Apocalyptica, Shadowmaker tour

Three concerts in a month! For me, November was a great month this year, and I got to finish off the month by going to O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire to see the incredible Finnish cello metal/rock band Apocalyptica! After being lucky enough to win the chance to hear their latest album ‘Shadowmaker’ before its release in the UK earlier this year and actually meet them (all of them except Franky) I knew that I had to see them again. They are such nice guys and their music is fairly unique in that they don’t use guitars, just cellos, drums and vocals.

The support act were Vamps, the Japanese rock band (not to be confused with the pop band, The Vamps). I’d heard of them before and even given their music a listen to before but never thought much of them or understood the hype. Whilst waiting in the queue it was interesting to note how many people were speaking Japanese, and I could tell that many members of the audience were mainly there for the support act.

As the queues were disorganised, I ended up queueing in the wrong queue (seated tickets, not standing) and then had to go to the back when a member of staff told us which was which. Darn!

Vamps JPN were kinda interesting. I mean, I didn’t really understand them and they were kinda crazy, but they were a lot of fun, getting the crowd to sing along, shouting out ‘BLOODSUCKERS!’ and ‘Sex, Blood, Rock ‘n’ Roll!’ I’ve never seen such enthusiasm for a support act before.

Then on came the brilliant Apocalyptica! The band consists of cellists Eicca, Perttu and Paavo, drummer Mikko and singer Franky.

The setlist included many songs from their latest album such as ‘House of Chains,’ ‘Riot Lights,’ ‘Shadowmaker,’ ‘Sea Song’ and ‘Dead Man’s Eyes,’ along with songs from other albums such as ‘I’m Not Jesus’ and ‘I Don’t Care.’ Of course the show wouldn’t have been complete without their famous covers such as Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘One.’

I love the energy which the guys brought to the stage, and it’s great how close they all are. The new singer, Franky Perez, is a great addition to the band and his voice is perfect for songs such as ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’, one of my favourites. Admittedly I prefer the original versions of ‘I’m Not Jesus’ and ‘I Don’t Care’ to his live versions, but probably mainly because I’m so used to different singers being used, such as some of my favourite singers, Slipknot/Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor and Saint Asonia’s Adam Gontier. Because of this, the songs don’t have quite the same effect with Franky’s voice. However, Franky still did a great job and managed to put a lot of emotion into his singing.

Apocalyptica also brought Vamps back on stage to perform their new song ‘SIN IN JUSTICE’ and it was a fun performance which the crowd got very excited about.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable show, with Apocalyptica putting their all into the performance, headbanging, waving their luscious long hair about, and lugging their cellos across the stage. Only Apocalyptica can look impressively metal when playing the cellos.

Epica, The Ultimate Enigma

Epica, the epic symphonic metal band fronted by the incredible Simone Simons, announced that they were to do another tour of the UK after their successful ‘Quantum Enigma’ tour last year. Being one of my favourite bands and also having an exciting-looking folk metal band, Eluveitie, as the support act, I knew that I had to see them again. I must admit that it would have been cool if they had performed in a different venue, as they performed in London’s O2 Forum, the same location as last year, so it felt as though I was rewatching a memory from a year ago. Déjà vu!

The first support act, Swedish metal band Scar Symmetry (photographed above), were surprisingly good. I mean, I had listened to some of their songs prior to the concert and thought nothing much of them, but live they had good stage presence and surprisingly strong vocals. They certainly had the audience engaged.

After a brief discussion with other audience members as to the right pronunciation of Eluveitie (which I got right 🙂 ) they came on stage and wooed us with the variety of instruments they lugged around with them, including various types of whistles, a bagpipe, violin and of course Anna Murphy’s famous hurdy-gurdy!

It was a shame that I didn’t know their songs better, and when they got to one which I knew well (‘The Call of the Mountains’) they announced that they were going to play the Swiss German version, so of course I didn’t know the lyrics. The audience were till encouraged to yodel along on cue, which was a lot of fun.

Eluveitie were absolutely incredible, and the many members of the audience were clearly mainly there for Eluveitie rather than Epica, sporting their merchandise and shouting the lyrics along with the band (particularly the two extremely sweaty guys next to me). Several mosh pits later, Eluveitie’s set was coming to an end, which was a shame as they were freaking awesome. I’ll definitely try to see them again in the future.

