Robbie's Long 90s in London

If it seems like all I ever do is go to London and/or see Robbie Williams live... welp... it's not not true...

When Robbie's latest album, Britpop, came out, he described it as the album he wanted to do right after his ouster from Take That, or what his first album would've sounded like if he knew then what he knows now. And that eventually inspired him to do a tiny show at Dingwalls in London, playing both Britpop and the first album, Life Thru a Lens, in their entirety. He called the gig Long '90s. 

That show was so wildly successful (I wasn't able to go, there were about 12k people ahead of me in the virtual line for 500 tickets) that it became a mini Long 90s tour, with 4 dates in small-ish venues around England and Scotland. And despite initially being locked out of tickets for all those shows as well (over 60k people ahead of me in the pre-sale queue!!), I knew I had to be there. So I booked flights anyway and continued to check Ticketmaster daily, determined to make it. After months of nothing but a sold out message, less than 2 weeks before the show, on my birthday, a handful of tickets for the London date were quietly released and I got one... maybe the only time in my life that keeping the faith actually worked.

But anyway, the show! 

I had a standing floor ticket, and since the Brixton Academy holds less than 5000 people (including the seats in the balcony), I wasn't worried about showing up early to get a good view. But it turns out that I should have. When I arrived, the lineup snaked around and around the building, over multiple blocks, and it took me at least half an hour to get to the door.  

So by time time I got in and quickly grabbed a t-shirt, the opening band was on their last few songs, and I was stuck at the veeeerrrrrrrry back. But since people always step out for drinks (or whatever) between sets, I was sure I'd have a chance to move forward when the clear out happened.

Nope. No luck. Nobody moved. And when Rob got started, I could hear the front section was full of my people, singing every word and having the time of their lives. While I was surrounded by the casual fans who had conversations during the non-hits, to the point that at times I struggled to hear the music. Oh, and a Robbie impersonator was standing right behind me (it's a lucrative gig in the UK, apparently), so all the loud-talkers were also asking for pictures with him as part of their generally being annoying.

So yeah. I was stuck in the wrong section. But it was still my only opportunity to hear two beloved albums live, so I made the best of it. And even with super zoom, I was too far away to get good photos of the stage, which gave me a reason to keep the phone in my pocket and just enjoy the singular experience. 

The concept was pretty simple: Rob sang both albums in order, and told stories, either about the songs themselves, or other things in his life related to the songs. 

Life Thru a Lens was first, and I had a fabulous time singing along to every song. Funny how I can remember every lyric of an album that came out 30 years ago, but I can't remember where I put the reading glasses that I took off my face 30 seconds ago. It was great to hear so many songs that I thought I would never hear live, alongside the ones I've heard repeatedly. He did the full album, in order, except for a swap of two songs when he accidentally introduced the wrong one. It was odd hearing Angels early in the set, instead of at the end, and Rob enjoyed himself by only singing about the last 30% of the song, and letting the crowd do the rest. At the end, he tacked on the hidden track poem, Hello Sir, as a bonus before stepping off stage just long enough for us to hear the Take That classic, Everything Changes, overhead.

Then the band hustled back on to play Britpop, which has already become my favourite overall Robbie Williams album. Intensive Care and Take the Crown are still a close second and third, but I think hearing Britpop live only helped solidify its place at the top. I sang along with at least some of every song -- as much as I knew... my memory is middle aged and the record had only been out for a couple of weeks. They did everything in order, but left out the songs You and Pocket Rocket. I can understand skipping the latter, since it's just an alternate version of a song they'd already performed, but I (and apparently many other fans) were disappointed not to hear You. They also threw in Selfish Disco from the deluxe version of the album, after it was picked to be the extra song by an Instagram vote.  

In the end, bad spot in the crowd or not, I had an amazing time. Photos or not, I'll never forget it. One of the best concerts ever.

During the show, Rob talked about wanting to do more smaller shows where he doesn't have to do his big hit set, and HELL, YES! Getting up at 3am to endure ticket pre-sale nightmares, travel halfway around the world, whatever it takes, I will be at every small Robbie show possible. Always and forever.

And not just because I'd prefer to never hear She's the One ever again for the rest of my life. Although that would be a perk.

Top Fives of 2025

Look, no matter what's going on in the world, I wouldn't be a proper blogger hack if I didn't publish my favourite media of the year at the end of December. So here you go, the top fives of 2025...

 

Books  

(That I read in 2025, not necessarily new books in 2025)

The Resurrectionist by A Rae Dunlap

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova

Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success by Jeff Hiller

The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa by Jonathan B Losos

 

Music 

(new albums from this year) 

Brandi Carlile - Returning to Myself 

Jann Arden - Mixtape 

Sam Bettens - Coming Home

Willie Nelson - Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle

Stereophonics - Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait

 

Television

Long Way Home (Latest in the Long Way motorcycle trip series. I love Ewan and Charley, and I love travel, and I will watch these two go anywhere. And then rewatch it again. And again. And again. And again. I hope they keep making these series until they’re adventuring to the high street for some shopping on their mobility scooters, because I’ll still be tuning in)

Acapulco (Final season this year, but worth going back to the beginning) 

Man on the Inside (2nd season this year - I love me a Mike Schur sitcom!) 

Clean Slate (Cute, sweet, very Norman Lear -- one of his last shows -- and with a great cast led by Laverne Cox) 

Mid-Century Modern (It's basically the classic doofy sitcom of the 70s and 80s... except super gay. Mostly just silly fun, and Matt Bomer playing the dumb hot friend is a DELIGHT)

 

Podcasts

The Joy Reid Show

The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali (Not really a podcast, but he's always posting great discussions that I watch / listen to like a podcast, so I'm counting it)

Vibe Check

How We Made Your Mother

American Fever Dream (Sadly ended this year) 

 

Movies... Well, Movie... That I Didn't Love...

No top 5, because I never see new movies anymore, even on streaming. I don't think they make movies for me anymore. My queendom for a 90 minute light comedy with absolutely no stakes!! 

The one movie I saw that came out this year was Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic. But as much as I love Rob, I didn't enjoy it. There were a few moments that I really did like, mostly little details and special fan Easter eggs, but overall... meh. 

First off, it's a musical, and it's well over 2 hours long, which are two of my most hated qualities in films. Secondly, the chimp thing was weird. Everyone else says they took almost no time for it to make perfect sense, but not me... I couldn't get past it. Especially since they used Rob's actual eyes and facial expressions on the CGI ape, and the combination just weirded me out. Finally, as a fan who was there and watching during a lot of what's in the movie, the timeline being all jumbled and the songs happening at the wrong point in his career were really distracting. As were all the scenes of him driving... he doesn't drive, never has! So maybe it's a movie for a musical lover who knows nothing about Rob, or the kind of Robbie super fan who loves anything he does unconditionally, but it's not for me. Oh well, maybe I'll like the next one...

