It's now day three of my 'Week of June-ness' and yesterday marked the end of the 'Summer Retreat'. It was a great week despite the weather and whilst we were knackered we were aware that the Mulie fun had barely begun as we were to head to London just a few days later to see Evanescence at the Hammersmith Apollo. That brings me to the topic for today's blog- The Mulie Trip to London. I'm going to have to do this in parts too as there is just soo much to tell you!
So sit back and relax as I tell you (part 1 of) the story of 'The Mulie Trip to London'...
DAY 1- 14/6/17:
Our first day in London had been planned out for quite some time. We'd got the train tickets in advance and had packed to get on the 9am train. It was Wednesday 14th June- Evanescence's final night at the Apollo (well it was originally their only date but demand was so high they added the 13th in- I got advance tickets cos they're Matthew's favourite band and, well, I'm the best damn girlfriend in the world!) and we'd been waiting months for this day. We'd not long woke up and were getting ready to go when we put the news on. While the 14th June would be a day full of happy memories for us, for others it was a day of devastation and huge loss. Grenfell Tower in West London was ablaze and had been for most of the early hours of the morning. Panic and chaos filled the streets around the tower. Chaos that very quickly gave way to strong community spirit as they all tried to take in the shocking events that had just unfolded whilst running to the aid of the victims. Communities that would, and still do, have many unanswered questions and a deep resentment for those with power and authority. With this news, it made me wonder how this would affect our travels to London. I'd already had a few reservations about staying in London, and indeed going to a concert, after the previous terror attacks and now faced with television images of a burning high-rise tower block, I couldn't help but feel sorry not only for the Grenfell victims, but all of the innocent people that were made victims in the recent weeks. I never thought I'd even have the slightest reservation about going to a gig or sight-seeing in London but with everything that had gone on, it was hard not to let it all enter your head. I read the Metro on the way to London and I wondered about the proximity we would have to the devastation.
On a lighter note, we'd already planned our day and we were going to make sure it was memorable. It was The Hard Rock Cafe's 46th birthday and to celebrate, they laid on their 1971 menu with- wait for it- 1971 prices!! Although we'd planned to grab all the food and go in a doggy-bag style raid, we were dubious as to whether we'd even get in. You hear all kinds of myths when huge sales are on like people camping out or rioting in the queue's. However we were still going to try and get in and get involved in the birthday celebrations. There was no way we were missing out on BBQ ribs for 80p a pop! We'd try our very best! When we got to London it was a short ride on the circle line to get to the restaurant. The tube amazingly were running pretty much on time despite earlier events and once we'd got to the restaurant we were amazed at how short the queue actually was. We were so happy that we'd get in and after 20 minutes outside in the sweltering heat we were sat at our table ready to order. I'd never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before, all I knew was that it was an American, rock themed restaurant. The inside was full of life with a massive cake laid out and balloons up while all the staff wore what I could only presume were 70's Hard Rock Cafe uniforms. It was so lively with David Bowie vocals blaring out among walls of rock memorabilia. We both ordered ribs and for pudding we had chocolate brownies- at 50p each you couldn't not order pudding.
We'd not eaten breakfast that morning and the heat of the day outside had left us parched so when the food and drink arrived we dived straight in and didn't say a thing to each other for about 5 minutes while we ate. When we did break from the food to talk, it was to say how amazing the food was. I said then and I can still confidently say now that those ribs were the best ribs I had ever eaten- and not just because of the cheap price tag either. And the chips?! Again, amazing! For 80p I thought we'd get small portions due to the number of people that had turned up but no, we got a full rack of ribs each and a generous pile of chips. For those who follow me on Instagram you would've seen the portion and even the receipt to prove I wasn't telling porkies. This birthday event was truly a genuinely great deal. Yes ok, the drinks were normal price but still, delicious food at that price? You can't really argue with that. Don't worry if you missed out though as they do this special celebration on the 14th June every year to mark their birthday so put that in your diary now! I'm not sure whether they do this worldwide in other restaurants but if they don't, it's an excuse for a holiday to London. I'm even tempted to go back and pay full price for those ribs! After we filled up on bargain food, we got the chance to go down to the Hard Rock vaults as a one off free entry for all those that ate in the restaurant- even better! We saw lots of paraphernalia from music legends past and present down there including Les Paul guitars, one of Madonna's bodice's and Jimi Hendrix's guitar too! So if you're at a loose end next June 14th, pop over to The Hard Rock Cafe for some food 1971 style!
