My thoughts on Enrique's I'm A Freak.

Words can't express how disappointed I am in Enrique Iglesias for his disgusting disrespect of women in his new song and video 'I'm a Freak'.

This man was my idol for years as a teen before Darren Hayes. The Enrique I 'knew' back then was beautiful, kind, respectful. He stood for something. Now all he stands for is that he sold his soul to Hollywood to sell records, disrespecting women in the process. No it's not ok to produce a video like that, or lyrics like that.

Lyrics like Enrique singing "I love the way she gets so physical, F**ks like an animal" and in which Pitbull contributes "I came, I saw, I conquered, on to the next, let's go" is so disrespectful of women I can't begin to tell you how offensive that is.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude. I love the Sad eyes video that was banned on MTV in yesteryear and I think that 'on top of you' is a beautifully done song and incredibly respectful in how it was executed.

He started losing me when it got crude instead of naughty, namely "Tonight I'm F**king you'.

He looks damn good in the video though. Fit and well and sexy... and I like the sexy album cover.

Enrique you are still beautiful, still
hot, but please consider that you do the job you love because the vast majority of your fanbase, women, put you in that position by supporting you and buying your records. Please don't disrespect them now.

http://youtu.be/YUiVIPgJA0o

Review: Maroon 5 - O2 Arena - 11 Jan 14

LOVED Maroon 5 at the O2 Arena. 

Ticket bought from the arena website on the day of the show (Long story lol) and it was in the tier right beside the stage. amazing view. and the seats have cup holders? how cool is that? 

Sadly my camera didn't make it to the show. I was destined never to have pictures of tash-less Adam Levine. Think the battery is ballsed as it was playing up the other day. Gutted.

Met up with Tom and grabbed some food at Gourmet Burger kitchen. Stole a quick 10% phone charge at the block's entrance at the o2 & befriended a fan also charging her phone (think she was French) and wished her a good show.

On walks Adam Levine. HE'S STILL GOT THAT FUCKING MOUSTACHE! 

The set list was the same as Birmingham. it was great. I've had a few days to live with the set list in a playlist on my iPod :)

Still not keen on the opener 'One More Night'. 'This Love' was good. 'Lucky Strike' is creeping up to be one of my faves on the new album. Then two great oldies: 'Harder to Breathe' and 'Sunday Morning'. good times. I love the London graphics used for Sunday morning.

I still like their cover of Prince's 'I Wanna Be Your Lover'. I ADORE 'Makes Me Wonder', there's something so sexy about Adam when he swears. Adam messed up the track number, (it's the 2nd song off the 2nd album). a girl on the barrier called him on it, he said she'd get a prize later which would be figured out during the show. (at the end of the show, James threw her a plectrum). so sweet. 

'Shiver' was good. I liked 'Wake Up Call' a bit more than Birmingham.

Then it was time to up the pace to a segment of the show I LOVE. 'Won't Go Home Without You'. love that song. I sang my absolute heart out to 'Love Somebody'.

"I really wanna love somebody / I really wanna dance the night away".

'Misery' was good, as was the cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky. I would rather they did 'Just A Feeling' and 'How' off the third album. That would have made my life completely.

Adam had to stop and tie his shoe lace a second time. This time he wasn't on the side of the stage but in the middle of the catwalk. why couldn't have been facing the other way so we could have seen that nice ass?. the other side of the arena got all the fun :p

Then one of my favourite songs, 'Stereo Hearts'. Once again I sang like my life depended on it. 

"My heart's a stereo / It beats for you, so listen close / Hear my thoughts in every note / Make me your radio / And turn me up when you feel low / This melody was meant for you / Just sing along to my stereo"

And I'm telling you, the lads put on a great show for Moves Like Jagger. To see everyone's phones light up the O2 was really beautiful. I love the graphics of the fireworks and the UK and USA flags. and let me tell you something, sat in that seat I could see more than Birmingham, Adam really does have moves like jagger :O. I loved a girl's poster on barrier. it said "take me up on stage and I'll show you that I've got the moves like jagger' LOL.

Then the Encore. PAYPHONE. Made me jump again when they play the sound of the coin going into the Payphone. still love the intro: the woman's voice in a Payphone when a call can't be connected. Once again this song almost got to me but then I just sang for my life instead. There is no better feeling in the world  than that euphoria and singing for your life at a gig.

Then 'She Will Be Loved'. As the crowd was divided into two, 20,000 people sang harmonies to Adam and it was beautiful.  