Then of course the much anticipated headliners, Epica, made a dramatic entrance onto the stage, making appearances one-by-one.

The performance was phenomenal, and the band showed off their tight guitar work and impressive shredding, getting the audience hyped. The beautiful contrast of the delicate symphonic elements and harsher, more typical metal and guitar solos make Epica an incredibly impressive band. Although I understand that symphonic metal is a genre ever growing in popularity, with many new bands emerging, Epica, to me, still seem to stand out, knowing how to perfectly execute a song and exactly how to balance the growls, cleans, heavy riffs and melodic, symphonic parts.

I found it incredibly moving how Simone Simons announced that we should have a moment of silence for the victims and family of the victims affected by the Paris terrorist attacks, as the concert was only a few days after the dreadful occurrence at the Eagles of Death Metal show in Paris which took the lives of many attendees.

Epica worked their way through many of their most popular songs, including some of their new songs such as ‘Victims Of Contingency’ and ‘The Essence Of Silence’ (some of my personal favourites) as well as some of their older material such as ‘Unleashed’ and ‘Design Your Universe.’ The audience were encouraged to headbang along, so there was a lot of hair flailing in every direction. I found it hilarious how people in the audience were trying to sing along, but of course couldn’t reach the high notes of Simone Simons, so there was a lot of weird whining and screeching going on.

Then Coen brought out his epic curved mobile piano, which gives him the chance to be at the front of the stage rather than just hanging around on the keyboard at the back. It looks like he has a lot of fun playing it.

The simplicity of the staging, comprised of different patches of lighting which created dramatic silhouettes against the dark stage, added to the awesomeness and beauty of the symphonic metal. One of the highlights was ‘Cry For The Moon,’ one of Epica’s most popular songs, as it’s a song which the audience always anticipates, and it was made even more exciting through the inclusion of Eluveitie’s violinist, Shir-Ran Yinon, who accompanied the piece beautifully with her violin.

When the show was at an end, all band members were brought back on stage for a group picture with the audience. And I can actually see myself in it. I mean, I look terrified, but who cares, it’s a good souvenir.

Garbage, 20 Years Queer

So I went to see Garbage! Yeah, that alt-rock band that just celebrated the 20th anniversary of their first, self-titled album!

After first hearing about them a few years ago, I was super-stoked to hear them announce that they were going to do a handful of 20th anniversary shows, one of them being at the London O2 Academy Brixton. Of course, after I bought tickets, they announced several other dates all across the country, so the show which I thought was going to be a special, rare thing wasn’t quite so unique. The ’20 Years Queer’ tour had two dates at the O2 Academy Brixton due to the high demand, and I went on the first one.

It’s quite exciting that the last concert I went to, before this, was at the same venue for another 20th Anniversary show (for Korn). Pretty crazy eh?

To add to the excitement a few months prior to the concert, there were signs up around stations for the special edition release of their first album. I found that quite exciting as I rarely come across adverts for music I like.

Anyways, I asked my friends if they wanted to join me to the show, but with a band name like ‘Garbage’ they claimed that they must ‘sound like trash’ or ‘be rubbish.’ Woa, original, I know 🙂 In the end I persuaded my sister to join me (though she dropped out last minute and I had to sell the ticket off super-cheap to a dodgy guy on the streets. Darn).

The show involved the entirety of their first album complete with all the B-sides released alongside, which was pretty cool I’ll grant you, although I didn’t know all of the songs.

I loved the diversity of the crowd – people of all ages, goths, punks, and many out and proud members of the LGBT community. In the queue it was interesting to note the multitude of people with dyed pink hair wearing pink feather boas – you knew you were definitely at the right place!

The support act was Dutch Uncles, who were pretty good fun, with the lead singer having some weird, crazy dance moves. However, they weren’t very good at engaging with the audience and their songs were often very similar. Nevertheless, they got the audience warmed up and people enjoyed trying to replicate the dancing.

Then Garbage were here! Hell yea!

Shirley Manson has an incredible voice! And it’s always exciting watching live music being performed. After the first few songs, she told the audience that she had to go and put some knickers on because she had somehow forgotten to (with the excitement of having her parents here to see the show) and was becoming conscious of her skirt with the wind machines on stage. ‘Twas a good laugh. After putting on her pants, the show continued.

