Biffy Clyro - "Folding Stars" Live at Wembley.

I stumbled across Biffy Clyro completely by accident. I was on iTunes and I saw "Only Revolutions" in the chart and really liked the artwork and so bought it two Christmases ago. I listened to it and loved it straight away. Around March 2011, I was in Morrisons in West Brom and I can across the live album of the Wembley Gig in December (at this point I'd only listened to "Only Revolutions") and begged my parents to get it and they bought it for me. I came across "Folding Stars" on that album and it is the most amazing song I'd ever heard by them and I thought I'd share it here because I just posted it on Tumblr. I love it so much and I also think the story behind it is so gorgeous that I should share it! There is more on the song in this post: http://goo.gl/tkxqG

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Who Needs Glastonbury When You Have Hard Rock Calling?

I turned 16 in May and as my birthday present my parents bought two tickets to Saturday at Hard Rock Calling at Queen Elizabeth Park (The Olympic Village). This was my first big festival and included bands such as Kodaline, Tribes and Kasabian. I'm very tired because we didn't get back until about 3:30 this morning but I loved every minute!

• 14th May - My 16th birthday, I knew that my Mum had bought me tickets to something and she didn't disappoint me. As soon as I saw Kasabian I was instantly excited. There were two tickets so I just had to find someone to take.
• The rest of May - I lost track of time a bit because of exams but eventually asked my friend Jack to come with me because I know he would appreciate the music there. He is an Air Cadet and so got a lot of hassle for not going to Armed Forces Day which was also yesterday (June 29th) so initially had to turn me down. I was starting to panic because all my other friends had things to do elsewhere and couldn't change the plan because of the short notice. He eventually said that Cadets could get stuffed and asked if he could cme again. My Mum did have to buy a ticket too because Jack isn't 16 until August and we didn't want to risk not getting in but game on!
• 29th June - Early start - Jack's parents drove us all to the bus station in Leicester and we got on the coach no problem, just sit back and enjoy the ride we thought... 
• 29th June - The Journey - We stopped at Tottington Services and a jobsworth decided to inspect the bus where he discovered our drivers were a few hours over the driving limit and so could not drive us any further. WE WERE THERE FOR THREE HOURS waiting for two new coaches to complete the journey and just our luck it was the day the weather had to perk up so you where either sitting in a very bright, fag smoke filled car park or a sauna of a bus (and I didn't have sunglasses). A bus eventually came and it was great because the bus was very old and when we got on they were playing ABBA on the radio which cheered most people up! 
• 29th June - Kodaline - We got there and it was fine, we fond our spot just as Kodaline were coming on and sunbathed for a while. Kodaline were very good, I'm only just getting into them but I was very excited about seeing them, they were good with the crowd being lazy and not responding much because it was the start of the festival and very hot and seemed to enjoy themselves a lot! 
• 29th June - Twin Atlantic - Next came Twin Atlantic. Twin Atlantic are a band I don't like anyway but I went away from the day hating them. I have always felt they are Biffy Clyro wannabes who just make noise not actual music but they are also a bunch of arseholes. The lead singer was getting to wound p at the crowd because they weren't clapping that much: 1. It is 3ish in the afternoon, 2. It's boiling, 3. You're just a warm up, not the headliner, 4. These people were probably just as shattered as I was, they have all just travelled here from all over, sorry that an hour in all they want to do is sleep! 
• 29th June - Tribes - We gave up on them halfway through the set and went of to the Pepsi Max Stage to wait for Tribes. Tribes were awesome! Johnny Lloyd doesn't take himself too seriously which I thought was really nice to see. They band have just released their second studio album "Wish To Scream" and have been non-stop since. Tribes are a band who I'd recommend to see live and will definitely be buying some tickets to see them as soon as possible.
• 29th June - Paul Weller - My Dad is a massive Weller fan and was gutted that he couldn't come and see him. He would probably be gutted if he knew that during Paul's set we decided to get dinner instead of watching that much. I'll be honest, I haven't listened to as much of the Jam as my Dad would like and I haven't listened to any of Weller's solo stuff either so we were sat there like lemons but I did enjoy the music. Like Johnny Marr, Paul Weller hasn't lost anything as he has aged. We did have a dance to "That's Entertainment" though.
• 29th June - KASABIAN - Ok then, this is the bit my parents bought the tickets for because in my house Kasabian are Gods. I saw them at Brixton last year and they were great but it was really good to see them at a festival because the amount of people was INSANE! The whole thing was like one big party, nobody cared about who anyone was - everyone was just a Kasabian fan and everybody loved everyone for that. There were a few people who were past it when it came to the drinking at that point but nobody minded that much. There was a couple who decided to run through the crowd and tripped over our bags sending them flying, the girl got a bit winded but they were fine I think... 

