Finals. There are no two ways around it, they are the worst. There is the stress of work to be done, the ‘I’m going to get this done early’ mantra that ends up becoming ‘I think I can finish this with an hour to spare,’ and finally the moment of relief when everything is submitted and bed becomes your best friend. Sometimes a concert can help lighten the stress though and when I saw OneRepublic would be playing the O2 Arena with KONGOS it was pretty much a done deal that I was buying a floor ticket and going. Honestly this was one of the best decisions I made. Monday and Tuesday consisted of a visit to The Globe, class and homework (aka outlining papers). Before the show on Wednesday I wrote a final paper and we had a wine tasting for class at the only urban winery in London (pretty cool place).
watching wine being made
trying their first vintage – 2013
view near the globe
It was then straight to the O2 to get as close to the front of the line as possible and after an hour or so of waiting I headed in (a foreign concept for someone who usually shows up 30 minutes or so before the show starts, walks to the front and takes photos for a bit before observing the show from somewhere towards the back). I was able to snag a spot right up front (easy since I was alone) and was ready for the show. It was weird to be at a concert without my camera and just enjoying the entire thing in the crowd, but if there was one band I could count on to make the rest of the world disappear and just let me enjoy life for two hours it was OneRepublic. Standing at the front and looking back to see the entire arena light up with camera phones was probably one of the most surreal experiences and really put in perspective how incredible of a venue the O2 really is.
Thursday and Friday included a final exam and handing in 2,000 and 3,500 word papers along with a final class for music in a pub.. down the street.. at 11am.. (Rock Star Life?). Saturday included a visit to Notting Hill again along with some Thai food for dinner at a cute little restaurant on the second floor balcony of a building while sunday was complete with an apple festival (post soon) before heading to Scotland.
fall colors
– AS.
**I wanted to post a video or a few more of my shitty iPhone photos from the show but iPhoto seems to have decided it would be nice to delete all the videos and photos so unfortunately I only have what was shared on Instagram.
