Oh, don't be fooled by the heading for this update my wonderful people, everything is good in my world BUT......Christmas is now 3 months long and if i see that Elf advert (not going to mention the supermarket) one more time I'm going to go Elfing crazy. Does it really need to be advertised from October? Christmas is the same date every year, no one is going to forget it but now by the time Christmas comes around we're all fed up with it. I'm not a Christmas person anyway but I was starting to like it and now with the songs in shops and adverts starting so early in the year I'm getting bored with it.
I know , I know, an update so soon I hear you whisper, well it's because it's a very special anniversary, Sian and I have been together 6 years and counting. 26 years in the making but it was worth the wait and of course we're still celebrating Sian's 50th as I promised Sian she would have a years celebration. I have had more fun, more laughs, visited more places, been to more gigs and just had the best times ever in the 6 years with Sian than my previous 48 years on this planet, so to Sian i say thank you, i love you so much and SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS! To celebrate our time together i thought i would give you a musical treat as we both like our music and these songs remind me of Sian and our 6 years together
Firstly we have Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes, we chose this as our song as we were both in to the band the second time we met in 1999 as we had met 3 years earlier but then i only knew Sian a short while. We chose this as our song as we couldn't really choose "Break Stuff" or "Rollin", not very romantic so we decided on this some how.
This next song reminds me of our first ever visit to Switzerland. We were slightly merry and starving. It was quite late and the only place open for food was MacDonalds (God, if your reading, this is a terrible sin eating that rubbish, i was vulnerable and hungry, never again, please forgive me). Sian has this amazing talent of remembering the lyrics to songs, word for word, i can just about remember a chorus.
As we walked along the bank of lake Geneva in Montreux Sian started to blast out Queens - "A Winter Tale" which in fact is about Montreux, she was just singing and singing with arms in the air as we walked along freezing my butt off starving and dreading having to eat a MacDonalds but it was also very funny to see.
This next moment you would have only read about a few months ago, The Proposal. A very special moment in time for both of us. So here is the song that captured that moment. Coldplay - "Sky full of stars". Thought i'd use the live version for the light show as we had a light show when i proposed.
We have been to many gigs and concerts over the 6 years and i could have chosen any number of songs but i think this song is the one that Sian and i go bat shit crazy to the most. It starts off with a guitar being strummed, a spoken intro that Sian sings at me in my face then......all hell breaks lose, Foo Fighters - "All My Life", i pity the poor fool who gets in our way at a UK Foo Fighters gig. At Taylor Hawkins tribute concert we almost fell over the seats in front of us when this come, very difficult to mosh in a row of seats in a stadium.
Now then, this next song reminds of a warm summer night in Milan with the sun setting and just a beautiful night, it felt like the first real bit of freedom after Covid, it had also been a long time coming as we were due to be in Milan in 2020 to watch the Foo Fighters, then covid struck, then Taylors passing and an alternative of seeing Imagine Dragons came up who we had seen once before quite a few years ago and enjoyed them but to be outdoors on a lovely warm night withmwe stood behind Sian holding her close and just enjoying life was a special moment for me. This song "Birds" came on at just the right moment as the sun was setting down behind the stage, couldn't of been timed better.
So we've had 3 mushy songs and only one good rocking song, how does that happen when i'm supposedly this bad ass, short, balding Welsh rock monster i hear you say. Well, it's all about the songs, it's about the moments those songs bring back to you and 3 of those just happen to be nice slower songs. So, in saying that to finish off lets have a good old rock song. This is from when i was DJ'ing for the Millennium. Dec 31st 1999 going in to 2000, a once in a lifetime moment for everyone out partying that night. It was a sell out and it was a fancy dress event. Sian had re-invented her wedding dress into a princess dress topped off with a tiara and then that mild, meek, princess turned into a whirling twirling rocking bad ass when Guns N Roses came on "Paradise City". Out of a full dancefloor from my DJ booth i could see just one person standing out going crazy, SIAN! Sian had had a few drinkies but then again everyone had that night. At that point i knew one day Sian would be mine.
We've had many, many fun times and special moments during our first 6 years together that i could have chosen another 100 but these are the times that come to mind first so they must stand out the most.
A very quick update on my cyclist rant. We went to one of our local pubs on Friday afternoon about 3.30pm (We have 5 locals we alternate) and there walked in exactly as i had described "The road side pub cyclist" and i have picture to prove it that i had to take covertly.
Did he really need to walk in with his helmet on? His 3 cyclist mates didn't, KNOB!
Then as i also pointed out in my rant he sat at the table with his helmet on, in is stinky sweaty lycra eating chips and downing a pint, i rest my case.
#
A little trip away to Birmingham to see the UK Foo Fighters and the Christmas market was our next adventure, not as exotic as Paris, Milan or Calgary but we really like Birmingham and you know what a trip away means......BARKERS BREAKFAST!
No trip away now would be the same without coming here,it's a full on tradition for us.
This piccie of my bacon and egg sandqich doesn't do it justice, i was still full at 6pm that night.
Another vacation and another apartment in the centre of Birmingham which was really nice and quite big and all for the same price as a hotel room, lovely, not that we needed a apartment just for 2 nights but it just gives you a nice homely feeling instead of a room with a toilet attached but maybe anything less than 5 nights doesn't really need a apartment but we like it anyway.
Bags dropped off and straight out in to town, no time to waste, there are bars that need visiting. A little walk around the Bullring and the Christmas fair first.
I have to say Birmingham do a great job with their Christmas fair and how it's managed and policed. Everyone seems to be there just to eat and drink and be merry, the craft stalls are a bit naff though but then again have you ever seen a good craft fair?
After ooooing and ahhhhhhing at all the pretty lights lets go find The Lost and Found. We found this bar the first time we visited November 2017 for Depeche Mode and really liked it but didn't go there on our second visit in 2019 as i was on a medical study and dribbling with a vacant look on my face but we found it again. Had a couple of pints in there and finished it off with a cheeky little snifter. We like this bar.
We'd been in here for while and now it was dark so back out for the Christmas lights.
Now then, i'm all for Christmas markets and fairs but when is it right to set up a bar and food tent right next to a headstone in a graveyard? If you look at the centre of the pic you can see 3 large headstones. this part of the fair was set up in a church graveyard, i kid you not. It seems to me a bit disrespectful to have all this set up on top of graves. Oh yeah, Merry Christmas one and all, your sat on a dead person.
