A pleasurable evening...

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucy enough to get a ticket to go to the Leicester Square theatre to meet my teenager heart throb John Taylor and listen to him talk about his just published autobiography In the PLeasure Groove.... even now in my 40's I got a fizzy excitement just at the thought... yes I know he's looking a little jaded, but aren't we all!

Having now finished the book, which is a gripping read.... at their height and glamour Duran Duran were one of the most successful popular bands in the world and can still draw crowds in the 10's of thousands. A drink and drug addiction which defies belief of how JT can possibly still be alive.
Fab evening, Great read a must for any Duranie!... here's a  brief clip of JT reading from his book

here's a great interview with JT about his book:

such a tizzy I left my camera at home so had to resort to phone pics which werent too great..

reflex, rio & red arrows....

could only be Duran Durans set at the Olympic Opening Concert..... when I heard that Duran Duran were representing GB at the Olympics concert, there wasn't any chance that I wouldn't be there! as a lifelong Duran Duran fan, this group just get better....

opening with Planet Earth and Simon swaggering onto stage in  fabulous union jack inspired jacket the Heavens retaliated and dumped a huge rain shower onto the 50,000 strong crowd... not deterred Duran Duran swept the crowd along with A View to a Kill and All you need is now... before Simon jumped into the crowd and got the help of an unsuspecting guy to the opening strains of The Reflex, as the rain stopped and with the chorus in full flow Simon pointed to the sky and the crowd roared as they got their glimpse of the red white & blue tails of the Red Arrows as they flew over on route to the Olympic park.

Simon then led the band into Girl Panic complete with screen shots of their infamous video filmed at the Savoy... John then led the crowd into a sway-a-long as Simon strummed his guitar to the classic Save a Prayer..

The rest of the set included Notorious, Ordinary World - dedicated to a peaceful games by the band and Sunrise.
a crowd jumping sing a long finale featuring Wild Boys/Relax

and then the classic Rio

 finished off a fabulous set, showcasing that the Wild Boys can still rock Hyde Park...

A fantastic night showcasing British music to its best....

london live & olympic ceremony..

Friday night whilst the masses headed to Stratford for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, I headed to Hyde Park with 50,000 others for the Opening Ceremony at the London Live venue.
With Duran Duran representing GB, Paolo Nutini (scotland), Stereophonics (wales) and Snow Patrol (northern ireland) it was an eclectic mix of people in the audience.

The venue is huge, I was lucky enough to bag a space by the Bronze zone, behind the Gold & Silver circles so view for the stage was great.

Gig kicked off with Paolo Nutini, followed by Duran Duran (including a special flypast from the Red Arrows (separate post to follow)) Live screens then linked up to the Opening Ceremony which was just spectacular... as the opening credits spun us through London via Eastenders, the London Underground and towards the Olympic Park the atmosphere in Hyde Park was electric, building into an almighty roar as Bradley Wiggins struck the bell to signify the opening ceremonies beginning, supported by the Red arrows overhead,

As the bars of William Blakes Jeruselum began the whole of Hyde Park sang along with gusto, leading into Danny Boy, Flowers of Scotland and a huge cheer for Jonny Wilkinson kicking the winning goal for the World Cup... from the cricket and countryside and the British army raising the Union Jack

the lead into the Industrial revolution was amazing headlined with Kenneth Branagh as Iambard Kingdom Brunel... complete with suffragets, miners and steel workers,

as the gold rings lifted and came together over the stadium in Stratford  I would not have been surprised if they heard the cheers from Hyde Park .... as the story book segment unfolded with JK Rowling reading JM Barries Peter Pan finishing with Mary Poppins overcoming the Dementors,

everyone was saying how fantastically British and Bonkers it was... which meant that we had to have BOND as Britain isn't Britain without .... and there he was striding into Buckingham Palace like he owned it!

If the crows went wild when Bond appeared, nothing prepared for the roar when the Queen turned around and everyone realised it was not a look a like.... sheer genius!

and featuring two of the Queens corgis it was bloody brilliant!

after the Queen parachuted into Stratford... we got a glimpse of Becks which was very Bond tongue in cheek....

as the music segment started the whole of Hyde park was dancing and singing along... which led us into the Stereophonics who were uber cool.....

Here are a couple of my favourites from this Gig... (links to You Tube).

Streophonics ~ Handbags & Gladrags (one of my favourite songs)

Stereophonics ~ Maybe Tomorrow

Paolo Nutini ~ Candy

Snow Patrol ~ Chasing Cars

During the Snow Patrol segment we cut to the Olympic park to watch the lighting of the Cauldron which was just breathtaking.... a true legacy of this games...