Brandi Carlile Album Playback & Acoustic Show

On Saturday night, I and 2800 of my fellow Bramily* members had the joy of attending a one of a kind Brandi Carlile Band show here in Seattle, to get a sneaky preview of her new album, Returning to Myself.

The show was an album playback and acoustic performance, so the only folks on stage were Brandi, the Hanseroth Twins, and Sista Strings, all seated in comfy couches and chairs. It started with playing the album, all the way through. Not performing it, literally playing the record, with Brandi telling stories and talking about the songs in between. We all promised not to share any video or audio from the album that isn't out already (no spoilers!), so I won't talk too much about the songs either, but WOW. I'd never pretend to be some kind of critic who can put a value judgement on art, because it's so subjective, but I loved it. The band is very much firing on all cylinders on this one; it's very personal, and just feels like the most Brandi Carlile Brandi Carlile album to date. It's full of great songs, but I will venture that Human is an instant classic, and Church & State is going to be an ANTHEM.

After we heard the record and related commentary, Brandi took a few questions from the audience, and then the band played an acoustic set, starting with live versions of about half of the new album songs we'd just heard, and proceeding to a few requests from the crowd. All told, we spent a little under 3 hours together, singing, laughing, dancing, and just being filled with joy and excitement, at the end of No Kings day.

 

 

I've been to a couple smaller, fan-only shows like this, and it's always a very different vibe from a regular tour stop, in a great way. I have to assume it's because the artist knows the crowd is going to be completely and totally on their side, so they can let their guard down -- not put any less into the performance, just feel free to relax and have fun on stage. Last night was the same, a unique kind of experience and energy in the room. 

Although (tangent alert!), there was one song that felt very familiar, taking me back to the beginning. Early in my BC fandom, 2003-2004, Brandi didn't yet have a record deal, but she and the Twins had already been hustling in Seattle for years. They had a couple of demo CDs and played regularly around town, so people knew the music, and at that time, the 'hit' was Turpentine. Sure, there were lots of us at the gigs who kept the CDs on repeat and knew all the songs, but Turpentine was the one even the more casual fans could join in on. So when they played it last night, with every person in the room singing along, it was a moment of deja vu. Even though back then the song was faster, harder, more electric guitar forward, and not the melodic, 3 part harmony oh-oh-oh version they do now. Even though back then "it's 6am and I'm all messed up" was only the clean version for the recording, and neither the crowd nor the band were singing 'messed up' in the live version. Even with the clear differences that the years have brought to that familiar song, I felt like I was back standing in a crowded bar, belting it out with the strangers around me, more than 2 decades ago. 

And I couldn't be happier to still be here singing along, or prouder of Brandi and the Twins for what they've accomplished since those early days being the hardest working band in Seattle. 

Buy this album, y'all. I promise you're gonna LOVE it. 

 

*Insofar as fan clubs still exist for grown-ass adults in 2025, you could say the Bramily are Brandi's fan club 

London Calling

Stopped by London for a couple days on the way back from Dublin, because if I'm not there at least twice a year, I don't know what I'm doing with my life.

Maybe a dozen years ago, someone asked me how many times I’d been to London, and I had no idea. It was only a handful of visits back then, but it was still enough that I had lost count. It’s probably my favourite city in the world, so I stop by whenever I’m in the area… or whenever I have an excuse to go for an event… or whenever I’m flying BA and have to change planes at Heathrow anyway… 

Basically, anytime I can find an excuse to be in London, I’m in London.

 

But that usually means I’m just popping by for a day or two in between things, with no time to do anything but meander through the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), eat a kebab, and sleep. So I’m pretty much confined to my usual ‘hood or whatever’s a short ride on the Tube. 

 

And the same was true this time, which included stops at the Moco, the Design & Disability exhibition at the V&A, a little shopping, and lots of walking.

 

London, like all major cities, is a collection of distinct neighbourhoods that all have their own personality. My London ‘hood is South Kensington, completely by accident. Many years ago, I got a great deal on a brand new boutique hotel there, when it was a part of the city I’d never been to before, and not only did I love the hotel, I loved the area. So even after the hotel got established and I couldn’t always afford to stay there – or when the ownership changed, making me no longer like the place -- I still find a spot to stay in South Kensington every visit. The big draw is the nearness of the V&A and Hyde Park, but I also can’t underestimate the benefit of knowing this area better than the rest of London. I’ve got certain stores I always shop in and a regular kebab shop, and I even know which lines run through the local Underground stations and where I can or can't go on them, without having to look at the map.

 

I don’t know if I'd recommend South Kensington to everyone – neighbourhoods have a personality just like people do, and everyone has to figure out for themselves what they're compatible with – but I highly recommend finding your ‘hood when you visit London. Especially if you're like me and not out doing a whole bunch of social things with friends all the time, having a place that feels quite homely* makes it as if you’re wandering around holding hands with the city itself.

 

I can't say what it is that makes a human feel like they belong in a particular place, but I have a few cities that I’ve never really lived in, that feel like home to me anyway. London’s very close to the top of that list. 

 

 

*I'm using the British meaning here, which is 'like home', not the old USian way of saying it's not very attractive.

Britpop in Dublin

So... what did you do last weekend? Oh, nothing much? Watched some TV? Well, I just took a quick little jaunt over to Dublin...

No, really, I went all the way to Ireland for less than 2 days. By the time I got settled into the hotel after my halfway-round-the-world journey Friday night, it was 8pm, and only about 38 hours until I had to catch my lift back to the airport Sunday morning. So that didn't leave me much time to do anything but go to the Robbie Williams Britpop tour stop that had brought me to town. 

I wasn't too worried about missing stuff, though; I visited Dublin back in 2016 with my ex-Scotsman, and we did all the touristy things then. We saw Dublin Castle, walked along the River Liffey and crossed a couple of its bridges (but not the famous Liffey Bridge, which we did walk past, but it was either closed or too busy... or not where we needed to cross... I don't remember), and (obviously) visited the Dublinia Viking and Medieval Museum. 

On that trip, I even dragged the man with no interest in anything more artistic than a football jersey on a trek across town to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. But once we got inside the grounds, we started noticing that most of the doors to exhibit rooms were closed and locked, and no one else was around except a few guys with tools and ladders... and it dawned on us that maybe it was not open that day, and we had just slipped in with the renovation crew. But sadly we weren't equipped to use our accidental sneak entry to pull off the world's greatest Irish art heist, so we just found our way to an exit and went on with our turismo. 