On to the Sly Old Fox, again when we visited this the last time i was in a spaced out state on my medical study so couldn't drink but we made up for it this time, barman (i can say that as it was a man and he worked behind the bar) pints and shots all round. It's always busy in here so i didn't want to get my phone out and take pics so i had to find stock pics. The little peoples table by the pillar with stools was our table and yes the pub is that tidy and clean which is a first for us, usually their a bit worn smell of stale beer and feet stick to the carpet.
Starting to feel hungry so off we go back to the apartment for pizzas with garlic bread and then sleepy time as long day Saturday, sweet dreams ya'll.
GOOOOOOOD MORNING BIRMINGHAAAAAAAM! 8am and we're already out for a walk along the canal to the Costas at the Utilita arena for a latte and then over to sea life centre for 9.30am before all the little darlings start to get there with their families.
We have visited here before but we enjoyed it and visit sea life centres wherever we travel if we can Birmingham, London, Chester, Penzance, Paris and Calgary.
It's so much better being the first in as you can take your time without others around you. They had made one change since our last visit, the river otters had gone and sea otters had replaced them, they are huge in comparison. Sian auditioning for Life of Earth.
From here off for a little retail shopping and a wander around the rest of the city and back to apartment to chill before our UK Foo Fighters gig.
Someone had broken an antler off but still looks funny.
At the entrance to Selfridges in the Bullring, even the bulls festive.
It was pretty chilly this night and couldn't wait to get in but then when the band was about to come on it was boiling as it was a sell out and packed, not much room to jump around but we made sure we made space, who could stops us once were bouncing about, NO ONE! We couldn't be bothered to go back and forth the bar all night so when we did go to the bar it was 2 pint glass, they are huge, we looked like Borrowers.
After singing and dancing all the way through it's time to head back to the Sly Old Fox, really like this pub, felt very homely and comfy. Midnight came and it was time for a take away and home as out of apartment at 10am, BOOOOooooooooooo!
Up and out and guess what we found .........MR PRETZELS! OH MY GOD, AGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Bloody hell, doesn't open until 11am. i don't care, we're waiting and we did and it was so good. To carry on our Canada themed morning it was then over to Tim Hortons to finish off our weekend away.
Cardiff, get your ass in gear and get a Mr. Pretzels.
MMMMmmmmmm, taste so good!
So another trip over, and only one month left before the end of Sians year long birthday but we still have London and our usual New Years holiday which i think is quite special and will be really cosy and our little Squid is coming with us, YAY!
Well my fine blog followers how are we all this wet, grey, miserable day? You all good? I hope so as its all doom, gloom, crap, the end is nigh, four horsemen (Am i allowed to say horsemen anymore) of the apocalypse style headlines these days.
Now as you know i like a good rant every now and again just to vent my spleen and then go about my day happily but am i allowed to anymore? Am i allowed to say what has wound me up? Am i allowed an opinion anymore and let you, my public know what's got my goat......someone hasn't literally got my goat........well thinking about ....yes they have....someone has our goat Biscuit. OK...so i'll change got my goat to what gets on my wick.....can i say that? Wick is another word for a private part in this saying and what with having to be gender neutral ....hmmmmmm. OK so i shall come up with a new gender neutral PC saying for when something irritates you...i got it......are you ready.....do you know what has "SQUISHED MY KUMQUAT"....YES, someone contact Susie Dent on Countdown and let her know there is a new saying in town. I just thought.....that may offend vegans as i'm killing a kumquat.....they don't matter so it's fine, i can live with that.
It's very difficult these days isn't it folks, anything can be twisted to make someone look like the bad guy (can i say guy, maybe i should use person)........so in saying that.........
CYCLISTS.....What a bunch of dimwits (That's being polite). I've started cycling to work now from The Mumbles to Swansea centre, it's about 4 miles and cycle path all the way. I have my water proof suit, a helmet, a hi vis vest, 2 front lights, a back light and i'm good to go and everyone can see me as i make my way as i now live in perpetual darkness, its darks when i leave the house in the night and it's dark when i leave town in the morning. As i cycle along the path feeling like Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with "Raindrops keep falling on my head" not playing but actually raindrops falling on my head i just go at a pleasant pace after all i'm not in the Tour de Cymru i'm cycling just to get from A to B. I encounter many other cyclist along the way, some for work purposes who all seem to have the correct gear and obey the highway code, some for pleasure and again all set up like me and obey the highway code BUT the absolute KNOBHEADS in their lycra gear with their skinny bikes that weigh as much as one of my mountain bike tyres and pot bellies, without any lights or reflective clothing as they think it creates wind resistance, never ever make a hand signal cause they're the only person on this planet which means we have to be mind readers and think they're Bradley Wiggins.......YOUR NOT, your a middle aged man thinking that acting like a DICK on a bike makes you better than everyone else. You see a red light you go up on the pavement, you see a zebra crossing (not the animal) you cycle straight through as you can't be arsed to clip your feet out of your pedal clasps, your coming towards a fellow cyclist (me) and you can't figure out you ride to your left like on the road and just stay in the centre making me swerve on to the pedestrian path when there's room on cycle path for both of us, you tut loudly as you pass a pedestrian or shout back at them cause you almost run them over at your fault, you cycle head down puffing and panting like your in a sprint finish when really your heading home to an empty house with a cat you've called Mr. Mistoffelees just in case you bring a lady home and married gents just use cycling as an excuse to get away from their wives for long periods of time. SORT YOUR LIFE OUT, just cause you've cycled 10 miles doesn't mean your fit and healthy as that pie and chips your eating washed down with a pint sat in your sweaty lycra gear in a road side pub after your ride as you say "You need to replenish" doesn't fade away cause you've exerted yourself a little. GET A GRIP AND GROW UP.........
Bob & Tom were excited for the off......here we come Tour De McDonalds, 2000 McDonalds in 23 days.
Geoff's exertion caused him to throw up in public. Pulling on all that lycra took a great effort, tomorrow he'll try to get on the saddle.
