CHRISTMAS 2013 // JOHNNY CASH, XMAS CAROLS & CHAMPAGNE BREAKFASTS

I love Christmas, I think I have grown to love it even more after being away for most of the year at uni because you know that Christmas means home time :) I like the carols that are sung, the films that are watched and the excuse to just lie on the sofa for most of the day guilt free. The Thomas household Christmas is relatively relaxed with only the four of us (+ Hendrix) spending the day together with my Mam-gu popping in to have some lunch. I'm not a big fan of being confined in a space filled with people so a small family suits me well. Christmas eve is all about the preparation, the wrapping and champagne breakfasts with friends while Xmas day is all about the present opening, film watching, dog walking, christmas dinner eating and of course the birth of Jesus. 

I always wake up early on Christmas morning much to the annoyance of my brother. This year I woke up at half 7 but held out from waking everyone up until 9am when I started to sing Christmas carols (O Deuwch Ffuddloniaid // Oh come All Ye Faithful) for all to here. After much grumbling and eye rubbing my brother and I opened our stocking while my mum laid in bed and my dad came home from work. Muesli, croissants, champagne and toast were on the menu for breakfast and after the veg was chopped and everyone was showered and ready we ventured in to the living room where our bigger presents were waiting. With the cheesy/ cringeworthy Johnny Cash 1976 Christmas Special programme playing in the background I opened my prezies and I received an awesome leather bag from Foley & Agamo, a Lancôme beauty set, Dr. Martens (1460 Boot), my first ever onesie, CD's, books, my staple Miss Dior perfume and many other wonderful gifts. 

Before the pigs in blankets could have time to digest, myself and my mam headed off on a little walk with Hendrix just to get some fresh air while my brother washed up. Upon our return we watched the end of Toy Story 3, watched Despicable Me 2 in 3D (well, I had a nap through the majority of it), caught the end of Homealone 2 and laughed at the Mrs. Brown's boys and Father Ted xmas specials before heading off to bed. B-E-A-UTIFUL day. :) 

Here are some of my favourite gifts I received from Santa and family. Thanks // Diolch :) 

STEREOPHONICS // O2 LONDON 2013

Hello there, I know this is a bit late but  . . . better late than never!

On the 28th of November myself and Nicola headed in to London to go and watch the Stereophonics at the O2. Once my lectures had finished on Thursday afternoon I hopped hon the train to Waterloo where I met Nicola who was traveling from Cardiff. We had some time to spare before the gig so we had a quick stroll around Waterloo, Westminster and whitehall before raking the short tube journey to the o2 arena. I had never been to the O2 before and was surprised how big it was inside - it's genuinely like a town inside a marque! Surprisingly Nicola and myself found ourselves right up front which was just a little bit awesome! While waiting for the support to come on stage we talked to a few Phonics fans who had met Kelly and Richard a few times and one of them even received a wedding card signed by the band - how cool! 

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis were the support act and I had never heard of them before so was not quite sure what to expect but they were really, really good. With a rockabilly, swingy, bluesy, rock 'n' rolly sound they were actually superb. Check them out!

Before we knew it, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis were off the stage and the boys from Cwmaman were opening with Catacomb, a single off their new album, before belting out classics such as Local Boy in the Photograph, A Thousand Trees, Pick a Part That's New and one of my new absolute favourites, Been Caught Cheating. Throughout the whole gig myself and Nicola were frantically waving quite a sizeable Welsh flag in the air (apologies to those stood behind us!) and on numerous occasions (which made our night) Kelly, and Richard (the latter was stood directly in front of us) made eye contact with us and smiled. Arghhhhhh!! Throughout the whole gig I just kept thinking to myself - this is the most awesome thing everrrrr! 

I had seen the Stereophonics three times before - in the Millennium Stadium (2008 possibly or '05 can't remember), Cardiff City Stadium (2010) and V Festival (2013) but being so close to them at the o2 was just something else. Kelly's voice was even more amazing and Richard was, if it's even possible, more cool. With the band finishing the gig with the classic Dakota after a magical encore that was made up of Handbags and the Gladrags, I Stopped To Fill My Car Up and Just Looking it is safe to say that myself and Nicola had an extremely incredibly awesome time! 

SUPER SONG SUNDAY // Eric Burdon & Boom Boom

We were treated to an awesome surprise Tuesday evening in Bruce Springsteen's Cardiff gig - The Animals' Eric Burdon joined the E Street Band on stage to perform his hit We've Gotta Get Out of This Place. When the rock legend came out on stage about halfway through the concert the crowd of over 20,000 people erupted with joy. When the chorus began the roof was shaking as people shouted "we gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do..." back to the performers on stage. Awesome! I was unsure whether to include the original 1960's version of the song in today's Super Song Sunday but as I'm still reeling from Tuesday's incredible gig I though I'd link that very performance. I hope you enjoy listening to it because I sure loved living it! Oh, and how awesome is Burdon's t-shirt & scarf combo!



