The Big Reunion, The Hammersmith Apollo, London, Tuesday, February 22

I am a 90s child, but didn't get the opportunity to see many of the bands that I loved such as Take That, the Spice Girls, Steps, Blue and the fantastic Five. However, in the past few years I have seen all the bands that I missed the first time around.

This leads to me the gig I went to last night. Anyone who watches ITV2 on a Thursday at 9pm will know that there is a certain programme called The Big Reunion.

It features bands that were huge in the 90s and early 00s charting their success, revealing how awful it was back in the day, why they split and also how they feel about each other. But also they are preparing for a big gig at Hammersmith.

The show has been on for a few weeks and hasn't finished yet, however, last night I went to the gig and it was absolutely brilliant!!

Featured in the show are 911, B*Witched, Atomic Kitten (with Kerry Katona not Jenny Frost), Liberty X, The Honeyz, and Five. They all performed last night with the added extra of Blue, still not entirely sure why.

The way they performed was excellent they all came out and did one or two songs and then the next act came out so it wasn't one long set for 20 minutes from each band, which I think worked really well.

Now I will start with the band that I loved and was most looking forward to seeing, they were also the first act out... 5ive, well Four minus J. They came out to We Will Rock You and the room went crazy.

It was fantastic, the atmosphere and you genuinely felt as if the boys were loving every second of being back on the stage to screaming girls, well women.

They did Everybody Get Up, If Ya Getting Down and Keep On Movin' pulling out the old dance moves. They were phenomenal and although I wish I had seen them back in the day I'm glad I saw them last night. I just hope now they do their own Five tour.

Atomic Kitten were the ones I was most interested in seeing as everyone seems to know about Kerry's troubles but they were really good as well, they did See Ya, Tide is High and Whole Again, which ended the show.

The only song Kerry looked a little awkward on, I think, was Tide is High but then that is the only one out of the ones they performed she didn't do the first time around. Everyone screamed when Kerry sang almost giving her the ego boost she needed.

B*Witched looked and sounded amazing, you could see they were loving the opportunity to perform again and Keavy and Edele Lynch had their very famous brother Shane from Boyzone in the crowd. Giving them his seal of approval.

Back in the day I liked 911 but wasn't huge fan but after seeing the show I have developed a little crush on Lee. Bodyshakin' really got the crowd going and Spike's body shake certainly didn't tame the crowd.

The Honeyz sounded amazing but I think their songs were a little too slow to keep the crowd up.

I was looking forward to seeing Liberty X again as I saw them when they first came out, but they seemed the least into it. No little looks to each other just performing. Kevin's voice though was brilliant, better than I remembered it being.

Now for the act last to the list... Blue. You can tell they have carried on performing as they were so polished, they knew their routines and sung perfectly. They did seem a little taken aback at the response but then Blue were huge. They sung All Rise, One Love and Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word.

The audience were fantastic and so was the venue. Small enough that you could see the bands clearly. We were sat just behind the family and friends section who had the whole front blocks of the dress circle. It was a little funny though as you could tell who was for which band, as when that band came on the whole section stood up and then sat back down again when they went off.

It was full of celebs though Keith Lemon, Matt Edmondson and the guy who used to the own The Hotel in the channel four show probably loads more that I didn't spot.

I am so glad I went and loved every second. I am still in love Five and my 90s crush on Scott is still burning bright.

All the acts performed really well and it felt like being back in the 90s either at a Smash Hits gig or Power in Portsmouth.

I'm in two minds about the tour as last night was fantastic and not sure if the tour will live up to it, will just have to wait and see.

I am so glad I am a 90s child and so glad I got to see the amazing bands last night.

Oh I forgot to say Andi Peters, from the broom cupboard. presented. Really going back to the old days and he was great.

Just got to see now if I made it onto the show. It will be broadcast on March 28.

 

Five

 

 

B*Witched

 

 

911

 

 

 

All the bands on stage

 

Mary Berry's banana and chocolate chip loaf

More baking today and I decided to make a banana loaf and found a recipe online for a banana and chocolate chip loaf by Mary Berry for Comic Relief does Great British Bake Off.

It was fairly quick to mix together and fairly easy to do.

The only problem was baking really. The oven is just hot constantly so it cooked the outside but not really the inside. So the boyfriend said to put it back in the tin the other way round so the bottom was on the top and it would cook through without burning, which worked a treat.

When cooled the Mary Berry recipe says to melt chocolate and pipe it over the top of the cake. Instead though my boyfriend put golden syrup over the top which looked delicious.

We had a taste and at first it didn't taste much of banana but it later kicked in. My first try of a loaf and I think I would do it again.

The recipe from BBC Food - 

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana (peeled weight 100g/4oz)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 50g/2oz soft butter or baking spread
• 75g/3oz plain flour
• 75g/3oz caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 free-range egg
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate chips

To decorate

• 50g/2oz dark chocolate

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven 160C/325F/Gas 3. Grease and line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with non-stick baking parchment.
2. Use a fork to mash the peeled banana in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.
5. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
6. For the decoration, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl.
7. Melt the chocolate in the bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water). Stir regularly, until almost completely melted, then remove from the heat. The heat of the bowl will melt any remaining lumps.
8. Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top of the loaf. Set aside for the chocolate to set. Slice and serve.

Film review - Django Unchained

So lets get the boring details out the way: It is an 18 - expect bloody violence, but then it is directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is roughly about three hours long and stars Jamie Foxx as Django, Christoph Waltz as Dr Schultz, Leonardo Di Caprio as Calvin Candie, Samuel L Jackson as Stephen and Kerry Washington as Broomhilda von Schaft.

