The Road To Wembley: A Trip To London: Frank Turner Concert Review (Part 4)

So, after a week of writing about my trip to London, we finally get to the reason why I went to London in the first place: Frank Turner's gig at Wembley Arena.

April 13th


Since I didn't have anything else to do I decided to go queue early in the morning, and by early I mean 10 a.m. and surprisingly there was already some people around, not many, mind you, but some. Since there was nothing there to do I took some pictures.

After some time queueing the organization staff came out to put some order and also to tell us that we would be given wristbands before getting in so we wouldn't have to get our tickets checked afterwards. Also one hour before getting in Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo came to sing a song to everyone queueing, I think I just can't say how nice it was, these girls are really cute and sweet.

The photo quality is awful I know, my camera kept doing silly things.

So after queueing for 8 hours I finally got inside of Wembley Arena and I could make it to second row!

First onstage was Beans On Toast, I've to say that I checked some of his songs before the concert but I wasn't prepared for what happened. This guy is hilarious, he would stop a song to say something or sing a song inside of another song I think I've never laughed so much in a concert! Also he made a song just to say "Hello Wembley", so you all who just happened to stumble in this blog, go check his music! When he finished he decided to do some old crowdsurfing and I believe he did get to the end of the arena!

The second supporting act was Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, I've to confess that although it was not my kind of music I ended up enjoying it (and for the looks of one of the security staff he was enjoying it too!) even if I couldn't understand half of what the lyrics where about (well it was listening practice for CPE). And since crowdsurfing wasn't a challenge enough for the security guys Scroobius Pip got out of stage to sing closer to the crowd. 

The third supporting act was Billy Bragg, whom I didn't know before the concert (hey! I live in Spain, this kind of music usually doesn't get here). He was great, it's nice discovering music live and liking it. The bad side of this is that I couldn't understand some of the politic references since I'm not familiar with the British political system. 

Again, awful photo quality.

And finally the reason why I went to London: Mr. Frank Turner! I cannot say with words how good it was. His songs, everyone singing along... It was really, really good. It seems blurry now and for most of the concert I was crushed by the people around me, but still it was worth it. He sang old songs, he sang new songs. I loved that he played Substitute, Father's Day, If Ever I Stray and Photosynthesis (of course he had to play it) and for sure I'd have liked some more (One Foot Before The Other, Worse Things Happen At Sea,...) but I'm really happy I went. I loved that he asked his mum to get on stage to play the harmonica (she was so cute! And shy too!) and that he played a new song. He also did one of the craziest things I've ever seen on a gig, which is getting a tattoo backstage between the set and the encores, but that's him. 

The Road To Wembley: A Trip To London (Part 3)

The other day I left my "chronicle" unfinished because I was busy and I felt there were already too many pictures. So here we go.

April 12th

After visiting the National Gallery I headed to Parliament Square, stopping at the Horseguards. 

I did basic London sightseeing and I wanted to enter in Westminster Abbey (again), but I just didn't remember it was SO expensive and decided that I could do other things so I crossed the river and walked along the South-Bank. 

I considered going to the Tate Modern, but the weather wasn't looking really good and I wasn't carrying an umbrella, so I made it short and headed to Covent Garden where they had these awesome outdoor foodstands that reminded me of the ones there are in Helsinki. Since the weather was getting worse I decided that it was time to go back to the hostel. 

But since I wanted to see a couple of things before I ended up being caught by the rain in the middle of Hyde Park, but fortunately I didn't end up soaked, just a bit wet so I went to the hostel, changed my clothes and rested 'til the afternoon when I went out for dinner with a friend. 

The Road To Wembley: A Trip To London (Part 2)

I promised I'd continue explaining my trip yesterday, but I was busy and couldn't do it, so I'm doing it today, so here is the continuation to what I started on Tuesday.

April 12th


On Thursday I decided to visit London and since I was so close to Hyde Park I though a little walk wouldn't do me wrong. But a little walk ended up being around 10 miles.

I started in Hyde Park.

And then I went through Wellington Arch towards Buckingham Palace.

And finally got to the Buckingham Palace.

I wanted to go to Trafalgar Square but instead of taking The Mall I went through St James' Park, which I found delicious, next time I go to London I'll definitely spend more time there, I liked how casually the plants were and the lots of "wildlife" there was around, it is a really good spot to see different birds. And as usual I found some squirrels I could talk to. 

And then to Trafalgar Square, where there is a countdown for the Olympic Games, and I got into the National Gallery. I'd never been in the National Gallery before and I was impressed by the art, needless to say about Van Gogh's paintings. Next time I go to London I'll try to make another visit, but this time with some more time to spare.

I think I'm going to leave it here because there are already too many pictures in here. Next up the other part of April 12th!

The Road To Wembley: A Trip To London (Part 1)

As you might know, this last week I went to London on vacation and I think I promised somewhere that I would explain what I did, which I have to do anyways because I know I promised to review every concert I'd go to this year and I went to London for a concert. So here it is, I guess this will have three parts because otherwise it will be way too long.

April 11th

I flew to London last Wednesday and since no one could drive me to the airport I had to go there by myself, which was kinda an adventure on its own. I got to the airport and I took the flight, which was boring as usual and uneventful, except that I got to see the English Channel with France in one side and UK on the other one. I landed in Luton Airport in a nice and sunny English weather.

I took a bus to Victoria Station and then to the hostel. From there I went to the National History Museum because I had a ticket for the "Animal Inside Out" exhibition.

There was a really LONG queue outside, but since I had a ticket for the exhibition I didn't have to queue. I have to say that the museum was crowded with kids, specially the dinosaur permanent exhibition. I enjoyed it, the building is amazing and the exhibitions are almost endless. After wandering around the museum I went to the "Animal Inside Out" exhibition which is like "Bodies" but with animals, it was not as shocking as "Bodies" but it was really instructive.

I grew tired of walking around and decided to go back to the hostel, but since it was still early I decided to go to Hyde Park just because it was so close to the hostel.

I met a squirrel and we had some nice conversation, basically I did the talking.

And that was the end of day one. I think I'm going to leave it here and continue tomorrow.