My Record Player

Today I thought I'd talk about my record player.  Sort of random but hey, it's something I love and I basically talk about things I love on here so why not?

On my 17th birthday my friends surprised me by getting me a record player.  I had mentioned it maybe once or twice to one of my friends but I never really thought I would buy one.  Well low and behold I dug into a large gift bag to find a beautiful Crosley record player along with a few albums to go with it.  I may or may not have teared up - I mean come on record players are just so special and beautiful and the fact that my friends got me one like that's just so heartwarming.

Being a HUGE Mumford & Sons fan, I received both Sigh No More and Babel on vinyl along with my record player as well as For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver and of course, Abbey Road from The Beatles.  My collection was already off to a kick ass start let me tell you.  I'm actually listening to Bon Iver right now ugh it's such a great album.  Anywho...it turns out that my dad had a huge box of old records from when he had a record player.  By huge box I mean like around 20-30 records straight chilling in our basement.  My vinyl collection quickly increased greatly and I couldn't be happier.  From Cheap Trick to The Beatles to Pink Floyd to the Beach Boys, to some bands I had never heard of, it was there in that box.

It's such a cool thing to be able to have and share and collect.  It's obviously not the most convenient way to listen to music but there's something about it that's so special.  On my dad's older records, hearing those little scratches here and there adds a bit.  It's like a little piece of history in your hands.  I mean my dad's records have to be at least 30 years old.  To think that he sat around with friends listening to these same albums is kind of cool and again, really special.  But also finding new albums like Mumford and Bon Iver is so cool.  One of my favorite albums is actually an EP from Lewis Watson.  I saw on his website he was selling signed vinyls so I now am a proud owner of the 199th signed vinyl of about 300 I believe it was.


I was never really a believer in the idea that the music sounded different, at least I wasn't really that sure but I can assure you, some albums truly sound so much better on vinyl.  My friend has Torches by Foster the People on vinyl, not an album I would think to be super great on vinyl, but let me tell you the second that needle dropped, so did my jaw.  There's just something more raw and authentic about it.  Sure it's easy to just press shuffle on an iPod but so often I find myself skipping songs.  With a record player, I'll listen to an album in its entirety and listen to the lyrics and memorize the order of the songs.  I understand music better.  I see the cohesiveness of an album and understand the ordering of the songs.  It's just really awesome ok.


 So if you're someone who is really into music and has ever thought about getting a record player.  DO IT!  It's not necessarily the cheapest thing but it does make for a great birthday gift or Christmas or graduation or anything.  And it's always awesome receiving vinyls as gifts too.  For Christmas I received Ed Sheeran's + and it is absolutely beautiful on vinyl.  The record itself is orange like tell me that's not amazing.

If you have any music suggestions or even if you are thinking about getting a record player, let me know!

Merci beaucoup!

Kate

Kingsfoil

I thought it only right to dedicate a post to my adventure of going to the Kingsfoil concert on the 27th of December.

The concert took place in this place called the Chameleon Club.  It's a club in the middle of Lancaster, PA.  Seriously in the middle of Amish country.  I went with my friend Brittany and on our drive there we saw at least 5 horse and buggies carrying Amish people.  Upon arriving we had to venture around a less than safe seeming part of town to find somewhere I could get change to pay for parking.  After that little detour I accidentally tried to go in an exit of the parking garage but finally I got in and parked and walked across the street to wait over an hour outside in the freezing cold.

After what seemed like forever WE GOT INSIDE WHERE IT WAS WARM.  I got a nice black line written on my hand in marker to be sure I didn't try to buy anything from the bar (oh the joys of being 17) and my friend and I were there early enough that we didn't even have to push our way up to the second row.  Now I say row but there weren't really any rows everyone just packed in but like we were behind the row of people standing against the metal barriers they had.  The club itself was narrow but fairly deep.  Definitely a small venue though.

The first opening act was a girl named Leah.  I can't remember her last name for the life of me but she was absolutely adorable.  She was country with a little bit of pop.









Next was a band called The Separators.  This band consisted of three guys who were either in high school or college, I wasn't quite sure but I saw a black line on the lead singer's hand so he couldn't be older than 20.  Surrounding me seemed to be a group of drunk kids that knew this opening band and let me tell you, I was reminded of why I love going to an all girls school.  I was pushed and danced on by several drunk guys and it was painful.  Thankfully they calmed down and left after The Separators were done.  However, the band was actually really good.  I wasn't sure what I expected but I was just surprised at how talented they were.  Vocally and instrumentally they were incredible.  I also found myself making lots of eye contact with the lead singer, should've given him my number when I had the chance (ha just kidding, I'm not a groupie kind of person I swear).  The Separators are very Arctic Monkey-esque with a hint of 1975.  They're great I would seriously check them out at theseparators.com.


