21 or 22 (Books and Records) for '21-'22

It's been quite a while since I wrote one of these end-of-the-year-list blogs, so I figured it was time. But also, because everything since March 2020 has blurred together to feel like it's been either 2 weeks or 87 years, or both at the same time, I had to cover more than just 2022.

So here they are, the books and music from the last 2 years that got a thumbs up from me:

Books*

Side Note before I start: To be considered for the list, the book had to have both been published and read by me in '21-'22. I read 124 books over the last two years, many of which were from 2020 or earlier, and bought innumerable new books that I probably will love, but haven't gotten around to reading yet (my to-read pile covers 4 shelves). So there's a bit of luck of the draw built in, and I'll probably read something next month that I wish I'd included, but them's the breaks!

1 - Broken (in the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson 

I love Jenny, and everything she writes. She also picked some of my other faves recently by way of her Fantastic Strangelings Book Club

2 - Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile 

I'm too old to call myself a Brandi stan, but...

3 - The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec 

A novel telling norse myths from a completely different perspective, loved it

4 - The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton 

Excellent novel for music nerds like me

 5 - The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin 

All I can say is 😭😭... But in a good way

6 - The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson 

Love me a multi-generational novel 

7 - Not "A Nation of Immigrants": Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 

I remain a sociologist and history fan at heart. All of Roxanne's books are both super informative and engaging

 8 - The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson 

Best memoir I read this year

 9 - Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González 

A novel about two siblings in NY that sucked me right in

Records

10 - Ani DiFranco - Revolutionary Love

11 - Juliana Hatfield - Blood

12 - Lil Nas X - MONTERO

One of the greatest pop records ever, but you already know that

13 - dvsn & Ty Dolla $ign - Cheers to the Best Memories

Honorable mention to dvsn's 2022 offering, Working on my Karma, but this one edged it out for the list. Also A Muse in Her Feelings from 2020 remains on high rotation for me

14 - The Halluci Nation - One More Saturday Night

I absolutely love everything from The Halluci Nation (formerly known as A Tribe Called Red). The combination of EDM, Native traditional music, and activism may not be for everyone, but it is absolutely for me.

15 - Admiral Fallow - The Idea of You

16 - Frank Turner - FTHC

I think this may be Frank's rockingest, punkest, and most emotionally raw album ever. I know that sounds odd, but the combination is incredible

17 - Lizzo - Special

So what if this is on EVERYONE's 2022 list? It's an undeniably great album.

18 - Jann Arden - Descendant

19 - Mark Owen - Land of Dreams

Another wonderful (and slightly off-kilter) offering from my second favourite Take That member.

20 - Robbie Williams - XXV

Speaking of favourite Take That members... XXV is Rob's 25th anniversary celebration of his solo career, featuring re-recordings of all his hits with a full orchestra, plus one new song (or more on the deluxe version). So it's not groundbreaking, but it's really good. And any year Rob releases an album is a year that Rob makes my top albums list.

21 / 22 - Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days / In The Canyon Haze

Not sure if this counts as one or two... The Brandi Carlile Band's epic lockdown album In These Silent Days came out in 2021, and then In The Canyon Haze followed in 2022 with all the same songs, but new, sonically different, recordings. Maybe it's two albums, or maybe the combo makes up one deluxe version? I don't know, but any year Brandi releases an album is a year that she makes my top albums list, sometimes twice.

 

*I'm not going to take the time to add links for all these. If you're reading this, you clearly have access to the internet, so look it up your own self.

Robbie Williams Live in Munich... Again

I only seem to come to Munich for music. My first time here was back in 2013, for my second ever Robbie Williams show, and the last visit was 3 years later for Frightened Rabbit and Paws. This trip much more closely resembled that first one, in that it was also planned for a Robbie show, happened in August, and both times the night before the gig included big thunderstorms. Nobody asked me to marry them this time, though, so it's not exactly deja vu.

Anyway. When Robbie Williams - One Show & One Night Only -- a giant outdoor show for 100,000 people -- was announced, I woke up in the middle of the night to book my Platinum section ticket in the first minutes of the first pre-sale, and hoped Covid calmed its fool self down enough for me to go back to Munich. Since I've seen the city a couple times before, and the show was a bit away from the center of town, I prioritized the gig and booked a hotel that (on the map) was right across the street from the venue: Messe München, which other fans described as like a fairground. So while I figured the actual walk to the concert wouldn't be the 2 minutes that Maps quoted me, I guessed it couldn't be much longer than that, given that I could see the place from my window. 

