Another milestone on lastfm-  70,000 songs played!

The 70,000th song was “Down Slow” by Moby.  It’s from the hugely popular album “Play”.  Electronica is not something I listen to too much however, “Play” is an album which I can just leave playing in the background to keep my company.  It’s one of those albums which I can listen to the whole way through, over and over again, similar to “Moon Safari” by Air.

Mood : blah   Music : Cuts Like A Knife  by  Bryan Adams

Hello dear blog- long time no see!

I always promise that I’ll update more regularly, and recently, that simply hasn’t happened.  “Why not?”, you ask.  Well, I’ve been busy and lifehas sort of been a little hectic.  More than a little hectic actually but not completely chaotic.

Ok so an update covering the past few months-

I started my Masters course in Internet Computing and have now completed the first semester.  I’ve enjoyed it so far although I had to take a Networking module which I haven’t enjoyed so much.  Next semester I have the option to do the second half of that module but I won’t be studying that subject further.  Perhaps its wrong of me to admit this, being a computing person and all but it really doesn’t interest me.  As soon as I get the (bloody) coursework completed, that’s me done with the module.  Big thumbs up for the rest of the course though and all the new people I’ve met

In other news, I got a job.  I’m now a student demonstrator at the university which basically means I help teach some classes.  In semester one I worked with 4th years in XML class and 3rd years who were direct entrants, teaching them the basics of HTML, CSS, Coldfusion and Perl.  When I grow up (if that ever happens), I think I’d like to teach full-time.  This isn’t a new idea which has popped into my head: it’s something I’ve been thinking about since High School (and I recently came across my old report cards, talking about my ambitions).  Anyway, I’m continuing next semester if all goes to plan, helping out in a 1st year database class.

Also, I turned 22 at the end of November.  Not sure I have a whole lot to say about that other than I ate a lot of Chinese food on that particular day.  The next person who mentions “ooh it’s only 8 years ’til you’re 30″ gets a slap.  You have been warned.

The last few weeks haven’t been so good though ……

On my birthday, one of my Great Grans suffered a massive stroke.  It left her unable to do anything except lie in a bed- she couldn’t even swallow food.  After a week and a half of being in hospital, she passed away on the 2nd December aged 98 years old.  It’s a bit strange because she’s always been around and it’s weird knowing that I won’t see her again.  The funeral was a very simple, affair: outdoors, in the graveyard with family only.  I’m still really sad that she’s gone however it’s comforting to know that she lived such a long, fufilling life.  98 years is more than some people get: more than double the length of time which my dad got.

Right now I’m struggling through my coursework, in a little bit of a panick.  So much to do and so little time it seems.  I really just want to go away and have a proper break but I don’t know when I’ll get a proper holiday.  Summer maybe?  All I know is I don’t even get Easter off.  Sucks.

Hopefully I’ll have more time to blog next year (which is like 3 days away).  I’ve noticed various magazines/websites posting their reviews of the decade.  I’ve thought about it but the more I reflect on the past 10 years, the more jaded I feel.  At least that’s what I think the feeling is.

Mood : blah   Music : Star  by  Bryan Adams

I was lucky enough to get an invite to Google Wave 2 weeks ago and since then, I’ve been messing about with it (I believe the technical term is “testing” it?).  So what do I think of it so far?

A couple of nights ago, I was using it with my friend Grant (http://www.deadtreemedia.co.uk/) to see how it worked.  In amongst the random conversation we were having, we noticed some potential issues….

One of the big “selling points” of Google Wave is that you can see whatever your collaborators are typing in real-time.  This meant that when I was talking to Grant, I could pretty much second guess what he was trying to say and vice-versa.  Subsequently, this meant that our replies became a little jumbled.  Of course by using it as an instant messenger, it could be argued that we missed the whole point of Google Wave as a collaboration tool- the real-time typing wouldn’t be a problem if we used it correctly.

Another thing that irritated me in regards to the real-time typing is that if you’re not that great at typing properly, your collaborators can see all your mistakes.  Look at your keyboard.  Look how easy is it to type “die” rather than “for”.  Yes, that could be awkward.  Very awkward, particularly if you were using it in a work environment!

