Concert Review: LOUISA JOHNSON, indigo2, London

Because there’s nothing better to do on a Friday evening than go and enjoy some live music, when I found out that Louisa Johnson would be playing a gig at indigo2, I thought ‘why not?’ Granted, my knowledge of her didn’t go much beyond the fact that I was aware she’d won X Factor a few years ago, and had some pretty decent bops on the radio. You’d hope as well that the winner of X Factor could actually sing, so I felt certain that I’d hear some good music anyway.

Upon arrival, it became clear that this was actually a charity concert raising money for the Charlton Athletic Community Trust, which celebrates its 25^th year this year. We were therefore told that we would be hearing from a number of acts found ‘right in this community’ before the headliner herself came on. The show started with a short set from young sisters Rachael and Elizabeth who played songs they felt inspired them, including This is Me from The Greatest Showman, Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire, and a Christian song.

This was followed by an interesting act called Cle who rapped a tune of her own composition with the somewhat catchy hook of ‘wavy, wavy, drip drip, wavy’ and encouraging the crowd to get ‘lit’. The final talent show act was Shania, who sang a pleasant rendition of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie as well as a Spanish song, with all of the acts who had performed dressed head to toe in Primark which was one of the evenings sponsors.

The official ‘opening act’ appeared to be Autumn Sherif, an artist from the community who had auditioned for The Voice and was now pursuing a solo career. I wasn’t familiar with her, but was very impressed from the first few notes of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody where she was able to flaunt her lovely soulful and gospel-like voice.

She played a mixture of her own songs and covers like a funky version of Dua Lipa’s New Rules and helped to engage the audience by splitting us up to sing different bits. She did a good job of both warming the crowd up with energy and cooling them down with slow, deep and groovy tracks too, before making way for the main act of the evening.

Louisa Johnson, who I believe is now using the stage name Louisa, took to the stage in a black and white pantsuit launching straight into So Good, a party anthem about not being supposed to go out but falling victim to wanting to stay out until the sun comes up. With this, it becomes evidently clear as to why she won X Factor as her voice is truly something to be admired.

Her ever so slightly raspy voice continued to shine on new song Bad Habit and a cover of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself which, even if you weren’t familiar with Louisa’s own tracks, you’d be sure to know. This was followed by the fun and upbeat Unpredictable, originally recorded as a duet with Olly Murs but gave Louisa the opportunity to encourage the crowd to sing along on his parts and achieve Cle’s earlier goal of getting the crowd ‘lit’.

She continued with her self-proclaimed favourite release Best Behaviour which again highlighted just how good these pop songs that she sings are. Each and every one has the potential to be a commercial radio hit, which I think is particularly important for artists nowadays and even more so for those who rose to fame through talent shows and have the potential to all too quickly be forgotten. I hope this won’t be the case for Louisa.

A highlight of the evening was her cover of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You which I would have been equally happy had she recorded it herself as it sounded great and fit her voice perfectly. The evening ended with club anthem Yes and of course her first official release which wasn’t even her own, Clean Bandit’s Tears. I’m unsurprised this was such a commercial success given how well Louisa sang it on stage. I was thoroughly shocked to hear that this was the first headline show she’d ever done, so what a treat for us! No doubt there’ll be many more where that came from.

I hope you enjoyed today's review! Drop me a comment in the box below or follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry with any suggestions you may have, and stay tuned for plenty more concert reviews and interviews coming soon! 

TRAVEL: New Mexico Road Trip (Part 2) - Albuquerque, Madrid, the VLA, Carlsbad Caverns and more!

From Taos (which you can read about here), we continued on our way South, with our destination for the night being the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort on the outskirts of Albuquerque, a lovely large resort staring out across the plains. We were treated on arrival with margaritas before heading to our rooms which looked out on the most beautiful view. We headed out on a short walk around the resort, checking out the three pools and wedding venue. 

Given that we had credit at the resort to use, we decided to eat at the hotel's Corn Market restaurant, where I had a very pleasant green chile corn chowder and black bean burger. Admittedly, without the credit we probably wouldn't have eaten there given the prices, and I'm sure there are plenty of lovely places to eat around Albuquerque too. 

After a yummy breakfast the next morning (French toast with prickly pear for me, an extensive buffet for the other members of my party), we made the short trip to Petroglyph National Monument, where at the Visitors Centre it was revealed that the Monument extends across various parts of the city, so we hopped back in the car to part of the Monument with the highest proportion of petroglyphs.

A one hour walk around the sandy paths meant we passed by hundreds of petroglyphs carved into the rock, ranging from lizards, hand prints and human figures to indecipherable geometric shapes, the meanings of which have been lost to time. 

We next headed into Albuquerque's Old Town, which just so happened to be celebrating their Founders Day, meaning that we were treated to live music, dancing and shows as we walked around. We did a short walking tour of the town which took us through arty mini-districts and past some of the city's museums. 

It being lunchtime, we went in search of food, ending up at the number 1 eatery in Albuquerque, the Golden Crown Panderia. This bakery is famous for their huge sandwiches and pastries, both of which we tried, including fruity empanadas and free cookies which they hand out to every patron. 