Per the ticket, the show was supposed to start at 8pm and end at 10:30. But there were 2 openers, and Rob always goes for 1.5 - 2 hours, so I figured it was probably more like a 6:00 start. Since my busted back and knees rebel if I make them stand for more than 3 or 4 hours, and the only opener I'd heard of was Lufthaus (who I love, but they just DJ on stage, and I mean... I could listen to dance records at home), I thought I'd leave just before 6:00 and probably catch 1 1/2 openers with my maybe 10 minutes walk.

Nope.

At the appointed time, I walked down a pathway right outside my hotel door, that was marked for Messe, so I assumed it was just on the other side of the road. After 30 minutes of following the crowds all the way across a much-bigger-than-a-fairground area, past building after building, I finally saw an entrance to the concert venue of this behemoth place. But it was the West Entrance, and my ticket said Ost (East). There was no other gate as far as I could see, and every person around me was going in West, so I just went on in and figured there'd be a way to go in the right entry to the actual concert section inside. No luck. Every sign was West, West, West.

So I gave up looking, bought a t-shirt, got all my wristbands, and walked into my section right about 7pm... as Lufthaus started their 3rd to last song, and the other opening act was long finished. The section was PACKED, almost all the way out to the edge where you couldn't even see the stage. So I thought, if everyone's coming in the West entrance, there's probably way more room on the other side. There's some space along the back barrier (between Platinum and Gold sections), so I'll just go through the crowd and pass on over. By the end of the song, I'd hit a point where there were only 4 or 5 more people in front of me, and then a barrier... guarding the catwalk coming down into the crowd (aka the B stage), which extended past the back fence into the Gold section. I couldn't cross over. So I sheepishly found the nearest open spot that would annoy the fewest of the nice people who arrived earlier than I did.. and inadvertently got myself my closest view of Rob since the tiny Las Vegas theatre, at least when he came down the catwalk. It was the first time I've actually had to turn my entire body to keep watching him move around during a big show, since the larger section at the end of the B stage was behind me. Here's to getting lost?

Side note: I ended up standing next to a mother / daughter pair, who were interviewed and then filmed by a couple of press people right before the show started and during Let Me Entertain You. My lack of German skills limited my ability to eavesdrop, but I gathered they were chosen because the mom was wearing a Robbie concert t-shirt and the daughter had a big sign that said MY MOM IS YOUR #1 BIGGEST FAN. OK, that's cute, but no. #1 BIGGEST FAN? Not a chance. I'm closer to #1 BIGGEST FAN than her, and I'm not anywhere near the top of that list. I mean, I'm not even the #1 Biggest American fan. Although maybe top 5? Gotta be at least top 10. But on the overall, world rankings, I couldn't possibly be higher than like #563 BIGGEST FAN, and this woman wasn't even in the same league as fans I run with. Fake news!

Ahem. Anyway.

The show was incredible as always. I never have the words to say how amazing a Robbie show is, because no matter the venue, or how large or small the crowd, dude knows how to fill the room (or arena, or giant stadium) with his presence. And despite there being 200,000 hands holding up phones in all directions at all times, I got some really good photos of the big man. It's not skill, I'm just lucky to have long arms and a phone that's smart enough to make a picture turn out decently even though I'm waving it wildly in the air with one hand.

Since all RW shows are similar in some ways, with most of the same set list, I best remember the differences. I was really excited that they started the encore with the new single Lost, which I love. I must listen to it a lot, because I realized last night that I already know almost all the words, even though it's only been out a couple of weeks. And it was fun to hear Tripping live, maybe for the first time ever (at least the first I remember). 

Less fun a difference to remember was Rob leaving for a verse or so during She's the One, then coming back to end it and explain that he'd had to go throw up. I get it, buddy, that song makes me feel that way too. (Kidding. Kind of. That song's fine, I just never loved it. And after more than 20 years, I'm beyond sick of hearing it all the time).

But in all seriousness, when he told the crowd what happened, I immediately flipped from fangirl loving Robbie the entertainment machine and never wanting him to leave the stage to being concerned about Rob the person. I just wanted to say, No more songs! It's okay, these people don't need to hear Angels. Just go take care of yourself! Also, despite dark clouds overhead and a weather alert for "heavy and prolonged rain" issued earlier in the day for exactly the hours of the concert, the first drops of the night fell at the end of She's the One, and started to really come down after it ended. But our boy's a pro, so he stayed to sing Angels in the rain, and take a bow with the band before exiting stage right, with the huge crowd singing his song back to him. 

