Back in September, when everyone was first getting acquainted, I made a core group of friends who were from Wales, England, and Ireland. Sometimes, the friends made in the first week slowly fade away into the oblivion of uni and make much cooler mates than girls from Ohio, no doubt. But, this core group stuck around for reasons unbeknownst to me and I am forever thankful for their companionship. During the orientation week, I was asked by the group if I would be interested in going to a concert. Well, I honestly had never been to a legitimate concert, save for the Ashland County performers. . . So, of course, my answer was a big, "Yes!" Plus, a concert in England with nine beautiful British mates sounded great to me. After I eagerly agreed to go, the next question was, "Wait, who are we going to see?" A bit backwards, right?
Well, we were on our way to see The Wombats. Now, two months later, I have finally seen and heard this Liverpoolian band. Three energetic guys, roller-skating dancers, and a huge inflatable wombat adorned the stage for a concert held at the Echo Arena in Liverpool--the same arena where the European MTV Music Awards was held this year. I definitely rocked my socks off and danced to songs I had only heard once or twice before thanks to Youtube. The "support" for The Wombats, or the opening band rather, was a modern-day B-52s pop group from Denmark called Alphabeat! (I include the exclamation because that is such a fun name to say when shouting emphatically; therefore, if you should happen to repeat their band name, please say so with a punch in your dynamics. Thank you.)
In one word, my experience at the concert: deliciousness.
But the night didn't end there. Nosiree. My friends and I went for a 'proper night out' in Liverpool which included a club with five different rooms to cater to different listening tastes. On the ground floor, there was a stage that the club used to lure people to dance upon so that they could embarrass themselves by projecting their awkward dance skills onto a big screen. But, it's only awkward for the folks that got on stage and waved to the camera instead of doing their duty and dance! When my favorite song of this trip played--"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen--I rushed to the stage and busted a move. The cameraman must have appreciated a change of pace from the waving patrons because he panned over to me and taped me for the whole song. I definitely felt like a Molly Shannon "Superstar"!!! My friend Matty came and danced with me to, I'm sure, save what dignity I may have had remaining; however, my friends know I have no shame, so it was alright either way.
Other than a slamming night out on Saturday at the concert and club, the overly posh weekend in Liverpool consisted of the following--get ready, it's a doozy:
- Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
- Shopping
- Dinner out
- Yellow Duckmarine tour--similar, yet quirkier, than the yellow submarine
- New haircut!
- Clubbing, yet again
- "Quantum of Solace"--the new Bond film
Overall, this past weekend was extremely fun and again, I got to do things that upon leaving the states, I never thought I'd be doing. A big thanks goes out to my friends for arranging all of these activities and introducing me to new experiences. I'm truly grateful to have made close friends abroad and they are reason enough to come back to England again and again.
Peace.