After The Separators came the last opener, Brethren.  This band consisted of five guys who were in their 20s it seemed.  They were very folk/indie/rock I would say.  I actually thought they were great, though slightly different than the previous two acts and Kingsfoil.  It was fun to watch them because they all had quirky things they did whilst performing just their facial expressions were funny at times.  Just one way you could tell they were really into the music which is always great.


And then finally we have Kingsfoil themselves.  Unfortunately one of the band members, Tristan Martin, was in the hospital (I'm not entirely sure what for) so he was unable to be there.  However, the show went on but they had to do an acoustic show and they had little preparation for it.  Regardless of any nerves they claimed to have, their performance was fantastic.  They sang some of my personal favorites like American Veins and What Your Mother Taught You and Quick Fix, along with songs from their new EP, Brave Love.  It was in fact the first time they played their new EP live which was quite cool to experience.

This was my second time seeing Kingsfoil and I knew that afterwards they would meet people at their merch table like they had the first time so my friend and I got right in line as soon as the show ended and we got to meet them again.  I was so nervous I was actually shaking I didn't know why, I mean hey I had met them before, why should I be nervous?  But my friend and I decided we wanted to get pictures with them just by ourselves since we already had a picture with a big group from the concert in September.  We went up and had them sign our newly purchased Brave Love EPs and we mentioned how it was actually the 100 day anniversary since the last time we saw them and we mentioned that we drove from Delaware.  Then Jordan Davis, the lead singer (WHO I LOVE BECAUSE HIS FACE IS ALMOST AS BEAUTIFUL AS HIS VOICE) said, "Oh yeah you guys drove up?  I saw you tweeting I'm so glad you came out."  This just made me so happy, because Kingsfoil follwed me on twitter in September and I guess Jordan was on the account and saw our tweets.  Then we got our pictures and received many thanks from them as we walked away.  It was so great and exciting.  Below are a few photos I took during the concert.  And yes, Frankie Muniz is in this band (he's the drummer).

I know this post may seem pointless but personally I love reading about concert experiences.  If you're interested in new music though I would seriously check out Kingsfoil.  They're on iTunes and Spotify and YoutTube (everywhere basically).

Be Positive.  Be Happy. & Smile.

Kate

I'm back!

Bonjour mes amies!!!!

I promise I'm still alive my goodness though it's been a while.  I of course apologize but at this point that really means nothing.  Senior year is in full swing and blogging has just not been on my mind I'm sorry.  BUT I'm back and better than ever (well not really I'm just kind of back and ready to blog I guess).

I have made the executive decision for myself to make this blog about anything.  I will have posts about beauty and fashion but also just movies and music and concerts (since I am quite a concert lover) and just whatever it may be that is on my mind.  So I hope that's cool.  I don't really know how many people even read this but if you are reading this still, thank you and feel free to check out any older posts and look for many new ones to come.

Merci beaucoup!

Be Positive.  Be Happy. & Smile.

Kate

you always will be my summer love

First I guess I should start by saying that if you dislike One Direction then feel free to stop reading

I have been on a bit of a hiatus for the past couple of days, but for good reason.  Yesterday I went to see One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer.  I've been running around doing last minute shopping and planning etc. but I am back.  I thought it might be fun though to make a post about the concert.

So the opening act was 5 Seconds of Summer (aka 5SOS).  I had heard about them prior to the concert and knew most of the songs they played so it was almost like 2 concerts in one night.  They are a band of 4 teenage boys from Australia who started out making covers on YouTube.  Now they're touring with One Direction- not too shabby.  They really are incredible and their songs are great, I would highly recommend you give them a listen.

One Direction was insane as well.  Our seats were so so close.  We were on the side in the twelfth row.  The way the stage was set up, on each side their were little step like areas where the boys would come out and stand.  It was so cool.

5SOS- From left to right: Luke, Calum, Michael, Ashton.

The setlist was great, for both groups.  The energy was electric you could just feel the excitement in the arena.  It's funny too because a lot of times you hear about post-concert depression, which I have felt before, but with this concert I really haven't.  I mean, I'm upset that it's ended like I had waited for a over a year for this concert and now it's over.  But it was just so surreal and so incredible I'm just so happy I even had the chance to go.  I will say though I would not recommend listening to their music like too soon because then the sadness will hit you a bit.  I listened to Summer Love like an hour ago and I still haven't fully recovered.  As you can probably tell I really do love One Direction.  And clearly, I have no shame about it haha.

Thought I'd stick some pictures in here of the concert.  Little did I know you could actually take a DSLR, at least the girl a couple seats down from me did.  So unfortunately my pictures aren't the greatest but like...imagine those pictures being completely clear- that's what is was like for me seeing them.  It was insane.

I'll be back in a day or two with some more beauty and fashion posts but until then,

Be Positive. Be Happy. & Smile.
     Kate