The day after I tested it with Grant, I tested it with another friend of mine, Colin (http://twitter.com/spawnofthemist).  Soon after starting a new Wave, we realised that you could edit the text which your collaborators had typed meaning everything could be turned into a joke.  I should note it did actually say who had edited what so it’s not like someone could type something awful and get away with it.  Perhaps if you use this in a professional environment you’re supposed to be mature enough to avoid doing this but I still think it would be better if Google let you edit your own text only!

Aside from that, I think it could be an exceptionally useful group collaboration tool.  I know from past experience while working on projects at university, it can be hard to circulate ideas and keep everyone up to date with what’s going on.  Google Wave would definitely make this easier for everyone involved.

On the otherhand, I think if I used it with my group of friends, it would descend into Wave upon Wave filled with lol cats pictures and hilarious videos.  Not saying that’s a bad thing of course

Mood : blah   Music : Knights Of Cydonia  by  Muse

On Thursday, I was teaching at uni and the class finished at 5pm.  The first train I could get home was at 5.40pm.  I know from past experience that trains in the evening around rush hour are pretty crowded.  It was especially bad on Thursday because most of the schools in the surrounding areas were on holiday.

Anyway, when I got on the train, there were no seats left so I ended up standing in the vestibule area which was uncomfortably crowded.

15 minutes into the journey, after a few stops, I managed to get a fold-down seat in the vestibule.  At that point, the conductor appeared and that’s when a debate began

It all started when at one of the stops, the conductor wasn’t going to let a couple of guys with bikes on the train.  Now, Scotrail sold these people the tickets, and they had waited on the platform for that specific train to arrive.  Scotrail doesn’t have a cycle policy where you must book your bike on-board therefore, they shouldn’t have the right to refuse entry.  If they are so concerned about health and safety, perhaps they should implement a policy.  In this case, the guys did manage to travel.

To my right, there was a guy carrying a guitar who was perhaps in his late 30’s, sitting on the other fold-down seat.  He’d paid £50 for a ticket, taking him from Kirkcaldy, up to Aberdeen.  He started talking to the conductor, saying that he was quite concerned with the state of health and safety on the train.

He made the point that people shouldn’t be allowed to stand on a train- what if there was an accident?  The conductor retaliated by saying that when you buy a ticket for a train, you don’t automatically have the right to get a seat- all you’re paying for is the journey from A to B.  Again, I think this is wrong- you have to pay so much money for a ticket (not to mention the fact that the ticket prices keep going up), of course you should get a seat.

The conductor then gave the guitar dude into trouble for having his guitar sitting too near the door.  She said it was a health and safety issue (what a joke).  Basically she said that it was ok to have people standing in front of a door because in an emergency, people can move out of the way, luggage can’t.  She also said (perhaps jokingly) that at least if the train was overcrowded and people were standing, you’d probably be quite safe because there would be no room for movement (i.e. you wouldn’t get thrown around much).

Here goes my theory: if there was an accident and the train was overcrowded and people were tightly packed, then no, you probably wouldn’t get thrown around as much.  On the otherhand, you would get shoved into the people around you which would undoubtedly result in crush injuries.  Now, the facts show that it actually doesn’t take that much force/pressure to stop the supply of oxygen to your brain.  Please correct me if I’m wrong but normally, if your oxygen supply is cut off, you die.  If your lucky, you end up brain damaged.

Also, as I previously mentioned, the conductor stated that it was ok to have people in front of a door because in an emergency, people can move.  Hypothetically, if a train accident was extremely serious (and lets face it, most incidents involving trains usually are), then people could be fatally injured.  To my knowledge, dead people can’t move (unless they’re zombies/vampires).  They’d be blocking the door.

Train companies need to get their act together- they must be making a great deal of money from passengers.  They never provide enough seats.  How much extra would it cost to add an extra carriage?  Really?  Perhaps they could put on extra trains?  Is that too much to ask?

Mood : annoyed

It’s come to my attention that I haven’t properly updated this blog in a while, so here goes…

What have I been up to?

Well, over the past couple of months, I’ve been working as a freelance web designer.  Initially, I was working on 2 projects however, I was let go from one of them last week, which was a bit frustrating.  At least it’s taught me a few lessons and I’ll know how best to handle things in the future.  The other site I’m currently working on is a local business.  I still can’t give any details yet but you’ll get to see it when it’s all done.  Promise.

Aside from that, I returned to university a couple of weeks ago and I’m now studying a Masters in Internet Computing.  The course has been very interesting so far and I can’t wait to get a bit further into it.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

For the now, ciao!