We next headed to Sandia Peak, which involved a relatively long drive as the 'tramway' (ie cable car) up to the peak was closed for maintenance during our visit. From the top, we got a lovely, albeit windy, view which on a clear day you would be able to see for over 100 miles. Nevertheless, it was still pretty warm, although snow still lay on the ground. 

Back at a lower elevation, we chose the scenic Turquoise Road home via the delightful town of Madrid, with its colourful mailboxes and quaint houses, with live music from the local tavern drifting out across the town. As we headed back to the hotel, we stopped off at The Freighthouse for a dinner of ribs and mac & cheese before another quiet and peaceful night at the resort. 

The next day started with a long drive way off the map to the Very Large Array (the VLA), a series of 28 huge satellites which chart data from across the universe. Admission included a self guided walking tour of the facility across some of the windiest plains I've ever walked across. It was very interesting to see this strange environment as well as learn what these vast structures are used for. The VLA doesn't even shut down for movie filmings, charting data 24/7, 365 days a year. 

It took an hour to get back to some form of civilisation, and 3 and a half hours to get to the next point of interest. These are distances unfathomable to us UK dwellers, where you wouldn't be able to go more than a few tens of miles without coming across a town or at least a village. 

Eventually we arrived at White Sands National Monument, which was similar to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument we'd visited in Colorado, with the key difference being the colour of the sand. Again, this was something you would never imagine to find in the middle of the States, with vast dunes stretching for miles and hiding any signs of interstate or buildings. There was the option to walk along the dunes, but the 32'C temperatures and strong winds put us off. Heavens knows how unbearable it would be in midsummer! 

We headed about 20 minutes back to the nearest town of Almagodoro, if you can even call it a town. We concluded that the town had sprung up around the nearby military base with a long strip of fast food chains and not much else. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express before heading out to one of the few non chain restaurants, Can't Stop Smokin' BBQ, for a decent barbecue dinner before it closed, which most places in this town did pretty early on a Sunday evening. 

We had a particularly early start the next day for one of the longest drives of our road trip, this time to Carlsbad Caverns (which I still think sounds German) which would be the furthest South we'd be going on this journey. We split the drive with a pit stop at Jahva Coffee in the small town of Artesia, which turned out to be a particularly religious coffee shops, with numerous crosses adorning the walls. 

After around 3 hours of driving, we arrived in the town of Carlsbad itself, where we had considered staying overnight but decided against due to the cost of staying in this oil-mining town. A short drive further took us to the Caverns, and then the excitement began. We started walking down a path that took us nearly a mile beneath the surface.

The deeper we descended, the darker it became and we soon lost all sign of daylight. The cavern contained hundreds of speleothems everywhere you looked, a thoroughly fascinating experience, particularly given the scale of the cavern. Even when we'd reached the bottom, there was an additional mile and a half walk around the 'Big Room' which contained some amazing natural structures. 

Unfortunately for us, the elevator, which usually takes visitors back up to the Visitor Centre, was broken, and so we had to retrace our steps all the way up back up the entrance route, which was certainly tougher than going down! As we emerged, a flock of swallows swooped in and out of the cave, providing a deep contrast from the stillness of the caves below.

To build up our energy, we made a stop at Sonic 'America's Drive-in' where you pull up in booths, make your order, and then a carhop brings your food to you. I chose a delicious Oreo Peanut Butter shake to keep me going. Our destination for the night was the Holiday Inn in Roswell, a town made famous for a supposed UFO crash decades ago, although the legacy remains. Many of the shops had little green men standing outside, and even the lampposts had alien eyes on them. We took dinner at Cerrito's Mexican Restaurant which seemed fairly authentic, and definitely spiced up our evening! Next stop: Santa Fe!

TRAVEL: New Mexico Road Trip (Part 1) - Taos, Rio Grande, Bandolier and more!

Our journey into New Mexico started right at the border with Colorado with a little blue metal sign welcoming us to the state. Whilst there were no immediate differences between the two states, the further we drove, the more the architecture came to look like New Mexico, with small adobe huts lining the roads with their curved edges and distinctive colouring. 

We were headed for Taos, a town renowned for its arty community and liberal lifestyle. Our accommodation whilst in Taos was the Mabel Dodge Luhan house, which had been recommended by a friend back home as somewhere we had to stay if passing through. 

As the name would suggest, the house was previously owned by one Mabel Dodge Luhan, who invited all kinds of creative types to come and stay, including D H Lawrence, Georgia O'Keefe, and more recently actor Dennis Hopper, leaving the property full of history and a point of pilgrimage for those wishing to find themselves creatively. 

The house has expanded over the years and now consists of various adobe huts, with our residence being the Gatehouse, a quaint old-style apartment behind the towering bird houses erected in front of the main house. 

Once settled in, we ventured out into the town, browsing through the various galleries with their varying artistic styles, and towards the central square, around which a number of eateries, outdoor shops and gift emporiums sat. We continued out past the Kit Carson Memorial Park until we found the Love Apple restaurant where we'd planned to have dinner.

The restaurant had an interesting setup, with guests coming in through the side of the restaurant and practically into the kitchen before being seated in a relatively small room with roughly ten tables. Everything on the menu looked delicious, but I settled on a round of blue and yellow cornbread with sweet and savoury butters, the 'Beets on Beet' dish of beetroot hummus and chopped beets, followed by a delicious tamale smothered in a rich tamale (even though I was full by the time we got to the starter!)