And just for good measure I have included the song that followed this surprising collaboration - Boom Boom. "C'mon and shake it up babeyyyy"!!!

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, CARDIFF - 23.7.13 // Summer Adventures

“There are good Bruce shows, there are great Bruce shows, and then there’s Cardiff!” - Helen Jones 

Wow. I have thought about how to describe what myself and over 20,000 Springsteen fans saw on Tuesday night but there are no words. 

My Mam, my brother and I opened are deck chairs and sat in the Cardiff sun all of ten hours before The Boss made an appearance on stage. It had to be done. After being so close to the Golden Circle in Wembley last month we knew we had to be even closer this time. The E Street Band are like a drug which you just want to experience on a more intimate level every time. Next time (and there will be another E Street tour) we'll queue the day before if we have to  - Springsteen has that effect on you. The hours fly by because Springsteen fans are like a big family - everybody talks to each other, look out for one another and swap stories of their experiences of life on the road with the Boss. From Australia, Netherlands, America and Italy, they were all there ready to see Springsteen in the Welsh capital. 

Once we were in the stadium we were ridiculously close to the front and on many occasions during the 3 and a half hour set (yes you heard right, 3 and a half hours) Springsteen was at a face to face distance from us which was enough to almost make my mother (who has been following the Boss for 30 or so years) cry! That was enough to make it one of the best nights of my life but then the setlist, oh the setlist. What an incredible thing it was!

After being privileged enough to hear the whole of Darkness on the Edge of Town in Wembley I was quite happy for the Boss not to play another album from start to finish but just to play songs from his never ending back catalogue. And wow, what a show he put on for us. The band burst on to the stage with a fantastically gospel version of This Little Light of Mine which I was incredibly pleased about and this is also the song that ended the first encore.  I was already pumped by the end of the first song but when Adam Raised A Cain was played as the third song in the set I knew that the show would be one that would not be forgotten for a long time. Adam Raised a Cain is one of my favourite songs not only from Darkness on the Edge of Town but ever. 

After running in to the crowd to grab some sign requests (sadly not mine) we were treated to a world premiere of TV Movie. A song that has never been heard live before and according to Bruce, a song that will never be heard live again! Cynthia, another song from the 1998 "Tracks" boxed set was played after TV Movie to the delight of Steve Van Zandt and the crowd, before the band jumped in to a trio of Wrecking Ball tracks - Death to My Hometown, We Take Care of Our Own and Wrecking Ball. 

 Bruce treated the people of Cardiff to an awesome surprise as The Animals' Eric Burdon came on stage to perform We've Gotta Get Out of This Place with the amazed crowd shouting the chorus back at the performers. If the Millennium Stadium was not already almost filled to the roof with energy, Springsteen launched into a cover of John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom which was followed by Cadillac Ranch and (one of my favourites) Summertime Blues. The seated crowd were told to "get off their Welsh asses" when Pay My Money Down came on and they listened to turn to the atmosphere in the stadium up to 11. As the set came to an end with an immense version of Badlands the roof was now shaking and the crowd were jumping - could things get any wilder? 

With a 10 song encore, yes they most definitely could. The first encore included Springsteen hits such as Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Dancing in the Dark and ended with a totally mental version of Shout which saw Bruce crawling across the stage in an almost see through shirt as the sweat flooded from the singer after 3 and a half hours on the stage. Not bad for an almost 64 year old. With The Boss ignoring cut off time and as the band left the stage, Springsteen continued with an emotional and sensational acoustic versions of Janey Don't You Lose Heart and Thunder Road which left many of the audience with tears in their eyes. 

Bruce, as one sign in the crowd stated simply - Thank You. 

SUPER SONG SUNDAY // BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Aloha everyone. It's Sunday again (I have no idea how the weeks seem to fly by) and it's time for a Super Song Sunday. Whilst looking back through my Super Song Sunday (& Super Sunday Song) archive I was quite surprised to see that I'd only done two Springsteen posts and one of them wasn't even solely on the man himself (here & here). But don't worry, I've made up by writing many a post about The Boss in other areas of this blog (here). What better time to feature Springsteen but two days before I see him for the second time on his Wrecking Ball Tour in Cardiff. When I saw him in Wembley Stadium back in June it was one of the best experiences of my life and you can read more about that concert here.