SNOWFLAKES.....(Not the frozen rain, i like that) Back in the dark ages we used to have a thing called a pen and a piece of paper and we were taught how to write. To make a complaint we would have to take said pen and paper, sit down put the pen to paper and write if we wanted to complain. This took time, effort and thought, something that people today haven't got. These snowflakes take to their mobile devices, tap tap tap and send without a filter, without any knowledge and without any sense. On my news feed out of maybe 30 headlines there are maybe 4 proper headlines all the others are about snowflakes complaining, furious, disbelief, outraged at something so ridiculously futile they wouldn't complain about if they had to sit and write a letter. "It's outrageous that i have to use my hands to eat", "How can someone be so heartless as to breath air next to me", "People are using their eyes to see where they're going as they walk past me, i feel violated", "I was talking loudly on facetime in the middle of 50 people and someone tutted and gave me a stern look, i may call the police", "Who the hell does that shop assistant think she is, asking can she help, does she think i'm stupid and need help", "I called the fire brigade to light my fire pit and they said they put fires out not light them, what's the point in the fire brigade, sack the lot"........This sort of brain numbing complaint is what real people like us folks have to put up with these days but then again these snowflakes are the same people that look at their toes and wonder what's making them wiggle, absolute idiots. This is a true complaint i saw just the other day, this is so pathetic........"A woman complained to a Sainsbury Store in Hornchurch that she was FORCED to by a bottle of Baileys to drink at home as the store she visited was freezing cold".......Now call me mister thicky if i'm missing something. She says forced, to me that evokes images of being grabbed by the neck or lead by gunpoint to a till and made to pay for a bottle of Baileys. Also she went home and drank it, she was cold in the store, why didn't she open it there to warm herself up, she doesn't need it in her warm cosy home does she, UNBELIEVABLE!
THANK THE LORD!
FOOD.....Sian and i love our food, we cook allot at home as we prefer freshly prepared food than ping food but we want our food to be tasty which means unhealthy which is fine by us as we're healthy living people apart from that, we walk for miles whenever we can, we don't smoke, we don't drink much alcohol, we don't fry anything but we want to enjoy our food which means salt, fat and meat. Everything now has reduced fat, reduced salt, shelves and shelves of meat free products and plant based products......STOP IT! I don't force on to you the fact you should be licking the under hanging belly of a pig (Pork belly) as it tastes so good when cooked covered in fat, loads of salt and crisped up. Why is vegan food renamed to things like "No chicken nuggets", "No beef Burgers" , "No pork bangers" why don't they call it what it is "Non descript artificial matter that tastes of nothing BUT shaped like a burger", do you know why it's not labelled like that......cause if it was even vegans wouldn't eat it and go back to meat, say what it is, stop saying the meat that it used to be made with. If i want a plant based product i will go out to my garden, thrust my head in to the flower bed, open my mouth, shake my head about and chow down on a lovely selection of geraniums. Have you seen plant based rashers? They look like the plastic bacon you get in children food playsets. Do you know what Sian and i thought we would do, we thought of opening a unhealthy food shop and restaurant called "Fat unhealthy bastards" where people like myself and Sian can go and buy and eat food that will kill you but tastes so good. Everything comes with extra salt, sugar and fat. You want the fat dripping from your bacon so it soaks in to your unhealthy brioche bun, YOU GOT IT! What's that you say, you want me to put even more salt on your salted fatted beef, NO PROBLEM! You want to go back to the 40's and have a beef dripping sandwich with spam and thick white bread spread with salted butter, WHY NOT! Don't take peoples choices away from them, make unhealthy and healthy products and let the public decide. They say it's to take the strain off the health service, i've read more about deaths in headlines of "fit, healthy, young person" dying while playing a sport or jogging than headlines about "unhealthy, obese, old person" being found dead after being stuck in a door frame for days.
MMMmmmmm plastic bacon, don't you just love plant based food.
PARENTS/GRAND PARENTS.....Now there is something to add to this heading Parents/Grandparents with children out in public. Where do i start with this, good grief Charlie Brown. This is not a rant about children lets make that clear. Lets start with the basics. There are places called PLAY areas, PLAY grounds, PLAY groups, PLAY centres, parks and fields. In these wonderful places the children you are dragging along with you crying and screaming or just yelling for no reason can make as much noise as they want, knock yourself out kids (wish they would). These places are for you to do as you wish with the little ankle biters where as these places pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets are NOT where the children can do as they wish and lets be honest here it's not the children's fault, oh no, it's the parents/grand parents fault. Children are just being children, some more bratish and more misbehaved than others but children all the same BUT the parents/grand parents aren't stopping them or even just telling them "NO". We the general public who don't have kids or people who's kids have grown up don't love or adore your little cherubs as much as you and we don't want them around our table or anywhere near us, can't you see by my Paddington stare and the words that i'm mouthing "P**s off you little shit" that they are not welcome around us. Why don't these so called good guardians stop their children? "Oops, careful little one my pint may pour over your head if you run in to me as i'm walking from the bar" , "oh no, please be careful that my caramel cappuccino doesn't scald you as its knocked off the table because you've tripped in to it". If something happens to a child that's left to run wild like a feral cat in an area that is NOT for playing in, it's not the other customers fault or the child's fault, it's the parents/grand parents fault, so to keep your little bundles of joy safe and away from others keep them trained, restrained and by you, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT, the worlds not your babysitter. If i had wanted noise, stress and the life sapped out of me i would have had kids myself, THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T.
Little Jenny refused to walk causing a commotion in the shop, unfortunately Mum's bottles of wine were in the child's trolley seat.
AND RELAX...........
You all should try having the odd rant from time to time, it does me the world of good. These days your not even allowed a opinion. Opinions doesn't make someone a nasty person, it's just the view they have on a subject which you agree or disagree with.
Friends, followers, blog readers, lend me your eyes! Hmmmm.......not sure if that works. I don't need your eyes, i mean use your eyes to read this update. I don't want to be inundated with you sending me your eyes and you need them to read my updates. OK scrap that opening.
HI!
We'll what do i have for you today? By our standards it's been a bit quiet but by others standards we've been as busy as a the tory parties business card maker, Oh, political satire there. Who was Liz Truss anyway? She's as known to me as the Z listers on these brain numbing reality shows, never mind.
Well my 54th birthday has come and gone, just how i like it. On my 50th Sian surprised me in the bar with a cake and getting everyone to sing happy birthday at me. Now then, it's not the fact that i was the centre of attention which makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, its the singing, good grief, no timing, wrong pitch, don't know my name, lacklustre effort. If i've got to stand there for 30 seconds going bright red the least you could do is get it right and at least try to sound like you want me to enjoy myself 😆
Well, this birthday was just Sian and myself in a little Italian restaurant called Villagio. The best Italian restaurant i've been to in the UK.