It was only upon returning to the Gatehouse that I realised my room had no curtains, somewhat a prerequisite in my opinion for a good nights sleep, and upon realising that the House's maintenance man was unlikely to visit before the next morning, I was shifted to the Georgia O'Keefe room, along the external corridor beside the Main House. 

Breakfast the next morning was served by the lovely Pam, who served up porridge, yoghurt and berries, cornbread muffins, scramble, potatoes, sausages and bacon. We certainly wouldn't be going hungry. It being off season, we were one of the few guests, joined only by a cowboy who was in the area scouting out land to buy. Now this is the kind of stuff you can't make up! 

Our driving for the day was to take us around parts of the Enchanted Circle road, with the first stop being the wonderfully named Angel Fire. At the top of a hill rests a memorial for Vietnam War veterans, with a small but comprehensive museum and tiny chapel housed within a fascinating piece of architecture jutting out of the hillside. 

We continued on to Eagles Nest down by a beautiful lake which I'm sure would be a hotspot for visitors during the summer months, but not so much this time of year. In fact, I'm sure that we would be one of the few, if not only, visitors to the visitors centre, as the attendant was more than happy to spend a good twenty minutes telling us about the area and where we should go. 

Our next stop was a bridge crossing the Rio Grande gorge, which was absolutely spectacular. Stepping out into the centre of the bridge, you could gaze for miles in either direction (as seems to be possible wherever you look in this part of the world), but the difference being the gaping cavern hundreds of meters below you - a mini Grand Canyon if you will. I felt that this would be the perfect place for bungee jumping, though I hear that's not allowed on working bridges like this one. A highlight was when an Oversize lorry made its way across, shaking the bridge and making the more vertigo-inclined tourists clasp the barriers!

The loop took us back into the edge of Taos where we decided to stop for lunch at the Farmhouse Cafe. Not wanting to spoil my appetite for dinner, I thought I'd be safe with a bean & cheese burrito from the kids menu but clearly forgot that everything's bigger in the States as what arrived was something larger than my face! This coupled with the generous slices of carrot and strawberry cakes meant that I hoped dinner would be more meagre!

Our journey continued to Espanola which seemed to sit in the middle of some of the larger cities around it. Whilst none of the houses in Taos or the other towns we'd passed through had been particularly large, those here were particularly small, with most people choosing to live in trailer homes, some of which seemed to be in quite dishevelled states. One has to wonder what residents do for a living this far away from big cities or even towns. 

We moved on to the High Road scenic byway, stopping briefly at El Sanctuario de Chimayo, a lovely little church where the fences around were lined with crosses, rosaries and candles; clearly a very spiritual location for many. We continued on the High Road, passing through other small villages with some of the most dramatic backdrops you could think of for a house, and knowing that your next neighbour could be miles away. 

Back in Taos, we made our way down to the Plaza for dinner at Bella's Mexican restaurant. Although still very full from lunch, the menu was so delectable, I was keen to fill my boots with as much as possible. They had the usual favourites like burritos, chimichangas and chilaquiles, but what I really wanted to try (and what I hadn't managed to find during my trip to Mexico last year) was elote, a mayo, lime, cheese and chill covered corn that I'd heard was a classic Mexican dish. My Horchata milkshake was much needed to numb the spice, and absolutely delicious. I finished my meal with a slice of Tres Leches cake, another Mexican staple of milk soaked sponge topped with whipped cream and ice cream. 

Back at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house, I had a very eventful night, being awoken in the middle of the night by a drunk/crazy man who made his way into the interior alcove of my room, banging on the bedroom door and yelling. Being totally alone and knowing I was in a country where guns are allowed, I made as little noise as possible and quickly texted my family members to come rescue me which they soon did. Thank goodness for phone service, or else I don't know what I would have done! Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night back at the Gatehouse - curtains or no curtains, I was not keen to run into any more strangers that night! 

The 'excitement' continued the next morning when I woke to be told the police wanted to speak with me. It turns out that the Main House had been broken into during the night, and the office, parts of the kitchen and dining room ransacked. Whilst not a nice experience for either us or the staff members, the staff were wonderfully helpful, and assured us that this was the first time that something like this had occurred, so I can promise that it's not a regular occurrence! We nonetheless had a pleasant stay at the Lodge and even this would not put me off visiting again.

After breakfast, we headed out on the road through more vast wastelands with nothing but brush to Bandolier National Monument. This National Monument is full of hundreds of cave dwellings cut into the rock, which visitors are able to climb up into (although people hundreds of years ago were significantly smaller than we are today, meaning not too much standing room!) At the end of the trail was an additional walk to the Alcove House which involved walking up steep and reasonably rickety ladders which were great fun, particularly where there was nothing to the side of you except thin air!

We continued on to Valle Caldera National Preserve, which was well and truly in the middle of nowhere. This vast caldera stretched for miles around and involved driving along a long dirt road lined with hundreds of tiny prairie dogs, which I loved seeing, and have now become one of my favourite animals!