So since I already took in (pretty much) all the things I wanted to see last time, I wasn't particularly motivated to go out for anything other than food on the drizzly, muggy afternoon before the main event. 

Because as it should be, Saturday night was Robbie Williams night in Dublin. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE CRAIC?!*

I overheard a local on our walk to the gig saying that to her friend, and I had to steal it.

WHAT A SHOW!!! Croke Park was completely sold out -- 80,000 people -- with an amazing crowd. People always tell me that Irish audiences are the best, but I had to see it for myself. I've been to around 20 Robbie shows in various locations and never heard such loud singing along, to whole songs, not just the choruses that everyone knows. Rob said near the end that it was the best crowd he'd ever had (sincerely, not just working the audience), and I believe it. 

I have to say that the view was a bit jarring for me at first, because I got a seat this time, after being in the front standing section for the last few shows. Rob's truly the most amazing entertainer, and it doesn't matter if you're pressed up against the stage or in the very back of the stadium, you'll have a great time and feel like he's singing directly to you. But even sitting just a couple rows away from the field, I was pretty far from the stage, and it took a minute to adjust to him looking 3 inches tall, after having gotten used to watching an actual sized Robert. On the plus side, since I couldn't take that many good photos with my limited zoom anyway, it gave me a reason to keep my phone in my pocket and enjoy the moment for once.

The set list was pretty much the same as the London Britpop shows (catchup post coming on that later!), with a couple small changes. This tour's tradition of 2 surprise guests continued -- one to duet on Relight my Fire, and one with their own song -- but they were both Irish folks I didn't know anything about. I did catch that the one who got a gigantic roar of welcome from those in attendance was Garron Noone, who led a rousing singalong version of Take Me Home, Country Roads. Never thought I'd hear a John Denver song at a Robbie Williams gig, but those peanut butter cup ads are on to something: putting two things I love together made me love them both even more!

All in all, it was an incredible night, and I was totally in it, singing, dancing, and grinning, even during my I'm-so-beyond-sick-of-this-stupid-cover-please-never-play-it-again song (I won't say which one that is, but it rhymes with Bees the Fun), and had a spring in my step on the long walk back to my hotel afterward.

So I'd say the quick visit to Dublin was a success. The show was one of a kind, and we really did have the craic... far beyond anything I could have imagined.

 

*If you don't know what the craic is, look it up your own self! Kidding. It's basically Irish for super fun-ness, pronounced like crack.

Welcome Back (Globe)Trotter

 We're back, baby!

I never did get around to starting a Substack, and I'm glad I didn't, but I didn't really start posting again here either... which I'm not so glad about. 

So I'm back now (with an option to get this as a newsletter if that's your bag), picking up where I left off. And committing to keep it updated going forward.

Look, the world is ROUGH right now. Personally, socially, politically, globally, this is very much The Darkest Timeline. And while I pretty much spend all my time, and energy, and thought every day trying to make that better, sometimes I need a break. We all do. We need to take time to do something we love, to laugh, to celebrate life's small adventures. So here I am, trying to do a little of that now and then.

For the next little while, I'll be going back through a bunch of unpublished posts from the last 2 years, and sharing them until I'm all caught up.

But don't worry, there aren't that many catch-up posts out there, I'm skipping a few trips. Like both of my annual pre-Christmas visits to London and Edinburgh, the time I holed up in Stockholm with a terrible cold, and the several days I sat around Palm Springs doing nothing but reading. 

But you will get fun travel stories like this: I was all queued up to catch my flight to Edinburgh (Heathrow loves lining people up early!), when they announced a technical issue. Not boarding, no timeline. But it's the UK, so everyone just stayed in the lineup. A few minutes later, when the gate agent guy came over to give an update, he came and spoke directly to me, about 3/4 of the way back in the queue, too quietly for others to hear, and walked away... Like I was somehow the only one who needed to know. The boss of the line, I guess.

Stay Tuned...

Catching Up: Britpop in London

I know, it seems like I only ever go to London. But that's kind of been true for the last couple of years... I still love to go new places, but I'm 100% OVER the actual mechanisms of travel. So most of my plans end up cancelled when even the tiniest hint of a hassle comes up -- flight time change, weather, me waking up with a sniffle -- and the ones I keep are ones where I don't want to miss the event. So mostly when Robbie Williams is involved.

My summer 2025 trip to London was exactly that. Rob's tour for his upcoming Britpop album included two London stadium shows on successive nights, so I got tickets for both.

The trip was just a quick one, arriving at Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon, seeing the popstar Friday and Saturday night, and back home Sunday, so I didn't have time to do much else. I was also hindered by having sprained my knee just one week earlier. By being a klutz walking down the street.

I was on my way home with bags of groceries in each hand, about a block from home, walking super fast like I always do, when I tripped on uneven pavement and became a cartoon character flailing wildly, trying to catch my balance against the weight of the bags and forward momentum. But I failed, and fell flat on my face in the middle of the sidewalk, with my left knee taking most of the impact. After picking myself up and limping home, I took an ibuprofen, put an ice pack on my bruised and swollen kneecap, and went about my day... albeit seated. Once the pain and swelling subsided on the bashed up part of my knee, I noticed that the LCL side was showing all the signs of a sprain. I was a dancer until age 20, and have been clumsy my entire life, so trust me, I know from joint sprains. This one seemed pretty minor, so I dug out a knee brace from one of my previous injuries, went about the same home treatment I've done a dozen times before, and assumed it'd be fine in time to travel. 

Another quick side story here, since I'm already off topic anyway... The first single of the new Robbie album, Rocket, was released about a week before I gracefully injured myself, a couple weeks before I left town. As part of that promotion, Karl Brazil (Rob's drummer, musical director, and frequent collaborator) posted a photo of its four songwriters -- Robbie, Karl, Tony Iommi, and Tom Longworth -- looking super rock and roll, but also, ya know, not 25 years old, saying something like "name this band." I replied with Dad Sabbath, which I found hilarious, but which got no response on Instagram at all. So imagine my surprise when, on my way to London a short time later, I heard Karl Brazil on the Robbie Williams Rewind podcast making a joke about his band Dad Sabbath, and getting a good laugh. He did give credit to it being an IG comment, but still... between that and Robbie Williams himself repeating a joke I'd told him to all his Insta live viewers (a much longer story that happened during the pandemic lockdown), I think I've earned the right to put Comedy Writer for the Robbie Williams Band on my resume. 

But back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Despite the many hours of travel that limited my ability to put my leg up the way I really needed to, my knee wasn't in too bad shape when I arrived in London, but I wouldn't say it was in great form either, with only a week of healing done. Not the best way to find myself in a city where I normally walk several miles every day, where you can't get far without having to climb up or down stairs, and where I had standing tickets to two (at least) 2-hour concerts. 