I suppose in essence it is a western with a little bit of a Southern slavery feel to it as well.

Django, a slave, is freed when bounty hunter Dr Schultz buys him to help him track down some brothers who he is after. However, rather than going their separate ways after the bounty is paid Django enlists the help of Dr Schultz to try and get his wife Broomhilda back after she was sold to plantation owner Calvin Candie.

This film is simply brilliant. If you love the humour of Tarantino will love it. It is one of those films that you think as it is about slavery it will be a bit heavy but the comic moments are fantastic. One in particular has Don Johnson, of Miami Vice fame, and Jonah Hill as members of a hooded gang who are having trouble with their cut out eye holes. Really funny!

Now many people who haven't seen the film say it is overly violent and that it causes people to be violent. This does get to me I studied this quite a lot at uni but that is for another post I think.

I suppose you could say the film is violent, people get shot, but the way it is portrayed it quite different. When someone is shot it explodes out of them, the blood is a very bright, and an unrealistic shade of red. The people continue to moan when in reality they would have died long ago. It is bloody but not graphic, if that makes sense.

There is one scene, however, that I did turn away as it was quite graphic a slave is ripped apart by dogs. Not very nice to watch but then this probably happened a lot during the slavery period.

Performance wise they all shine. Christoph Waltz deserved his BAFTA, and hopefully will get the Oscar on the weekend. He is just brilliant and full of humanity and comic genius. Leo DiCaprio is so unhinged but perfectly fantastic. I am of the generation that still sees him as a teen idol in Romeo and Juliet so to see him in another role so far removed from this is great. Samuel L Jackson is almost unrecognisable as Candie's man servant Samuel but is very sinister and underhand, you do wonder if it him that is in control of Candie rather than the other way around. Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington to are brilliant.

I simply cannot fault this film it is amazing and although long doesn't feel like it. If you have never seen a Tarantino film, firstly why not?! but maybe try this see how you get on and then if not try Pulp Fiction.

The legend that is Tarantino strikes again.

Melt my heart cupcakes

Me and my boyfriend decided not to do Valentine's Day this year, just seeing it as a commercial waste of money when everyday should feel like Valentine's when you are in love with someone.

Anyway, I did decide to make some cupcakes for him as I have been off work all week and haven't done any baking.

I made chocolate cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery cupcake book, but with an added twist. I decided to put on top halfway through baking some chocolate hearts in a hope they would melt a little and add some gooey-ness to the cakes. I got the idea while watching Lorraine earlier in the week, the chef made chocolate souffle and put a Lindt chocolate ball in the middle.

They melted a bit but I haven't tried one yet to see if it is still gooey or has got hard when it has cooled. I'm hoping a bit gooey.

I decided to do vanilla icing rather than chocolate and then put pink edible glitter on the cakes with the hearts so people know which is which.

I seem to have conquered the icing, but my cupcakes are never pretty looking but do taste amazing.

Just have to hope the boyfriend likes them.

Film review: Les Misérables

I know I am a bit late to the party when it comes to this film as it came out what feels like a lifetime ago.

However, got there eventually.

I will start by saying I love musicals, as you will probably gather from my blog and reviews from theatre musicals I have been to. I have also seen Les Mis on stage when it toured a few years ago for its anniversary. It was brilliant, but a little long and also very miserable, hence the name, but still a fantastic musical.

Based on the book by Victor Hugo I had high hopes for the film as everyone I know who saw it raved about it and seemed to cry their heart out for pretty much the whole film.

It looks like a big budget film very opulent and extravagant. Rich in sets and costumes.

All the stars in the film were said to sing live on the set rather than record their vocals and mime in the film. This I think adds the theatre musical feel to the film as you hear the tears, in Anne Hathaway's case, and frustration in the case of Russell Crowe.

All the casts' singing was amazing, brilliant voices with a lot of projection. You can tell that Russell Crowe was/is in a band as his voice was less musical and more band. Hugh Jackman has obviously cut his musical teeth in Boy from Oz many years ago and for most of the film was unrecognisable as Jean Valjean. I forgot it was him most of the time.

Anne Hathaway as the doomed and unfortunate Fantine...well she just breaks your heart. She isn't in the whole film but when she is she, you can't look at anyone else and her rendition of 'I dream a dream' beautiful. No wonder she has already won a BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe and will no doubt pick up the Oscar.

It is so rich in emotional and I love Samantha Barks as Eponine, what can I say. We can all relate to 'On my Own' and unrequited love.

Now I must admit that I don't get the whole Eddie Redmayne thing. His singing was good but I wasn't completely blown away by him and felt not that bothered what happened to him.  Same really for Cosette I love Amanda Seyfried but didn't believe her Cosette.

Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Carter as Madam Thenardier and Thenardier are comic genius. I loved the characters in the film and loved them even more in the film. A pleasant relief from all the misery.

Of course as well this film holds a little place in my heart as it was filmed in part in Portsmouth and now everyone knows someone who knows someone who was an extra in it.

The film for anyone who has not seen the musical is singing all the way through, no real talking so be prepared.

This is a great musical film but I think I prefer the theatre version.

And I cried in one part.... spoiler alert! When Eponine and Gavroche die. Teary. At the end I was upset but no tears, does this make me heartless?  

For anyone who doesn't know what it is about...

IMDB synopsis of the film says: "In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever."
"Jean Valjean, known as Prisoner 24601, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert. Set in post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion."

Directed by Tom Hooper

I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5