The Maccabees performing last night

So, I survived day one of Best Kept Secret Festival!
I have to admit I was quite nervous at the beginning; would they let me in or not?
Luckily, they did. I got a nice pink (I actually hate the colour pink) wristband, and passed the security gates flawlessly.
We (me, my cousin, and two good friends) got an information booklet, which included the timetable and the map.


We came across stage two first, the stage on which Macklemore and Ryan Lewis would perform later that day.
The festival is held at the Beekse Bergen (located next to the zoo, and a nice lake), and I must say this is definitely one of the best places for a festival; you've got a forest on the right, a lake on the left, and a big field in the middle.
Because we had not eaten since twelve a.m. or something, we decided to go and buy ourselves some food.
(It was quite a shame you could only pay with special coins, that cost 10 euros for five, which is quite expensive.)
Because we didn't have that much money to spend, we bought ourselves the cheapest food we could get; french fries.
I need to admit those were the best fries I had ever eaten.
We went to stage one to see The Maccabees, and ended up standing in the front row!
During the concert, the guitarist even winked at my cousin and pointed at me, after which the singer nodded and raised his hand whilst looking at me.
I just melted, haha!
After having seen the Maccabees' amazing performance, we bought ourselves some drinks, and sat by the lakeside.
Meanwhile, Bloc Party started to perform.
I had never really listened to Bloc Party (I only knew their best known songs like Banquet), but I think they're quite good, actually.
But we were getting quite tired, and decided to go to the forest, and sit down on one of those extremely comfortable swings. (Yes, they had swings attached to the trees!)

Alex Turner Performing at Stage ONE

After a while, we went to stage one again, to make sure we'd be in one of the front rows during the Arctic Monkeys' performance.
And... we made it!
But during the performance, we actually wanted to be more at the back of the crowd, because it got "quite rough", haha.
I was just stunned by the Arctic Monkeys. You know, they sound good on their albums, but live...!

I especially liked the older songs, like "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor", "Mardy Bum", "Cornerstone" and "When the Sun Goes Down".
The performance was just amazing.
By the time their performance ended, we were just smeared with mud (it had not rained all day, though).
We headed for the car, and drove back home in silence; we were exhausted!

And now, I'm preparing for day two; I'm definitely looking forward to see Two Door Cinema Club, Alt-J, Allah-Las and Balthazar!

I'll upload my own videos and photographs when the festival's over.
This is the video of the entrance and Do I Wanna Know?, you can find videos of the the rest of the performance on YouTube.

Friday I'll be going to Best Kept Secret Festival, and I'll write some new reviews about the festival when I return home.
The headlines of the festival are The Arctic Monkeys, The Maccabees, Palma Violets, Alt-J, Two Door Cinema Club and Sigur Ros.
Other very interesting bands on the festival are Allah-Las, Bloc Party, Everything Everything, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Melody's Echo Chamber, Temples and Savages

Hey guys!

I've optimized the reading comfort (haha, no it's just a bit easier now), by making the pages with posts a bit shorter, so the page will load a bit faster.

You can now easily navigate yourself through the pages by clicking on the "older posts"-button, or the "home "-button.

"My Number" by Foals 

"Tell Me (What's on your Mind)" by Allah-Las

"Overtime is a Crime" by We Are The Ocean 

''Panic Station'' by Muse

Finally! We've reached 2000 views!
Off to 3000 then...!

Thank you all so much!

Sarah

Dear readers,

From now on, I'll also be frequently blogging on my second blog, Moloko With Synthemesc: http://molokowithsynthemesc.blogspot.nl/
I'm very pleased to tell you that this blog has also had a successful upgrade, and is now ready to be launched officially!

Haha, well, I need to admit that it's not that serious; just have a quick look if you like ;)

But, I really have to tell you that I WON'T DESERT THIS BLOG!
So don't worry; there are certainly more reviews coming.
Unfortunately, there aren't many spectacular album releases at the moment, but I'll write one as soon as there are any interesting releases!

Cheers,

Sarah

Shiver by Lucy Rose

Enjoy!

And here it is!

Hey guys!

I hope you like the new blog lay-out, and I hope you'll still be able to 

find all the information you need on my blog.

If you like, you can always leave your opinion (about the new lay-out, or about the quality of the content of my blog) in the comments below.

You can also leave requests for album reviews or covers in the comments.

Enjoy!

...Can't Pretend by Tom Odell

Enjoy!

Last summer, I bought the album Here by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
My review is a bit late, since the album was released in 2012, but I still think this is a good album to start the spring/summer with!