Nevertheless, I persisted. 

For both nights of the Britpop show, I timed my travel to get to the stadium about 45 minutes before Rob was set to hit the stage, because I didn't want to stand any longer than I had to on my bad knee, especially since the trip there and back included lots of walking. Luckily my ticket was especially for the front of stage section, so even arriving that late, I had a pretty good view for both.

This tour's set is much more cabaret style than some of the previous ones, with interludes of stories and videos, Robbie making his case that he deserves the title King of Entertainment, and lots of guests. It was a mix of originals and covers that he has done in a lot of shows before. I think Old Before I Die was maybe the only old original I hadn't heard live before, and the show opened with the first single off the new album, Rocket, along with Rob taking a (wired) nosedive off a giant rocket on stage. The covers with guests were the most unique part of each night. 

Both shows featured Lulu joining Rob to 'reclaim' Relight My Fire, her duet with Take That, for which Rob was originally supposed to do the lead vocals, but during recording they gave it to Gary Barlow instead. They sounded great and it was super fun to see them together. Friday night also featured a song by 90s British boy band Five, which Rob started, and Five finished -- the group's first performance on stage together in 25 years. Having not grown up in the UK, I didn't know the song, and only knew a little about the band, but the crowd went wild and I could appreciate the moment nonetheless. On Saturday night, instead of Five we got three grime artists doing their grime thing with Rob. I didn't know who they were (not well versed in the genre), and the internet's feelings on the guys were mixed when I went to find out, so.. shrug emoji, I guess.

The only other thing that was different at the Saturday show was getting drenched. It was cold and grey all evening, but right as the band came on stage, it started bucketing down, and continued to soak us for the first 2 or 3 songs. It then switched to more of a drizzle for a couple songs before it quit for the rest of the night, but it was still enough that I hadn't fully dried by the time I got back to the hotel nearly 3 hours later.

But even soaked with a sore knee, I had a smile a mile wide. And that's why these are the trips that never get cancelled.

Catching Up: Last Thanksgiving in London

For the last ten to fifteen years, I've typically spent Thanksgiving either out of the country, or on a long haul flight home, eating airplane food for my holiday dinner. I'm too much of a history buff to buy into the mythology or 'celebrate' the American Thanksgiving holiday, and don't care about missing a day of overeating with friends and/or family, so I prefer to spend the day anywhere but here. 

This year, against all odds, I'm not travelling, but last year I was... and I had a lovely holiday to myself in London.

I started my day at the London Moco Museum, where Robbie Williams had recently had several pieces added to their permanent collection, so obviously I had to go take a look at that. As usual, I loved Rob's stuff, but I think I actually spent more time admiring and photographing their Basquiat and Keith Haring sections. Such a modern art nerd!

Once again, I spent far too much money getting cool art stuff at the gift shop. But I was forced to show some some restraint, because I had limited space in my luggage, and lots more on my (early Christmas) shopping list, which I spent the rest of the afternoon getting as I walked down Oxford Street, away from the museum. 

As usual, I was an excellent shopper and could barely close my suitcase at the end of the day. Luckily this was pre- tariff era, and I didn't have to wonder whether I'd still have a generous personal import allowance when I landed at home, or not...

After dropping all my purchases back at the hotel, I wandered back out for my Thanskgiving dinner: a takeout falafel platter from a Lebanese restaurant, which I greatly enjoyed with a French rosé. No pie for dessert, but mini Christmas puddings were already on sale for the year, which worked well enough for me.

Much better way to spend the day than watching parades or gorging on turkey, if you ask me...

Catching Up: London / BST Hyde Park (Again)

It's been well documented that London is my #1 city, and Robbie Williams is my #1 popstar, so when it was announced that he'd be headlining a night of BST Hyde Park again in July 2024, of course I was there.

I landed at Heathrow on July 4th (because I love spending all the iconic American holidays in foreign lands), to spend a week in London with the Rob show right in the middle, carrying an unexpected bottle of wine in my bag. Along the way I had a chat with the flight attendant about wine, and she recommended a nice Bordeaux that I quite enjoyed, so she gave me a bottle to take with me. Gotta love first class!

Anyway. Aside from the music, I didn't do anything interesting... just a typical few days in my usual London haunts, so on to the show...

As a rule, I hate music festivals, and only Rob can get me to show up to one, even for just a little while. So for BST I did the same as last time and got a ticket that included the 'VIP Garden', giving me a more sparsely populated area to hang out in until I was ready to join the stramash at the front of the stage. I wasn't really interested in anyone playing before the Robbie closing set, so I arrived pretty close to his start time, to avoid awkwardly standing around as a solo VIP, sipping on overpriced beverages. I got there right about the time Seal started playing (the last artist before RW), and listened from the Garden area while I bought a t-shirt and drank a hard cider. I was never that big a fan of Heidi Klum's ex-husband -- I only know those 2 or 3 songs that everyone remembers from the 90s -- but he sounded pretty good from a distance.

When Seal finished and the masses started flooding back into the VIP Garden for the break between performers, I took advantage of the relative sparseness of the crowd to find myself a decent spot in front of the stage. Unfortunately the group of women I ended up standing next to were extremely drunk and kept bumping into everyone, while also being SO LOUD that my right ear hurt from their shouting by the time the show got started. But at the point that I realized I couldn't spend 2 more hours near them, the throngs had returned and I was walled in by humans on all sides. The drunken banshees were also convinced that Kylie Minogue was there as a guest, because they'd heard Kids during the soundcheck and were sure Robbie would never sing it unless she was there. Except that he does, at every show, everywhere, always, with Kylie's parts covered by the backup singers. Since the whole audience couldn't help but overhear, I noticed I wasn't the only one rolling my eyes at their antics.

Then we were given even more time to overhear intoxicated asinine shouting when the show started a bit late, because England had gone to penalties in a knockout game of the Euros, and everyone (most of the crowd, the band, Rob) was watching. So they waited to come on stage until the game finished... which England won, and put everyone in an extra good mood.

Maybe because of the football, or maybe just out of habit, Rob seemed to be having fun, and the performance was great, as always. He mostly did the same set he'd been doing on other shows at the time, but there were a few new things I hadn't heard live before... which isn't that easy to do when my list of RW concerts is in the double digits. 

