What a weekend!!!
As many of you will know, last weekend was one that many had been looking forward to... The Scarlet River crew hosted a pre-awards party which was followed by a weekend of celebrating at the BCMA awards. I had been planning the weekend for a long time... buying my outfits, booking my hotel etc... I was SO excited to meet everyone that I had been talking to online and via zoom all year. However, as per usual with these things, it didn’t quite go to plan!
My blogs over the next few weeks are going to be more like diaries - each week will cover a different day and event. Typically stupid me forgot to take pictures on Friday night as I was in awe of all the incredible artists on the stage, Saturday night I was tasked with putting the winners and performances on BCMAs IG stories and on Sunday... I fell asleep before we were due to leave!
Part 1: Scarlet River Presents the BCMA Pre-Awards Party
I set off to London on Friday morning after dropping my son off at school. I went home to pick up my case and had a much needed second coffee. Typically, all the trains into Cardiff central were either delayed or cancelled so I sat in the coffee shop for an hour which unsurprisingly to most of you, was absolutely fine by me. Around 10 minutes before my train was due I made my way up to the platform, luckily I had reserved my seat as it was absolutely heaving [welsh term for very busy]!! When I finally settled on the train I took out my iPad to try and do some university work. With only 10 days to write the introduction to my dissertation, it was definitely necessary.
I arrived in London earlier than I thought and still had a little while to go before being able to check into my hotel. So what did I do? I stopped off at Starbucks for a bite to eat and a hot chocolate [not a coffee...]. I headed off to find the Millennium & Copthorne at Chelsea Football Club and to my surprise, the room was ready! The event that evening was situated at The Sound Lounge, Sutton and so it was a fair trek. I must admit, I was a little nervous to travel alone but, leaving with plenty of time and an hour or so later, I arrived.
Once I had arrived I immediately saw Rachel and Tyler. The fantastic sound engineer (John) was already setting up and waiting for the artists to arrive and as they did, each got up on stage to complete their sound check and we were ready to go. Not being an artist myself, it's hard to assume what a sound engineer might do and what contributes a 'good one' but, with every artists commending his efforts, we have to assume he was very good at his job and deserves a mention!
The crowd was very heavy and the atmosphere was electric.
First up we had the writers round hosted by the incredibly talented Laura Oakes, and including Charlotte Young, Harleymoon Kemp and Jess Thristan. Each sang 4 songs, taking us from chilled to wanting to party and sometimes just so damn emotional it was hard to comprehend (looking at you Jess!!). The round was perfection in every way! 4 incredibly talented artists showcasing their work and taking us all on a journey with deep and honest songwriting. What I loved the most about this round was the fact that they had so much appreciation for each other, you could clearly see the joy on the other artists faces while another was performing.
After the writers round we had a short break which involved us all ordering some food. For those of you who don’t know, The Sound Lounge is offers a range of organic, vegan food - everything is made with vegan only ingredients. This is not something I’m used to so I wasn't 100% sure what to order. In the end I went with a margarita pizza and some wedges. The wedges were amazing!! The pizza was very tasty but the cheese kept getting stuck to my teeth and felt odd so Rachel finished it off!
Next up we were lucky enough to see Sophie Hanson perform with her guitarist Richard. She had just flown into Stansted airport, literally arriving with her cases at the venue. Her set was absolutely incredible. Her voice is an instrument on its own. She sang 5 songs, all of which completely blew me away and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. I’m still humming ‘Brother’ 5 days later!
Our headlining act for the evening [and the ones I was desperate to see] were Gasoline & Matches. After seeing them perform at the ARC Radio Awards in Birmingham a few weeks ago, I was so excited to watch them again and they did not disappoint!! Performing 6 incredible songs to end the night they surprised us by pulling the sensational Katy Hurt onto the stage for a duet. They ended the night with my favourite song ‘Never Have I Ever’.
Rachel managed to organise the best night with the mostly incredible mix of artists who really bounced off each other. I really wanted to mingle and meet everyone but after a day of travelling and being so far away from my hotel I had to head off. As I was on my own I didn't want to risk the varied public transport so I booked an UBER.
Safely back in my hotel I passed out ready for another busy day on Saturday…..
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