New year

Sorry again the blog has been neglected, so better start with the end of last year.

I saw Blue, who were really, really good. Even though any respect I may have had about Lee has completely gone due to Celebrity Big Brother. I went with my sister who hadn't been able to see them back in the day as they split before the tour. She enjoyed herself which was all that matter, and the Roulette album is actually pretty good.

I saw 5ive in Bournemouth, who were amazing! Again well worth the wait. They played all the hits and only a few rows from the front it was great. Up close I felt like I was 15 again, which doesn't happen very often now a days. I am glad I got to see them, and shut that door.

Then in December I went to the O2 for the last gig of the year.... The Big Reunion Christmas party, so I have never seen 5ive and then saw them three times in one year perfect. 
The Christmas party had a great vibe and atmosphere, I love Christmas anyway and this felt like a massive party. The bands did a similar set to the gig at the Hammersmith and then Christmas songs, as far as gigs go it was so much fun and I would love bands to do more Christmas party gigs.

Can't think about much else at the end of last year. Been doing a lot of fun stuff for work. Most of it can be found www.etcmag.net

So 2014....a lot of musicals - Wicked, Singin' in the Rain, Warhorse. Gigs wise I have Foals and McBusted (I know don't judge).

But running is taking a step forward this year next month I am doing the Brighton half marathon, I am very nervous, feel the jump from 10 miles to 13 miles is a leap. And with Christmas the training has been difficult so bit nervous but hoping I, at least, enjoy the experience.

In March I am doing a 10k Race for Rowan, and in October I am doing the 5k Speed of Light in Bournemouth which I am really looking forward to.

And the Great South Run again, I said never again but I want to see if I can beat my time, and it is the 25th anniversary. A lot of running,  and all for charity Macmillan and Rowans Hospice.

Very exciting and hopefully I'll keep the blog posts going this year.

To donate to my charities - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/runcharlierun

Blue, Hammersmith Apollo, London - 22nd October 2013

It has been a while, work has been a little hectic so not had much time to sit and stop with the want to write after doing so all day at work.

However, a quiet weekend means I can write some reviews and updates for the things I have been up to recently.

If you have read my blog or gig reviews on here before then you will know I am a child of the 90s and love my pop music, the cheesier the better, well in my childhood not so much now.

Since becoming an adult I have had the opportunity to see the bands I was unable to when I was a kid e.g. Spice Girls, The Big Reunion (http://onegirlsworld-charlotte.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-big-reunion-hammersmith-apollo.html) and Steps (http://onegirlsworld-charlotte.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/steps-o2-london-19th-april-2012.html)

My sister was a huge Blue fan back in the day and my mum bought us tickets but when we went to go the band split causing my sister a lot of heartache. 

When they reformed, properly, and announced a tour for their new album Roulette my mum bought us a couple of tickets and off we went to the Hammersmith to see the band my sister was obsessed with.

To be honest it took a while for them to come on the stage, about quarter past nine which was ok but not ideal we were lucky as we drove so knew we wouldn't have to leave early to get a train home.

Apart from that the gig was a lot better than I was expecting. They sang live and were brilliant, great voices especially Lee Ryan who can hold a note and can certainly belt them out.

They also danced pulling  out the moves from the old days as well as some new ones for songs from the new album, which was also another surprise.

After the awful Eurovision song I wasn't expecting the new songs to be good and had a real essence of the way they were in their heyday.

Great songs from the new album include Hurt Lovers  and Ayo, and of course they also played crowd favorites One Love, Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours  and Fly By and by the response in the room there was some die hard fans who also seemed to be loving the new album.

This gig was amazing and showed the boys do have stayed power, maybe the break was worth it as their voices and dance moves were top notch and I would definitely see them again.

The Big Reunion when all is said and done

Last week was the last of the current series of The Big Reunion and it ended with the concert I went to at the end of February.

It didn't show the whole concert but it was still good to relive it all, so much so that I have now pre-ordered the concert DVD and will be going to the Christmas party gig at the O2 in December.  

Watching the concert I was a little relieved (and disappointed) that I didn't make the cut. My friend's friends were in one shot though. Well I knew I was there.

I thought I would use a post to talk about the Big Reunion. I have seen many of these shows - Take That and Spice Girls, where they re-interview old bands who reflect on the good ol' days. Only to reveal that they were not that great and they were plagued by self-doubt, drugs and lots of sex with older fans. The Take That one broke my six-year-old fan heart that the guys were less than perfect. 

I was relieved that watching the Spice Girls one that they were friends with each other, well we all knew Mel B and Geri were at each others throats, but I suppose the most telling thing is that Victoria is never really with other girls anymore. I suppose if I had a multi-million pound global fashion house I wouldn't want to be associated with the 'Posh' Spice label still.

Also the Steps one which was upsetting as they really didn't like each other, so when I saw them on tour all I kept thinking was 'they hate each other really'.

So I was little apprehensive when I saw this show was going to be on. It featured all the bands that I loved when I was a child in the nineties, I saw some as well at radio roadshows. For a re-cap the show featured Honeyz, B*Witched, 5ive, 911, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten and later one Blue, who didn't really split up recently but ah well.

It was a really interesting show revealing what it was like to be in a band during those years. Record labels pushing them to the edge of their sanity if they knew they were on to a good thing. All the bands left on quite good terms, Atomic Kitten always seemed to be fighting, very fiery. 5ive as well were quite interesting proper bad boys.

I loved 5ive and fell more in love with them after the show. They are and were fantastic.

But at the end of the day it was interesting and good to see the bands gelling quite well after all these years.

It does make you wonder after the success of this show who will be in the next series - Cleopatra? Busted? Hear'say? S Club 7? Who knows?

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