He had a special Hyde Park intro video at the beginning that hinted at his special guests for the night... none of whom were Kylie. In the middle of the show, he did sort of a 90s interlude starting with his cover of Don't Look Back in Anger that was standard in the set list at that time (including his Liam Gallagher impression which never fails to amuse me) and then going into the Supergrass song Alright with an appearance by Gaz Coombs (out of Supergrass). Then the Britishness went into overload, as the Coldstream Guards Band and Danny Dyer* joined him for a rendition of Blur's Parklife. Other new live experiences were Something Beautiful and Advertising Space (one of my favourites), along with Take That's Back for Good, which I'd heard recordings of in Rob's early solo days as a punk version, but this was the first I'd heard him do it in the original Gary Barlow ballad style. There was also a very sweet moment at the end during Angels where his wife and eldest daughter came on stage and shared a group hug that lasted for most of the instrumental section.

So yeah, always great to see our Rob, especially when he seems to be having as great a time on stage as we are, watching. Well worth the travel and the crowds, every time.

 

*Either you know why Danny Dyer was the perfect person to join on Parklife, or you don't, so I'm just gonna leave it there

Catching Up: Holiday Weekend in Amsterdam, Moco Museum

When the announcement came out in spring of 2024 that Robbie Williams was having his first art exhibition at the Moco museum in Amsterdam, my last few days of vacation for the rest of the year were already all committed to trips I didn't want to change, and the show's run was set to end before I'd get a new grant of time off. So I was faced with the good employee / devoted fanatic's classic conundrum: do I miss the thing and forever feel like a bad fan, take unpaid days off and lose money, or try to fit an entire trip to Amsterdam and back into the Memorial Day long weekend?

Of course I chose the holiday weekend option, resulting in my most unhinged travel plan to date.

I left on Friday night, and since I usually avoid the amateur travel times (ie holiday long weekends), I have never dealt with a more packed airport or longer security lines. They only had one pre-check line open at SeaTac, and it snaked all through the winding ropes and faaaaaaaaaar beyond, out through the hallway and down past two entire check-in sections. It couldn't have been less than 60 minutes wait, probably closer to 90. When I found the end of the line, there was a member of airport staff placed there to direct the bewildered into queue, so I asked if the first class lineup was shorter, and he pointed me to a premium checkpoint where I didn't get pre-check, but only had to wait about 15 minutes. But even that felt like an inordinate amount of hassle, so the whole experience made me immediately sign up for Clear to jump all security lines in the future, and vow to never fly on a holiday weekend again.

I might be a bit of a spoiled traveller. Shrug, not sorry.

To try to make the trip slightly less tiring, I took a direct flight that arrived in rainy Amsterdam early Saturday afternoon, and went straight to standing in more long lines at passport control. Which is where I was able to confirm that the A Black Lady Sketch Show character who is the world's greatest spy, staying completely invisible by just being a regular-looking woman, is 100% possible.

The passport area of Schipol that they herded us into had no electronic gates, just two booths where everyone in the giant queue had to speak to a person. As I got close to the front, I could see that they were asking every non-Dutch citizen for a whole bunch of details about their stay, requiring them to show a return ticket and hotel confirmation. Which was taking FOREVER as person after person approached the desk looking completely befuddled by the need to have all their travel documents organized and available to show. So, pro jetsetter that I am, when I got up to the desk and handed him my passport, I was ready with all my booking apps open in my phone, as well as my museum ticket, because what could spur more suspicion than going to the other side of the world for barely 48 hours? 

The border guy who'd asked every other person ahead of me no less than 28 questions, quickly scanned my passport and disinterestedly asked where I was going. 

"Well, I'm going to the Moco Museum..."

"I mean, are you in transit to somewhere?"

"No, just here for two days and back home."

[Stamping and handing back the passport] "Have a nice day."

So yeah, sometimes it's beneficial to be an invisible regular-looking middle-aged woman.

Anyway. My museum ticket was for Sunday -- my only full day in Amsterdam -- so getting there was my one goal for the day. The museum itself is pretty small, and I'm never that stand and stare at the art for an hour person regardless, so my visit was relatively quick. There wasn't a lot in Rob's section that he hadn't already posted online, but it was cool to see it at full scale on the walls, and take part in the overall experience they'd created around the show.

The museum has a lot of other Modern & Contemporary art (MoCo, get it?), so I walked through the whole place and loved it. Except the small room of Warhols packed wall to wall with people... I rolled my eyes and walked away from that one, but I did spend a minute nerding out in front of the Basquiats. I also spent WAY too much in the gift shop on Williams, Basquiat, and Banksy swag that you can't get anywhere else (however much you think I spent, double it and you'll be closer), and left very satisfied.

With rain non-stop during my brief visit, and really just one reason for going anyway, all I had the time and desire to do was see the museum and go for a couple walks when it wasn't too damp out. Amsterdam is one of those places that has always felt relaxing and homey to me, so I don't much feel like tourist-ing when I go there, anyway.

I then spent all day Monday getting the long-haul flight home, and was back at work Tuesday morning, exhausted, the weekend a blur.

But still, I'm glad I went. All the sleep deprivation and travel crowd chaos was worth it in this case, but would I ever do it again? 

I mean... yeah, if I had a reason. A good fan's work is never done...

Catching Up: Willie Nelson in San Diego

As a Gen X American, especially one with a country music loving dad, Willie Nelson and his songwriting have been omnipresent throughout my entire life, and I can't remember a day when I wasn't already a fan. His music was always around me, even if I was well into adulthood before I started listening to him on purpose.

At some point in early 2024, it occurred to me that Willie was still touring, and had recently had his 90th birthday, so if I was going to finally get around to seeing him live like I'd always wanted to, I'd better get on it. But all the upcoming tour dates near me were festival-type stadium shows with a long list of performers, totally not my bag. So instead, I grabbed a ticket for a regular tour stop in San Diego, and booked a quick trip to hang with Shotgun Willie and Trigger in sunny California.

Except my first (and so far only) trip to San Diego that April weekend was grey and drizzly, with a bit of a chill in the air. Which wasn't ideal since the venue was outdoors, right on the water -- basically a beachfront version of the Hollywood Bowl, complete with weird shared tables and picnics down front. So my seat in the section nearest the stage got partial cover from the shell over the stage when a light rain started, but I was also stuck sharing a table with boozed up strangers who wanted to chat with me... Win some, lose some, I guess?

Anyway. The opening band, Asleep at the Wheel, was fun and enjoyable, doing all country standards. So much singing along to songs I wasn't even aware I knew the words to!

And of course I don't have to tell you that Willie was great. He still sounds good and has all the charisma, all the stage presence he's always had, even if he's (obviously) no spring chicken and now puts on a seated, more mellow acoustic show. The Family (his band) was a smaller version of itself, and included his son Micah, who also led a couple songs with Willie and the band backing him up, one of which was a particularly memorable moment of the show.  