We have been here before but this was a surprise set up by Sian which i was very happy about. I didn't want to spoil my main meal so i just had ciabatta with olive oil and balsamic vinegar while Sian had white bait.
On to mains. Now the menu is in Italian and i haven't a clue what my dish was called but i know it had Italian sausage in a white wine, garlic and cream sauce with pasta that looked like little turtle shells, tasted amazing.
Sian had some great looking beef which i think was in a red wine and tomato sauce with pasta strips, looked better than mine and smelt so good. All washed down with a Moretti. No room for dessert, its starter or dessert for us, no way both.
A trip down memory lane for breakfast the one weekend. When i was 15-16 myself and my mates used to go in to Cardiff city centre on Saturday and go to Pillars with a couple of quid and buy a pot of tea which was the cheapest item on their menu and sit in there all day. Used to love it. I asked Sian if she fancied going out for breakfast and took her to Pillars. Sian also used to go there when she was a teenager. Our bond is now complete, we like the same music, movies, comedies, travel and now we both used to visit the spiritual home of unruly teenagers, Pillars.
You enter Pillars from Queen Street and go down a flight of stairs to a basement.
It's a time capsule, absolutely nothing has changed apart from a fresh lick of paint, this is so weird.
The long tray run where you would scrape your tray around until the serving area at the very end and order your pot of tea.
Order your food and drink, pay at the till and head to your table.
You may think to yourself "It must have changed", i kid you not, 38 years on and nothing has changed apart from now no salt and pepper pots or bottles of sauce on the tables, it's all sachets.
And here it is, the jewel in the Pillars crown, the 12 item breakfast for £6.60 and it was all worth it.
Also another love we share is buffet food. If you offered us a night at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant (Which he's never cooking in so why pay the stupid money, IDIOTS) or a buffet at someone's party we'd choose the buffet every time. We love buffets so much we have buffet making weekends every now and again.
This weekend it was homemade vol au vents and sausage rolls. Why can't you buy vol au vent cases outside of December? That's fine, we'll just make our own.
Tuna for one flavour, egg and bacon the other, lovely.
Then we did a bake off with the sausage rolls. Sian made Pork, boiled egg and chorizo, i made a breakfast roll with pork, black pudding, beans and a omelette base, both sets of ingredients then wrapped in puff pastry.
Talk about feeding the 5000, we over estimated the size of the sausage rolls and they actually lasted 4 days but they were so good, I preferred Sian's to mine and Sian preferred mine. I think it's always the way, being as you cooked yours you prefer the other persons. I could eat buffet food every day if i could and with our sausage rolls we almost did, way to big.
Also along with that i had seen a recipe for a peach upside down cake so gave it a go. We have a brand new cooker and still getting to grips with the oven. The cake was very moist and tasty but the bottom was slightly burnt, Boooooooooo!
We have taken to pub crawls every weekend trying different pubs and routes to fit in the most in the shortest distance. Well, winter is coming and nothing worse than trudging from pub to pub in the cold.
We've done a few around our area in Heath, Whitchurch, Rhiwbina so for a change we went in to Cardiff city centre. Not our fav place, Friday and Saturday nights in town is just full of morons no matter what the age BUT to avoid these numb nuts we stay on the very edge of town and drink in the better standard of bars that charge a little more but keep the louts at bay.
Don't get me wrong, i understand people need to let their hair down but when they start letting their pants down you know it's not a good bar.
Cheers everyone, i can't tell you the name of this bar with our fireplace all cosy as you'll stalk us and nick our seats by the fire. It's all ours!
So just a short update today as we're both pretty busy at the moment but with me having Thurs-Sun off every week we can do so much more together and we do, if ever we get to that point where we're sat in most nights both on phones not talking i think we'd prefer to smash our heads against the wall.
Talking of smashing our heads against a wall......we went to an operatic society soiree on the weekend in the Angel Hotel, Cardiff for a 3 course meal and entertainment. The meal was really good, ham hock starter, pork belly main and chocolate tart for dessert (All small portions) and they had given the women a engraved champagne flute and the men a engraved whiskey tumbler which was a nice touch. Couple of bottles complimentary rose wine and the night was on it's way. Had some nice conversation and then the entertainment was to begin with DJ Slipped Disc. Now i'm not saying he was making easy money but when you put on the soundtrack to dirty dancing and let it play then lead on with ABBA's greatest hits you can tell its a lazy DJ, some of the songs i hadn't heard since i started as a DJ which was back in 1985. No way was this guy taking requests and we sure as hell wasn't going to get any Foo Fighters or Metallica, nice food, nice company, free booze shame about the music......TAXI!
Sian looking as beautiful as ever, as for me.........I hate having my pic taken, hate my smile, i look like someone who's on the run, wanted and been caught in a photograph and thinking, "SHIT!" 😅
What have we got coming up? Well quite a bit surprisingly as i thought that was it for our travels this year but no, we have a few things. Cardiff Devils in European ice hockey competition, UK Foo Fighters in Birmingham, London for the Christmas lights weekend and then New Years eve at our steam train porters lodge in mid Wales, it was Barcelona but i'm all flown out for this year what with Paris, Milan and Canada.
Looking to 2023 we've already booked Rome, Zakynthos, Munich and Paris for Depeche Mode and Hydra for our main holiday so another busy year of traveling, one year we may stay in UK and go camping...............NAH, just joking. Sian will read that and go, "NO FREAKING WAY", i think it's the sharing bathroom facilities that's not for her which i can understand.
So then folks, shall we say meet back here in OOOOOOooooooooo 4-5 weeks?
Well friends, blog followers and blog readers, how are we all? Hope your all well and safe out there.
Before i start this blog update i would like welcome the new readers in Japan, Luxembourg and Colombia. Yokoso, Wellkomm and Bienvenidos.
5 weeks ago today we were making our way to London to attend the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in Wembley. Even 5 weeks on Sian mentioned to me that even though we have read all the articles about Taylors death and were at the tribute concert it seems like we're still in denial, it just doesn't seem real or right that someone so in love with life and loved their job is no longer with us, such a waste of a beautiful person.