Then the last song, 'Daylight'. love this song so much.

"And when the daylight comes I'll have to go / But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close"

Maroon 5 stole my heart in Birmingham, they certainly didn't give it back last night.

I left with a sore throat, a poorly voice that was trying to leave me, and a red face. That's when you know it's an AMAZING show.

A quick hello to Chris on the the way home and Tom and I sat up talking shit until 4am and listening to music. The Killers direct hits, Maroon 5 overexposed, teenage dirtbags, bastille...

Today was lovely. Burger King for breakfast, got some FABULOUS bargains and then home on that slow train I'd almost forgotten about. 10 stops and almost 3hrs later I made it home to a rainy Nottingham.

My heart is happy. Never regret the things you did, only the things you didn't. An 11th hour trip to London might have cost me the ££ but I have memories to last a lifetime. 

Thank you Tom, and thank you Maroon 5. Goodnight.

Review: Maroon 5 at LG Arena Birmingham - 8 Jan 14

LOVED Maroon 5 last night.

Even with Adam's moustache. I've waited almost 10 years so see them live and he comes out with a tash, which halfway through the show regrets as it's 'Creepy' and is gonna shave off after the show? the one night I'm there? FML.

The set list was great. Not keen on the opener 'One More Night' but then it was onto a great run. 'This Love', 'Lucky Strike', 'Harder to Breathe'. 'Sunday Morning' = Awwwwww. memories of being 18 and playing this song. The cover of 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' was a nice nod to Prince. I loved 'Makes Me Wonder' and 'Shiver'. I Didn't know 'Wake Up Call'..

Then one of my all time favourites 'Won't Go Home Without You'. love love love that song. I didn't know 'Love Somebody' but it pulled at my heart strings. "I really wanna love somebody / I really wanna dance the night away".

'Misery' is such a good song. As much as I don't like Daft Punk's Get Lucky it was a nice cover.

Then one of my favourite moments, 'Stereo Hearts'. I've wanted to hear them sing the whole song themselves without Gym Class Heroes since it was released on my birthday in 2011. it was a dream come true. I sang like my life depended on it. "My heart's a stereo / It beats for you, so listen close / Hear my thoughts in every note / Make me your radio / And turn me up when you feel low / This melody was meant for you / Just sing along to my stereo"


Am I the only one who is soooo over Moves Like Jagger?

Then the Encore. PAYPHONE. it had a really cool intro: the woman's voice in a Payphone when a call can't be connected. this song is one that reminds me of tough times, I'm glad that they rocked it up a bit half way through of I might have just been crying. It was a living in the moment kind of experience. I loved it so much.

Then onto the song which was the reason I went last night 'She Will Be Loved'. Adam was so funny and adorable, asking if there was any single girls and single guys (WAY more girls than guys). "it's all about ratio guys, go get 'em. Do you need some time?" LOL.

Then one of my fave songs off the new album, 'Daylight'.

"And when the daylight comes I'll have to go / But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close / Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own / But tonight I need to hold you so close"

Maroon 5 stole my heart.

The Anatomy of Darren Hayes Fan Club.

Back in 2003 when I‘d had ‘Spin’ and the Savage Garden albums a while (since autumn 2002) and got really into the music, I’d sit in my room in Ireland and write letters to D. Well I wrote two. I think in my head they were gonna be sent to the fan club in Australia, in reality, they are still in my room.  More than a decade later, I guess there wasn’t much written in those letters on that red paper that remains unsaid anyway.

When I joined the fan club I did so just as ‘The Tension and The Spark’ listening parties were happening. It was April 2004 and I wanted to know where the gossip on the new album was at, and it was at the fan club. I had dial up internet on a really old windows 98 PC. I couldn’t even see the website as it was using flash. It would just load a grey page. Underneath the grey page, the links still worked if you knew where to click. I remember really enjoying this new world of blogs and pictures and the forum.

I remember that envelope arriving from Aus with Dzine 6 inside. One thing that stuck with me from the beginning was Tracey’s kindness. I would email her asking how to make flash work to see the website properly (she was so helpful, but truth be told the PC was just too old). One day I had a look in the fan club shop. I was gutted that not all of the first five Dzines were in the shop to buy as back issues. Tracey added them to the site for me so I could buy them. I knew then that this fan club run by D’s family really cared about us. I ordered a few things from the shop; it would always excite me when they arrived.  I ordered that massive Too Close For Comfort poster, the customs declaration was signed by Darren’s mum, Judy. It touched me that this really was a family run Fanclub.