After food we headed over to Hammersmith to check in to our hotel. We were staying at the Premier Inn not far from the Apollo itself and when we got there they had complimentary drinks and snacks for us to graze on too- what a day we were having so far! This hotel had over 1300 rooms! Luckily we were only on the second floor so getting to our room wasn't too much of a hassle. The room we had was spacious, if a little funny shape-wise. We got in, turned the air-con on and up and freshened up before our night at the Apollo.
6pm quickly came around and we walked down to the Apollo. As we got closer we saw a short queue and thought ourselves lucky to have gotten there before the rush. However getting closer still we found a whole other section of the queue hiding in the street around the side of the venue and sighed thinking we were going to be here for a very long time. I got Matthew to pose with this tickets and we talked about what songs we thought they'd perform and if the warm up act would be any good and by that time we were practically at the front doors being searched before going in. Once we were in we found a spot and stuck ourselves to it, we weren't moving for love nor money. Well apart from when we got thirsty as the auditorium was so stuffy and hot and I went to find a drink, of course but after that we stuck there the whole night. Our suspicions were right, the warm up act wasn't that great and we had to wait another hour until Evanescence were due on stage. Finally they finished up and the filler music came on as we all waited for the show to truly begin.
After what seemed like forever, the lights finally flashed on and up and on came Evanescence making a strong start with 'Everybody's Fool' to get the crowd going and settled into the night that followed. That song to me seemed to be very topical for the times with the elections having happened weeks before. They followed on with 'What you Want' and 'Going Under' which set the tone for the whole gig. Amy Lee announced shortly after the gig that she had an exciting new path for the band that would involve a symphonic orchestra that would bring a new sound to their music and this new attitude of mixing up their music to make add a new dynamic was evident in the Apollo gig. With this set it was very clear that they wanted to let everyone know they were back after a long time away and that they meant business.They chose a set list which really mixed the old reminiscent classics for the die-hard fans to rock out to, with tracks from their newer albums in a way that flowed seamlessly and brought them closer to the fans. You could hear the sound of each different album coming through in the set with this new dynamism coming through. After 'Say You Will' a track from their 2011 self titled album, came one of my personal favourites, 'My Immortal' from the 2003 album 'Fallen'. They didn't just sing the original from the album, they did a beautiful acoustic version which made me love the song even more. The acoustic sound continued for a rendition of 'The Change'. I really enjoyed what they did with the songs and it proved that Evanescence certainly aren't a band stuck in their ways, they in fact look for ways to enhance their fans' experience with their music. After this acoustic section, the signature Evanescence sound came back for the remainder of the set until they closed loud and strong with 'Bring Me To Life'- one of their most commercially well known tracks (if you had SingStar Pop Hits you'll know what I mean- trying to hit that high note on the chorus to get maximum points) As this was part of the encore, the band stepped into the darkness backstage after this song and as the lights came back on to reveal the mass of empty cups and spilled drinks strewn across the floor, me and Matthew started to make our way out. We stopped off for a cup of water before going back out into central Hammersmith still high from the gig with our ears ringing.
We got back to the hotel to again more complimentary food and drink set out by the restaurant for us. We also saw a poignant reminder of the devastating events of the fire at Grenfell. With the hotel being in the area nearby the tower, people had started to make a collection of supplies for those in need from clothes to nappies and food and drink. A reminder that despite the tragedy, people in the community were willing to stand up and help others in times of real need. The news that evening reflected the same sentiment of community spirit, and also recognised serious questions needed to be answered. Whenever a major tragedy happens, it's a sobering reminder of how lucky we are and this evening was no different. Me and Matthew had an amazing day and night and Matthew had finally got to see a band he'd wanted to see for years. We were very lucky indeed.
So that brings us to the end of part one of 'The Mulie Trip to London', come back tomorrow for part 2; all the views from The Shard (including an interview), the view from The Sky Garden and the wonders of The V&A museum! See you tomorrow!
Share your thoughts :