The song was prefaced by Micah telling a story of sitting around chatting and playing cards at home, when his dad offhandedly said, "If I don't get to Heaven, I won't have far to fall." Which Micah rightly recognized as a perfect Willie line, and replied, "You need to write that song." But Willie didn't want to, and suggested Micah should write it instead. So, then, Micah told us, "I smoked so much weed I felt like I was dying, sat down, and wrote a Willie Nelson song." And it really was exactly that... perfectly witty, with just the right guitar sound. I regret not recording it on my phone that night, because my wish that it will appear on an album has yet to be granted, and I'd totally settle for a crap version on my mobile if it never does.

Willie and Family started at 8:15 and only played about 70 minutes, but there was no messing around. One song went right into the next, so they still packed a lot into the set list. He did some of the biggest hits, but he has so many that he could have gone twice as long and still not included them all. I loved every second, singing and smiling the whole time, as it flew by in what felt like seconds. And then, even with the slow, crowded exit from the venue and a 20 minute walk to my hotel, I was back in my room by 10pm. I love gigs for old folks! More artists should do stuff that ends early. Or starts even earlier. I know matinees aren't considered very rock n roll, but I'd go see waaaaay more gigs if I didn't have to stay up past my bedtime to do it. Get that middle aged disposable income, rockers! It's there for the taking!

Postscript - 

Because I bought my tickets long after the tour had gone on sale, the only seats left up close to the stage were 'VIP' ones that came with a package of swag and a year's membership to Willie's fan club. Yes, I'm a diva who refuses to watch anything from the cheap seats at this point in my life, but also, I like merch, why not? So I got my stuff and signed up for the fan club, where I ended the year winning their holiday giveaway contest, netting me a signed copy of Willie's book about his songwriting, Energy Follows Thought, a cool wooden tree ornament, and a gift certificate that I used to buy a t-shirt. Not a bad VIP bonus!

Catching Up: Tina and Amy Live in Portland

Once upon a time... well... once upon late 2023, my friend Steve learned that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were taking a comedy show (the Restless Leg Tour) on the road, and as the good fans that we are, we had to go! But at that point, they were only stopping in a few cities, and Seattle wasn't one of them... but Portland was. So we excitedly got our tickets and planned a quick road trip.

 

But when the show weekend in mid-January 2024 rolled around, the weather had other ideas, with ice, heavy snow, and high winds predicted. Of course that wasn't going to deter us from seeing our favourite funny folk, but we did decide it probably wouldn't be safe to drive and took the train instead, arriving for the show Friday afternoon in very cold winds, but nary a snowflake to be seen.

After settling in at the hotel (and having dinner with plenty of wine), we walked the couple blocks over to the show, which was at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.* When I grew up near Portland, everyone called it The Schnitz, and I don't know if anyone still uses that nickname, but I like it -- it sounds like a cross between a schnitzel and a snitch -- so I'm sticking with it.

When we arrived at the Schnitz, they informed us of the rules for the performance, which specified that phones had to be completely turned off, and no heckling would be allowed. I've been to a number of these kind of comedy tours over the years, and they all have the anti-phone policy. I get it, if you're a big-name comic, you don't want your bits leaked online before you can officially release them in your TV special. But heckling? I've never witnessed a heckler even once in all the gigs I've seen. So why call that out?  

Later on, I realized why. There was an improv section where the crowd was asked to shout out suggestions... and then they kept shouting things, unsolicited, for the rest of the show. Evidently, once people get permission to yell at the performers, they don't think they have to stop. I know this makes me sound like I'm 185 years old, but... Does no one know how to behave in public anymore? 

Also, maybe 5-10 minutes before showtime, I glanced at my phone (still on, because we were 5-10 minutes before starting, but locked because I was just checking the time) and some usher-type guy leaned over and menacingly said, "TURN YOUR PHONE OFF. I WILL kick you out!" I was so shocked by the outsized reaction to me looking at a clock for 1.3 seconds that my only response was to give him a WTF! Roid-rage much? face while I hit the power button. Steve's reaction to the guy's rudeness was a bit stronger, so luckily Mr Phone Cop walked away before my protective friend had a chance to chew him out (and probably get us removed from our seats).

Anyway. The show was fantastic, super funny, including Zarna Garg's opening set. Tina and Amy told stories, did both planned skits and improv, tried their hands at separate stand-up sets, read the 'news', even answered audience questions, and it was all hilarious. But even as great as it all was, Maya Rudolph's guest appearance (as the ghost of Whitney Houston) stole the show. I was laughing through the entire performance, but Maya's Whitney was almost painful, it was so funny. I guess different cities got different guests, but I feel pretty certain that ours was the best. 

Afterward, we went back to our hotel and hung out drinking more wine in the lobby bar, where we chatted with the other guests, laughed about the show, and Steve occasionally exclaimed, "I got to see Minnie Riperton's daughter!" 

Which is not a weird thing to say... for him.

The next morning we woke up for our late morning train home, to find ourselves surrounded by nonstop snow, freezing temperatures, high winds, and Amtrak extremely delayed. After waiting around the hotel for a while, we headed down the road to the station to wait there and cross our fingers that the train would leave before too long. That few blocks was the only bad part of the trip, with icy feet in the snow, wind gusts nearly knocking us over, frozen snowflakes stinging our faces, and Steve's poor service dog so badly sliding and blowing around the sidewalk that he couldn't do his primary job of (much needed in that weather) stability support.

We finally got on the train around 2pm (the time it was originally supposed to get us home), and arrived over 4 hours late, to no sign of a winter storm up in our 'hood.

Two weeks later, Tina & Amy announced their tour was coming to Seattle. Because of course.

*Interesting (or not so much?) side note about this particular theatre: despite growing up in the area, the Tina and Amy show was only my third occasion to go to the Schnitz. One was when I performed there -- I don't remember why my dance group had this gig -- and the other was seeing Sinéad O'Connor in 1990, when my friends and I were in the actual very last row, with nothing but a wall behind our seats. So after the extremes of being on stage, and as far from the stage as possible, this was my first normal, floor seat visit.

Catching Up: Brandi Carlile and Friends at the Hollywood Bowl

I love Brandi Carlile, and have since the early 2000s demo CD days. I also hate going to the Gorge, and have since... I don't know... birth. So because the Gorge Amphitheatre in George is always Brandi's closest tour spot these days, I only ever see her play if I jet off someplace, and I'm always on the lookout for destination shows. Which meant that I couldn't pass up the opportunity in the fall of 2023 to go check out Brandi and a mystery set of 'Friends' at the legendary Hollywood Bowl.