At the Visitor Centre, we discovered that they ran minibus rides further into the caldera where visitor cars are not permitted. We hopped into one of these with another small group and a knowledgable guide, who brought us around the caldera for about an hour, explaining the different hands that the Preserve had passed through, as well as various movies and TV shows filmed there, including Disney's The Lone Ranger, and Netflix series Longmire. There was plenty of wildlife too, including chipmunks and even a coyote. Definitely worth the visit. Next stop: Albuquerque!

TRAVEL: Colorado Road Trip - Denver, Boulder, The Rocky Mountains and more!

Denver airport is quite unusual with its tentlike shape, but somehow manages to be home to thousands of passengers who pass through its terminals everyday. We were among these passengers after a nine hour flight from London, but didn't stay long - heading out of town towards Castle Rock for our first night.

There's not much going on in Castle Rock aside from an outlet mall, with our visit only as somewhere to stay the night before we continued on our journey. Our accommodation was a perfectly fine Holiday Inn which had a hearty breakfast in the morning including cinnamon rolls (yum) and freshly made pancakes.

Hopping into the car, we started driving bright and early, and I was throughly fascinated by the landscape, which stretched for miles and miles around with only the faraway mountains in the distance. The not densely populated parts of Colorado that we were passing through meant that people could have no neighbours for miles around - a concept I found strange coming from suburbia where you'd find it hard to find that kind of solitude.

Nevertheless, I kept myself entertained, crossing off all the fast food chains they have out here as we passed signs for each of them (and there are a lot!) and enjoying watching the US Airforce pilots training over the Colorado Springs base where they performed loop the loops and other heart-thumping tricks. Soon afterwards, we ran out of 'civilisation', so I continued passing the time by peering around to see if I could spot any wildlife, ranging from cattle and horses to deer and the more elusive bison.

After a few hours drive, we finally turned off of the interstate that had taken us pretty much all the way to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Arriving at the entry gates, we groaned at the sign suggesting we'd have to pay $20 for entry, but thankfully this being off season, there was no one manning the booth, with a sign saying payment not needed today - what a nice surprise!

The dunes are pretty easy to spot as you drive along the straight road of the National Parks, with huge mounds of sand rising out of the distance, looking quite strange amongst the flat plains and the Rocky Mountains behind it. 

Parking the car, we took our first few steps on the sand, sinking quickly as the sand shifts so much which made it a difficult trek even to walk a few hundred metres. Added to this was the deceptive nature of the dunes, which looked much closer but actually took quite a while to get to.

However, once close, they were truly magnificent, and unlike anything you'd expect to find in this corner of the world. I spent some time climbing the smaller dunes, and watching other visitors slide down them on sand boards which looked like great fun. Unlike other destinations that you might find dunes though, it was quite cold on our visit, with wind chill making it feel even colder. 

Having had our fill of fun and freezing weather, it was then time to find something for lunch, and the spread out nature of the state meant that we really had to travel miles to find something, ending up driving 17 miles from the National Park to the nearby (ha) town of Alamosa. 

For somewhere not particularly 'on the map', Alamosa nonetheless had quite a lot going on, with a bustling high street with plenty of cars rolling through, even midway through a Tuesday afternoon, and an interesting train graveyard with carriages from decades past. 

Having done our recent (thanks TripAdvisor) we stopped at Roasts Coffee Company, a hip place linked to the brewery next door, with the two businesses split by huge brewing tanks in the middle of the room. The saying 'everything's bigger in the States' was proven by the size of the coffee cups we were served, and I also opted for a bowl of spinach artichoke dip, which I maintain to be one of the greatest culinary inventions ever made. 

Following the foray, we continued on our way soon passing into New Mexico (you can read about my adventures in New Mexico here), not returning to Colorado for a while.

It was late afternoon when we made it across the border from New Mexico over a week later, and the further we drove in, the more marked the changes in residences became. Whilst New Mexico was full of small adobe houses, here they became more what we were used to, and seemingly more prosperous than the parts of NW we'd visited, as the houses were all of ample size, some even mansion worthy.

Our destination was a request of mine, Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. I'd seen videos of artists I love performing at this incredible venue, and put it on my bucket list as somewhere I absolutely needed to visit. The Amphitheatre sits directly between huge imposing and beautiful Red Rocks, and honestly I know of no more spectacular venue. No one was playing the night we arrived, so we had free rein of the park, without even needing to pay an admission fee.

We raced down to the Trading Post to pick up some merch (I'm sure you'll see me wearing it in photos from future blogs!) and then walked up through the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is dog friendly, which was a great way to highlight the excellent acoustics of the venue, as each time a dog barked, you could hear it reverberating against the walls. What a special place to visit. I'd love to come back to see a concert there some day. 

As the sun set, we headed towards Denver for dinner at Acorn, a hipster restaurant housed in an old warehouse called The Source. The menu was a bit too pretentious for me, with the format being sharing platters but only stating the ingredients of the dishes, and not what they actually were. The food was decent, but we were told by the waiter we'd need to order lots, which meant the bill was pretty hefty. Probably not somewhere I would have chosen myself, but an experience nonetheless.

Thankfully we had other plans for dessert, and made our way into Downtown Denver to Voodoo Doughnut, made famous for its voodoo doll shaped donuts and round-the-block queues at its inaugural Portland destinations. Lucky for us, there was barely a queue here and so we sampled a collection of voodoo donuts, Oreo Peanut Butter, and the 'Memphis Mafia' - a hulking slab of a donut covered in PB & chocolate chips. 