I really loved the album art, because it's really colourful, and really suits the music genre.

The album's first track is called Man on Fire, which starts really quiet, but builds up really well. It's a very relaxing song. I really like the vocals on this track, especially in the choruses.
The song sounds very natural, and can certainly make you very happy!
I also love the didgeridoos in the song :)

The second track is called That's What's Up.
The song sounds really old-fashioned; that's something I especially like about this song.
I really love the fact that men and women are singing together, which makes the sound a lot, you know, saturated.

Track three is called I Don't Wanna Pray. The first sentences of the lyrics describe contradictions between the good and the bad.
The song sounds really country-like, which I don't really like.
But still, the song's not bad!

The fourth track is called Mayla, and sounds a bit like an Indian mantra.
It's a very slow and quiet song. The song's very relaxing, and almost hypnotizing.

The next track is called Dear Believer, and also sounds really old-fashioned.
When I first heard the track, I thought it was a Beatles or John Lennon (solo career) song!
This one sounds really lovely, and doesn't get boring, although the song doesn't really have any "peaks".

Track six is called Child. This song really reminds me of The Band!
This song also sounds really lovely, like real American 60's folk.

One Love to Another; that's what the seventh track is called like.
This song starts very good I think. It also reminds me a bit of a George Harrison solo career- song, although I don't exactly know which one...
The lyrics are very 60's like; it's a kind of a protest song.

The next one is called Fiya Wata. I don't exactly know what the title means...
I don't really like this one, because I think this one's not as original as the others, and is a bit boring.
But I quite like the instrumental parts in the end of the song.

The ninth, and last track, is called All Wash Out.
The lyrics could have been Jimi Hendrix lyrics, really!
This song is the only sad one on the album, and is to me one of the best tracks they have written.
I really like the whistling parts in the song, and the quiet guitars.

So;
If you can't wait for summer, I'd really recommend this album!

Rating: 8/10

The Strypes are an Irish Rythm and Blues band, who make amazing 

Beatles/Stones- inspired music!

Just listen, and enjoy the beautiful sound of the sixties!

Call Me In the Afternoon, by Half Moon Run>














Someone Purer, by the Mystery Jets (I really like the choruses)>

Two days ago, I went to see Mumford and Sons at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.
The ticket cost 36 euros, which is not quite expensive, in my opin
ion.
I hadn't been to the Ziggo Dome before, but everything was very clear; you could easily find all the facilities, and the music hall had outstanding acoustics!
The music hall's quite big, but I managed to be in one of the front rows :)

When I arrived, I immediately went to the merchandise stall, because I was quite aware of the fact that almost everybody was going to buy their merchandise after the concert.
But, the merchandise was extremely expensive; shirts cost around 30 euros, and sweaters cost around 60 euros. You could even buy a Mumford and Sons limited edition lighter for 75 euros...

So, as I already said before, I went to the music hall, discovered that it wasn't busy at all (because most of the people went to have a drink before the concert), and had the opportunity to be one of the people in the front row!

After half an hour of waiting, the first support act started playing; Half Moon Run.
Half Moon Run are a Canadian band, and I need to admit that I really, really like their music!
The band played for half an hour, and then you had to wait again for the second support act; the Mystery Jets.
I already liked the Mystery Jets, but after having seen them performing, I started liking them a lot more!

So, the support acts were great, and well chosen.

But I was still waiting for Mumford and Sons, just like every one else in the music hall...
After an hour of waiting, the lights dimmed, and the audience started cheering.
But the stage remained silent! I need to admit I stared to be a bit worried; maybe they wouldn't come at all, and the show might be cancelled..?

But then, suddenly, four shadows came up behind the red Gentlemen of the Road curtain!
Mumford and Sons had finally arrived, and started their spectacular show with their hit "Babel".

The songs they played were very well chosen; they played a lot of songs from their newest album, but also their older songs, like "Little Lion Man", "The Cave","White Blank Page", and "Roll Away Your Stone".
During the concert, there was quite a lot of interaction with the audience, which I really loved!

The show ended with a cover of The Band's "The Weight", which Mumford and Sons performed together with Half Moon Run and the Mystery Jets.
During the song, several instruments had astonishing solos (I really liked Ben Lovett's piano solo, and the violin solo), which I think is really well done.

In the end, I was quite sad that the evening had come to an end...!

So, if you want to go to a concert; don't hesitate, and go to see Mumford and Sons!

Rating: 9.5/10

< The beginning; Babel (not my film)