Katrina
Another month has passed which means that it’s once again my turn to host a Fuzzable blog. Life has been pretty manic for me this month and I just could not settle on a proper topic for this post so I thought I’d dedicate this particularly chatty blog to my adventures so far this year.
If you read my last post, then you’ll know that I wanted to make exploring a priority this year and that I had a trip planned for the following day. I actually went on a (very) short trip to Morocco, which genuinely seems like it happened years ago at this point.
Morocco has never been a wish list location of mine to visit, however, when the opportunity to visit for a few days came about, I couldn’t resist. A group of five of us flew out to Rabat late Thursday and flew back Saturday, meaning that we only really had a day and a half to explore.
The Friday was a beautiful, warm day where we got to do a little sightseeing following a short studio session in the morning (yes, we flew all the way to Morocco to celebrate David’s ‘The Calm Before The Storm’ single release and to film an acoustic video because why the hell not?!). We spent the evening on this really cool boat which was a restaurant/bar with live music.
True to David’s song title, however, the Friday was indeed the calm before the storm, because by Saturday it completely bucketed it down all day, more so than I’ve ever seen before (and I live in Wales, where it rains 98.7% of the time). “Let’s go to Morocco”, David said. “It will be hot”, David said. LOL AT US. We tried to do some sightseeing before we left but honestly after twenty minutes in the rain we were sad drowned rats who ended up sheltering in a restaurant before heading back to the airport early to try and dry out. Try being the operative word, as I was still rain-sodden when we landed back in London.
After a coach ride from Stansted to Liverpool Street, we eventually got back to our hotel at 2am Sunday morning, and had to leave early to catch the 9:30am train back to Carmarthen as we were seeing Boyzone in Cardiff in the evening. Mum and I are queens at combining trips, but this was exhausting even by our standards.
We arrived back home at around 2pm and were back on the road half an hour later in order to drive back to Cardiff. It was totally worth it though, as mum had always wanted to see Boyzone live and their current tour is their last so it really was a case of now or never.
I’ve always loved boybands so I’ve definitely appreciated Boyzone’s music throughout the years although I wouldn’t call myself a big fan by any stretch. However, I really enjoyed the gig and found myself singing along to more songs than expected. They put on a really special show which was definitely one for the fans. The tribute they paid to Stephen Gately throughout was also so beautiful.
At the beginning of February, I went to Swansea to FINALLY see The Band. Considering that it’s a musical based on the music of Take That – a boyband that I have adored since I was a child – it was shocking that I hadn’t been to see it earlier but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait and it was a million percent worth it.
I resonated with The Band so much, not just because of my love of Take That, but because of the wonderful story. It captured the essence of friendship, and as someone who’s made a lot of friends over the years because of various boybands, the whole thing really hit home to me on a personal level. From the clever production to the mind-blowingly talented cast, everything about the show was just spectacular.
Finally, last weekend I went to London to see Rip It Up the 60’s, something which I’ve been SO excited for since it was announced last year. It’s a boyband/fangirl dream – a new Fab Four made up of Olympic gymnast Louis Smith, McFly’s Harry Judd, JLS’ Aston Merrygold and The Wanted’s Jay McGuiness, who just so happens to be one of my favourite people in existence.
We went to the 50’s tour three times back in 2017 to see Jay and Louis, and also caught the 60’s tour in London last year with Louis, Harry and Aston. However, this time around all four of them are taking part in a West End run at the Garrick Theatre, London. We went along to the show during its preview week, and I got the chance to do my very first two show day!
We had front row seats for the matinee performance, sat in the dress circle for the evening show and had a meet and greet in between – absolutely living the Rip It Up dream. The m&g was one of my favourite ones I’ve ever experienced – it wasn’t rushed at all and we had plenty of time to chat with the Fab Four. It was also so amazing to reunite with Jay after a good 18 months – I’d almost forgotten that his hugs are life (although he did tell us off for chatting too much with the others which was hilarious).
It was fantastic to watch the show from two different perspectives – and on both occasions I couldn’t get over the sheer energy possessed by the cast. It’s a bloody tough show, with little break in between for the dancers to catch their breath let alone anything else. Each of the guys got to show off the skills that they’re best known for, alongside their dancing, and were just as superb as the cast of professional dancers who joined them on stage. The resident singers, Jill and Ant, were also out of this world.
I’m already itching to go and see Rip It Up again – we’ve got tickets for March and the final night in June however, I NEED more of it in my life. It’s genuinely such a feel good show and even if you’re not a fan of the 60’s era, you will be surprised at how many of the songs featured in the show that you actually know and love.
That pretty much wraps up my adventures over the past few weeks, and I can’t wait to make even more memories during the rest of the year!