Another unusual addition to the show was the appearance of Shirley’s niece, who was brought onto the stage and shyly said ‘Hello’ into the microphone. Aww, it was really cute.

The highlights of the show, to me, were probably the performances of ‘Queer‘ and ‘Only Happy When it Rains,‘ as I feel as though these hits are what makes the album stand out and they really resonate with the audience. Every one was singing along and having a good time, and it was a really happy atmosphere (even when the lyrics weren’t quite so jolly). The frequent use of pink lighting and simplicity of the staging added to the old-school feel and really tied in with the album.

Finally the band rounded the show off with an encore, which consisted of more recent songs such as ‘Automatic Systematic Habit’ and ‘When I Grow Up.’ It was ‘When I Grow Up’ that particularly got the audience moving, as all of the mismatched outsiders seemed to relate to the lyrics and really connect with each other.

Garbage have been making videos of their journeys and so below is the one for London. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night, and I’m looking forward to their new album which they plan to release in 2016!

Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens

Fairly recently I went to see the bands ‘Pierce The Veil’ and ‘Sleeping With Sirens’ for part of their world tour. They performed at The Forum in London along with support act ‘Issues.’ I’d never seen Pierce The Veil perform before, although I saw Sleeping With Sirens last year and met the lead singer, Kellin Quinn.

As expected, it was a great night. I queued outside for a fair amount of time and saw people I recognised from college, which was quite cool.

After Issues (who I’m not a massive fan of), Sleeping With Sirens came on stage, starting off with the song ‘Kick Me’ from their most recent album. I must admit that the lighting used was quite amusing, as panels had been put up above the stage, which spelled out some of the lyrics of the chorus in time with the band – ‘Kick me when I’m down’, etc. Ah, good times.

The played 12 songs, including some of their classics such as ‘Do it Now, Remember it Later’ and ‘If you can’t Hang’. In addition to this, they added a Goo Goo Dolls cover of ‘Iris’ to their set, which had the whole audience singing along.

They were consistently good, although there were a few high notes which Kellin couldn’t quite reach and so moved the mic away from his face (which is understandable as the songs are so high). I’ve gotta say that some members of the crowd were a bit annoying as the group behind me kept saying things like ‘I can’t even’ and ‘Kellin, why u do dis?’ which I didn’t realise people actually said off of the internet in real life.

Then we waited for Pierce The Veil. The screen put up while we waited was pretty cool.

Pierce The Veil performed songs such as ‘Caraphernelia,’ ‘Hell Above’ and ‘A Match Into Water,’ putting a lot of energy into their performances and keeping the crowd moving, such as by starting circle pits. It was good fun. They also performed an acoustic version of ‘I’m Low On Gas and You Need a Jacket,’ where there was a really nice atmosphere and the audience all sung along.

As they neared the end of the set, Vic asked a member of the audience to join them on the stage and he sung some of ‘Bulletproof Love’ to her (and she was so happy that she was almost in tears). She got to receive signed drumsticks and a setlist – Maan, she’s lucky.

And of course PTV and SWS finished off by performing ‘King For a Day’, which was freakin’ amazing! I really like the good chemistry that the bands have, as you can clearly see that they enjoy being around each other.

Halestorm, London

A month ago I went to see Halestorm performing at the Roundhouse in London. Halestorm are a rock band, fronted by Lzzy Hale, and they’re great! I found out about their music through the Evanescence fanbase, as many Evfans also like Halestorm, and Amy Lee (lead singer of Evanescence) and Lzzy Hale seem to be close friends, sometimes performing together.

First of all there were two support acts – Wilson and Nothing More. I’d looked them up before briefly and listened to a few of their songs. I wasn’t too keen on Wilson, but Nothing More had a really interesting, unique sound, so I was looking forward to seeing them. Wilson’s performance was pretty decent – they were better than I had expected – and Nothing More were freaking amazing.

Although I felt as though Jonny [lead singer, Nothing More]’s mic could have been turned up more, as you couldn’t always hear what he was saying, the performance was brilliant. Nothing More had so much energy and you could feel the emotions that they were putting into  their songs. It was great recognising some of their songs such as ‘This Is The Time’ and ‘If I Were God’.

Nothing More also performed a really cool bass solo, as they all gathered around the one instrument and worked together to create an interesting sound. They also used a gadget to hold the bass, spin it around and rotate it, and it’s really cool that they help to make and design their own gadgets, such as this, for use on the stage.