I'm not going to go into the journey back because I was very tired and was asleep for most of it. This is very late but I just didn't get round to finishing it off until now. I'm away on holiday on Wednesday so I may write some stuff but not a lot! Enjoy the opening of Kasabian's set below and follow me on Twitter!

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I'm an iPhone user who hates iPhones... lock me up!!

... Awkwardly, I'm writing this on an iPhone!

There are a lot of reasons why I got an iPhone: it's top of the market, loads of apps, most of my friends have one. But after a year and a half, I'm coming to the end of my contract and so am starting think what phone shall I get next? Do I want an iPhone again? The answer is NO.

In fact, I'm jumping ship completely and considering Windows Phone as my next operating system. My friends gave me a bit of stick when I said this because "iPhones are always better!" but is that true or is that what Apple would have us believe? I know that when iPhone first came out it blew the whole world away and they have come up with some good ideas over the years (like Siri) but since the first model they haven't really innovated their product only repackaged it to make it look new. 

I have a 3GS and other 3GS users are upset because iOS7 won't be compatible with their device but why? Your phone will do exactly the same as the new iPhone (bar a few tiny improvements) but your phone will look a bit different. Big woop, they are changing how the icons look and big woop the wallpaper moves with you... the phone is essentially the same only repackaged. 

This is why I think Apple are one of the cleverest companies ever. They can manipulate their customers into buying something that is the same only prettier for double the price, it's genius.

The little activist in me also tells me not to buy an iPhone because their ethics are disgusting. The factories are appalling and I would say it is a small step up from slave labour. You may say they all do it but they would never get away with it if it was common knowledge. 

Copying is something that is always in the news when it comes to Apple. "Ooh Samsung copied us!" - yes they did but your slate isn't clean either. I won't ramble on about that but here is an article I found on what iOS7 has taken from Android alone!

The big killer is that I feel that iPhone lacks personality. What really says that my iPhone is exclusively my iPhone? Their cold, characterless machines that do the job just as well as the cute robot or the very pretty Windows Phone. I am not saying that Apple are crap or that everyone should stop using them I'm just saying that I'm bored of the same thing being carted out year after year for them and that we should be able to embrace the fact that Android, Blackberry, Windows... whatever do exactly the same job essentially. For God's sake, they're phones and they let you call people, isn't that enough.

... rant over!

*(14/5/14) Update, I got a Nexus 5* 

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Agit8: Bring protest songs back into the public eye.

I was watching BBC Breakfast this morning and I was looking at my computer at the same time as you do when you're not doing anything but something caught my attention. It was a man talking about Agit8 which is a campaign being run by ONE trying to get world leaders at the G8 Summit to tackle world issues such as war, poverty and AIDs more efficiently. The way they are doing this is by getting some of our most loved artists and encouraging them to perform their favourite protest songs. Naturally, I spent the rest of my day watching videos and learning about the campaign instead of revising but it's for a good cause and I'm now 100% behind it.

They really are trying to do good stuff so check out their website and check out the videos below to educate yourself if you haven't already. 

                           

Just a note: this is not the same as the Anti-Capitalism protesters - this is completely different even though I'm not pro Capitalism myself!

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What I'm listening to at the moment.

I'm writing a post about Hard Rock Calling at the minute and it should be up soon but until then here is my music for the evening!

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