With preparations under way for Tuesday's gig (sign making, time scheduling etc.) I decided I'd post one of my favourite Springsteen tunes of the moment for SSS. I say 'of the moment' because as all Springsteen fans know, there are just too many songs in The Boss' catalogue to have one continues favourite song, although Thunder Road might be an exception because that is, in my opinion, the Best song Ever written. So, at the moment Backstreets tops my own personal Springsteen chart. After looking through Springsteen's set lists from his 2013 tour it seems that this song is rarely played when the E Street Band are not playing the whole of the Born to Run album which baffles me.

Whilst I'm on the subject of set lists, this morning I was googling to see what songs Bruce and the E Street Band performed in Belfast over the weekend and I discovered an awesome blog called Burgers And Bruce. The blog discusses exactly what it says on the tin - Bruce Springsteen and Burgers. It is written by a E Street lovin', burger eating fanatic called Hannah and if you're new to Springsteen she has written a very insightful beginners guide on how to properly go and watch Bruce and the E Street band live which you should check out.

So, without further ado, I give you Backstreets. 

SUPER SONG SUNDAY // The Strypes

This band came on my radar after their performance on Jools Holland's Later show a few weeks back and wow they have just gone on to bigger and better things. The Strypes are a teenage band from Ireland. The rhythm & blues band are made up of boys who range from the age of 15-17!! That's just mental in its self. Since they performed on the John Peel stage in Glasto over the weekend they are being played numerous times on radio and some of their set was replayed on Radio 6 Music this morning. They are just pure bluesy rock n roll - a younger version of Saturday night's legendary headliners, The Rolling Stones, many have said over the last few days. The band has such excitement surrounding them at the moment and I am so looking forward to seeing what they do as they continue to rock the music world. I also discovered last night while looking for the Strypes' upcoming tour dates, that they will be playing Reading fest this summer. Woooohooo! I will definitely be going to watch them in August.

Listen & enjoy :)

MUSIC // Vinyl Collection (a bit of it)

It happens every time. Once I've been to a band's gig, their music is all I listen to. Day and night. As predicted it has happened again. I must have listened to Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town album from start to finish, without skipping a single song, about six or seven times now! I'm trying to ease myself off Springsteen for a while because I don't want to get sick of the man, which I personally don't think is possible, but I don't want to risk it! However, before this easing commences I listened to a few Springsteen records my mam had upstairs. Our house has so many CD's and vinyl that there is actually no more room for anymore! There's vinyl on shelves, boxes, cases and it's the same with CD's. Listening to vinyl is so much nicer than CD. I like the crackling in the music and the sound the record makes when moving on to the next song. Today, if you go and buy vinyl from the latest bands they cost soooooo much. I saw Justin Timberlake's Mirrors in Urban Outfitters last week and it cost something like £24! Craaaazy!

I decided to take a few pictures of only a handful of records that we keep up in the loft.

Super Song Sunday // She & Him

I looove the TV programme New Girl soooooo much and have been a fan of Zooey Deschanel's even before her New Girl days. A couple of years ago I came across a band and I instantly loved their sound - She & Him. A little while afterwords I realised that 'She' was actually Deschanel herself. The band's sound is unique for today's charts but you could imagine the music being played on a warm day in the 1950s. This unique sound is what makes the band sound so original today in a world filled with manufactured pop. Don't get me wrong, She & Him is sugar coated pop at its finest, but it's a different kind of sugary pop to todays - it is timeless sugary pop.

Enjoy :)       The duo have also just released their new album - She & Him - Volume 3. Go and buy it people. Go on, treat yourself :)

New Girl & Bran Flakes

Last night myself and some of the block headed over to the pub where our friend works. It was one of our block mate's 21st birthday and after the pub most of my firends headed out to the local club. I haven't been able to go out out for months (because of my back) so after the pub I walked back to uni. Sometimes, ok, most of the time, the fact that I am unable to go out with everyone is incredibly frustrating but there are worse things in the world. However, even though I can not go out out with my friends we do, almost every night, watch films together or do something sociable :)

In other news, I have been absolutely obsessed with New Girl which stars Zooey Deschanel  and Jack Johnson. I watched the first series last year and absoultely loved it but because I've been in uni I didn't really keep up with the second series but last week I watched the whole 2nd series, that is 25 episodes, in just under 24 hours. I looooooooooove Nick - he is just the funniest person ever! That is what I did when I arrived back last night - watched New Girl and ate some Bran Flakes - Rock n' roll babyyyy :)

 

 Snapchat is aweosme.

 

 

LOOK AT THAT // Target Does it Again.