I watched the LA tribute concert via a Facebook live stream on youtube and it was nowhere near as good as the Wembley concert. The Wembley concert was a true tribute to Taylor with huge emotional pull, where as the LA concert was a celebration concert with more of a party vibe so i'm glad we had the tribute concert and not the celebration concert.
2 weeks after our Wembley concert we had tickets for the UK Foo Fighters in Cardiff.
We've seen them in Birmingham and in Cardiff last year.
We've seen many tribute acts over the years, Guns 2 Roses, Oasish, The Smyths to name but a few.
Now when i talk about the UK Foo Fighters these guys are in a league of their own.
I have never seen a tribute band so tight, musically note perfect, dedicated to honoring the Foo Fighters and giving the Foo Fighters fans an almost mirror image of the true band, even down to Dave's Shoulder head bobbing combo by Jay.
When you walk in to a venue they are going to be playing in the atmosphere is one of enjoyment and anticipation. I've been to see other tribute bands and sometimes the atmosphere has been that of it could kick off any minute but not with the UK Foo Fighters, it feels like hundreds of friends meeting up to let their hair down.
The lights go down in the venue, the lights come up on the stage, the hairs stand up on your arms and then........instant euphoria from the first note, the first two times we saw them it was "I'll stick around" this time it was "Bridge Burning" that set the room bouncing from the off.
As they make their way through the set it is flawless, it just builds and builds making you feel higher and higher. The venue is a sea of rock moshers, pogoing punks and head banging everyday men and women. Strangers grab strangers to sing out loud arm in arm as the band preach to the masses from the alter of a lit stage carrying the congregation along on the wave of high decibel perfection.
Our personal experience of the gig this time was of high emotion. We wanted to treat this gig as a fun celebration to Taylor but as soon as Jay started to sing "My Hero" a tear was shed, we got ourselves together. "These Days" with one of the opening lines being "One of these days your heart will stop and play it's final beat" chocked us up even more. Then "Times like these" it was like being taken back to Wembley as Jay sang it perfectly and with feeling, it broke us.
Apart from those 3 songs the rest we just let ourselves go and moshed, pogo'd and head banged until our bodies were broken but it was all worth it.
If your a Foo Fighters fan you wont find a better Foo Fighters tribute band anywhere, in fact the UK Foo Fighters are without a doubt the best Tribute band of all tribute bands out there at the moment and i'm saying that from a live music lover point of view NOT just as a Foo Fighters fan.
We have even said when we get married we want the UK Foo Fighters to play at our party and we would set our wedding party date around them when they would have a free date to spare for us.
The UK Foo Fighters are not just for Foo Fighter fans, you'll love the energy, atmosphere and true musicianship of the band, you all need to see these guys as they are pure class and perfection personified.
To check out if the band are near you anytime soon please visit:-
https://ukfoofighters.co.uk
GOD SAVE THE FOO FIGHTERS, LONG LIVE THE UK FOO FIGHTERS!
SO, this is it, the most emotional weekend we've ever had in our lives.
A weekend full of personal heroes, rock legends, joyous celebrations but great, great sadness, it does mess with your head as you will see later on.
A few weeks before we were heading to London i had a ice hockey jersey custom made, a one off just for the concert and Sian had a one of my Oceanic Rock legend t-shirt made especially and had it sent from Zakynthos for this weekend.
The Foo Fighters began their life in Seattle in 1994 so i contacted the manufacturer and had a Seattle Kraken jersey custom made.
We had our concert tickets, we had our first class train seats and we had our apartment booked in Hampstead which was a great choice as it was one tube stop from Wembley and one tube stop to central London, perfect.
Finchley Road was ideal, a really busy street with everything you'd need on it and just a short walk to Camden Market.
The view from our apartment on Finchley Road.
It was more of a studio to be honest but again it had everything we needed, perfectly clean and more than a hotel room provides but for less money.
No time for chilling out, as you now know our vacations and weekend breaks are anything but relaxing as we fit in so much and walk everywhere. Off to Camden Market we go for our pre-booked tea at The Cheese Bar.
I have to say Camden Market is now somewhere that carries the name but has turned in to a expensive tat shopping experience with unit after unit selling the same crappy stuff.
Years ago they were little units with old wooden glass doors selling retro clothing, second hand records, antiques and great homemade food with the odd quirky shop thrown in for good measure.
Now it's cooking on mass take away stalls, cheap print t-shirts charging stupid prices, hat shops and sunglass shops. Can you remember in Scooby Doo when they'd run down a corridor and they'd be running past the same 4 doors time after time, that's what Camden Market is like.
T-shirts, Hats, Sunglasses, food, repeat.
The beacon in the crap is The Cheese Bar, if you don't like cheese then it won't appeal to you but we've wanted to go here for the past 4 years but Covid took away 2 of those years but in year 4 we made it.
So simple, so fattening but so good. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Mmmmmmmmm.
With full bellies we were now thirsty after our salty skin on fries, grilled cheese and smoky bacon sandwiches with a chilli honey dip. We need a pint. And what's this little place, Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, HOORAH!
What a great looking bar also there were a few famous people in here as the area Swiss Cottage has a Drama & Arts school.
In here we were sat across the table from Vincent Franklin and Eve Pope.
Vincent has been in TV shows like The Office, Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack. Bodyguard and Doc Martin also quite a few movies.
Eve Pope is best known for Coronation Street but also starred in Peak Practice, Bad Girls, Waterloo Road and Holby City.
We think they were doing a acting class at the school as some students joined them a while later.
Time to head back, recharge and get our sea legs on, for tomorrow we sail down the Thames.
FRIDAY 2ND SEPT
Ahoy there ya land lubers, lets get going to Westminster, the Thames and time waits for no man, sorry, no person, political correctness and all that rubbish.
This is a day Sian has sorted out which i have to say was a great idea. First an Uber Boat from Westminster (the very start of the route) then on down to North Greenwich (the very end of the route) but we could get off at any stop we wanted to along the way as Sian had bought us an all day hopper ticket BUT there was a reason for going the full the length of the Thames.
Our Uber Boat which was very comfy along with a onboard coffee shop.
We sat at the very front so i could pretend i was the captain, Sian forget to bring my toy steering wheel with working horn to strap to my seat, never mind, the view will do as we went past the Shard, HMS Belfast, Tower of London and under Tower Bridge until we reached the O2.
Look at that Sian there's a cable car going across the Thames from the O2.
