Live.

You would be hard pressed to find something that makes me smile as wide or as genuinely as live music. It’s the reason people pay through the teeth to stand in a crowded room for three hours. It’s the reason people don the wellies and highly attractive waterproof jackets to camp out in the mud for a long weekend. It’s the reason people spend an entire day in a queue. None of these sound like particularly enjoyable activities to partake in, but here’s the thing… live music makes it all completely worthwhile.

I have just got home from a Seth Lakeman concert, with support from Winter Mountain. In a weeks’ time I will remember it as being a truly amazing night and a stand out gig. Tomorrow morning when asked “How was it?”, I will garble a combination of the words “awesome”, “epic”, “brilliant” and “wow.” But for the next few hours, tonight was the single greatest gig I have ever attended, and beyond that it was indescribable. That’s how live music makes me feel, that the most recent experience of it was the absolute best. I’m writing this to try and capture that feeling.

Seth Lakeman - Taken from http://www.facebook.com/sethlakeman

One of the reasons I love live music is how musicians and singers always look ridiculously happy doing what they do. This is something you just don’t get to see with other professions; sure, someone can tell you how much they may love their job. But actually seeing it in their faces is something completely different. I’m a little bit addicted to McFly concerts, and for me the best thing about them is how much fun all four boys are having whilst on stage. They run around, they crack jokes, they jump about on aerial walkways firing t shirts out of canons into the crowd… it’s infectious and I can’t get enough of it. It’s something you just don’t get from a recording. The guy playing percussion for Seth Lakeman tonight, introduced to us as Cormac (part of his drum kit was a metal bucket, and that’s just cool), had this brilliant smile on his face whilst he was playing and I was watching him just as much as I was watching Seth. It’s so much easier to enjoy music when you can see the artist is thoroughly enjoying themselves too.

Another thing is the energy you get from watching live music, and the way it completely renews your love for a song you might have become complacent about. I have loved the song ‘Lady of the Sea (Hear Her Calling)’ for months, but having listened to it over and over it’s now one I might be likely to skip past on my iPod. Hearing it live tonight, it made me want to climb onto the roof and scream out, “I BLOODY LOVE THIS SONG!” When the artist is right in front of you, furiously playing the violin or stomping around the stage in time to the beat, it’s incredibly difficult to forget how much you adore a song, and so much easier to remember why you loved it in the first place. Also, when watching amazing music being created right in front of you it makes you appreciate how well everything has been composed and put together. As my friend said tonight, when something has been recorded in a studio it’s probably all been done separately, and then layered over each other. But on stage, each person has to get their timings perfect and watching them all get it absolutely spot on is a brilliant and unique feeling. 

Seeing someone live is also a great way to discover new music, that you might not feel as strongly about if your first experience of them is a recording. Tonight I was introduced to Martin Smyth and Joe Francis, also known as Winter Moutnain and the support act for Seth Lakeman's tour. I'm sure I would have enjoyed them  if I'd heard of them through some other medium, but all my friends and I could say to each other tonight after their set was, "Oh my god. They're amazing!" The last time this happened to me was at last summer's Beach Break Live festival, and the artist was Ed Sheeran. There's no better way to fall in love with an artist than to hear them they way they're supposed to be heard. I really hope to see more of these two guys, they completely deserve the love and support!

Taken from www.facebook.com/wintermountain

If you’re someone that doesn’t go and see a lot of live music, I would strongly advise changing that.  I’m writing this now because once it’s over, I always manage to forget exactly how live music makes me feel; alive.

Check out Seth Lakeman and Winter Mountain, who needless to say, are both phenomenal live.

Into the Arena: 12 Characters That Would/Wouldn’t Survive ‘The Hunger Games’

If you haven’t read Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’, what are you doing? Close your internet browser and find a copy immediately.

Are you back? Good. You should now be familiar with the premise of Collins’ dystopian survival novel, the film adap of which will be out on the 23^rd of March; twenty-four teenagers from the twelve districts of Panem are randomly selected as tributes to enter the brutal, sadistic, highly televised Hunger Games arena. The winner: whoever lives to the end.

Since reading this amazing trilogy (in the space of three nights) I have, naturally, given some thought as to who I think would or would not survive in the arena, battling against nature and the other tributes. Here are the twelve fictional characters I think would be interesting to watch in the arena (disclaimer: in the context of this all being fictional, of course. I wouldn’t actually get any enjoyment from watching people kill each other off for entertainment purposes).

Name: Harry Potter

Fictional Universe: JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series

Main Skill: Magic

Verdict: The ability to cast an effective Shield Charm would be of a great help, but would only get him so far in the competition. His noble unwillingness to kill others would hinder him when it came to one-to-one combat with other tributes, plus his ‘saving-people-thing’ (as identified by Hermione in ‘Order of the Phoenix’) would probably have him going backwards in trying to be the last one left alive, especially if he forms alliances within the arena.