Hopefully all was well with Mr Williams when things calmed down, and it was just the adrenaline of the night hitting him in the stomach -- having 100k people stare at you for 2 hours could make anyone's nerves jangly. Even the world's greatest entertainer.

Brandi Carlile Live (for the First Time in a Long Time) in Chicago

 Last night I saw Brandi Carlile live in Chicago, in a crowd of 10,000. Last time I saw Brandi and the Twins live, I was one of maybe hundreds, and they didn't have a real record yet. And she was just as much of a rock star back then as she was on stage yesterday.

I've been a lover of the BCB (Brandi Carlile Band) since 2003, and still have two demo CDs on my shelf alongside all the other big studio albums, yet I somehow skipped all the live shows in the middle. About the same time that they went away to make it big, I slowed down on seeing live music for a few years. And when I started again, around a decade ago, Brandi was too known in Seattle for me to get a ticket. Every time I found out about one of her local shows, it was already sold out. Then she switched to playing the Gorge instead of the city, and... y'all... hell to the no on the Gorge. It's too far to drive there and back the same day, and the closest I will ever get to camping is a hotel with less than 4 stars. 

But during the pandemic I finally found out about the Bramily, which DUH I should've been a member of all along. And signing up for that was what finally gave me enough notice about the tour to get myself a good seat at the Chicago show. Because, yeah, I'll take a flight halfway across the country over camping ANY day.

I know it sounds like some kind of crazy bandwagon jumping being back now that everyone knows about Brandi, but c'mon... if you know me, you know I don't play around when it comes to music fanaticism.

I was trying to remember when the last time I saw BCB in person was, but it had to have been 17 or 18 years ago, and I saw a lot of their shows back then. Given that Brandi was still a local hustling to make it big, there were a lot of opportunities for live shows in Seattle when I discovered her in 2003, and even my completely broke ass could afford them. I know I went to a many a bar show, and made a few visits to a restaurant in Queen Anne where you could see BC and the Twins play an acoustic set for free on Sunday nights, as long as you bought something. So either of those settings could have been the last time, and it was probably in 2004, since I think 2005 was when they left town to make their first album.

It was before I had a million phone pics of everything I did, so I looked in my old blogging service to see if I could figure out the timing of my last Seattle BCB gig. I couldn't, but here are some excerpts of what I wrote about a show at the Tractor Tavern in October 2003:

Brandi kicked ass, as usual. Her CDs don't do her justice. Along with all the brilliant original material, she sang the hell out of Creep once again, and did the best version of Hallelujah that I've ever heard (which is saying a lot, because everyone and their mother has done that song).

Speaking of mothers, I bought a CD from Brandi's mom* on the way out.

I would recommend Brandi Carlile to just about everyone. She's that good. 

It wasn't my first BCB show, nor my last, but it seems to be the one I wrote the most about. Compare that to the ONLY thing I said about my first (absolutely incredible) Ani DiFranco gig in July of 2003: I just got home from the show and I couldn't possibly love Ani anymore right now. She just rocks the entire world.

Clearly there's a reason I'm not a rock journalist.

Anyway. Last night in Chicago. It was roughly eleventy kajillion degrees out, even after it got dark, but luckily there was a slight breeze and my seat was shaded by the stage, so I only sweated out about half my body weight during the show. Also, the only way to get seats up front was to be a Bramily member who got in on the pre-sale, so I spent the down time chatting with all the superfans around me about our history with Brandi, Ani and Celisse, tattoos, the upcoming Girls Just Wanna Weekend, feminism, racial justice... ya know, chick stuff.

The show was opened up by Celisse, who rocked my world, shredded on the guitar. She only did a few songs, but also got the chance to do a few with BCB during the headlining set.

Then came Ani DiFranco, who I just saw last month in Seattle, but who I'd happily hear play every night if I could. Ani's always amazing and inspiring, and getting to see her again alongside Brandi was one of the main reasons I picked Chicago as my stop on the tour. And as per the BCB way, Ani came back to sing 32 Flavors with Brandi and the band during their encore.

