Illustrated Gig Review 4

Black Peaks Gig Review, Illustrated!

I went to another gig on my own and rather than feeling awkward or talking to anyone new, I pretended to be a music journalist and planned my illustrated review of the night. ( It probably makes me look even more weird than just standing awkwardly by myself but it’s more fun.)

I turned up pretty late to the gig. I was expecting it to be full of pre-teens and cool kids as I’d discovered the band on BBCR1 but there was a nice mix of ages and not a crop top in sight. Unfortunately I only caught Toska’s two last songs but they were brilliant and I’m going to keep an eye on their next London dates! It was super heavy and base-y, and such a nice intro to the night. I spent six of Palm Reader’s songs at the bar trying to get a pint and ended up watching most the set through the live tv feed. It was awful video quality but mixed with the live band it made me feel like I was in an 80′s grunge music video. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea but the energy was great and the crowd dug it.

Black Peaks blew it out the water. I’d only listened to the new album a few times over before its release but it is infinitely more impressive live. Mostly attributed to frontman Will’s raw charisma on stage. That moustache, man. Maybe it is just the moustache. He was all jowls, facial hair and beautiful, grotesque expressions. Pure entertainment. Also extremely good at singing and that stuff. Mostly good at faces.

The show was fantastic. There was an energy and excitement present that only comes from being a small band that are about to do huge things and knowing it. Everything was on point and the audience was on board with every second. Amazing. Give them a listen!

The gig was a while ago but I’ve been working on my jowls and moustache expressions. 

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Purity Ring: Illustrated gig review.

I got to see Purity Ring. They were great.

CLICK FOR HI-RES! 

The crowd loved it.

Visually the gig was stunning. I've never seen lighting and props like it. (srlsy watch the video!) I hope all of the ticket sales go to the lighting technician cos they crushed it. And by no means did the visuals detract from the performance. The vocals were spot on and the bass! Theres something about bass so low it buzzes in your back teeth while your stood in a theatre hall thats over a hundred years old thats just really lovely. Cosy. It was just all so slick and confident. And cool. Megan James is totally my new style icon. SHE HAD MIRRORS ON HER HANDS. And a fringe cut the whole way round her head. And sexy robot shoulders! *sigh*

The support Born Gold seemed to go down well too. Not entirely my cup of tea, but I don't think the type of venue was perfectly suited to their energetic performance. I'd like to meet them in a super secret basement party with glo sticks and lazers. I was mostly enjoying the voguing attempts and metallic leggings tbh.
Still well worth checking out.

Here is a very poor video to try explain just how rad the lights were. (Its LOUD so turn it down to save ears)

                       

 Next up: Eating an apple during a Prodigy sound check in an empty 10,500 capacity hall.

New Blood!

Last week(ish) I was lucky enough to attend D&DA's annual New Blood exhibition and had a great time with some amazing and exciting outcomes and lots of really wonderful feedback and interesting constructive criticism.
It was super cool.

As well as getting to talk with some industry people I got to meet some of the crazy talented illustrators and designers who were exhibiting.
We were positioned opposite Falmouth uni so I pretty much fell in love with ALL of their stuff. So many beautiful books! Amongst my favourites were:

Ella Bailey's beautiful style and characters:

Juliet Harris' illustration for Philip Pullmans 'The firework maker's daughter.'
I love the limited pallet and dreamlike feel, couldn't stop wandering over and staring at it.

I also got the chance to talk to Falmouths Martha Anne who created these illustrations based on the Karma Sutra and is a genuinely lovely person. (And has great colour style!)

And with Jonny Clapham, who's weirdly wonderful and unique illustrations are well worth a gander. 

not to mention his hilarious messed up videos: 

7 Tips for Creative Graduates from Jonny Clapham on Vimeo.

I have it on good authority that some of the guys off my course are collaborating with him to produce a zine and I can not wait!

My other picks include this ingenious bike 'accessory' by Joe Waterfield to promote a charity bike ride:

(Look at the clouuds!)

Cedi Cycles - The Iron Curtain from Joe Waterfield on Vimeo.

And finally my favourite book of the show 'My Dads better than your Dad' by Claire Paul. This thing had me grinning from ear to ear by the time I finished it. Great little story and who doesn't like cute mustachioed cacti? (huhu mustachioed...)

Asides from all the great memories, fun times and lessons learnt what I'm going to remember most is something an incredibly drunk man told us in a club in shoreditch. He asked us if we'd won and we told him that we hadn't entered anything to which he replied 'You're here at new blood. You made it. You won!' 
I was four pints in so it probably sounded like inspired drunken poetry but that and the fantastic hipster dance off were what I remembered in the morning and it still makes me smile. 

I have to stop ending my blog posts on gooey feelings. ugh.

also! I ran out of business cards but the replacements seemed to go down well. Ever the professional.

A First and lots of adventures!

It has been a crazy month of excitement, adventure and far too many smelly megabus trips, so heres an update on life. 

I GOT A FIRST!!

So thats kinda exciting you know. 

It's what I've been aiming at but it was still a massive shock and I am so, so fucking proud. Hard work and loving what you do works!

As its the end of uni we've had our DEGREE SHOW (With my posters!) and I'm happy to report that it was a success. Lots of wobbling up step ladders and swearing at double sided tape later and we had a lovely exhibition space full of arrows going off into the wide world.

Pics Steph Stilwell

 Each graduate designed arrows in their personal style to represent the different directions they'd be exploding out into the world in. I decided to hone some skills, experiment with colour and have fun!

A lot of hard work but totally worth it so my family could final visit where I spend all my daylight hours.

 ( P.S. I love you Studio <3 )

The Exhibition website can be found HERE! 

Then we went on lots of travels in Cumbria and Scotland.
I finally got to visit the cool bit of Hadrian's Wall (from robin hood prince of thieves!), stumble across amazing little villages in the lakes, partake in ritual coursework burning before climbing SCAFELL PIKE. 12 hours later I was on a horrendously smelly megabus home to cornwall (via London and the globe theatre) where I spent the weekend before zipping back up to London (New Blood!) and then to oxford and back again. Mad month!

Here is a taste of my CUMBRIAN ADVENTURES: 

Its been a great month all in all. Saying goodbye to my home of three years and greeting the future with arms wide open! (Ahhh gooey feelings :)