Concert Review: Miss May I and Of Mice & Men in Munich, Germany

Hi hello how are you guys doing? Sorry as usual for not updating regularly, but the past week has been pure chaos and pure awesomeness. I didn't even get around to check out the pictures I took until this afternoon, so you're the first to see them. Anyway!! I went to see Of Mice & Men last week in Munich and let me tell you that was the craziest show I've ever attended. We arrived at the venue super early, so we had a lot of time to kill but it was worth it because I met Phil, Aaron and Tino before the show!

(Alan was running around as well but he was busy and Austin was nowhere to be seen.)

I was really excited to hear my favourite songs live, and to my absolute luck they played them all (O.G. Loko, Let Live, Would You Still Be There and Second & Sebring)! Seeing these guys live was absolutely incredible, what can I say. I've been waiting for this to happen forever, so I was just so happy when it finally happened! Even though the venue was small so there weren't that many people, the atmosphere was unbelievable. People just went completely nuts - I've never sweated this much during a show, I've never felt more alive. 

Miss May I supported the show, and if you haven't heard of them, I highly recommend you go and check them out, they were fantastic! The energy they brought with them was perfect to prepare the audience for what was about to come!

I was so nervous when it was finally time for Of Mice & Men to play, you can probably imagine. And suddenly they were just there and played the songs I've been living with for so long and up to this point none of their existence had felt real, you know what I mean? It took me a moment to process that it was really them so close to me, it was unbelievable.

Austin's presence was just crazy. One moment he looked so angry and aggressive, the next moment he looked at the audience and the biggest smile spread on his face. I honestly live for the moments when band members just show how happy they are to be able to do what they love so much. 

As usual, the show was over way too soon. I could have stayed in that tiny club for the rest of the night and have them play every single song they ever wrote, oh well. However, Tino, Phil and Aaron came outside after the show again to take pictures and just talk, it was fantastic. We spent almost an hour just chatting to Phil and Tino, and they were so excited when I showed them my tattoo! Tino even thanked me for getting it done I was like wait what I'm the one who has to thank you but he just laughed and went "this looks amazing". Aaron asked me if it hurt to get it done and when I said that it was alright actually, he told me that his tattoo hurt terribly, and his explanation was that "maybe I'm just a big baby". 

So yeah, this was definitely one of the best concerts I've attended so far; I took home a few bruises, a few new friends and the memory of super nice band members. If you ever get the chance to meet them, give them some love because they're the most positive, genuine people I've came across in a while! 

New Song: Double Lined Minority - White Flag

Hey everyone! You might wonder why I'm blogging the third time this week (quite unusual I know), but one of the bands I've been working with before released their new song today! If you don't remember Double Lined Minority (shame on you!) you can catch up here. 

Their new song, White Flag, unites everything a good pop punk song needs: a catchy tune, a handful of fantastic guitar solos and lyrics which will go straight to your brain. The first time I listened to it, I accidentally started dancing around my room. During the second time, I could hum along, and after the third time I already knew parts of the lyrics by heart (at least the chorus).
After getting to hear this song, I'm pretty excited for the rest of the album! 


Listen to White Flag here, and if (when) you like what you hear, go ahead and give these guys a thumbs up! 

Songs that are very important: A Playlist

I feel like I've neglected this blog quite a lot lately, so I thought it's time for another playlist! This one is full of songs which are super duper important to me, I hope you enjoy it!

• All Time Low - Jasey Rae
• All Time Low - Time Bomb
• All Time Low - Backseat Serenade
• Bring Me The Horizon - Sleepwalking
• letlive. - Empty Elvis
• letlive. - Younger
• Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring
• Of Mice & Men - The Great Hendowski
• Of Mice & Men - You're Not Alone
• Pierce The Veil - Hold On Till May
• Tonight Alive - Come Home
• We Are The In Crowd - Attention
• 30 Seconds To Mars - Alibi

This isn't the fanciest playlist you'll ever come across, but it'll do to share some special songs. Which songs are important for you? Share them with me in the comments!