Mood : busy   Music : Hit Me Natasha One More Time  by  The Juliet Dagger

A couple of weeks ago I ventured off to Glasgow with my friend Sarah to see U2 perform at Hampden, Glasgow on their 360 Tour.

We caught an early train, and a few hours later, we arrived at Queen Street station in Glasgow.  Sure enough, as soon as we stepped out the door, we saw that it was raining.  Boo.  We took shelter in the Starbucks opposite the Apple Store then headed to TGI Friday’s for lunch (if you’re ever there, I recommend the Mozzarella Dippers and the Golden Chicken Strips for a main meal).  After that, we caught a cab to where we were staying- The Ivory Hotel, near Crossmyloof station.

The hotel was really nice (huge rooms) and once we dropped off our stuff, we went for a wander to get our bearings and to get some snacks for the room.

Doors for the U2 gig opened at 5pm so we left our hotel at 4.30pm, leaving us plenty time to get there.  Once we were outside, it was pretty easy to find where we were going- we just followed the masses of other people.  Halfway there, we asked a policeman if we were heading the right way- we were but he sent us in a better direction, avoiding a huge hill we were going to have to walk over.

The next problem, was finding the entrance to the stadium.  The tickets said tunnel 46 so I assumed that was turnstile 46.  Wrong.  It was the big main tunnel leading in to the stadium.  The entrance area was a total mess to be honest- the people who had been queuing left the area in a state with rubbish everywhere, although there weren’t actually  any bin for them to put litter in.  There was a slightly scary moment when walking into the stadium- security let us through but forgot to check our bags so they asked us to stop.  I was thinking “oh shit!” because I had a camera with me.  Thankfully, they didn’t see it- I think they were more concerned about people smuggling in alcohol.

I couldn’t wait to see U2’s stage set-up in real-life.  I’d read about it, seen the pictures and watched footage on the news.  Walking into Hampden and seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t help but think “wow”.  I saw others walk in and they had the same reaction- pretty much every one with a camera walked onto the pitch and took a picture.  Just amazing.  If you haven’t already seen what the stage was like, here’s a pic-

The claw

Sarah and I walked around the pitch a bit, trying to find a good spot.  There was the VIP area in the middle, surrounded by the RED zone (for people who had donated money to charity) then there was the normal standing area.  When most people walked into the stadium, there just went to the part of the stage that was nearest to them.  We could have stood there but we would have been quite far back.  Because it was a 360 stage, we went round to the left-hand side and got a much better, closer view.

As it turned out, not many people thought about doing this- there was an announcement on the PA saying there was tons of space in our area and it requested people to move beside us but few did.  We were right on the barrier and the crowd couldn’t have been more than 4 deep on our side, even when U2 were on stage.  Great view, close to the walkways and no pushing or shoving- brilliant place to stand

The first support act was a band called The Hours.  I’d heard a few of their tunes before and thought they were ok.  The final song of their set was “Ali In The Jungle” which I like a lot- the pounding drums were great.

Next up was Glasvegas.  I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing them as I’d listened to some of their stuff online and wasn’t too impressed.  I thought they music was good but the singing was a bit whiney/depressing.  They sang a little bit of “You Are My Sunshine” and it made me want to stick something sharp in my ears so I couldn’t hear anymore.  The job of the support act is to uplift a crowd and get them in the party mood for the main act: not to throw them into a pit of deep depression.  I’ll admit I judged them a little too harshly- I have since listened to them again and may be they’re not all bad?  May be it depends on your mood?

Shortly after Glasvegas finished up, the lights came down and “Space Oddity” by David Bowie started playing over the PA system, and dry ice started coming out of the corners of the claw structure.  I gotta say, I love this tune and it just reminds me of an episode in season 5 of Friends where Chandler sings the song (you know the one I mean).

So, on to the highlights of the gig….

• Elevation- As soon as this song started, you saw all the people in the seats stand up- really got the crowd going.

• Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of- I liked the arrangement of this tune.  Only The Edge and Bono played on this song and it was performed acoustically.  Nice harmonising from The Edge.

• Vertigo- “Uno, dos, tres, catorce!”.  The moment these words were spoken, the crowd went nuts and rightly so- it’s an awesome tune!

