An Evening with Hobbie Stuart

The long awaited day came on Sunday, Hobbie Stuart had finally decided to take a break from YouTube and go on his first tour. He has visited places like Leeds and Manchester already and is yet to visit London and Bristol. He headed north, past Hadrian's Wall to visit Glasgow, and I could not wait for the show!

Despite his popularity on YouTube, I was surprised to see that the gig was not full, in fact, at a push only half full. It took place at the Garage, in a room round the corner. It was small and intimate and it felt cosy to be there.

Due to other commitments, I did not see the support act, although, I don't feel as though I missed much, as I had paid £8 to see Hobbie really and it was only really a bonus that someone else would be performing. I met my friend Laura at the venue and we went inside and got ourselves a drink, before heading the floor where Hobbie would be taking the stage.

How close to the front we were.

When he arrived, the audience were awkward, and as my friend and I clapped, many others did not and so we stopped rather abruptly, without too many people noticing we were excited to see him there! He played a few songs, some I knew and some I did not. He introduced a few of his new songs.

Hobbie with his beloved guitar!

 In between each song, Hobbie spoke to audience, but something about him made me feel that he wasn't really connecting with the Glaswegian's and in his last efforts, he even told the story of how he once visit Scotland and saw a football match there, when he was four or five years old to soothe the somewhat tension in the room only half full.

I was somewhat disappointed, he did not play any of the songs I love, and he did not sing the songs that made him famous on YouTube, such as Diamonds and Payphone. Furthermore, he sang some of his original songs, but not the first song he wrote; When you Wake. This song, especially, I felt had a good sense of rhythm and the lyrics were good. Another song he chose to sing in the Garage titled Put a Movie On, to be frank did not really appeal to me. It was funny but this was a gig to showcase his talent.

For the new fans who have just subscribed to him on YouTube, I believe they were impressed, as they sang along to the covers he sang by Drake and Ed Sheeran, but for me, I always knew him for his unique song choice and originality. Thus, it was somewhat convoluted by the current pop songs of the day. One of the only songs he chose to sing that I enjoyed was a cover of Fast Car.

For this show, I believe he chose to sing songs that the audience would want to hear, and while it's good he is thinking of them, I would like to hear the songs he loves the most, rather than hearing he chose them because they were popular with the stars he covered.

After the show Hobbie announced he would be doing a Meet and Greet. This was a nice idea, but Laura and I chose to go to Nandos instead. I think we were somewhat disappointed, but still glad we went as we got to see him off the screen on our laptops. It was also an evening out!

Waiting for our food to arrive!

Have you ever been somewhere that did not live up to your expectations?


Kirsty
xxx

My round up this week

So this week has seemed to have flown by, and I cannot believe that my weekend is here already as I have no lectures on Friday. With that, I with give you an update on what I have been up to this week.

Sunday was a surprisingly bright day in Glasgow. Instead of spending it inside my room at Murano, I asked my flat mate if she would like to go for a walk down to Byres Road for afternoon tea. We slowly made our way down and went into a cafe called Cup. I ordered an Earl Grey tea and a cupcake, which was amazing. Although, I still prefer the Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes! Laura ordered a Scone and a Cappuccino.

We then walked back through the Botanical Gardens around dusk and the scenery was lovely.

The beautiful botanical gardens.

On Monday, I awoke to the doorbell ringing. Addressed to myself, a big package was brought into my flat and I looked at it in disbelief!

The box I had to bring in!

My boyfriend had sent me the most beautiful Roses, a dozen to be exact and at present they are still blooming!

I put them by the window so they caught the sun!

Later in the day, after my Theatre Studies lecture (which was very boring), I went for dinner with my friend Heather. We went to Bar Soba on Byres Road. For someone who hasn't been before, I would compare it to Wagamamas, as it had the same sort of menu. The only difference is that their bar menu looked amazing and I would definitely go back for a drink one time!

We both ordered the Singapore street noodles.

Tuesday I had a busy day at uni which was rounded up by going to see the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with my friends at the Cineworld in town. Honestly, if you get the chance, do go and see it. It is such a feel good film! 

And on Wednesday I went for dinner with my friend Jess to Gourmet Burger Kitchen and got their classic strawberry milkshake, it was beautiful! Oh, and I got a burger, also.

Yesterday I did not do a lot and spent most of the day in bed watching Gossip Girl but had to attend a radio meeting for Subcity. 

Today I hope to get some notes done for my History course, that's if I don't sleep in!

How has your week been so far and what have you been up to?

Love

Kirsty

xxx

Valentines Weekend

My workload has been so busy recently with essays to be completed and a busy seminar season, there has been a lack of sharing on my blog. I will try to update you with what I have been up to over the last few weeks!

On 12th February, Brandon and I flew to Amsterdam for a weekend away exploring in another city. We departed from London Southend which was so much quicker travel wise, as I usually go to Stansted to get my flight back to Glasgow.

Taxiing to the runway.

Above the clouds!

We arrived early Thursday evening and checked in to our hotel, ready to explore the next day.

On the Friday we wandered around all that felt like the whole of Amsterdam the amount of walking we did! We stayed just off Dam Square and so we walked through here everyday to get to the different places. 

Dam Square with the Royal Palace in the background.

We visited numerous shops, many where I longed to buy all the clothes in the shop. The only thing stopping me was the number on the price tag! We also found a lovely teashop that sold the most amazing cakes and had a view where we could just watch the world go by.

The cupcakes were so lovely!

On Saturday evening, we went into Dam Square and got the tram to this restaurant Brandon had booked. It was lovely and we were spoilt by a four course meal and entertainment, consisting of poetry and acoustic music.

The starter was my favourite, usually I don't do salads!

The singer entertaining us for the evening.

On Saturday before dinner, we also went for a canal ride. It was so pretty, and lovely to see the city in the dark. 

The canals were so lovely with the lights around the bridge!

On Sunday afternoon we found a gap and we had been told that if we get a chance we should go to the Sex Museum, soooo... we found it on google maps and made our way to the tiny museum!

yeah.. me, a penis and bran

It really was one of the most obscure things I think I have ever been to! As hilarious as it was, I can't believe how popular this place was!

However, in the evening, we made our way to the Ice Bar! It was so fun, but very, very cold and I didn't manage to make it the full 20 minutes inside! We first had cocktails though as we arrived early. I had a Sex on the Beach and Brandon had a Mojito!

Our cocktails before heading inside the Ice Bar!

It was a lovely weekend and it ended really nicely by going to the Zoo on Monday, something which I love! We managed to see the elephants, giraffes and lions, amongst other mammals and sea creatures. We also went to a planetarium.. although this was in Dutch, it didn't stop us seeing some of the most amazing views by staring above!

I did not want to leave, but unfortunately we had to go back to reality.

Until next time!

Did you get up to anything nice over the Valentines weekend?

Kirsty

xxx