Then the main event! Brandi is, was, and always will be a rockstar. She killed it, as did the Twins. Who, by the way, were celebrating their birthday last night (although I think maybe it's actually today?), so Tim and Phil got to hear the birthday song from a full amphitheater before going back to the business at hand. 

My seat was down front, but sort of off to the side of the stage, so if I looked straight to my right I saw into the not-well-concealed backstage area, below one of the big screens for the folk in the back. There was a small open area between the stage barrier and the seats, and everyone in the first two rows got a wristband to allow them to flood that area. I was row three, so got the pleasure of staying in my seat. Or standing in front of it dancing for most of the night, actually. But because I remained where I was, I turned my head to see what was on the big screen while Brandi was telling a story about her family, and noticed Catherine Carlile standing there at the side of the stage, with both their kids playing around nearby. And it seemed like they were there for most of the 2 hour set. I love that. Not only that they go on the tours, but that they actually want to be there to see Brandi doing her job every night. What a family. What a band. What a night.

Oh, and Brandi's still doing Creep; with the help of Celisse on guitar last night. Same old rockstar from the Tractor!

*I have no actual proof of this, and I don't remember making the purchase at all. This is purely based on word on the street at the time, which was that Momma Carlile worked the merch table.

Back to the UK! Part 3: Edinburgh, London, and Soccer Aid

While the Robbie show in Stoke-on-Trent may have been the catalyst for my (triumphant?) return to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the bulk of my time there was spent just generally hanging out in two of the cities that I most missed while I wasn't able to travel.

Edinburgh

From Stoke, I took the train north to Edinburgh, where I'd rented a flat for a few days. I figured it would give me a break from hotels in the middle of my trip, letting me do laundry and cook my own food for a bit. But really it just made it like the old days when I made the city home for a while, every other month or so.

Because Embra's felt like home to me for so many years, I act more like a resident than a tourist, and there's not really much to tell about my time there. I went out walking every day, visiting places I'd missed, eating food I can only get in Scotland, and just generally feeling happy and relaxed... until the night before I was supposed to leave, when my train to London got cancelled. 

After having been on British trains so overbooked that I had to stand or sit on the floor, I always buy advanced tickets for a specific train with a reserved seat when I can. But of course, that can backfire when you find out about 16 hours before travelling that what you booked is cancelled and it's up to you to figure it out, with no help from the rail company. 

Upon seeing the cancellation, I found that the only train I could change my ticket for was earlier in the morning than I really wanted to leave, and despite being only about 12 hours away, didn't show that it was confirmed to travel like the other routes did. As I sat wondering what I'd do if it got cancelled as well, I decided to check flights, just in case. There were lots of flights to London the following day, most costing only a couple hundred bucks, so... sold. Forget the train. And the flight went off without a hitch. 

London

In London, I stayed at my usual hotel in a neighbourhood I know very well by now, so it was also homey in its own way. I'm a bit better at doing touristy things in London, so my days there included a visit to the Buckingham Palace shop for some official Platinum Jubilee swag, and wandering the Victoria & Albert Museum, where I checked out their Fashioning Masculinity exhibit, all about menswear. Fantastic. 

On the homey side, I also did a lot of walking just to enjoy the city, made a couple visits to my usual kebab shop, and did some record shopping (but sadly not buying), including my first visit to the Rough Trade in Notting Hill.

Oh, and also in London, I went to...

Soccer Aid

After my trip was already somewhat planned, Soccer Aid 2022 was announced, happening at the London Olympic Stadium only a day or two after I was supposed to leave there. So I figured I might as well extend my visit to go to the game -- it's a charity event, always a good time, decent football, and this year had a bonus halftime show from my very own popstar (and Soccer Aid co-founder), Robbie Williams. But because I didn't feel like waking up in the middle of the night to get tickets the moment they went on sale, all that was left when I looked was 'premium tickets' up high in the luxury area. So that's what I got -- why not? It's more money for UNICEF.

But when I arrived and was ushered in the VIP door -- where the actual on-air talent was also entering the stadium to be whisked down to the field -- I wasn't so sure about my ticket decision. Luckily, once I got past all the high-brow concessions and staff buzzing around cleaning up after us (because this was the part of the stadium too fancy for anyone to be forced to throw away their own trash), the environment was pretty much normal. And I did appreciate being in a section where the seats were more spread out and comfy than in the cheap, knees-smashed-up-to-your-chin areas.