• I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet)- This was a remix of the song off U2’s latest album.  Basically, the whole stadium turned into a rave-type place and the atmosphere was amazing.  The best part of the song: BONGO DRUMS!

• Sunday Bloody Sunday- A favourite of mine and it sounded great.

• One- Yep, this one just happens to be another of my favourite U2 songs.

• With Or Without You- This is one of the songs I’d been waiting to hear.  If you didn’t already know, I’m a huge Friends fan and this was used for the whole Rachael/Ross “we were on a break!” situation.  Brilliant

There was a bit of an “eek” moment during “Walk On”.  The song started out ok but then the sound started going funny.  At first, I thought my ears might be playing up a little but then I turned to Sarah and she turned round to me at the same moment- something was wrong.  It’s like the sound was coming in pulses- really loud, then really quiet.  All of a sudden, there was a bang, and that was it- all the speakers went.  The following minute was one of the scariest minutes I’ve ever experienced at a concert.

The stadium went silent and the band kept playing like nothing was wrong.  Half the crowd continued to sing along to keep the tune going then, tons of people started booing!  Why pay tons of money to see a really good live band, only to boo when they have a technical glitch ?  I felt bad for U2 at that moment but give them their due, they carried on and never missed a beat when the sound did return.  Big thumbs up to them .  I will admit, I was a little worried that the gig was over and that was it- would have been a helluva early night!

Towards the end, just when I thought I’d seen it all, the middle area where the band were standing began to fill with dry ice.  Bono then appeared wearing a jacket which had lasers built into the side, grabbed onto a rope and spun round, shinig the lasers through the fog.  It looked very cool!

All in all, it was an excellent gig.  I can’t emphasise just how amazing the stage set-up was.  I have never seen anything like that in my life and I’m not sure I will again.  Not only was the music brilliant but while you were listening you couldn’t help wondering what was going to happen next.  What a show!

The awesome stage set-up and video screens

Rocketman by Elton John was played as everyone was leaving the stadium.  We walked back to the hotel and everywhere you looked, there was a sea of people, all walking the same way.  It would have been hellish getting a cab back- you would have sat in traffic for as long.  A 10-15min walk and we were back in the hotel after a brilliant evening.

The next morning, we weren’t sure whether to stay in Glasgow a little longer and go shopping, or head to the train station straight away.  In the end, Sarah and I decided to head home because it was absolutley tipping it down outside and there was no point lugging our bags round shops in that weather.  We called a cab and waited at Queen Street for our train platform to be announced (just like waiting at the airport for a gate to be announced….not used to that!).  A quick stop at Starbucks for a Chocolate Creme (minus the cream ) and we boarded the train.  A few hours later I was back home after a fab trip!

If you’re interested, the setlist is below-

Setlist

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day / Here Comes The Sun (snippet)
Elevation
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire / A Day Without Me (snippet)
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
MLK
Walk On
Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet)
One

Encores:
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Mood : bouncy   Music : Heartache Tonight  by  The Eagles

Another milestone on lastfm-  60,000 songs played!

The 60,000th song was “Fly” by Nickelback.  It’s from the band’s first album Curb, released back in 1996 (much grungier and harder than their subsequent efforts).

Mood : blah   Music : Window Shopper  by  Nickelback

When you’re building a website, it’s important to ensure it looks good in a variety of browsers. I’m currently working on a site at the moment and I wanted to see how it looked in Internet Explorer 6. The only problem is that my computer now runs Internet Explorer 8.

I found a useful tool called MultipleIEs which allows you to run standalone versions of Internet Explorer 6 and it’s predecessors.

Might be a good thing for web designers to have!

Mood : bouncy   Music : Stand Out  by  Tevin Campbell

On Thursday the 9th of July 2009, I graduated from university.

I got a ride to Dundee with my Mum and my Grandad- my guests attending the ceremony.  My sister was supposed to be there but she had a flight to Barcelona that afternoon and wasn’t able to make it.  On arriving in Dundee, I had to head straight for the Caird Hall to get my official photograph taken.  This involved going backstage at the hall, something I thought was pretty cool.  I got to see all the various committee rooms and also saw the “artists lounge”- where the stars hang out.

It took about 45 minutes for me to work my way through the photography process- there were different stages- check order, get a USB pen drive with order details on it, go to a photography room, wait, hoose your best image, get a cd with the image on it, find the frames area.  Quite tiring actually.