Then of course the main act, Halestorm, came out to perform. The setlist was mainly songs from their first two albums, as their latest third album, ‘Into The Wild Life’ hadn’t come out then. Some of the latest singles from it were performed though, such as ‘Apocalyptic’ and ‘Amen’.

I really love Arejay’s drumming as he is always moving and puts so much energy into the performances. He was also jumping and standing up to play.

They performed:
1. Mz. Hyde
2. It’s Not You
3. Freak Like Me
4. Amen
5. You Call Me a Bitch Like It’s a Bad Thing
6. Daughters of Darkness
7. Apocalyptic
8. Rock show
9. I Hate It When You See Me Cry
10. Drum Solo
11. Mayhem
12. I Get Off
13. Love Bites (So Do I)
14. I Miss The Misery
15. I Like It Heavy
16. Here’s To Us

I really enjoyed the performance of ‘I Hate It When You See Me Cry’ as Lzzy performed this just using her guitar and voice, without the other members, and she really showed off her vocals and got into it.

Well, ’twas a freakin’ amazin’ show and I’m so glad to have finally seen Halestorm (and now know about Nothing More)!

Epica and DragonForce, Concert

Last week I went to see the bands Epica and DragonForce perform at The Forum, London, along with the support act Neonfly. It was an absolutely brilliant evening, and exciting to see two bands I really like (Epica and DragonForce) co-headlining together.

I waited outside for only 2.5 hours, despite originally planning to get there 4 hours early, and I’m glad that I didn’t come any earlier as there was hardly any queue.

By the time I got to enter The Forum, I could barely feel my feet – it was so cold outside! Then we waited by the standing area and observed how empty it was. However, this didn’t really matter as it meant that we were very near the front. The crowd gradually built up.

First of all the support act, Neonfly, who I’d never heard of, performed. They were pretty good, although the sound balance was very odd all the way through and you could hardly hear the vocalist, so I didn’t hear a word of their songs. Also, the ‘Neonfly’ sign in the background was difficult to see and the DragonForce sign was more prominent, which was surprising. They played for around 25 minutes and then we waited for DragonForce.

DragonForce were amazing! I mean, no-one could disagree with me when I say that they were impressive. Being a power/speed metal band from London, their songs are all full of complicated, quick solos. Lots of people on the internet seem not to like DragonForce, but I love their sound, with fantasy-based lyrics and a video-game sound to many of their songs. They suit their image and seem to know what they’re doing.

And all aspects of their performance were brilliant – the high energy, Marc Hudson’s spot-on vocals, and the impressively played guitars, keyboard and drums. I haven’t known about DragonForce for very long, and I was annoyed with myself for not knowing all of their older songs. However, all of their songs were thoroughly enjoyable, and they played with great energy for 1 and a half hours. I also got to admire Herman Li’s ring, which looks pretty cool and seemed to light up. I’ve heard that it helps him play and create the ‘video-game effect’.

And then it was Epica’s turn! For an hour and a half, I listened to and watched the brilliant Dutch symphonic metal band.

I love their most recent album, ‘The Quantum Enigma,’ as the songs have a beautiful balance of clean vocals by Simone Simons, growls/ unclean vocals by Mark Jansen, as well as their recognisable ‘symphonic’ sound, and impressive instrumentalists. I hadn’t known about them for long before their album was released, and I listened to it on repeat when it came out, so it was really exciting seeing them perform live.

It’s always a great moment when you join together with other people with similar interests and sing along with people at concerts. The keyboard was also very interesting (shown in the image above), and I’d never seen an instrument that looks quite like that before.

Their setlist was:
1. Originem
2. The Second Stone
3. The Essence of Silence
4. Unleashed
5. Storm the Sorrow
6. Fools of Damnation
7. Victims of Contingency
8. The Obsessive Devotion
9. The Fifth Guardian
10. Chemical Insomnia
11. Sancta Terra
12. The Last Crusade
13. Design Your Universe

Encore:
14. Cry For the Moon
(Drum Solo Outro)
15. Unchain Utopia
16. Consign To Oblivion

Epica’s lighting was also really cool, with different panels on the walls used to create different patterns, as well as the other, more traditional coloured lighting.

So it was a thoroughly entertaining night, and great to be so close to the front. The show overran, which meant that I just missed my train and so got back home rather late, but it was worth it!

