Saturday 25 June 2016

Love Song - Sophia Bennett

I'm not sure whether I'm just actively seeking books with boybands in them but 2016 seems to be the year of boy band books which certainly is not a bad thing. Love Song by Sophia Bennett is the latest book I've read which revolves around a boy band and it's one of my favourite boy band novels I've read so far.

The book tells the story of Nina who hates boybands. She is probably the only female in the world who hasn't fallen for the charm and good looks of the latest boyband, The Point. Nina's sister however loves the band and drags Nina to a meet and greet with the band. Then thanks to a freak accident during the meet and greet Nina finds herself landing a job as the assistant to the lead singer, Jamie's, fiancĂ© who just happens to go everywhere with the band. Nina's life changes overnight as she finds herself on tour with the band, learning that the band may not be as perfect as they lead you to believe. 

I have been desperate to read Love Song for such a long time now and boy did it not disappoint! It's one of those books that is effortless to read and you just want it to never end. It was engaging, I loved the characters, I loved the cute little moments the characters had together - I just loved this book! 

I think everyone can relate to Nina. From her first meeting of The Point I loved her. She's just a normal, down to earth character who stands up for herself and has morals. She doesn't fall at the feet of the hottest band in the world and that is exactly why this book is so brilliant. The Point are just the dream band to read about too. Although at the beginning they seem to be a little arrogant and somewhat harsh towards Nina as you read more about them and there rock star demeanour starts to shatter you grow to absolutely love them. Jamie and Angus in particular are the real stand out members who I could never stop reading about. 

If you've ever even slightly loved a boy band then you will love reading Love Story.  It's a book that you can pick up then hours later you've finished it and it only feels like you've been reading minutes as it's just that good to read. I just loved it and I couldn't recommend that you pick this up as your next book to read next. Now all that's left for me to do is keep my fingers crossed they'll be more novels about Nina and The Point in the future...

Synopsis -

Seventeen-year-old Nina doesn't get why everyone's obsessed with The Point - but when she averts a backstage disaster and is offered a job on tour, she can hardly turn it down. She quickly learns that being with the hottest band on the planet isn't as easy as it looks: behind the scenes, the boys are on the verge of splitting up. Tasked with keeping an eye on four gorgeous but spoiled rock stars, Nina's determined to stick it out - and not fall for any of them ...

Saturday 18 June 2016

Songs About A Girl - Chris Russell

If you've not guessed by this blog by now I love books about boy bands. Songs About A Girl is about the latest boy band Fire & Lights. Charlie Bloom is just a regular teenager who happened to go to school with Fire & Lights member Olly. Although they barely spoke at school somehow Olly finds out that Charlie is a keen photographer and offers her the opportunity to join him and the band at a few upcoming events. Of course hanging out with the most popular band in the world isn't quite as perfect as you can imagine.

I really don't know where to start with this book. On one hand, I stayed up until 3am when I was at work the next day just to finish reading it but on the other than ending just didn't finish remotely like I wanted it to. I just wanted different things to happen with different people and I just didn't like that it didn't happen! I became that invested in the ending I wanted that it just frustrated me when it didn't. Now I just want to read the next book (I'm hoping it has a book two from the ending!) already.

Olly was adorable. He really wants to help people and is always looking out for Charlie. For me, he's the kind of character that I love to read about. Olly's bandmate Gabriel on the other hand is a complete and utter twonk. He's much more argumentative and I'm still not entirely sure he does have other people's best interests at heart. 

If like me, you love reading novels concerning bands you will love this book! Although I've never been on tour with a band before I find it completely realistic and you it's easy to imagine yourself in that situation. Charlie is likeable and the band are just great to read about. Just be aware that this book doesn't end in the perfect romantic ending like many similar books do! Other than that, this book is fantastic and is well worth picking up to read. 

Synopsis -

Heartbreak, romance, fame and pop music - for anyone who's ever dreamed of saying 'I'm with the band'.

Charlie Bloom never wanted to be 'with the band'. She's happiest out of the spotlight, behind her camera, unseen and unnoticed. But when she's asked to take backstage photos for hot new boy band, Fire&Lights, she can't pass up the chance. 

Catapulted into a world of paparazzi and backstage bickering, Charlie soon becomes caught between gorgeous but damaged frontman Gabriel West and his boy-next-door bandmate, Olly Samson. Then, as the boys' rivalry threatens to tear the band apart, Charlie stumbles upon a mindblowing secret, hidden in the lyrics of their songs ...

Sunday 5 June 2016

Pigs Can Fly Tour - Busted

It seems a little pointless writing this blog post as the tour is over now but regardless this tour has been a huge part of my life for the past month as I attended five dates, so it only seems appropriate to do a little write up about it. It's not a review as such just more of a post of me telling everyone how much I love Busted. Before you start reading expect this to be very biased because I just love this band. They’ve been in my life for over half of it and even after they split up 12 years ago I still went to support James Bourne and Matt Willis on their various solo ventures. For me, this tour wasn’t a nostalgic trip down memory lane, I genuinely have never stopped loving this band and I would’ve gone to see them even if they announced they were all juggling oranges on stage for two hours. 

I think Busted’s Pig’s Can Fly Tour came as a bit of a surprise for everyone when it was announced last year. It has been repeatedly said by every member of Busted since the band split back in 2005 that they would never get back together, well this tour is proof that pigs really can fly! It’s been so great seeing James and Matt performing in tiny venues over the years and McBusted were incredible but nothing compares to having Busted back on stage. 

Support for this tour came from Emma Blackery and Wheatus. I'd never heard of Emma Blackery before, she is a YouTuber so perhaps younger audience members would've known her already. However, the few tracks she did on tour were very catchy and her set was lively and enjoyable. I think everyone my age loves Wheatus and knows at least Teenage Dirtbag word for word. I was surprised at how many of their songs I did know! They were the perfect support for Busted. 

Busted came onto the stage to the newly released single, Coming Home, it’s clear that everyone in the audience shared my enthusiasm about Busted being back with the screams being of deafening levels particularly after the first word that comes out of Charlie’s mouth. The entrance was weird with a hundred or so fans’ being on the stage in pig masks but it was so effective. I stood in the onstage ‘Pigsty’ on one of the dates that I attended and it’s such an unusual way to watch the show. Plus how many people can say they’ve been on stage with one of their favourite bands and got to actually be a part of the show? 

Although Busted were quite successful in the early 2000s, they only ever released two studio albums so unsurprisingly they performed nearly all the songs that you wanted to hear including fan favourites such as What I Go To School, Thunderbirds and Meet You There. The band even treated the crowds to two new songs Easy and One Of A Kind, both of which I’m very excited to hear the Busted studio versions of. Before you know it, they’re onto the last song of the night, Year 3000, which still to this day is one of my favourite songs. The set production of the Busted tour is kept to a minimum so you're focussing on the band at all times and not other things that are happening on stage which definitely isn't a band thing. 

It’s actually insane just how incredible the Pigs Can Fly tour was. I have never had so much eye contact and interaction from a band member before at a concert in my life. Nothing beats the feeling of being stood directly in front of your favourite member of a band in the OMFG front standing area and them making you feel like you're the only person in the crowd. Also on this tour they offered meet and greet opportunities, I’ve met James and Matt many times before in the past but complete credit to the entire band for making the meet and greets not at all rushed and for being up for any photo pose you suggested. If possible I’ve walked away from these shows loving this band even more than I did when a month ago. 

On stage the band was saying how this tour isn’t a onetime thing and with an album coming later in the year, I really hope that this is the case. The last month has provided me with some of the best memories so here is to the next tour!