The game was decent, tied at 1 at the half, when they pulled out the stage for Rob's performance... which was him in what looked like a sparkly tracksuit from up high where I was sitting (but which the big screen showed to be a rhinestone-covered Canadian tuxedo), a few members of his band, and a junior orchestra, performing Angels. Just Angels. I mean, it's a televised charity event with a halftime almost as long as one of the halves, so I was expecting a few songs or a medley like at the Super Bowl, but nope. Oh well. As it turned out the most memorable part of halftime for me was when they played a clip of Eddie Izzard asking us to donate more to UNICEF, getting all emotional about kids in war-torn areas, saying, "No child should be fearful of being shot while walking down the street, or going to school...." And I thought, that sounds like where I come from. When's the international community coming to deal with the humanitarian crisis in my country?

Anyway. As the second half got underway, I started thinking about the sardine-packed subway cars I normally experience after events like Soccer Aid, and how I was literally the ONLY person I'd seen around the entire packed stadium wearing a mask. For those who don't know, Soccer Aid is played between a team of English celebrities and retired footballers against the same from everywhere else. Because I'm a Scotland supporter normally, I'm physically unable to root for England in any sport and cheer for the World squad in Soccer Aid. But when it really comes down to it, I'm not bothered about who wins, there are no real stakes. So around the 73rd minute when the game was 2-2 and my bladder was full, I went to the bathroom and then bailed. 

Turned out the train was still very busy, unfortunately, both because others had the same idea as I did, and because a nearby Abba show let out just as I took off. The Abba bit I found out from a Swedish guy on the tube platform, who got very chatty after I helped direct him to the right train back to his hotel. He told me all about the Abba gig (beyond words), why it's only a one-off show (they're getting old), and all his upcoming travel plans now that flight bans have been lifted. Now, I'm normally not all that amenable to having long discussions with strangers in public places, but I couldn't help feeling a kinship to this guy who flew to another country, on his own, just to see a band he loved. Plus, Sweden's one of my top five countries!

It's now a week later, and after a very long, delayed flight, I've been back home a few days, getting into the swing of normal life again. And planning the next trip...

Back to the UK! Part 2: Robbie Williams Homecoming

Even though it came at the beginning, the highlight of my trip — and the whole reason it happened, to be fair — was seeing my popstar at his hometown football stadium.

Rob’s a proud native of Stoke-on-Trent, and an avid Port Vale supporter, but had never played a show there, despite always dreaming of it. And so he planned the Robbie Williams is Coming Home (an annoying English football reference that I choose not to dwell on) charity show, for June 2020. I, of course, got a ticket and planned my trip to Stoke right away.

But then for some reason, the show got postponed until this June. And after much waiting and replanning, I was there.

The gig was on a Saturday night, so I took the train up from London on Friday to ensure I had plenty of time for any travel disruptions (although, thankfully there were none), and spent most of Saturday just getting ready for the show.

I’d booked a hotel in Hanley — probably the farthest I could have gotten from the stadium in Burslem — but figured hey, it’s a stadium, there have to be a ton of great public transport options to get me there. Not so much. Every online route planner I checked pretty much just frowned and told me I should walk for 45 minutes, especially on the way back, given that the show would end about half an hour after the last bus of the night. So on the night, I decided to walk over to the show instead of taking the bus, just to see how it was, and be able to have some landmarks in case I was stuck trekking back in the dark.

We’d been sent information that the show started at 6:40, but Rob’s dad also posted that the main show wouldn’t start until 9:00. I normally wouldn’t go to any General Admission event any earlier than I have to, because my middle-aged body abhors standing for longer than a couple of hours, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the opening act, Lufthaus* so I left the hotel around 5:30. With the long hike and giant queue outside the stadium, I got in the doors around 6:45… to find that what had started at 6:40 was a couple of local radio DJs trying to hype up the crowd, and Lufthaus wouldn’t be on until 7:45. Ouch, my joints!

At least I had plenty of time before the big show to wait in lines for things, of which there were plenty. The longest was for merch, so I watched the queue and went to buy my t-shirt when it was only about 20 people deep, instead of stretching the entire length of the pitch (seriously). When I was walking away with my purchase, a guy kept grinning at me like he knew me. I figured it was mistaken identity, but turned out he was just friendly. He said hello, so I acknowledged him politely.