‘Tis a bit of a shame that you can’t see me in the group photo they took at the end, as I would have been close enough to be in it but am covered by some of the members. It doesn’t really matter though.

Asking Alexandria Concert, London

Last Thursday I went to see Asking Alexandria performing at The Roundhouse. Asking Alexandria are an English metalcore band, consisting of Danny Worsnop (vocals), Ben Bruce (lead guitar), James Cassells (drums), Cameron Liddell (rhythm guitar) and Sam Bettley (bass guitar).

When I bought tickets, the support acts hadn’t been announced, so I was very happy when I heard that they were to be Secrets, Crown The Empire and The Ghost Inside as I’d heard of them all before (although am only a fan of Crown The Empire).

I’d wanted to watch all support acts, but I’d come straight from college to try to get there as soon as possible and despite being there an hour early the queue was already really long. It took us a while to get let in, so I missed Secrets.

Nevertheless, I arrived just in time to see all of Crown The Empire, the main support act I’d wanted to see. They were really good, and I love Andy Leo’s vocals which sound just as good live as recorded. The amount of energy that they put into their performance was admirable, as they kept the crowd moving, jumping, singing along and moshing. However, I must admit that I’m not as much of a fan of their new album ‘The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways’ than their previous one ‘The Fallout,’ so I wish they could have performed more of their older songs.

Then The Ghost Inside came on and performed a few songs. They were quite impressive and you could feel the songs vibrating through your body, but I personally prefer songs with more clean vocals which aren’t purely shouting. I enjoyed their last song the most, ‘Engine 45’ as I recognised it and it’s also quite catchy.

 Then there was the big wait as Asking Alexandria’s stage was set up. They came on to the dramatic opening of ‘Don’t Pray For Me,’ which built up the anticipation, and the audience cheered and sang along as the vocals began.

The setlist was:
1. Don’t Pray For Me
2. Run Free
3. Breathless
4. Break Down The Walls
5. To The Stage
6. Dedication
7. Someone, Somewhere
8. Moving On
9. A Prophecy
10. The Final Episode (Let’s Change The Channel)
11. Not The American Average
12. Killing You
13. The Death Of Me
14. Poison

There’s been a lot of talk recently as fans have been saying that Danny ‘can’t scream anymore’ after breaking his vocal cords and having to get them fixed. From the performance I saw he can definitely still scream, but he just doesn’t do quite as much of it and has a different style.

I like how Asking Alexandria seem to get a different sound with each album as this means that their albums aren’t exactly the same and their sound develops. Now, Danny has more of a classic rock voice which definitely suits the new songs. It’s also interesting to see him incorporate this new style into their old songs such as the classics ‘The Final Episode’, ‘A Prophecy’ and ‘Not The American Average’.

It was great how energetic the crowd was, although I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t near a big mosh pit, as I’ve never been in one and wanted to give it a go. Despite being between two when Crown The Empire were performing, there were more on the other side when Asking Alexandria were playing.

I was very impressed with the performance AA gave, as Danny was very much in tune, and each member was full of energy. In between songs, Danny and Ben gave random comments and joked with each other, and it was a very enjoyable show. I feel as though they have improved live and their new style may make it easier for them to give consistent performances. I’m very glad I went.

Three Days Grace, London

A few months ago I found out that one of my favourite bands, Three Days Grace, were going to be coming to London to perform at the Electric Ballroom, and I was so excited and bought tickets immediately.

Three days Grace is a Canadian rock band, originally named Groundswell in 1992, and regrouped in 1997 as Three Days Grace. It consists of the members Barry Stock (lead guitar), Brad Walst (bass), Neil Sanderson (drums and backing vocals) and Matt Walst (vocals). Adam Gontier used to be the lead vocalist but left the band in 2013, which is a shame.

The support act were Colt 45, the 3 piece alt rock band from Cumbria, and they were a good start to the show. I’d never heard of them before, but they had nice accents and quite good songs.

After their performance, the audience eagerly anticipated the arrival of Three Days Grace onto the stage, chanting and cheering. ‘Twas exciting.