OOOOoooooooo, that looks very high but i bet the view is great from up there.
WHAT? We're going up in it? What the hell are we doing. I think Sian is a cable ride junkie, does anyone know a good counsellor for people addicted to cable rides? We've gone from a mini cable ride over the Stampede in Calgary to a higher one over Calgary Winter Olympics site to this one over the Thames is 90m above the ground.
There's the O2!
There's London City airport to the right of centre in the very distance.
There's my breakfast, BLURGH!
Only joking, it was awesome, we wanted to go around again but i don't think you were allowed to so we got off like good little Welsh people.
We've never been to the O2. I remember when it was built for the Millennium and after that it was a bit of a white elephant but now, WOW, what a great place. A huge concert arena in the middle with a small 1000 capacity room off to the side and loads of shops, bars, eateries, entertainment and a cinema, you could have a day out just in the O2.
Who else would they have on the wall, the Foo's are enough.
From when we got on the boat to when we left the O2 we have already been out 5 hours and that was without stopping for food or a beer, SOOOoooooooo it's beer time, off to the Maple Leaf, the best Canadian bar in London.
Cheers!
Couple of beers later and back to Westminster. Shall we go to Wembley now for a snoop around? Sian says Yep, lets go!.
I had an email saying that concert merch was going on sale the day before the concert from 10am until 8pm. I do like to get t-shirts from all the concerts we go to so lets see what they have.
Sian's first time to Wembley and my first time to the new Wembley.
I had been to the old Wembley to see Michael Jackson twice, Guns N Roses twice, INXS headlining the SummerXS and to see Wales beat England in rugby while our new stadium was being built and Wembley was our home stadium for that year, GO ON SCOTT GIBBS!
Sian's first steps on Wembley Way.
The queue for the one and only merch stand that was open that day was easily over half a mile long, t-shirts that were £24.99 on the Foo Fighters own website that were for the concert were on sale on the stall for £40. No thanks, i will buy it off the website instead.
The calm before the storm.
Now then, one of these artists is a Legend the other two are nowhere near the status of a legend, can you guess which two couldn't lace the shoes of the one and only Legend on this display? What a ridiculous flag. Out of all the pop stars they could have chose who have played Wembley since the 70's they decided on a whining, bitchy female who writes songs slagging off ex's and a dull as dishwater street busker who got hyped way to much and people believed it. GET THIS REMOVED NOW!
Now i don't believe in a higher power or mystic spirits or spiritual energy BUT we were walking around the edge of Wembley Stadium as we heard someone practicing inside, we were the only ones there and at that moment one single white feather floated down right in front of Sian's face and landed gently on her open hand without reaching out or grabbing for it, there also wasn't a bird anywhere to be seen in the sky, that is just spooky and freaked me out a little, Sian has kept that feather safe.
And we heard this, i think it's The James Gang practicing but answers on a postcard if you think different.
After walking all the way around Wembley it was time to head back to pick up our tea, after all, we had by now been out and about for over 10 hours. We had read this restaurant had been voted the best Kebab restaurant in London, that's a big claim and we are going to check it out to see if that's true. The restaurant is called Tony's Pita.
We had Gyros, dolmades, gigantes and saganaki, and we have to say, it was as good as the best gyro's we have had on Zakynthos, bloody amazing.
Time for bed and try to get a good nights sleep but very excited with sadness attached at the same time, stomach churning and head in a weird place, never felt this way before and really difficult to explain, ah well, lets try to settle down.
As we stepped off the tube at Wembley Park you could see the masses spread out in front of us. It's 1pm so not to chaotic yet as doors open at 2.30pm. We saw about 10 people queueing the day before when we were there as they had pitch tickets and wanted to be at the front. That's just crazy in my opinion. Firstly your crushed against a barrier for about 8 hours, secondly if you want a beer it's a pain in the arse to get out and get back to where you were, thirdly once the seal is broken your having to go through crowds time and time again all day. I really don't see the point.
We have seated tickets as with us being short arses no matter where we may stand on the pitch we wouldn't be able to see the stage and i'd be stuck behind the absolute dickhead filming all the concert on his/her phone all day, again what's the point, your there, enjoy it. It was being filmed professionally so you can watch the concert again on the internet without hearing someone like me behind you on your recording saying "Oi you, you twat, get that f**king camera down now before i use it for a rectal examination"
As we walked down Wembley Way had a photo opp under the Taylor Hawkins sign which was also a free downloadable programme which i thought was a nice touch.
As we got closer to the stadium it hammered it down but it was just a short sharp downpour of a couple of minutes then it stopped and become bright over Wembley as the doors opened, another spooky moment, it had been black above the stadium up until then.
2.30pm and we are fourth in line at gates to go in. We made our way up level after level as we were on level 5 and found a gin & Pimms bar with an amazing view out over Wembley Way, as you can see the sun really did come out at gate opening time.
We were in level 5, block 552, row 13, seats 588 & 589. I had a rough idea of where we were and what our view was like as i had used a website called A view from my seat, it's a pretty good site.
And here is the view from our seats.
We thought they were great and only £75 each for such an occasion with all the big names that had been announced. The only thing you couldn't see from our seats was the drummer but there were screens at the front and side of stage so we saw all the views on them also.
Our 7th ever selfie in 6 years together, WE HATE SELFIES!
Now remember i told you about those people who were queueing the day before, well they would have had a shock as the stewards were corralling people in line by line for safety measures, no running to the front today i'm afraid.
The people sat around us in our block weren't to bad apart from 2 women 2 seats away from me. They were wasted when they got to their seats at 3.30pm both in floral summer dresses, loud and annoying trying to be younger than their 40 something age. If ever i wanted 2 people to fall over the seats in front and break their necks it was them.
I don't think they realised how long a day it would be, by around 7.30pm they had run out of steam and they had gone before the end of the concert, I AM SO GLAD THEY MISSED IT!
The gent sat next to me said before the concert had started he had heard Paul Mcartney was going to be playing and if he did he would need reviving. I wanted to say if Paul Mcartney is playing i will kill you myself, i hate The Beatles. Their best work was when they were off their tits on drugs, no one ever mentions the albums before they were dabbling so what does that tell you?
Just a few pics to show you the crowd as it filled up.
So that's the concert set up for you
The people are in, a countdown begins on the screens and the Foo Fighters walk on to the stage and stand arms around each other in a line at the front of the stage as the crowd erupts.