I flew to Los Angeles on Friday the 13th, which cursed me with a very long and hassle-filled process to get an Uber at LAX, and then opening my luggage at the hotel to find that my shampoo had come unsealed and leaked all over my toiletry bag. Oh wait... That's not Friday the 13th, that's just a normal travel day.

The show was on Saturday night, and since I was staying just down the road from the Hollywood Bowl, I had the whole day free before it was time to walk over. But I lost all interest in LA tourist activities roughly 3 seconds after Debbie Reynolds lost her hopes of opening a Hollywood costume museum, so I spent the day sitting in my hotel room watching sports. All three of my preferred teams won their games (New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals, University of Washington football, and Montréal in the NHL), so as I headed out the door for Brandi and friends, I was ready for a winning night as well. 

I was correct, sir!

The Hollywood Bowl is amazing visually, and sonically, but -- at least down in the lower bowl where I was -- the setup was unexpected. That section is broken into little 4-seat boxes with fold-away tables, and most people were set up with meals and full sized bottles of wine, sitting facing away from the stage like they'd just come down for a nice dinner al fresco, rather than a rock 'n' roll extravaganza. Weird. At least they all packed up their pic-a-nic baskets and turned their chairs around when the music got started.

Anyway. There was no opening act, so when the time came, we got straight into Brandi and the band for a few songs, then they started bringing on the aforementioned friends, one at a time. As each guest artist came on stage, they'd do a song or two of their own with Brandi Carlile Band backing them up, then join in to support the next act. Not all of the guests were people I was dying to see, but I was really happy for Allison Russell (who sang my favourite of her songs, Requiem), Wendy & Lisa (friends of Prince!), Annie Lennox (Mon Scotland!) and JONI EFFING MITCHELL, who was the queen of the encore, seated center stage in her throne while doing three of her songs with the entire previous group.

 

It was a couple hours of joy, but seemed to go by in a flash. At the end, we all sang Joni Happy Birthday, for her upcoming 80th, and then I wandered back down the road to my hotel, completely in awe of the night I'd just experienced.

I had also planned to go see Samantha Bee's menopause-themed one woman show in Hollywood on Sunday night, which -- along with my canned rosé while enjoying Brandi's show -- might've garnered me the award for Most Middle Aged Lady Long Weekend Ever, but it ended up being cancelled. Oh well, I was tired of all the winning anyway. It was still a great time, and way more than worth the trip.

Catching Up: Rugby on the French Riviera

Fun fact about me (or sometimes not so fun, depending on their results): I've been a Scotland rugby supporter since the late 1990s, long before I ever visited and fell in love with Scotland, or got engaged and then un-engaged to one of its citizens, or made Edinburgh my second home. And as part of that fandom, I've gone to watch Scotland (along with a couple other teams) in every men's Rugby World Cup since 2011.

So for RWC 2023 in France, I followed the same routine as every previous tournament and booked tickets to a few games over a couple weeks, strategically placed to allow me to travel around a bunch of different parts of the country. But because I had to do all this ticket planning 1.5 - 2 years in advance, by the time the tournament came around, I'd realized that my travel stamina had greatly reduced during lockdown... I can now only stand 7-8 days on the road, max. After that, no matter where I am, or what I'm doing, or how attractive I find the guys in the sporting event I'm watching, I'm perpetually cranky. I don't want to be anywhere in the world but at home with my cats. So I decided to nix the fortnight of games and concentrate my trip on a part of France I hadn't been to before, sold all the tickets I'd bought except Scotland v Tonga in Nice, and set out to enjoy several days on the French Riviera.

Nice

With a sore back from 20+ hours of travel, a 9pm arrival at the hotel the night before, and a forecast including thunderstorms and apocalyptic rain, my first full day in Nice was mostly spent in the hotel, in bed, watching a bunch of Golden Girls episodes for about the 745th time. Ah, well... the middle aged traveler's heart wants what the middle aged traveler's heart wants. Luckily I mustered a little youthful vigor for the next two days, and spent them both out exploring the town. The first day, I just took a wander out to see what was near the hotel with no agenda, and ended up walking in circles, passing by the path that would have taken me back multiple times, completely losing my sense of direction, for hours. Welp. At least I got outdoors.

The second day, I made a real plan and went downtown on a tram. The trams and downtown streets were pretty easy to navigate, so I didn't get lost this time, but also didn't stay there long because it was sunny and sweaty out, and I didn't find anything that was all that appealing to me. I saw a big church and did some random shopping, but mostly just meandered around wondering why Nice is such a sought after luxury destination that sites kept offering me private jets as an option when I looked for flights. Never seen that before! I mean, downtown Nice was fine. It was like any other generic western European city, reminded me a bit of Milan, but with palm trees... that grew there naturally and didn't cause a giant controversy when placed there by an American corporation. Maybe the problem is that I'm much more of a city person than a beach person, and cities aren't really the point on the Riviera. Or given my other travel experiences, maybe I'm just not the right audience for... well, France.

But never mind that! Day four in Nice was rugby day! I'd purposely chosen a hotel away from downtown because it was easy to catch a quick 15 minute tram to the game, but that didn't make it a less busy or annoyingly crowded experience. I enjoyed singing Flower of Scotland, and was surprised to see the Tongans do a haka-like war dance before the game, but loved it nonetheless. I looked it up later, and found out it's called the Sipi Tau, and the current version was written in 1994.

Anyway. Scotland won 45-17 despite their elite ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, even in games where they're the favourite. Tonga's a fun team to watch. And I'm not a sports reporter, so that's pretty much all you're gonna get.

Side note: It occurred to me at some point on this day of rugby that I probably don't understand as much French as I think I do. I'm too out of practice speaking it to put a sentence together, but I can still understand a fair bit when it's spoken (unless it's in a Montréal accent - qu'est-ce que c'est?!), and I get even more when I'm reading and have time to process. So when in France, I always believe that I'm catching enough to know what's going on around me, but realistically... I probably have no idea.

Oh, also, I got asked for directions twice on my first day out wandering in Nice... when I was completely lost and had no business giving anyone directions. This has always happened to me, everywhere I go. The more things change, etc...

Monte Carlo

I used my last full day on the Riviera to take a brief trip over to Monte Carlo, since Monaco was right next door and all. It was much prettier than Nice, and waaaaaaaaaaaay snazzier, but I struggled to find things to occupy the short time I spent there. I'm not much of a gambler, so skipped the famous (or infamous?) casino scene, and I'm not a millionaire, so all the store fronts I passed featuring luxury goods and sports cars were regrettably out of my price range. A Lambo wouldn't fit in my luggage anyway. 