Album Of The Week: This Wild Life - Clouded

Don't judge a book by its cover. I never used this proverb in a serious context, but when you talk about This Wild Life, it's pretty accurate. Kevin and Anthony look like the perfect example for hardcore guys with hardcore tunes, but as soon as you press play and actually expect some heavy sounds, you'll be quite surprised.
This Wild Life only need guitars and Kevin's voice to convince you, and they only needed one song from Clouded to convince me: Concrete went straight to my mind and has been staying there ever since. No More Bad Days slowly has been developing into my life motto lately because Kevin is right when he sings "no more bad days for you my dear". Maybe it'll work, maybe not (I shall give this experiment a try and will report the results!). Apart from uplifting lyrics, Kevin's vocals feel like you're being wrapped in a warm blanket after a stupid day, especially in History, Roots And Branches or Better With You. 
This Wild Life give you the perfect soundtrack for rainy days, for stressful days, for days when you have to take a step back from all the metalcore you've been listening to for weeks (I certainly enjoy some calmer tunes from time to time).
Looking Back is one of my favourite songs on the record, simply because of its lyrics. It reminds me a lot of my own story when it's about taking two steps forward and three steps back, or when it's about this thing called life getting harder every year. It's not a negative song at all though because "it's gotta get easier from here, I had to learn to life without looking back" and I personally think that's one of the most important aspects of life. No matter what happened, don't look back. I also share the last part of the song where it says: "One thing I've learned is that good things will not fall in my lap. I had to work harder and longer, be smarter and stronger than the person right beside me. Have the confidence and common sense to know there's still something inside me. I gave my very best, with the purest intent and I'll be proud when I look back."

This Wild Life are such an important band, and I really hope they'll be more and more successful during the next few years. I appreciate these songs so much because they're so passionate and pure and honest.

Album Of The Week: One Direction - Midnight Memories

Once upon a time, there appeared a text post on my dash on tumblr (yes, I spend a lot of time there), which went along these lines: "I'm so punk rock I listen to whatever I like." I'm probably not the best example for some "punk rock" girl, but I do listen to whatever I like, which includes One Direction. It's not that I have their whole discography on my iPod, but I regularly have this phase where I open spotify, make my way to their current album Midnight Memories and listen to it. Most of the time this happens at 2am or later. I just realised that I've never listened to the whole album before, so it's about time to do that!

Best Song Ever

This is my main 2am jam, so yes I can sing along, and at that point of time I'd probably even say that this song is pretty good (still not the best song ever, come on). It's so catchy, how can you possibly resist it??

Story of My Life

I can literally feel how I turn 13 all over again, and I'm pretty sure that I'd be all over these guys if I actually was 13 right now (you know, the yes-it's-a-good-idea-to-plaster-your-room-with-their-faces phase). And now that we're doing this whole confession thing, I think they're cute (Louis wins though) and I really like this song no matter what time it is. You can despise them as much as you want, but you can't deny that they're talented singers. If my dad likes this song, your argument is invalid anyway. 

Diana

Oh, it's time to dance again!! Jesus, whoever is responsible for these songs really knows how to create some catchy tunes. Let's move on, shall we.

Midnight Memories

This one reminds me of another song, but I can't think of which one. I linked you to a live version on purpose because for me this looks and sounds a bit like they're trying to take some steps away from the boyband-image and put quite some effort in making their voices sound all raspy and rockstarish! I certainly like it!

You & I

Ah, things are becoming calmer again, that's good. I'm actually waiting for the day that I can recognise them by their voices because then I'll be in too deep and then it won't be long until I consider to actually go and see them in concert. The only thing that's keeping me from doing that is the fanbase. No offense, I'm sure that some of them are all adorable and nice, but I've seen enough trouble they caused to have my opinion and I don't feel like starting a fight with a bunch of hysterical kids. 

Don't Forget Where You Belong

If that's not an important message then I don't know what else you need. Are they singing about themselves? Ah yes, that's a nice song. 

Strong

This sounds faster again, good. There are eleven songs left on this album, holy smokes. Somebody understands the concept of making fans happy, eh? This song is all right, but that's all I have to say so let's move on.

Happily

Is it rude that the lyrics make me chuckle? I hope it's not, I don't mean to be mean (bless the English language). But yes, this sounds really happy, I shall bookmark it for future (sad) reference.

Right Now

I think I figured out which voice belongs to Harry Styles, that's at least a start! And you know what? I prefer the catchy, happy songs a lot over these dramatic ones. 

Little Black Dress

The beginning sounds like it belongs to some rock song, how brilliant is that. I bet that nobody who isn't a fan of One Direction could guess that this isn't part of their discography. This is good, I like it!

Through The Dark

Lovely start actually. I can't stress enough how they deserve a lot more credit than they get from some people. Here's your daily reminder that it's not cool to degrade certain artists because you think they're ridiculous and shouldn't be seen as artists (Justin Bieber is a different kind of story because he obviously pisses off people without even singing)! So stop making feel people like shit because they like a certain type of music!

Something Great

Let's see if this one is something great. The beginning is a bit boring, I'm waiting for the great chorus! Wait, that was it? Nah, sorry but this could be a lot better. 

Little White Lies

Does this belong to the little black dress? At least I'm not tempted to fall asleep while listening to this one, and I think I might know which voice belongs to Niall. I'm making more progress than expected. 