After all that, I got back to Caird Square where I met up with some of my friends.  We entered the hall at about 2.30pm and took our seats.  Mine was in the 5th row- seat E17 if you really wanted to know.  Graduation didn’t start ’til 3pm so much yapping was done until then.  Looking at the Graduation booklet we were given, it was so strange to note that only 6 of us were graduating with BSc (Hons) Computing- back when we were young, bright-eyed 1st years, there were 40 of us!

The ceremony began with crazy Phantom of the Opera music.  I have no idea what was being played.  In fact, I don’t even know if the organist was playing a distinct tune.  Perhaps they had a basket of cats which they emptied over the organ, and allowed them to step all over the keys?  It was loud, ominous and to be perfectly honest, would have been more fitting at a funeral.

The ceremony itself was pretty boring.  Throughout the first half, I felt quite nervous, because you know what I’m like before I have to go appear in front of people.  This is definitely the largest crowd I’ve been in front of- approximately 2000 people.  Before long it was time to go on stage.  I thought I’d be really nervous right before I walked on but interestingly, at the moment, I felt very calm and totally ok with it.  The dvd of the graduation ceremony I received afterwards tells a different story- I seem to be unable to smile.  In my defence, I was concentrating on not tripping over my own feet (I’m a bit clumsy).

After that, I just had the rest of the ceremony to sit through or, as it my case, I had the rest of the ceremony to talk (quietly) to the people sitting beside me.  What can I say?  I was bored.  We knew the hall was probably going to get very hot during the ceremony and thought we might be able to get some water, but no.  We ended up sharing a bottle of water that Kevin brought with him.  I’m fairly certain some of the academics gave us funny looks when they saw 4 of us sharing the same bottle.  Rest assured, we were not drinking alcohol- it really was just water.

At the end of the ceremony, we had to leave the hall, row by row and we were greeted in Caird Square by a Pipe Band which was quite nice .  Of course, my family noted that during the procession out into the Square, I still didn’t stop talking…oops.

I took some pictures in the square, talked to my friends then headed back to return my robe.  I had a message from my mum saying that she was at Starbucks with my Grandad so I made my way there to grab an Iced Chocolate.  After a long day (it was 7pm by this point) it was time to head home and relax.

When I got home, my family told me how proud of me they were and how proud my dad would be if he was still with us.  To be honest, I didn’t think I’d ever get this far.  Back in 2002, I was just a devastated 14 year old, coming to the end of her 3rd year in High School.  I didn’t ever want to go back to school after I lost my dad so it’s a testament to my friends, family and teachers/tutors for getting me this far.  Thanks guys

That’s it.  4 years, approximately 39200 miles travelled, 2 days where I was snowed in, that time I was up for 3 days straight, sleepless nights, days of stress, tears, laughter, good times in Whitespace, Ice Cream cake, the best Lentil Soup ever made, playing Hangman in lectures, rants about Scotrail, great friends, travel buddies, that time we got sent home because of the powercut, PC vs Mac, PC vs Linux, laptop wars, bring back the curly fries and a partridge in a pear tree.  Ok, the partridge thing didn’t happen.

The current economic climate isn’t exactly conducive to finding a job.  Even during the graduation ceremony, the principal pretty much said that it would be tough getting a job in our desired field.  After 4 years of really hard work, that’s a little disheartening to hear.  I know, I know- no one said it would be easy.

Here’s to new beginnings I guess, however they may turn out in these uncertain times.

Good luck everyone- I wish you all the best with whatever you choose to do

Mood : nostalgic   Music : Closing Time  by  Semisonic

Originally, I had planned to head down to Hampden alone (a bold move for me I know) as I thought I was the only Springsteen fan in my family. As it turns out, my Aunt and Uncle are big fans and were also going to the gig so I headed down with them. We arrived outside Hampden just after 3pm and decided to grab some chips and get something to drink. Once we’d done that, we checked our tickets and realised that my ticket was for the West Entrance and theirs was for the East, so we would have to regroup once we were in.

I joined the queue outside turnstile 20 on the West side just after 4pm. It wasn’t that big and there was a fantastic atmosphere. There were these 2 guys, carrying a sofa between them, wandering about, singing Born In The USA at the top of their voices which was pretty funny (even made the Police and the event staff laugh). Obviously, they didn’t want to have to stand and queue, so they picked a line, plonked the sofa down and had a drink. Take note die-hard fans of any artist: this is the way to go!

