash (well I hope). I wore a donut for an up do as the weather was still crap and thought it added a bit more class to the outfit. I got some fab necklaces that day from forever 21 so wore a chunky layered chain that was only 99p layered with a thin cord choker and my tattoo choker. I only had my black flatform sandals with me which were not so great for the weather so wore my frilly socks so my toes didn't freeze off. I wore my gold foil Kimono to cover my modesty untill later on and to keep the chill off and my black feather bag, I didn't take any pictures with them on apart form a toilet selfie though but I'll put that on anyway so you can see the complete outfit.   

Fishnet bodysuit - Ebay (customised by me)

Pvc skirt - Topshop

Flatform sandals - Primark

Frilly socks - Primark 

Gold layered chain - Forever 21 

Cord choker - Primark 

Tattoo choker - Ebay

Rings - Forever 21

Earrings - New Look

Feather bag - Topshop

Gold Foil kimono - oasis

We had a fabulous time and it was a great way to end the tour and our few weekends of jam packed plans. Roll on June for the next gig!!