Better Than Words

Yeah, "dancing on the ceiling" is better than words, I agree. Cheesy love song here we go, my inner teenager likes it, the 21-year-old who's typing this right now can't hit skip fast enough.

Why Don't We Go There

Oh yes, I like this one. If I'll actually get this album, I already see it coming that I'll dance down the street while listening to this, oh dear. 

Does He Know

The end is near! No, it wasn't that bad, no sarcasm involved. 18 songs are just a long way to go. This one is all right, nothing striking about it to be honest.

Alive

The lyrics in the chorus are quite nice, the rest isn't too impressive, but then again I'm not sure if this song is intended for impressing anybody!?

Half A Heart

We made it! And now that you went on this crazy journey with me, you might as well admit that One Direction aren't half as bad as you thought they were. I couldn't listen to their stuff 24/7, but at certain times and during certain emotions, some of these songs are really good! 

Album Of The Week: Hands Like Houses - Unimagine

Hello and happy Sunday my fellow music lovers! I recently started reading the Divergent series (I'll probably review it in a video soon), which makes me forget everything. When I mean everything, food is included, so I almost forgot to upload a review today. Last night I got the new Punk Goes 90's, on which I found a band called Hands Like Houses. They covered Torn, originally by Natalia Imbruglia, and it was the only song on this album I actually liked, so I proceeded to have a closer listen to them. Due to this, I discovered Unimagine, the band's current album, which I'll talk about in this post.

I haven't listened to Hands Like Houses before, so I only had a slight idea of what to expect. I was honestly prepared for some breakdowns and screaming, but nothing like that happened. In fact, I got some new, refreshing rock songs.

I really like the dramatic touch with which Developments kicks off the record. It actually inspires me a lot for the stories I write, and I'm very thankful for that.
The first line of the second song Introduced Species is something I thought to myself a million times during the last few years. I never had a place where I had the feeling that I belonged, that I could be the way I was, until I stumbled into this part of the music scene. I haven't met a single person who shares my taste in music and judges me for my looks or my "depression" or whatever people judge me for, I stopped caring a while ago, thanks to this music. 

What I really like about Hands Like Houses is the energy they convey, and how this energy makes me feel like there's nothing I couldn't do, for example in Shapeshifters, when he sings "We will be unbreakable!"
With Oceandust, the band shows that they can be quiet and sensitive as well. The drums and any electric instruments leave and are replaced by a piano and acoustic guitars during the biggest part of the song, but Oceandust still possesses a tiny rock part when an e-guitar appears for a couple of seconds. 

The last four songs on Unimagine form a great ending of a brilliant record. The very last song, A Fire On A Hill, closes the record and if you weren't fully convinced of this band and their work until this point, you will like them after the last tune faded. 

Album Of The Week: The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell

Hello my fellow music lovers! In case you were wondering, I decided to make Sunday the day for weekly album reviews, yaay! *clapping in the background*

I was looking through my music folder to find something I haven't already discussed, and I found this:

If you still have this image of Taylor Momsen as Gossip Girl's Jenny Humphrey in your mind, welcome to the club. However, you and I urgently have to update this image because Taylor drifted away from the role of cute Jenny, and now spices up the music world with her band The Pretty Reckless. Going To Hell is the band's second album and was released on March 12th. 

Follow Me Down, the first song on the album, already gives a taste for the band's talent as a whole. Of course there's Taylor with her powerful voice, but she's supported by fantastic musicians who know exactly what to do to make her voice stand out.
Up next is the song that names the record: Going To Hell, which sounds like a prayer at first but ends up being about certain sins and being married to the devil. 

As loud and fierce Taylor can sound, as quiet and soft she can be. House On A Hill works without screeching guitars, it's emotional and still as powerful as the louder songs. This record is like a rollercoaster; after going down with some calm tunes, Sweet Things picks up the pace again, goes all the way up and picks up where  Heaven Knows left off: the topic of the devil appears again, but just when you think you're settling into Taylor screaming, there's a short interlude called Dear Sister and the rollercoaster goes down again. It almost sounds like a lullaby, and it's already over just when you start enjoying the calmness of it. 

With Absolution comes back the fierceness, it's going up again for around 4 minutes before Blame Me is taking you downwards again. This time the stay down there is a little bit longer because after Blame Me, there's the next interlude: Burn. 

The next two songs take you all the way up again, and to finish your ride to hell, Waiting for a Friend takes you down again, so you can get out and either leave, or get in again for another round. 

Since we need more women in this scene anyway, I'm really glad that Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless are part of it and show that women can be loud and wild just as much as men can be. If you won't check this album out, you'll definitely miss out.