I guess as a teen, I did idolise Darren. I had this idea in my head of what a popstar was. Of whom Darren was.  An illusion, a person you thing you know, but don’t. A person where you don’t get to see all sides to the story, you know, an ideology. An image conjured up in your head, a superhero character, that couldn’t possibly exist. Because, ultimately this popstar you worship, is in fact, human.  Just like you and me. That old saying, ‘Never meet your heroes’. But so many people on the forums had met Darren and sworn how lovely and normal and kind he was. That was my ultimate goal, to meet this man. Sitting in my bedroom in Ireland, I knew one day it would happen. That I just had to wish to the universe and wait.

The fan club forums really were a haven for me. I’d gone to uni, in the grips of homesickness and depression (unbeknownst to me then). I reached out at the forums for people who could just understand me, help me cope, make me feel less alone. I never thought I would find this amazing community; it really was this place where I could come and not feel alone. Not feel judged. Finally I felt like I belonged somewhere. People understood me, and me them. Some of my best friends I met through D. The fan club felt like home.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined where joining this fan club would take me. I begged for the membership for my 18th birthday present from my parents, I remember my mum telling me I wouldn’t even be there in a year’s time. Well, I’m still here a decade later ;). My very first Darren Hayes show was a fan club VIP to dark light. I didn’t really understand then, that the access we got to the soundcheck and pre-show party wasn’t something every artist did. I remember the official Chat room chats, enter a question and hope yours gets sent to D to answer. I remember my first official chat, it was just as so beautiful was released. I asked the dumbest question but I sat shaking as D replied. Then I discovered sometimes you could actually speak to D in the chat room. Unannounced. That blew my mind a little bit. I didn’t know what to say, even now, the other week, I didn’t know what to say. I kinda think there is nothing I want to say to D that hasn’t already been said. And I have a hard time interacting so personally with someone I adore. Or maybe that’s just me, socially awkward anyway. I certainly didn’t think the fan club would ever give me the chance to attend the Time Machine Tour DVD screening and speak to D properly, or attending a Secret’s out tour meet and greet as one of my dearest friend’s +1.

I still struggle with the relationship between artist and fan. I’ve always held D at arms length, almost as an idol. I wish I could be more friendly with him and less like I’m about to die. A friend once said to me, (to paraphrase) “you don’t get the chance to be this close to a pop star. You can hold any pop star at arm’s length, but the relationship D builds with fans is something you should grab with both hands”. She was right, but I think the way I interact with D, will always stay the same. I will always not know what to say, always stand shaking and always walk away feeling like a cross between the happiest person alive and the dumbest idiot. We let D give everything he has to us, yet I’m not so willing to let my guard down in return. The more I speak to D, the more I worry about what he thinks of me as a person. Yet I know I shouldn’t think like that, I do. I’m so so very blessed to have had all I’ve had with D. It blows my mind that this teen from Ireland got her dream to meet D, on more than one occasion, and that he just happens to know who I am.

We get so much more than other pop stars offer you. What other pop star would reply to you on the fan club forum, look you up on myspace and tell you ‘it was lovely to put a face to the name’ after a fangirling ‘OMG I MET DARREN’ fanclub post? What popstar would let you privately message them on myspace, not only read it, but respond? In that message were some of the darkest moments of my life, told honestly. Because D was so honest with us, I felt like I owed him the same honesty in return for why I was a fan. His reply, sits in my bedside cabinet, even 5 years later. I’m so grateful for the love and support D has shown me, even now, even last month.

The way I interact with other fans and Darren has changed. I spent more time interacting with D on twitter, and other fans on facebook. I love this fan club, it’s given me so much joy. The blogs, the ramblings, the diary entries… the interaction with D in topics across the fan club. I remember so vividly a conversation with D about a song called ‘H’. And the night D wrote the space monkey poem at 3am.

It really been a blast, and I’m sorry to say goodbye and wish we didn’t have to. But it’s not the end, there is still other ways to interact with D and other fans.

In the past ten years I’ve done a lot of soul searching, I wear my heart on my sleeve and some of it was vented through the fan club forums. I’m certainly not the same person now that I was then. Thank God. D’s music continues to make me happy and take me to a place where things don’t suck as much. I just wish I had D’s bravery and courage.

The fan club really does feel like a family, Thank you D for giving us so much of yourself.

I’m super excited for the one man show next year (THIS YEAR!!).

Here’s to the next part of the story.

Much Love,

Hails.

xx