My name is Lisa and I am obsessed with Target Does it Again - Deep in the Hart and Ascot Friday's (aka Jen Coleman and Laura Wiertzema) style. Even though I live in Wales, where there are no Targets, I always seemed to come across Laura and Jen's Instagram pics almost everytime I went on one of my many Instagram hypes. There is nothing, in my opinion, not to like about their style. Kimono's, trucker hats and awesome shoes. Also the hair - I love bed head, surfer type hair and they rock it. They love a good hat, skinny jean and a cool topknot. I honestly don't think that anyone's style or blogs can beat theirs at the moment. Oh and also a Bob Dylan tee and some dungarees get rocked from time to time  - what more do I need to say?! They also have an online jewelry shop which is awesome and their Pinterest boards are something else. They're just too cool.

Pictures from Deep In The Hart blog and Ascot Friday blog.

Instagram - @lisagwawr
Twitter - @lisagwawr

SUPER SONG SUNDAY // Beastie Boys

This week I have chosen a song by the legends that are the Beastie Boys. They have to be one of my all time favourite bands. Whenever I make a mixtape (or is it now a mixCD) for the car I always mix rock with some hip hop but with the Beastie Boys you get both in one which is awesome. Their individual hip hop sound might derive from the fact that the band began its life as a hardrock punk band in New York and eventually the band transitioned their sound to more of a hip hop style. Very rarely do you find a hip hop song with electric guitars, rock drums and its ability to make you want to headbang and rap simultaneously. I could have picked so many of their songs for this week's Super Song Sunday, such as Brass Monkey, Fight For Your Right, No Sleep 'till Brooklyn, the list goes on and on. However, I've chosen the awesome song that is Sabotage. There is no specific reason really, except for the fact that it is totally awesome. Having watched a few of the History of Rap clips on Youtube (if you haven't seen them then what the hell are you waiting for - goooo!), where Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake sing/rap/dance the history of hip hop, I've remembered just how awesome all the old hip hop tracks are! Oh, and seeing Will Smith's awesome performance on Graham Norton also kind of backed up this opinion of mine!

HANGOVER 3 & HARVESTER DATE // end of exams

Thursday afternoon was my last exam of first year. It was on the twentieth century leaders of the non West and it was pretty hard! As it was the first year that they had done this type of exam no one knew what to expect. I answered all the questions and it's only worth 30% so it'll be ok, hopefully. We didn't have much time to relax as Laura, Hollie and I headed to the cinema to watch Hangover 3. It was really funny and totally different to both the first and Second Hangover films. If you go and see it PLEASE stay 'till the end of the credits because that is actually The Funniest part of the film - wow!
For an after film meal we went to Harvester and met up with two more of our friends - Ellie and Dani, and had an awesome meal. :) yuuuuum. The next days my plans are like this - sleep, rest, rest, rest, relax, chill, Tesco, relax, sleep and some more relax, oh and also some reading :) Niiiiiiice.

SUPER SONG SUNDAY // AC/DC

AC/DC's Back In Black is this week's Super Song Sunday. I've not always enjoyed AC/DC - when you're 4/5 years old and this screaming music is engulfing the house you kind of just want to turn it off! As I've gotten older however, I love them. It might be the fact that I had no choice but to love them as they were constantly being played in the house on top volume or that I genuinely just started to appreciate them! Either way they are actually awesome.  During this time of relentless revision and now that I'm so close to my last exam this type of music really wakes you up when you're almost falling asleep at your desk! Although it does distract you for a while as you rock out on your air guitar for most of the song!

Enjoy :)

MOVIE // THE FLIPPIN' AWESOME GATSBY

Baz Luhrmann's Gatsby came out on Thursday but I went to see it yesterday (Friday). My friends and I have been looking forward to this film since we first heard about the remake over two years ago when we were studying Fitzgerald's great American novel in year. 12. For the last week or so I've been playing the Gatsby soundtrack over and over and over again (on youtube) - with Jay Z producing the soundtrack it couldn't be anything other than spectacular. I particularly liked No Church in the Wild  & Love is Blindness. They just add so much 'Cool' to the film. This might be a weird thing to say but, the film was really colourful and almost cartoon like (which I really loved). I've watched a few old movie versions of the Great Gatsby on TV but they never really kept my attention for long because I just love the book and they just didn't compare. Even though I don't  believe that any remake of Gatsby will ever be as good as the novel, Luhrmann's version is pretty darn awesome. Leo, oh Leo! He was superb as Gatsby and I found myself feeling much more sorry for Gatsby in the film compared to the novel, although that might have something to do with Leonardo Dicaprio more than anything! I still find myself disliking Daisy though. The film stayed really true to the book with the exception of one or two things. Overall I think it was Great and have already sorted out another trip to see it in the Cinema next week!

Oh, and the costumes and parties were just amazing and so sparkly and perfect.