Foo Fighters and The Lion Man!

Well, what a busy weekend the family have had.

It was Carl's birthday yesterday and I bought him tickets to see The Foo Fighters at the O2 Arena. We went last night, picking Mark and Sophie up at 5pm and getting there about 5.45. Firstly I was amazed at how much was in there!! We counted at least 2 clubs (complete with doormen), numerous bars and restaurants, the Tutankhamun exhibition and a massive cinema alongside the Arena itself. Inside the arena it wasn't as big as Madison Square Gardens but the top tier didn't half look steep! We had standing tickets and spent quite a while sitting on the cold stone floor inbetween the acts, and they had the air conditioning on the whole time which was a bit too much earlier in the evening.

The first support act were good, I think they were called Bradley Cole...not sure as they came on while I went to the toilet! Then Serj Tankian from System of a Down played and was fantastic live - I'm not a fan of System of a Down normally but he was great.

And finally the Foos came on! We were standing about halfway back and on the edge but soon discovered this was a mistake. Everyone kept crowding in front and alongside of us, and lots of people were arguing with the stewards who were trying to keep the aisle clear. There was very little that Sophie and I could see as all the really tall people kept pushing and standing right in front of us! About twenty minutes in we decided to go and stand near the back (we were also finding being covered in beer that was thrown was not particularly appealing!) and we could see far more. We also found this to be the perfect spot for when they came down and did their acoustic set - we were so close at that point!

All the tracks they played were fantastic, with the tracks from the new album sounding particularly fresh. Would definitely go and see them again but might go for close up seats next time!

Oh, and kudos for the special guests!!

Now onto mum and dad.

In my last update I told you that they had landed in New Zealand. On their first night mum learned a new expression. Apparently it is Australian and means you had a good meal - it is "Swizzle on the dizzle!"

Yesterday (their Sunday) they went to Zion Park, which is where the TV show The Lion Man is filmed. They saw Zion, the main lion who portrayed Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia and had a behind the scenes tour. Craig (the Lion Man himself!) stopped working on a digger to talk to them for a while and mum had her photo taken with him. The highlight of their visit was a 20 minute one-on-one with two 10-month old white lion cubs. Apparently there are lots of lovely photos and I can't wait to see them! Oh, and that day they also had fresh bread and butter pudding for breakfast, straight out of the oven lol.

Right, I've waffled on for far too long but talking of photos, as soon as we upload them from Carl's phone I will post any that are half decent here - I'm hoping to have a couple so I can do a LO!