I'm normally happy to just wander and enjoy the scenery, but on the particular (very hot) day I chose to visit, Monte Carlo was hosting a big yacht show that closed off and blocked much of the waterfront. So this photo is a good example of pretty much all the scenery I got to take in. It did make me realize why fancy expensive flights to Nice are such a thing, though -- it's the closest airport to Monaco, which is where all the fancy people actually want to go. 

But as only a wannabe member of the Fancy People Club, after a couple hours in Monte Carlo, not buying a yacht, I had to hop on the hot, crowded train back to Nice, and fly home commercial the day after that. No vie fabuleuse for moi, just la vie avec les chats. 

And honestly? I'm not that mad about it.

Where We Left Off: Adventures in Checked Baggage

Picking up where we left off in my last pre-break post from Riga airport...

I ended that snowy Saturday in March 2023 huddled in my rented flat in Edinburgh, wearing every stitch of dirty clothes I had on me, because the place was colder than a jilted polar bear's shoulder, and my luggage was somewhere in Germany.

It all started with the snow bucketing down in Riga, which meant my plane took off over an hour later than scheduled, set to land in Frankfurt at the exact time my connecting flight was taking off. So I paid too much for too slow in-flight wifi to try to get a new booking set before we landed. But because my next plane was also slightly delayed, the airline would only allow me to change my flight after I failed to get off the crowded plane and run from gate A11 to B30 in the 8 minutes I was expected to have for transfer. 

Turned out I had more like 15 minutes, and Bill Nye-level* speedwalking skills, so I just made it on to the plane before the boarding door closed. 

But unfortunately my checked luggage didn't move as quickly as I did.

When I landed, I had a text from the airline that my bag had been rebooked on the first flight in the morning, and I should talk to the staff at my destination to have them deliver it to me upon its arrival. But Edinburgh airport isn't all that big or busy, and the place was practically a ghost town at 8pm on a Saturday. There was nobody working in the baggage hall where my suitcase didn't arrive, no staff at the luggage help desk, no one there representing the airline. So after spending about an hour alternately wandering around looking for anyone wearing a vest from Menzies (the luggage handling company - no luck), and calling the phone number listed for baggage help (which just rang and rang 63 times, every time I tried), I gave up. 

Luckily Edinburgh's my second home and I could stock up on all the sundries and accoutrements I'd need to live there for a few days within the allotted time of a game show shopping spree. But not at 9-10pm on a Saturday night. So I grabbed a couple essentials from airport shops, and headed out to the aforementioned ice-cold flat, to complain out loud to no one for a couple hours as I waited for the radiators to kick in so I could finally get some sleep. 

Meanwhile, Lufthansa was really great with providing me details about the flight my bag was on and when it was arriving, which was useful, since at this point my only option was to go back and try to collect it myself. So the next morning, I did enough shopping to get me through the day, then headed back to the airport, arriving right as the plane with my luggage was landing. If all went to plan, I could grab it quickly and still get to Scotland's Six Nations rugby game that afternoon, which was what had brought me to Embra in the first place.

But what's that saying about human plans and laughing deities? Yeah...

When I arrived, I found a Menzies guy right away, who was really helpful, but told me that even though the bags would be off the plane in 10 minutes, they were so busy and understaffed that it might be an hour or two before anyone would have a chance to get away and bring my bag out to me. So I could either leave and make it to the game that Scotland was likely to lose to Ireland anyway, and spend my evening back at the airport on a wild luggage goose chase, or wait and probably not make it to Murrayfield. I decided to stay put.

There's not much to do or many places to sit in EDI airport, so I drank some coffee, ambled in circles (getting in my steps, yo), and just kind of hung around near the exit of the baggage hall for what felt like 97 hours, until I finally saw the same Menzies guy come out the door pushing a cart overloaded with bags, including mine. I followed him, and when he saw and recognized me, he stopped to get me my case back. 

My bag was on the bottom of the cart, so as he was in the process of unloading to get to it, an older English man in a business suit walked past all the people who were waiting, stepped between me and the baggage guy like I didn't even exist, and started shouting about nobody being at the desk to help him with his lost luggage. Menzies Dude was very apologetic, explained that they had staffing issues, and that he wasn't the person who could get more staff anyway. So English Male Karen (what are they called? Nigel? Colin? I'm going with Colin) yelled the same things a few more times, along with some red-faced demands to see the manager. But there wasn't any management working ('cause duh, it's Scotland on a Sunday!), which set him off even further, and he continued his high-decibel bellyaching for at least 5 more minutes, repeating his list of entitled complaints while all the bystanders stared in disbelief and Baggage Man just looked tired. 

Eventually Colin was satisfied that he'd done enough shrieking, turned, and walked away, with no resolution. Total tantrum, complete embarrassment, accomplished absolutely nothing. Typical Colin behaviour.

When he finally left, I got my bag and thanked the baggage guy profusely, because he really had been super nice and helpful, and should not have had to listen to that jerk's tirade. There's not enough money in the world to pay what people in service industries deserve for putting up with his kind of nonsense.

Anyway. With all the delay, I didn't make it to the game, but I did watch all but the first few minutes on the BBC... Didn't miss much, Scotland lost. I wasn't surprised.

*Not the Science Guy, the Almost Live recurring character, for anyone not familiar with 1990s local Seattle pop culture... which is probably everyone other than me.

Bon Voyage?

I'm currently watching giant snowflakes blow sideways past the window of an airport lounge in Latvia, awaiting my flight to Edinburgh. I started my current travels in London a week ago, cancelled a side trip to Lithuania to stay there longer, and have just spent 3 frozen days in Riga, where I saw my beloved popstar Robbie Williams again. 

But I purposely haven't published anything about any of it because... I don't know, y'all... Maybe the blog is over. Or maybe I'm gonna switch to a substack?

This blog has never had a ton of readers, but it's still been useful to me, because it's been a pretty comprehensive, and easily accessible, travel diary. It is much better at retaining the details of past adventures than my middle aged memory. But when the pandemic put me on a nearly two year forced travel break, my habits got broken. Now I only bother to write about my trips maybe a quarter of the time, and it's rarely in real time. Plus, ever since I left Twitter, I don't get much traffic when I do post stuff, because that was the source of most of the clicks. And I don't have a replacement for that. 

I don't want to lose my own set of travelogues, but it's hard to motivate myself to polish it up for public consumption when there's no public consuming it. So I'm thinking of modernizing, and while it won't fix the nobody reads it excuse to skip writing, at least switching to Substack would make me feel like I'm in the 21st century. And maybe change would be motivation?

So yeah, this may be goodbye to the blog and hello to the newsletter. Or maybe I will just let inertia win and stay here... 

I'll decide soon, but now... I've got a flight to catch. 

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.