We drove a further twenty minutes into Westminster to the Westin Hotel, a pleasant hotel with great views over the area. Breakfast was good, although not included unless you had status with the hotel chain; plus the service was pretty slow, so you wouldn't want to be in a rush. 

Filled up, we drove our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. Up here in the heights, the weather was a lot colder and the higher we climbed, the colder we got, eventually reaching minus temperatures complete with little flurries of snow. We did a few mini walks although you wouldn't want to be out in that weather for very long! However, the Park is home to the highest continuous paved road in the United States, and so we had a nice drive, checking out the herds of deer who had no problem standing at the side of the road as cars cruised by. 

We then drove down to Boulder, stopping the car to wander up and down the Main Street and glance at its lovely shops. Lunch was at Lindsay's Boulder Deli for a yummy soup and salad, somewhere I was pleased to stumble across as it was top notch. Boulder seemed like a nice place to live, and I liked gazing at the houses in suburbia and picturing a life for myself somewhere like this. 

Our next stop was the Centennial Trailhead leading up to Sanitas Mount for a quick walk, which turned out to be horrendously strenuous. Whilst the path started off paved, it soon turned into craggy rock you had to scramble up and down at constant risk of breaking an ankle - not my idea of a pleasant walk! We ended up at the end with members of our party injured with grazed head and pulled knee, needless to say we are not hardy hikers. However, the sense of achievement at finally making it to the top and admiring the view was undeniable, even if it meant an equally difficult trek down.

As the hike took longer than we'd expected, we raced off for dinner at Georgia Boys BBQ in Longmont, which had an excellent selection of barbecue options. Not much for vegetarians though, and I ended up getting the kids grilled cheese option, much to the amusement of my server who was expecting an under 12. However, for $5.50 for sandwich, chips and unlimited drinks refills, I couldn't have been happier. 

After our final night in the Westin, and indeed of our holiday, we started the day with another breakfast at the hotel before indulging in a bit of shopping at Target and Boot Barn for western wear before driving into Downtown, this time in the daylight. We parked the car near the main 16th Street Mall, took a little walk up to the State Capital building where an anti-Trump protest was taking place. There was a handy free bus that went up and down 16th Street which was useful to take us back to Union Station where we stopped for coffee and scones. 

We picked up the car and drove down to the river where we enjoyed a pleasant walk, passing plenty of dogs and happy strangers enjoying the early Spring sunshine. A lovely way to end our time in Colorado and New Mexico before hopping off to the airport for the long red eye flight home. If only we could have stayed longer...

Tips for visiting Colorado: Try rural and urban. Part of the beauty of Colorado is that it's so easy to move from absolute wilderness to big city, and I loved seeing both - indulging in the culture of the cities and towns and then heading out into the endless nothingness of the Parks and Forests. And then a personal tip from me, try a Voodoo Doughnut - you won't regret it! If you're in Denver for longer than we were, drop in a few days early with a photo of yourself, and they'll ice you a personalised voodoo for just a dollar extra! 

Concert Review: THE VAMPS, The O2, London

Sometimes life gifts you with unique opportunities, like a ticket to see The Vamps at The O2 the morning of the concert. Well, why not? I’d seen the band a number of times before, but admittedly always ‘by accident’, in that I’d be going to see a different artist and they had been the opening act or special guest, or part of a festival line up. Finally, I had the opportunity to see the band as headliners, so off I went.

One thing I can certainly say, being someone who has spent far more money than I’d care to admit on concert tickets, is that you certainly got value for money with this gig with not one, but three opening acts, plus the headliners themselves. This was practically a mini festival! First of these was boyband :PM, who reminded me somewhat of Oasis with their talk singing style in which their Yorkshire accents could clearly be heard.

They played three rather rocky songs – Grown Ups, Feel Like A Fool, and Driving Me Crazy which I imagined to be the perfect anthems for some of the angstier teens in the audience. I’ve never been in a band, but I can imagine the thrill of getting to play somewhere spectacular like The O2, and so one thing that really shone through for me with this band was their genuine happiness at being there to play for us.

Next up was HRVY, and my goodness, the screams as he came on stage! Admittedly, I could soon see why with his near perfect vocals on a cover of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect. Man, that boy can sing. It turned out he could dance too, and whilst I’m pretty sure some of the songs were lipsynced too (which I don’t have much of a problem with, provided the artist puts on a good show and has proven that they can actually sing – dancing is tough work!), the performance was very enjoyable to watch.

He mentioned that one of his tracks, Personal, had just hit 1 billion views on YouTube, a pretty impressive feat for someone relatively new to the music scene, but it was clear why with the catchy lyrics on this and new track Hasta Luego. The Spanish influence of the latter picked up on the popular trend we see in songs like Camila Cabello’s Havana or Justin Bieber’s Despacito, so no doubt will get stuck in your head the moment you listen to it. If the stars align, HRVY is going to be big. Justin Bieber, and indeed The Vamps, you’d better watch out!