This goes on for quite a while until Dave Grohl asks for calm, he starts to talk about Taylor Hawkins and we just lose it, Sian and i both start to cry with almost everyone around us doing the same and Dave barely holds it together.
Time to kick of the Tributes.
I'm not going to roll through every single artist as you can see that online for yourself, this is our experience, our highlights and how we felt.
Liam Gallagher was the perfect start to a sad but joyous day with "Rock n Roll Star" and following with "Live Forever" which Liam finished his concert with on the night Taylor died and dedicated it to him that night, the Foo Fighters were Liam's backing band. That alone would be most peoples ideal concert.
Then they all went off and as the day progressed artist after artists would make their way on to the stage with Dave occasionally joining them.
Them Crooked Vultures (Queens of the stone age) were the next line up i was looking forward to but they came on much later in the day after 6 other artists had graced the stage. A quick mention for Wolfgang Van Halen, his guitar work was unbelievable, never seen anything like it.
Time to bring out the even bigger guns if that's even possible after the previous artists.
Its time for all the drummers Taylor saw as idols and drummers who saw Taylor as an idol to come and go one after the other.
Brian Johnson from AC/DC with the Foo Fighters and Lars Ulrich from Metallica on drums. My mind is blown at this point and Sian is screaming.
Look, myself and Sian are so much alike that it's such a joy and pleasure doing anything with Sian, can you imagine if i had been with someone who liked ABBA , Lady GaGa or god forbid Taylor Swift, it would be a freakin nightmare to enjoy the concerts we go to.
They blow the fans away with Back in Black and Let there be Rock, AWESOME!
I bought Back in Black when it was released in 1980.
A 12 year old Kevin goes to Cathays Community Centre Friday night children's disco in Cardiff, the most popular song at that disco is Back in Black, Kevin moshes along with the older greasy dirty rockers in their black leather jackets with sleeveless denim jackets over the top sporting cotton patches of rock bands smelling of patchouli oil.
Dave, Lars and Brian after a monumental 2 song set.
NEXT:
Stewart Copeland from The Police takes over and again i am in awe.
Seeing Stewart Copeland who was such a cool guy and amazing drummer in my eyes as a 10 year old was again mind blowing, i even like his alter ego, Klark Kent..
A 10 year old Kevin buys his second ever album with his pocket money, The Police "Outlands d'Amour" in 1978, my first was "Never mind the Bollocks here's the Sex Pistols" when i was 9.
NEXT:
Rush came on and performed Taylors favourite songs by them as Rush were Taylors all time best band.
NEXT:
Now it's time for Sian to lose it all together 5 whole songs maybe about 20 mins she didn't stop crying.
So, time for me to explain. Sian had got in to the Foo Fighters due to me and she is now as big a fan as me, most probably, like me, her favourite band as of now BUT Sian's favourite band of all time even more than the Foo's is............QUEEN, no one will take their place in Sian's eyes or to quote from a famous film "There can be only one!".
Sian has never seen Queen in any shape or form. We've been to all the places we can which are associated with Queen but she's never seen them, today she will get to see her 2 most favourite bands perform together under the saddest of circumstances. One because Taylor is no longer with us and two Freddie also isn't with us on the weekend of his birthday. Sian's emotions just totally overwhelmed her in that split second of a moment as both bands came out on stage with Roger Taylors son on drums Rufus, who is also Taylor Hawkins god son. That overwhelming emotion lasted during the whole of their set, i put my arm around her and let her be in that moment no matter how sad it was but it's a moment that will stay with Sian forever.
Queen blew all the past performers out of the stadium, everything was perfect and Sam Ryder who joined them as the singer for Somebody to Love was on another level, Adam Lambert better keep looking over his shoulder and check his contract with Brian and Roger.
Foo's, Queen and Rufus Taylor performing one of my Queen favs "I'm in love with my car", sounded awesome.
It's 1975, my sister has bought Night at the Opera by Queen and 7 year old Kevin is singing over and over to the album track "I'm in love with my car" which is playing on his sisters Philips flip top stereo system.
Brian performing solo Freddie's "Love of my life" with Taylor looking on over him. Brian left the stage crying.
And now for the most heart breaking moment i have ever had to witness.
Now i have lost pets been to many funerals of Friends and very close family but i have never been so emotionally effected by a death than that of Taylor Hawkins. I know, weird right, someone i didn't even know. I can't explain it at all.
The stage lights dim, a pale dim blue light covers the stage with the Foo Fighters stood on stage in the shadows, then a spotlight goes on above Dave as a church organ fills the stadium, just one single continuous note.
It takes a while for Dave to get composure and he starts to sing the first line of Times Like These, no guitar, no band, just his voice and that single tone note.
This is my song, this song gets me through all my dark times and was on constant throughout 2015 which helped me so much, so Times Like These means so much to me.
What you have to remember, this is the very first time the Foo fighters have played a Foo Fighters song without Taylor behind them.
Such courage and love for his best friend, his brother as he called him to bare his soul in front of 75,000 people, you could feel his heart break then break down and then break through the other side, i couldn't have. Dave said in his book "Storyteller", which is a great read by the way, he would take a bullet for Taylor, a brother from another mother.
Add along to these emotions Dave's mom died in late July who was his rock and supported him whatever he decided to do in his life which is also mentioned many times in his book.
I can't even watch this video anymore as it just breaks me each time.
The people lighting the way for Taylor during Times Like These with Taylors Hawk symbol blinding bright at the back of the Stadium.
Usually whenever i see the Foo Fighters play this song or hear it i sing along at the top of my voice until my lungs burn but today.......i couldn't get through the first line without crying and i didn't try again. How Dave did it was an act of huge, huge courage.
The Foo fighters did a set of 10 of their own songs including Taylors favourite Foo Fighters song "Aurora" unfortunately for us we had to put up with two songs from Paul Mcartney in the middle but it was bearable, JUST! I think he should have come on before Queen.
And the emotions keep on coming as Taylors son Shane who is just 16 joins the Foo's on drums. Now he has as much courage and huge heart as Dave to take his fathers seat and play his fathers drums for his fathers band. That's raw and boy did he play those drums, also what a fitting song to play with "My Hero"
This will blow you away if you haven't already seen it.