Name: Elizabeth Bennet

Fictional Universe: Austen and Grahame-Smith’s ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’

Main Skill: Competent with various forms of weaponry and martial arts

Verdict: As I’m opting for the slightly adapted version of Miss Bennet, I would say she had a very good chance at being in the running for winner of the Hunger Games. I’d bet on her even if she didn’t manage to get her hands on a few choice weapons from the Cornucopia, as her ninja-like hand-to-hand combat skills that serve her so well in fighting legions of the undead would be a tremendous asset in the arena. 

A real heroine

Name: (Captain) Jack Sparrow

Fictional Universe: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

Main Skill: General piracy

Verdict: Distinct lack of rum available in the arena would have him screwed from the start. He’d have to somehow get the alcoholic Haymitch as his mentor and go for the pity vote. The best he could hope for is an ocean arena.

Name: Sherlock Holmes (the Moffat/Cumberbatch edition)

Fictional Universe: BBC’s ‘Sherlock’, inspired by the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ stories of Arthur Conan Doyle

Main Skill: Powers of deduction

Verdict: Sherlock’s ability to read people in seconds and accurately predict their next move will have him miles away from other tribute’s next hunting spot before they even decide to go there. As a highly-functioning sociopath, his lack compassion for others will fall in his favour when it comes to the tricky issue of ridding the arena of other tributes, however I have no idea how he’d fare in the wild. Maybe evasion would be his best course of action.

Name: Bella Swan

Fictional Universe: Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ saga

Main Skill: Umm…

Verdict: Seeing as Bella’s main skill (as I have deducted from the four books… yes, sadly I read all four) appears to be getting herself into life threatening situations, she should be right at home in the Hunger Games arena. Unfortunately this skill will have her killed at the Cornucopia as soon as the starting bell goes off. And even if she made it away before some other tribute got to her, she’d probably throw herself off the nearest cliff after being apart from Edward for more than twenty minutes.  

Bella's Survival Tips: Curl up on the forest floor and wait for someone to come and save you

Name: Bond. James Bond.

Fictional Universe: ‘James Bond’ books and movies

Main Skill:

Verdict: If he could get the good folks from District Three (Technology) to sponsor him in the Games and get himself some futuristic gadgetry, he’d be pretty set. However with his main competition looking to be Elizabeth Bennet, he’d have a hard time trying to woo her into a false sense of security if it came down to just the two of them; she a sharp cookie when it comes to men.

Name: Homer Simpson

Fictional Universe: ‘The Simpsons’

Main Skill: Eating and Sleeping

Verdict: Oh dear. Poor Marge.  

Name: Rory Williams

Fictional Universe: BBC’s ‘Doctor Who’, series 5 and 6

Main Skill: Dying

Verdict: Whilst Rory Williams is particularly good at dying (“I’m dead, aren’t I? Again…”), he is also exceptionally good at coming back to life.  I’m not sure how long he could get away with this in the arena though, as eventually someone would get sick of him popping back again and again (and again and again). He would quite possibly form an alliance with young Mr Potter, and if they survived until the end neither of them would be willing to off the other.  

Name: Sheldon Cooper

Fictional Universe: ‘The Big Bang Theory’

Main Skill: Massive intellect

Verdict: Oh Sheldon. Unfortunately this brainiac would probably panic when faced with the alarming amount of nature in the arena and his extensive knowledge on theoretical physics would count for nought.  He would potentially try and tag along with Sherlock, but would find himself in danger if he asked the consulting detective to sing “Soft Kitty” to him when he gets either injured or ill.

On the other hand, maybe he'll go into a mad rage and kill everyone off when they try and sit in 'his tree'

Name: Count Dracula

Fictional Universe: Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and its various adaptations

Main Skill: Preying on the necks of various

Verdict: I would have high hopes for him, as long as he found a dark cave early on. He wouldn’t be short on sustenance with eleven juicy tributes to snack on, and the matter of lunch would also bring him a step closer to being the last one left alive. But if Bella survives long enough to find him he’ll be throwing himself in the path of Elizabeth just to get away from her trying to restyle him as her new vampire beau.

Name: Gaston

Fictional Universe: Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Main Skill: Strength

Verdict: I had to include a Disney character somewhere, and is a perfect fit as one of the obnoxious, bloodthirsty career tributes. Likely to make it quite far in the Games due to brute strength and aggression (emulating Cato from the actual ‘Hunger Games’ novel), but with the mind of Sherlock, the skills of Elizabeth and the fangs of Dracula present, he would likely meet an unfortunate end sooner or later.

His 'unfortunate end' probably sneaking up on him whilst he's admiring his own reflection in a lake

Name: Nathan Young

Fictional Universe: E4’s ‘Misfits’

Main Skill: Immortality

Verdict: Well. That skill says it all, doesn’t it? Sorry everyone. This cocky ASBO-teen could saunter around the arena and starve to death, get shot, be pushed into a lake, set on fire and still beat Rory at springing back to life. Unless of course we’re dealing with post-series two Nathan, when his superpower is swapped for the ability to pull of cheap magic tricks and scam the Vegas casinos… in which case, Nathan would probably be second only to Homer in losing the Hunger Games. He would just get on everyone else’s nerves too much.

Who do you think would make a good/terrible tribute in the Hunger Games?