He was followed by New Hope Club, a British three piece that brought home the fact that the tour organisers had done a good job of highlighting homegrown talent, as three of the four acts on the bill were British. I enjoyed their set – they have catchy (albeit repetitive) pop songs that are easy to sing along to, as the crowd happily did; and capture, as young popstars do, the experiences of teenagers and young people today, and no doubt what they listen to. The set was only five songs – Fixed, the ‘Grease’ inspired Tiger Feet, and three new songs Let Me Down Slow, Crazy and Why Oh Why, but it left us all wanting more. Again, another act I see going far.

The next act was the first that I had heard of, and if the screams for HRVY were loud, those for Jacob Sartorius were equally, if not even more, loud. Again, I think he prioritised the performance over the singing as there seemed to be instances of lipsyncing on the more dance-heavy songs (although I cannot say for certain), but we did get to hear him sing on songs like his cover of Lauv’s Like Me Better.

His original songs were certainly for the millennial age with tracks like Hit Me Back, Hang Me Out To Dry and Hit Or Miss about people not replying to your texts or how short the summer holidays are. However, the boy is only 15 and I’m not sure lyrics I would have written at that age would have been much better… Regardless, he got the crowd engaged and hyped up, as any good opening act should do!

We then moved onto the main act, and the screaming continued. Admittedly, I’m more used to more reserved concerts but it was clear that the audience could not wait to see the band, and the energy in the arena was high. As the drums beat for the countdown, I took in the cool staging with a huge screen at the back in front of a marginally slanted stage on which the drum kit sat, and then three microphones on the flat section of the stage. The boys rose from the floor of the stage, and the arena erupted.

We jumped straight into the bands catchy pop anthems like Can’t Get Enough, Last Night and Shades On. With three studio albums already out and another one soon on the way, they certainly had enough songs to choose from. It was clear the ‘oldies but goodies’ were some of the favourites, as their debut single Can We Dance got the whole arena jumping, a trend which continued for most of the night.

It was nice to just have the four band members onstage without an extra backing band, and this gave them the opportunity to really show of their musical skills, slowing this down for a more acoustic version of Middle Of The Night and bringing things up a notch for new track Just My Type. It transpired that they were filming a concert DVD of the night, and so we were treated to a few special guests including Maggie Lindemann for Personal who lead singer Brad invited to the stage for a little ‘dancey-dance’ as he said. We had a quick interlude as Maggie sang her very catchy hit Pretty Girl before the band took a moment to remind everyone of the recent four year anniversary of their debut album.

Indeed, from the opening/guest act I’d seen a number of times, it was nice to see The Vamps had made it to headline tours at The O2, and I enjoyed reminiscing about hearing songs like Wild Heart which they’d played all those years ago and played again at this gig. Their newer music is equally catchy if not a bit more mature like Hair Too Long which had a huge image of Brad in a tuxedo projected on the screen as he sang.

Another special guest came onstage to rapturous applause – Conor Maynard – who fans no doubt recognised from YouTube and covers with The Vamps themselves. Together, they sang a mashup of songs to the tune of Ed Sheeran’s ranging from No Scrubs, Rockabye and Cheap Thrills.

As Brad ran off stage for a quick rest, guitarist James and bassist Connor made their way to the front to play a song chosen by an earlier poll which turned out to be their ballad Risk It All. This was a great moment as concert goers raised their phone lights to the sky, a scene I’m sure made for a great moment in the DVD footage.

Brad returned to the stage to take a moment to hug some contest winners, although they didn’t stay too long and we moved on to some more throwback tracks like Somebody To You and Cecilia to finish up the night. I took my attention away from the stage for a moment to revel in how much other concert goers were enjoying themselves. All around me, people were dancing (even in the steep seats!) and down in the pit, a huge group of people had started a conga line. Music doesn’t really get much better than that.

We finished with a three song encore of Wake Up, Same To You and All Night, all of which were accompanied by impressive pyrotechnics. It had been a great night, and even though here The Vamps were playing The O2, something in the back of my mind said that they were still underrated in some respects. Their music is equally catchy as those by the likes of One Direction and yet they certainly haven’t achieved the same success. Let’s hope that they’ll continue to shoot for the stars, produce great music, and who knows, maybe become a global phenomenon.

I hope you enjoyed today’s review! Make sure to stay up to date with all of my concert reviews and interviews by following me on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Are you a Vamps fan? Which of their songs is your favourite, and was there one you would have loved for them to have played on tour? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

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TRAVEL: Riga, Latvia - cathedrals, classic cars and cold weather

It seems that Riga didn’t quite get the message that Spring has arrived, as we stepped off the plane to freezing weather and blustery snow. I’d known that it was due to snow whilst I visited the city, I just hadn’t quite realised that there would already be plenty of snow on the ground when we got there… Normally I’m pretty organised when it comes to packing, but I already knew that I was going to regret not having brought extra layers and a winter coat with me!

We headed down to the bus station where a small minibus heading into town was conveniently waiting for a minimal €2 fare, much much cheaper than anything you’d find taking you from a London airport into town. Once the bus was full (with the driver seeming to play ‘how many people can I fit in the minibus') we headed on our way into Central Riga.

We were dropped close to the Central Station, a very convenient location which was only a short walk to the Old Town where I aimed to pick up a Free Walking Tour (which anyone who reads my blog will know is a must for any city visit for me) in front of St Peter’s Church. We were slightly early for the noon start, so rather than hanging around in the freezing cold, took a quick jaunt around the town before returning back to find someone with a yellow suitcase as the internet instructions had told us.