The setlist was:
1. Just Like You
2. Chalk Outline
3. Painkiller
4. Break
5. The High Road
6. Let You Down
7. Pain
8. Home
9. Drum And Piano Interlude
10. Drum Solo
11. Misery Loves My Company
12. Break Stuff (Limp Bizkit Cover)
13. World So Cold
14. The Good Life
15. I Hate Everything About You
16. Animal I have Become
Encore:
17. Never Too Late
18. Riot

I’m really glad they played some of my favourite songs (which was probably quite likely as many of my favourite songs are 3DG ones). Pain was the first song I ever heard of theirs and I have since loved it, and Misery Loves My Company and The High Road are my favourites from their last album, Transit Of Venus.

Although Three Days Grace no longer have Adam Gontier’s great and recognisable vocals I think that Matt Walst is a good replacement, as he sang very well and his voice also matches their most recent song, Painkiller. However, I must admit that Adam’s voice was better in terms of displaying emotions and meaning for the song as although Matt sings well he doesn’t give quite the same feel to the music, but that’s just my view. 3DG now have a slightly different sound, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I’m just not too used to it yet.

I would’ve loved to have been slightly further forward in the crowd, but couldn’t get there any earlier as it takes me a while to get there from school. Oh well, I really enjoyed it and it was so great actually seeing them and singing along with other fans.

It was a brilliant night and I’m so glad that they came to London, not having performed there in 10 years! The person in front of me caught a drumstick and person behind me caught a t-shirt (note to self: learn to catch) and the audience moved around so much and kept knocking into people by me, as I was at the side of a mosh pit, so there were a load of sweaty people brushing past me. Lovely. 🙂

Sleeping With Sirens Concert, London

Being a fan of Sleeping With Sirens, I was pretty excited when I heard that they were going to perform at a small club in London, The Underworld, Camden. And it was on GCSE results day, so I chose to buy tickets so that I had something to look forward to and do after results, whether my results were good or bad. Luckily my results were good and I was pleased with them so was in a better mood.

It was a bit annoying, though, that results day was on the same day, as I had to go into school at 9 am but if I’d been at The Underworld before 8:30 am I might have been able to be in the music video they were shooting for a new song, ‘Kick Me.’ Oh well.

The support act wasn’t amazing really. I mean, I’m sure he’s good at what he’s doing but he was a DJ (DJ Scout, also a member of the band ‘Issues’). It’s kind of a weird act as the audience is quiet, not being able to jump or sing along much, as they wait for the main act to come on. I’d watched a video of DJ Scout before the event and he played basically the same things, whilst the crowd picked up and started joining in towards the end, when the Bring Me The Horizon song, ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ was played. But the track was mixed up a lot so as soon as the crowd started jumping it quietened down again and so everyone was still again.

After DJ Scout had finished his performance the crowd waited for Sleeping With Sirens to come on stage, and as soon as they did they started with ‘If You Can’t Hang,’ which they performed very well and the crowd jumped around and sang as loud as they could.

I must admit that I’d been a bit worried that Kellin Quinn (lead vocalist) wouldn’t be able to sing very well or get all of the notes as I’d been watching videos of fairly recent shows and he couldn’t always stay in tune properly, but I was really impressed with how the whole show went. Sleeping With Sirens seem to be good live performers.

The playlist was:
1. If You Can’t Hang
2. Congratulations
3. Here We Go
4. Low
5. A Trophy Father’s Trophy Son
6. Tally It Up, Settle The Score
7. With Ears To See and Eyes To Hear
8. Kick Me (live debut)
9. Do It Now, Remember It Later
10. If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn

It was surprising when the show ended after only 45 minutes as Kellin had said that he really meant it when he said it was the last song, though the audience waited for another 10 or so minutes, at the beginning chanting ‘One More Song,’ then seeming disappointed and leaving.

People hung around outside in the hope to meet them and gathered around the stage door, but were sent away by people working there who told them that they were coming out the front (which of course they weren’t) so we waited just around the corner. Then the members came out, but only Kellin came around to sign (which is kinda understandable as he’s the main guy but also weird as the others are hardly recognised).

BUT I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH! I got it on a scrap of paper and also my hand. We weren’t allowed photos as there wasn’t enough time so I took a kinda awkward selfie nearby with him in the background. Aw, he held my hand and signed it 🙂 and my sister also got to hug him. Cute. He was incredibly nice and was talking to people and also stopped to cheer someone up and give encouraging words, which was so lovely.

It was a great night and although the show didn’t last as long as I’d wanted, meeting Kellin Quinn more than made up for this.