Annoyingly, there were a couple of heavy showers while I was in the queue. It cleared up a bit but once the doors opened a little after 5.30pm, the heavens opened again. Once inside, it didn’t take me long to find my Aunt and Uncle. We ended up in a really good spot and yapped to the folks alongside us for a good while (one thing I will say- very friendly crowd with plenty of banter and laughs). The rain continued for another hour and I was getting worried that it would be a repeat of the Bryan Adams concert I attended at Murrayfield. Finally, it eased up and some blue sky appeared.

The first person to emerge on-stage at 7.50pm was Nils Lofgren. He was playing the accordion and I wondered what song he was playing at first. A few seconds later it was made clear when the entire stadium burst into a deafening roar: Flower of Scotland. Shortly after that, Bruce, along with the rest of the E Street Band burst onto the stage with a brilliant rendition of Badlands.

Now, I could sit here and go through the songs one by one but instead, it’ll just mention my highlights.

• Outlaw Pete- although I hadn’t heard the new album yet (yes someone slap me), I thought this was brilliant- beautiful American scenery in the background and Bruce paraded around wearing a Stetson.

• Working on the Highway- a highlight for me because I didn’t expect to hear this song live!

• Johnny 99- one of my favourites off the Nebraska album (and possibly the most upbeat song on the record too). I’m almost ashamed to admit I didn’t recognise it at first (it’s play acoustically on the album but the full band played it live).

• Pink Cadillac- I’ve been informed this is a rare one to hear. Anyway, it was brilliant although for a moment, I didn’t think Bruce was going to remember the opening riff.

• Cover Me- this was one of the requests that was written on a sign. Again, I just didn’t expect to hear this live.

• Waitin’ On A Sunny Day- one of my favourite songs off The Rising album and it was pretty appropriate too. During the song, Bruce went up to a little girl who was in the front row of the audience (she must have only been about 5 years old), got the entire stadium to be quiet (you could have heard a pin drop) and let the wee girl sing the chorus- it made everyone go “aww” .  Ironically, at the very end of this song, it rained a little.

• The River- This is the song which contains some of the best lyrics ever written- “is a dream a lie that don’t come true or is it something worse?”. Although it is a sad some and some people may feel that it killed the mood, it was fantastic.

• The Rising- the song is off the album of the same name and I loved the “la la lalala la la” bit live (if you know the song, you know what I mean ).

Of course he played some of his most well-known songs too Born To Run (very loud roar when this started!), Thunder Road, Dancing in the Dark- all totally amazing

There were some funny moments throughout the evening too. Near the start, Bruce walked right alongside the audience and handed a plectrum to a guy who must have been in his mid-twenties. The guy was obviously a huge fan and he was so shocked, I don’t think he knew what to do- for a second I thought he was going to burst into tears, poor bloke. It was quite funny when Bruce was collecting signs that had requesting on them- there were so many, he had to make 2 trips and struggled to carry everything he collected.

The final song of the evening was Twist & Shout which must have gone on for at least 10 minutes- it was completely insane. The crowd were going wild and pretty much everyone wanted the band to keep going but sadly, 11pm was curfew time so it all had to come to an end.

After the show finished, it was a bit of a nightmare getting out of Glasgow. Something had happened in the city centre and nearly all of the traffic lights were out- there were Policemen everywhere directing the traffic. Even after we got out of the city, there were roadworks which caused huge tailbacks. When we got to Dundee, one of the roundabouts on the Kingsway was closed. After all that, we didn’t actually get home until just after 3am.

It was a fantastic night and I still can’t believe Bruce and the E Street Band performed for 3 solid hours without taking a break. When I reach 59, I hope I have as much energy as the Boss- he never stopped running and jumping around! My first Bruce Springsteen concert and certainly not my last- hope he comes back to Scotland soon.

I’ll leave you with one of the pics I took-

For those that are interested, below is the complete setlist-

Flower of Scotland (Nils Lofgren played alone)
Badlands
Out In The Street
My Lucky Day
She’s The One
Outlaw Pete
Working On The Highway
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Raise Your Hand (Instrumental Gathering Signs)
Incident On 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waitin’ On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
Hard Times Come Again No More
Thunder Road
American Land
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Twist & Shout

Mood : bouncy   Music : Outlaw Pete  by  Bruce Springsteen