The end is in sight, it's almost 10.30pm and we are all and i mean everyone in the stadium emotionally drained and in that moment with Taylors family, friends and his brothers The Foo Fighters, all as one, all feeling the emotions of the day dedicated to one of the greatest drummers of all time Taylor Hawkins.
BUT just when you think you can take no more and your torn apart there is one song left to play to break you fully, a solo by the man himself Dave Grohl.....Everlong.
No loud crescendo finish, no pyrotechnics, just a beautiful and serene way to end a fitting tribute for a bright shining star who will definitely be sadly missed by all who knew him, watched him or listened to his music.
For Dave, Pat, Nate, Chris and Rami to get through the Foo Fighters set without Taylor and keep it together was amazing and the tightest i have ever heard a band play, how they did it....i don't know.
And what of the Foo Fighters.......I'll leave it with these two lines from that amazing solo of Everlong....
"If everything could ever be this real forever, if anything could ever be this good again"
Maybe........but i think maybe not. 💔
We miss you Taylor, sleep in peace.
And on to L.A. on the 27th Sept for the second of just the 2 tribute concerts in Taylors home town of L.A. which in fact due to the time difference will be my birthday.
We make our way out of the stadium to the tube with a very subdued crowd but thousands of people are still singing one line over and over from the song My Hero ........"There goes my hero, watch him as he goes."
We take a back street to the tube station and beat all the masses. We sit down on the tube and we're sat across from 2 couples who are of our age. The one guy starts talking to me and says "I've seen the Foo Fighters the last time they played Wembley but the finale tonight was a bit of a let down if i'm being honest, no pyrotechnics and a acoustic song to end on, you'd think they'd give us paying fans more"..................you may want to stop reading at this point until my rant is over.............
I just looked at the guy in disgust and this is what my mind was stopping my mouth from saying.......
"You F**KING dull C**T, are you for real you stupid cockney T**T, do you actually know what this concert was for you utter S**T FACE B**TARD, you pathetic self absorbed TOSSER "
Sorry for the language but those are the exact words that came in to my head at that exact moment.
Total dickhead if ever there was one.
From leaving our seats to being in our apartment in total it only took 30 mins which i was totally amazed at. We hadn't eaten all day so i went across the road and bought two dominio pizzas. We sat there, tired and quiet just eating as we had to, not because we wanted to and then went to bed with both of us still a bit emotional and not sure how to feel.
As Sian said to me, she still feels like it's a big joke and Taylor was going to pop out from somewhere and be like "Surprise!", it just doesn't seem like reality, so, so weird.
I still till this day can't get my head round it.
SUNDAY 4TH SEPT
Wake up and still feel like it's all a dream. We've seen our heroes and some of our rocks legends but our feelings are still at a low when we should be buzzing like we are after other concerts we've been to.
Well, we don't have anything planned for today so i suggest to cheer ourselves up a bar crawl of our fav places in London, YEAH LETS DO IT! And the sun has got his hat on hic hic hic hooray!
So we actually make it around all of our favs we make a deal just one drink in each.
We do miss out Maple leaf as went there Friday and the Fitzroy Tavern as it's the opposite way to where we are heading
Covent Garden here we come and first up Punch & Judy
Just a short walk to the edge of Covent Garden to The Roundhouse.
Out of Covent Garden, through Soho, along Carnaby Street, past the London Palladium to The Argyll Arms.
Out of The Argyll on to Oxford Street, turn left at Primark and in to Marlborough Head.
Back on to Oxford up to Marble Arch and in to Hard Rock Hotel
It's West End Musical Sunday, BOOOOOOooooooooo, get off crappy under studies. Today due to it being Freddie Week at the Hard Rock (Freddie Mercury Birthday) it's songs from "We will rock you", Freddie would have been turning in his grave and Sian was laughing her head off, it was that bad, it was like a junior school musical project or really really bad Am Dram.
Waitress, more cocktails and quick.
Leave hard rock hotel, walk down Mayfair along side Hyde Park until you reach Old Park Lane and enter Hard Rock Cafe.
More Cocktails here and Sian being sneaky gets shots of tequila in while i visit the toilets, this can only end badly but happily.
We have now been on our bar crawl for 8 1/2 hours without eating and our bar tab for Hard Rock alone has reached.....wait for it.........£160 and that's without £60 we spent in the shop on t-shirts but it was definitely worth it.
Feeling slightly merry but not drunk it's time to head back and pick up food from the first take away we come across on Finchley Road which was KFC, nice easy to eat hand food, Chicken Fillet 10 piece bucket meal, oh yeah baby, finger licking good.
Watered and fed it's time to sleep........oh, your asleep already Sian, ok time for me to sleep, nigh nigh now, shhhhhhhhhhh, go by byes.
MONDAY 5TH SEPT (BOOOOOOOOOOO!)
Wake up and feel a bit shaky and tired due to waking up every 2 hours for water as booze and salty KFC isn't the best combo.
Sian feeling the same way but neither hung over, thank god!
We pack very slowly and leave at 11am on the dot.
Sit in Costas for an hour and catch the train home.
After being in Cardiff maybe no more than 5 minutes my first encounter with a local is a drunk 15 year old looking at an electronic bus timetable and asking me what 15.34 is.
Again like the guy on the tube i look at him in disgust, stare him down and this rant comes in to mind but my mouth stays shut.........you may want to stop reading at this point.........
"You F**KING dull C**T, are you for real you stupid Welsh T**T, are you actually that thick you utter P**CK, if you went to school instead of BEING A BRO walking around the streets with a can of shandy you may have got an education, buy yourself a digital Mickey Mouse watch with the benefits you'll end up getting you DICKHEAD"
Sorry for the language but those are the exact words that came in to my head at that exact moment.
Total dickhead if ever there was one.
It amazes me that we go to all these places all over the world including in the UK and nowhere is as shitty as Cardiff, my own home town where i was born & raised and Swansea.
We both dread having to come back here apart from seeing our Squidly and family.
Heeeeeeere's Squidly!
Rabbits only sleep like this when they feel safe, happy and content, Awwwww she so freakin cute!
And there you go my lovely friends, blog readers and followers, all was amazing even with the highest of emotions being reached on the saddest of occasions. The weather once again was great for us apart from that very short downpour of about 4 mins, we are so lucky every time we go away.
We again did a minimum of 8 miles walking a day i think it was but the main reason for this trip was to see our rock heroes and most importantly say our final farewell to Taylor Hawkins......
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