Our guide for the afternoon was Kasperz, who explained that this was actually an ‘alternative Riga walking tour’ and we wouldn’t be shown around the Old Town, which I hadn’t realised, but didn’t mind as I was sure we would get our fair share of Old Town during the long weekend there. Instead, we headed off first to the Central Market, a group of large disused military warehouses which had been converted into various parts of the market, with each hall holding a different type of market, ranging from dairy, fish, meat and vegetables.

We headed further into the suburbs of Riga, with Kasperz stopping to explain at each stop various parts of Latvian life, including the livelihoods of Rigans, their eating habits and customs, and the influences of various occupations throughout history which had shaped Riga to the city it is today. Kasperz was both humourous and knowledgeable and we were able to see plenty of sights during the 3 hour tour, finishing at the Freedom Monument just in time to see the changing of the guards and tip Kasperz for his insights.

As check in for our Airbnb was at 3pm, and desperate to put our bags down somewhere, we headed back to St Peters Church which was literally right next to the apartment we would be staying in. Always being keen to be frugal on my weekends away (particularly when we were travelling over Easter, when the flights themselves were very expensive), I’d chosen what looked to be a pleasant room located very centrally, which is exactly what ours turned out to be. The room was perfectly pleasant with the only downside being the noise from clubs and bars outside at night, but a good pair of earplugs coupled with early mornings and late nights meant this wasn’t much of an issue during our stay. 

Having dropped our bags, we headed back out into the blizzard to check out the Old Town, admiring St Peters Church, the Cathedral, Riga Castle and its riverside location, the Old City Walls and Swedish Gate, and even the famous Cat House, whose story goes that the owner of the house held a grudge against the nearby house of the Great Guild, and so purposely positioned the cats with their backsides in that direction.

Having walked our socks off, and in need of warming up, we headed to dinner which I had booked earlier in the day (you can never be too careful around busy weekends!) at Zviedru varti, near the Old City Walls. I was glad to have booked as this tiny place looked like it could fill up fairly quickly and so we were whisked upstairs. I opted for traditional potato pancakes with sour cream followed by a yummy pasta and vegetable dish (unsurprisingly one of the few vegetarian options on the menu) whilst my travel buddy chose a sorrel soup followed by perch.

Always one to try local delicacies, I also had a glass of kvass, a rye bread based drink, which tasted exactly as it sounds. Perhaps not something I’d have again, but interesting to taste at least. It was a very pleasant meal, only marred by the fact that I got the feeling the staff wanted us in and out of there as soon as possible, as we were not offered bread as other guests were, and handed the bill even before my friend had finished his meal.

Having had an extremely long day, it was then back to bed before our early start the next morning in order to catch the 7:54 train from the station. Our destination was Sigulda, with a day trip certainly something I would recommend for a long weekend in Latvia (or any other city for that matter). I hear Jurmala is also a good destination if you have even more time!

The scenery changed dramatically as soon as we left Riga, and we rolled through almost endless forest – very pretty in the snow, particularly when one was camped up inside a warm train! This was punctuated with the occasional tiny town with a literal hut serving as the train station. After an hour, we arrived at our destination, which was even more snow-covered than the city we’d left.

We trekked through the snow (difficult to do when wearing Adidas sneakers and not hardy walking boots…) to the Luge and Bobsleigh track which has been the training ground for plenty of Eastern European athletes, including Latvian skeleton racer Martins Dukurs who narrowly missed out on a medal position at this years Winter Olympics, and the Bronze medal winning two-man bobsleigh team. For a small admission fee, we were permitted to head up to the start of the mens track, and even walk down the side of the turns (again not recommended in Adidas sneakers); as well as check out the womens track lower down. There was also a modern bobsleigh outside, which was great fun to take photos in.

We continued on our journey through the snow to two of the towns many castles, which sit next to one another. The modern castle I don’t think is accessible to the public, with its outer grounds now housing a Creative Quarter with a few hip shops. However, the ruined Krimulda Castle is open, and so we passed some time walking around the stone walls and taking photos across the gorgeous valley below us.

Our next stop was the Cable Car which transports passengers across the valley with Gauja National Park stretching out below us. Whilst not the cheapest 5 minute journey (€7 one way) the view is unparalleled and it’s certainly a unique way to get around.

A minutes walk away from the terminal is Krimulda Mansion, which now houses a rehab centre, but guests are allowed to walk around its grounds, admiring the Sun Balconies of what appeared to the guest rooms (ironic given the place was covered in snow). There’s also a conveniently located café called Milly where we stopped for some authentic goulash and a chance to warm up before setting off again.

We then began trekking through the National Park, heading down steps to the valley floor and Gutman’s Cave, the widest and highest cave in the Baltics with inscriptions from the 17^th century etched on the walls. What goes down must come up, and we then began to ascend some more slippy stairs to reach Turaida Castle, which was visible from the other side of the canyon and certainly seemed far away enough.  

Its red brick walls provided an interesting contrast to the grey stone castle on the other side of the river, and the tall tower at the entrance offered stunning 360 views all around. Certainly worth the long walk, particularly given that there was no admission fee (although this may not be the case year round when the rest of the exhibitions are open).

