Whilst my mum was in Japan she encouraged me to get tickets for some of the US shows (it didn’t take much). The flight to the West Coast isn’t bad so that’s where I went – Sacramento, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. I’d never been to any of them before.

Sacramento

Not to bore people but as I previously mentioned, my straighteners and my backup pair had both broken before I left so I had to order new ones to my hotel and they were at the waiting for me when I arrived. This is the fourth pair I own now – my actual ones, my UK ones, my backup ones and my USA ones. A warm welcome to gang!

I was jet-lagged in Sacramento and one of the days was a Bank Holiday so the things I wanted to do weren’t open. The day of the concert I woke up at 1:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep until 7:00am but then made myself get up at 9:30am so I wouldn’t get into a bad routine but I was bloody knackered!

Got to the queue and it was so hot and there was no shade. A guy at the front offered his umbrella to me and I took it and shared it with this girl behind me, C. She was really sweet, only 19 and her first time at a show by herself. When it was time to go in, I suddenly thought, I don’t think they’re going to allow me in with the umbrella so whilst I was stood waiting I made the decision that I would just tell them to chuck it – it wasn’t even mine and it looked brand new! Got to the front and the umbrella was a no go, so unfortunately it got binned. I didn’t want to confront the person about this before the show but luckily C wanted to stand on the opposite side to where he was anyway. If you can, put the problem off until you absolutely no choice but to deal with it.

I loved the show, it was really good. I’m not sure on the dressing up in gold but I’m miserable so there you go. Also really annoys me having cameras shoved in my face. I’m not the one performing, focus on the bands. You’d think the bands would know that it’s fucking annoying because I am sure they have to deal with people shoving cameras in their faces without asking and I’m sure they don’t like it, so why would I? No, I don’t want to be on the big screen or your socials but it’s not like I was asked whether I consented or not. I also don’t need to see other people reacting to things to know how I want to react to something. It’s something that I disagree with and feel like it’s an invasion of privacy.

San Francisco

Left Sacramento and went to San Francisco on the Amtrak.

I wasn’t in San Francisco long enough to do anything really but I did see the Golden Gate Bridge, so that was good.

In the queue I met a guy, J, and we agreed to secure a place on the rail between us. He lives in LA and is a big fan of Silversun Pickups. He likes Nikki, so he wanted to be on her side.

Portland

Wow, what a place. I had to get a plane there because it was far. It felt like a cross between Afflecks Palace and Oldham mixed with punters from the bookies who bet 20p e/w but also people who study Japanese at uni. I enjoyed the art museum a lot. This woman and I kept crossing paths and she said we were like each other’s shadows which I liked and she said bye to me when she was leaving.

No Sweetgreen in Portland, so I had to branch out.

In the queue for the show I met G and he is really into music which I’m not so he was telling me about different bands and I was happy enough to listen. He was really nice and again, massive Silversun Pickups and Nikki fan, so wanted to be on her side. He said he was growing fennel and I said my mum used to give me fennel water as a baby. I’m not a massive fennel fan now.

Seattle

By the time Seattle rolled around, I had my throat issue that I get from the aircon in America, so was finding it quite hard to speak. I got the Amtrak which took around 4 hours. It was cold, wet and grey in Seattle and it reminded me very much of the weather in Manchester which I don’t care for that much.

I went to the art museum but it wasn’t that good.

I had crumpets – both of them are mine. Bloody dear but I love crumpets.

I was planning on standing on Brian’s side but again I met people in the queue and they wanted to stand on Scott’s side, so we did. The Seattle people were all really nice and I liked meeting them a lot.

What did I eat whilst I was there? They all look the same, but one of them isn’t! The routine was eat the salad (Shroomami from Sweetgreen) at around 14:00 with a piece of focaccia and then either a packet of crisps or a cookie. Get to the venue to queue for around 15:30-16:00.

You should go and see the show if you can, it’s amazing!

Emily