I dashed out the park 30 minutes before the end so missed Paul McCartneys singing! to do battle with the tube and hit Stratford just as the fireworks finished lighting the sky...

Let the Games begin.....

Time to celebrate....

Today is the day that we have counted down from over the last 7 years. Yes the 2012 London Olympics is here. Am I excited...yes, Am I proud to be British ...yes!
London & the UK will never look better.... It hard to explain the atmosphere in London this week... Unlike anything I have seen or felt before...Today my day has been full of celebration and surprises, quaint essentially British! featuring Pimms, catching up with my oldest friend & boys on the Selfridges roof. Full English,celebratory breakfast with my team to think them for their hard work over the last few weeks, Torches and then the anticipation of the Opening Ceremony tonight.I will be spending tonight in Hyde Park at the opening concert featuring Paolo Natini (Scotland), Stereophonics (Wales), Snow Patrol (northern Ireland) and representing Great Britain - Duran Duran....

hence the excitement!.....
Here's some snapshots of my day....Alternative & English breakfast!....Holding the Olympic Torch in the big yellow store and Pimms on the roof!

So Here's to the Olympics,and being proud to be British and getting behind all our athletes in both the Olympics and Paralympics. enjoy the Opening Ceremony and any special events, bbqs, gatherings with family and friends that you are going to over the next 6 weeks... Enjoy the sport it will be fantastic!... Once in a lifetime experience.... Pop back over the weekend for my tales from the Park!.... Off now to get ready for the Duran boys!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wild Boys of Pop...

Still hold my heart 30 years on... I am of course referring to the 80's original boy band Duran Duran. As previously blogged I have been a Duranie for a very long time. So with much excitement and trepidation I headed to the O2 last Monday for an evening with the original bad boys of pop.
I deliberated whether to go as due to several things I hadn't had the greatest of weeks and had just come off crutches... But I'm so glad that I did... It seemed that jumping up & down reliving my youth did me the world of good. My seat was fantastic and I became a screening teenager all over again.

Duran Duran have never been a band to stand still, the line up has changed a few times, they have experimented with their sound and direction, but I am pleased to say they are back doing what they do best and their last album is one of their best... Produced by Mark Ronson it is a fabulous piece of work, influenced by their Duran Duran and Rio albums.

Demonstrating that Duran Duran move with the times, a live Twitter feed was rolling across the screen on stage before the gig, urging all to Tweet #duranlive with messages ... Also during the show was a 5 minute twitter break!

Set list of the show was: (all highlighted songs link to a you tube clip)
Before the Rain
Planet Earth
A View to a Kill
Blame the Machines
Come undone
Safe

The Reflex
The man who stole a Leopard
Girl Panic (joined by Mark Ronson on guitar)

Is there something I should know
Tiger Tiger
White lines
Careless memories
Ordinary world
Notorious
Hungry like the wolf
Reach for the Sunrise

Encore1

Wild boys/Relax

Encore2

Rio

Can honestly its one of the best gigs I've been to... Simon was outstanding and he, John, Nick & Roger looked like they were having the time of their life. Set design looked deceptively basic but had a fantastic light & video display to each song. Duran Duran were groundbreaking in the launch of the pop video and some of the set showcased this. The boys have been back in the news recently with their new video for girl panic which is the follow on from girls on film! Filmed at the Savoy hotel it demonstrates Duran Duran at their best... Glamour, girls, champagne ?... what more could you ask for!... Fab night.x

belated blogging!....

title just about sums it up!.... not sure where March is going!.. clocks spring forward at the weekend, which for an insomniac is a nightmare as I loose even more sleep!
Anyway back to my blogging... I have a pile of things in my "to blog" folder but here are a couple of biggies.

A couple of weeks was one of my special friends birthdays.... its always a challenge to find a present for her.... but this year I tried something different. We are off to an evening at a Cookery School in the heart of Essex!...watch this space as its coming soon!!... to complete her little present parcel (couldn't resist the bag as she is a bit of a nightmare with labels & receipts!) and keeping with the cooking theme. Nigellas' kitchen, No reservations chick flick and a friends coffee mug with tea & biscuits!.. so belated birthday wishes Cxx
Watch this space as I have a number of foodie things coming up in the next few weeks......
A couple of people have contacted me to ask what happened with my Journal Your Christmas... so I've finally got round to A) finishing album! & B) uploading pages... It has its own page here!
Just in time as I'm due to start a new project with Shimelle this week... will keep you posted.

This blog post was due to go up last night but was tooooo distracted by Duran Duran's one night only on ITV....

apologies!....