Him: “How long did you have to queue for that?”
Me: “Just a few minutes, not that long actually.”
Him, upon hearing my accent: “Where are you from?”
Me: “Seattle.”
Him: “Seattle?! And you came all this way for this?”
Me: “Of course, anywhere for Rob.”
He then got the attention of a group of folks nearby, announced: “She came all the way from Seattle for this!”
They all gave me a big cheer, and I gave them their prize for finding the American in the crowd.
Not really.

Anyway, much as I love the original Lufthaus music I’ve heard so far, their set wasn’t all that exciting. It was just Tim and Flynn (the other 2/3 of the group) DJing for 45 minutes, playing a bit of their own stuff, plus some standard dance tracks and a remix or two. And despite being the evening of a warm sunny June day, it was windy and freezing in the stadium by that time. We were a tough crowd.

Finally, at 9pm on the dot, Mr Williams and the band came on stage. And as usual, I can’t come up with good enough words to describe it. He was clearly having a blast and felt very at home on his… erm… home turf, because he killed it. Some of the show was just a normal set, and some was a musical biography, complete with some Take That (Could it be Magic), Don’t Look Back in Anger (because Take That sacked him for going to Knebworth with Oasis), the much loved among Friendlies but rarely played Karma Killer, No Regrets, and Love My Life.

The audience was certainly very supportive, although toward the middle of the crowd where I was standing, there seemed to be a lot of folks there to celebrate the local boy made good, and not so much his music. They knew all the words to Oasis and Angels, but totally lost interest during the lesser known songs that made me most excited. Not that I begrudge them being there, it’s fantastic to have a whole community so completely behind our guy that they’ll stand on a freezing pitch in a sea of 20,000 humans, despite the still very real risk of Covid, without even knowing the guy's songs.

I feel like Rob knew the crowd would be a mix, though, including the rabid Port Vale fans, and the encore started with him coming out wearing (and officially unveiling) their new ’22-23 strip, carrying the trophy they’d just won the week before. And then before finishing with his standard Robbie-encore-hits, he did Glad All Over, which I assumed (and Google confirmed) is affiliated with the club, given the crowd’s over the top reaction to a cheesy 1960’s Dave Clark 5 song.

In the end, my body was aching in completely unexpected places from the long walk and standing for so many hours, but I still smiled on every step of the 45 minutes back to the hotel. It was a perfect way to see Robbie on stage for the first time in 2 1/2 years, and I loved every second of it.


*Rob’s EDM side project that he’s pretending publicly not to be a part of, but has been talking about and playing us songs from for a couple years already, because the man can never keep a secret when he’s excited

Back to the UK! Part 1: Getting Here

Funny thing about taking a 2 ½ year break from international travel, you forget all your routines… including things like taking photos (never mind posting them!), and putting blogs out into the world. 

 

Which is why I’m just now writing about the beginning of my trip when I only have a couple days left of it. Oops… oh well.   

 

But all that aside… Didja hear? I left the country! For the first time since December of 2019!

I can’t say that travel has lost its Covid-era hassles yet, much like the world hasn’t actually exited the days of the ‘Rona, no matter how much people like to pretend everything’s back to normal. I was originally supposed to fly into Manchester on June 2^nd, and spend a night there before taking the short train to Stoke on Friday for the Robbie Williams Homecoming gig. But a few weeks before, my Manchester flight got cancelled, and my only change options were to land into Heathrow, then go across town and fly to Manchester out of Gatwick, or change to a different flight out of Seattle that had no seats available. I said no to both, which meant I had to cancel and rebook my flights to leave Seattle a day early, and stay in London for 2 days instead of Manchester for one. And that was only the first wrench thrown in my carefully planned itinerary.

The other funny thing about getting back to international travel after a long hiatus is that some things never change. Heathrow is still a giant misery, everything takes longer than it should, and 9 of 10 travellers appear to have taken an IQ-reducing pill prior to arriving at the airport.

And going away to known and unknown far-off places is still my very favourite thing.

There’s not really much to say about my roughly 48 hours in London at the start of the trip. Despite having my first class sleeper pod, I didn’t get much sleep on the long haul flight, as usual. Which meant my first afternoon and evening was nothing but me trying to stay awake as long as possible to try to adjust to the time, as usual. My extra day was also largely unmemorable, just sleeping late, doing a bit of shopping, and getting excited about heading to my popstar’s hometown for the weekend. 

Before I knew it, it was Friday and I caught a train up to Stoke-on-Trent for Robbie’s 2 year delayed Saturday night show at Port Vale. 

But more on that in Part 2…