Given that the trains back to Riga were only every 2 hours, I was keen to try and catch the 3:30 back than be stranded at the station for longer than I wanted. With this in mind, we’d heard rumour that there was a bus that would take us back to the first castle we’d visited, and managed to catch it just as it arrived at Krimulda. For a measly 50c, I couldn’t have been happier with the trip back, and even better, it took us directly to the train station, saving us from more traipsing through the cold and snow.

Our train back was older than the one we’d taken on the way there, with a more Soviet style look (and unfortunately not as good heating!) but I enjoyed cruising back through the villages and imagining the lives of their residents. Arriving back in Riga in good time, we made the decision to head up the Panorama Observation Deck housed within the Latvian Academy of Sciences building, which is itself a building building to admire.

A €5 admission got us up to the 16^th floor and its spectacular views of the city and river. From up here, we could see all of the places we’d walked around, from the bridges and market, to the various churches across the city. Plenty to see in a city where there is plenty to do! We headed back to the apartment via the Laima chocolate shop, where I picked up a couple of bars of the brands most recognisable chocolates including the delicious Serenade bar and Sarkana Magone. A must for any visitor to the country!

Dinner was at Riits, a hip joint which served only locally sourced food. My friend opted for a ‘Latvian snacks’ starter with sprats, potato and of course, sour cream, followed by a lamb shank; whilst I chose a lentil based dish for my main and a berry crumble with a heap of whipped cream for dessert.

Whilst a lie-in would have been pleasant, there was yet more to see in Riga on Day 3, and so it was another relatively early start to head back to the train station, but this time to catch a bus. We were headed out of the city to visit Riga’s #1 attraction (according to TripAdvisor) – the Motor Museum. Whilst not a particularly big car enthusiast, I thought why not see what all the hype was about.

Regardless of my indifference towards cars, the bus ride there was in itself interesting as we passed stacks upon stacks of Soviet style apartments, giving a better insight into what lies beyond the city limits. We arrived as the museum was opening (I don’t think I’ve ever been the first person in a museum before) and spent the next two hours walking around.

I have to say, the museum was very interesting and well put together, with 3 floors charting the evolution of the car as a whole, as well as Latvia’s involvement in the motor industry. There were plenty of pretty cars to keep me occupied (I’m sure their mechanics were also noteworthy) as well as interactive sections such as the opportunity to have your photo taken as if part of an army parade and using projections to ‘paint’ a van. Definitely a fun way to spend the morning.

As we were flying out in the evening, I’d booked lunch instead of dinner for us, and so we caught the bus back to the centre. Arriving a bit ahead of schedule, we returned to the Central Market to get a better look at the stalls (although I rushed through the fish market due to the strong smell!) before heading to Milda for lunch. The restaurant had a traditional menu, and we both ended up choosing potato based dishes, him meat filled potatoe skins, and myself cottage cheese filled potato dumplings in a buttery sauce. Given this was to be my last meal in Latvia, I splurged on dessert, a tasty cold bread pudding punctuated with fruit.

With a few hours to kill, we decided to head further afield for the afternoon, first visiting the stunningly beautiful Latvian Orthodox church, with an interior covered in glorious paintings and gold accents, as well as a small shop selling icons and Faberge like eggs with delicate glass churches inside – something I definitely would have considered buying had it not been for the price!

We continued on to the district famous for Art Nouveau buildings, winding our way along streets with pleasant facades before jumping inside the Art Nouveau Museum as the rain began to fall. The museum was unique, with a video downstairs demonstrating the influence of Art Nouveau in the city, and the upstairs kept in its original form as an early 1900s style apartment. In many ways, it was quite like the Stately Homes you can visit through the National Trust or English Heritage back home, and offered an insight into life in the last century.

The rain had only increased in frequency by the time we exited the museum, and not wishing to saturate my backpack and its important contents, I made the executive decision to head to the airport slightly early, conveniently catching one of the city’s airport bound minibuses (again, €2 per trip! Not a chance you’d get that in the UK!) which brought me a different route, this time through the Soviet style and wonderfully named town Zolitudes.

Even better, we drove right past the Riga Aviation Museum, where you could easily see the impressive aircraft through the chainlink fence, ranging from rusty fighter jets to what I have been told is the largest helicopter in the world. Quite the sight, and a nice ending to another pleasant city break!

Tips for visiting Riga: Check the weather forecast! Clearly the city has no qualms about not abiding by seasons, so make sure you know what to expect when you arrive, as we were told that just the weekend before temperatures had been as low as -20’C. Secondly, plan a day trip – there’s plenty to see and do in Riga, but if you want to ‘do Latvia’ it’s worth heading outside. I loved visiting Sigulda and its stunning National Parks, something you wouldn’t discover in the city limits itself. Finally, bring walking boots, both for the weather and the amount of walking you’ll no doubt do. The city is extremely walkable (isn’t that great!) and we definitely cranked up tens of thousands of steps throughout the weekend.

I hope you enjoyed today’s travel blog to Riga! I’d love to know where you recommend visiting if you’ve been to Riga, and what other cities I should visit next – I’m open to anywhere! Make sure to stay tuned for further travel blog excursions either on the blog or via my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and let me know what your 2018 travel plans are too!