Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 November 2007 20:03:48
Were I luvved up rather than a v. single mum I would be off on romantic mini-breaks. As it is I was off on an adventure with Third Party which involved being chuffered to Heathrow (by a friend), having a celebatory breakfast in Cafe Rogue at the airport, hopping on a plane over to Belfast, going on their ickle version of the millenium wheel, doing a spot of retail therapy, settling into a comfortable yet classy hotel, going an ickle bit crazy at a My Chemical Romance gig and having a lie in and eating a wonderful breakfast at said hotel before hopping on the plane home.
To bring it down to earth a bit we did travel about Belfast by bus and miss our bus stop on the way to the hotel and so have to stay on until the bus returned that way. We also got soaked queuing up to get into the gig in torrential rain and didn't know the trains back from Victoria were actually leaving from Blackfriars on the way home. Oh and discovered this morning that N.Irish Sunday shopping doesn't start until 1pm and so spent a couple of hours in the airport lounge reading rather than anymore last minute retail. All that said though it was an amazing weekend which, I think, Third Party also enjoyed.
Support band to MCR were Mindless Self Indulgence who were actually one of the best support bands I've seen although I struggled at times with the level of profanity and needless obsenity they spewed. That said, they did give a performance which was classic punk rock in nature (and in terms of quite consciously seeking to offend everybody).
Sitting in "the parent zone" for MCR was a strange experience. I had taken the decision that I wasn't taking Third Party into a standing crowd for MCR as we are both way too short and I'm starting to get an ickle old for elbowing my way to the front and then becoming part of human wave surging this way and that as it bobs up and down. So that's why we ended up about as far from the stage as you could get sitting in the back row of the upper tier, but with the best view going as we were slap bang in the centre. I'm not used to being that far away from the band, but actually quite enjoyed it as we were still able to stand up and "rock out" to Teenagers and Black Parade. What got me with the show though was the fact in places MCR also went for the shock tactics and/ or overdid the flashy lights when due to the stunning strength of their lyrics and vocal ability they really don't need to - an ickle more learnt from Green Day and an ickle less from Guns and Roses in terms of how to kick it in an arena environment would have been good.
I would have to say that Cancer was one the most amazing live performances I've seen. Belfast is an amazing city from what I saw, and it was a cool weekend. So all in all perhaps there are advantages to going on an adventure with a teenager rather than a romantic mini-break with a significant other.