Linkin Park World Tour 2025

Well it finally happened, after decades I got to see probably one of my all time top bands live with Linkin Park on there From Zero World Tour. I was never fortunate enough to see LP when Chester the original lead vocalist was alive. So I wasn't going to make the same mistake with the new LP now that Emily Armstrong has taken on that role. The purists will say that it is no longer LP without Chester, but to be honest I am just pleased they are still making music (and very good music) and that they have taken the band in a new direction. That being said Emily does an amazing job with Chesters lyrics in some of the original material.

I got to share this whole experience with Brandon who is also fanatical about LP and Amy who probably knows more about this genre of music than both me and B put together. The tour was a sell out at Wembley Stadium with some 70,000+ people and we had floor standing tickets which I thought might have been a mistake given it was one of the hottest days of the year t nearly 30 degrees. However we were in the shade most of the time and during the evening it actually wasn't too hot in the end.

Once we had got through security we queued up for our merchandise as Brandon wanted a T-shirt and I wanted a bandana to put up in my home gym. After this we settled down with a beer whilst cunningly avoiding one of the support performers, a rapper called JPEGMAFIA. Once he was finished we made our way down to the floor with a very excited Brandon as the next support band was Spirit Box. I had only listened to a little bit of their music in the couple of weeks before the concert so it was quite unknown for me, but I have to say they were bloody amazing live. What a sound.

Linkin Park were just next level. The whole show from the music, stage presence, laser show, lighting effects, smoke was worth every single penny. I never appreciated how much Mike Shinoda puts in to the performances and how much he absolutely loves what he does, the passion that comes through in his stage presence is just incredible. After a 25+ track list at nearly 100dB our ears were certainly ringing towards the end, but in a very, very good way.

We approach the magnificent Wembley Stadium for a sell out Linkin Park From Zero World Tour

Me reaching up to put my arm around Brandon outside the stadium.

Metal heads Brandon and Amy.

Once the rapper was done we made our way down on to the floor area.

We owe this main hugely for not only continuing the LP band but for his passion and vision and for not being afraid to go in a slightly new direction with Emily replacing Chester.

This woman is amazing, unfortunately she will always be compared to Chester. But she is not Chester and is not trying to be Chester. She is Emily and she can sing and she can scream!

All 3 of us enjoying a drink and waiting for the show to start. Amy pulls off the LP bandana a lot better than me!

A night to remember, thank you Linkin Park and Wembley.

Joshua Passes His Driving Test 1st Time

A super proud Dad moment today as I had the honour of driving Joshua to Clacton-On-Sea where he successfully passed his driving test at the 1st time of asking. He managed to get a late cancellation as his original test was provisionally booked sometime in October and then this 10 day cancellation came up which he jumped at. It wasn't ideal being in Clacton and thus we had to leave the house by 6:30am this morning as his test was at 8:30am, but this game him a good warm up drive on the way to the test.

The conditions couldn't have been better for a driving test with glorious sunshine, the roads were quite and the test instructor seemed a very friendly chap. I have to say I was a bit of a nervous wreck waiting for him whilst he was out on the test, in fact I think I was more nervous than Josh was himself! He was only out for just over 30 mins which I initially wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. His "show me" question was how to clean and wipe the rear window which luckily I had gone through with him the literally the night before the test.

The remarkable thing about Joshua passing today is that he only actually had two proper driving lessons, both in the past week. I invested a lot of time teaching Josh and so without blowing my own trumpet I take some credit for his pass. We saved an absolute fortune on driving lessons and only got him the two this week just for a final polish up of any test specific techniques and to drill out any bad habits he might have picked up. I think the fact that I had a lot at stake having taught him to drive is what made me feel more nervous than he did today. The whole day has evoked feelings of when I passed my own test many, many, many years ago now.

Anyway I can't say how proud I am of him, and now it is up to Brandon to match his older brother next year. No pressure............

Josh sets off on his driving test in glorious sunshine in Clacton-On-Sea

30-40 minutes later and he proudly holds the pass certificate. Well done son.

Brandon's Last Day of School

Thursday June 19th marks the day that Brandon finished Secondary School and Year 11. His final exam finished on Monday and today he had his leavers assembly and then the end of school shirt signing event. For Brandon's school shirt he had me mark up the back with 2020 to 2025 with his name in the middle all done in Bubble writing. I was pleasantly pleased when he came home from school and I checked out his shirt as it actually had lots of nice good luck messages etc written on it (as opposed to all the rude profanities that Joshua had on his last year!!!). Anyway here are a few pictures of Brandon and some of his friends on their final day at school.

Brandon's shirt all prepared for his final day in Secondary School.

Brandon with Frankie Ratcliffe

Hummm, touching bums. Does Maia know about this?

Speaking of Maia.

Brandon with Athikun Boomwong

Brandon and his girlfriend Maia again.

Brandon and Alfie Brown

Brandon and Freddy

Brandon and Thomas Burmam

Brandon and Frank Austine

Brandon and Charlie Murrels

Nice to get this email from Brandon's head of Year Mrs Hampton wishing all the Year 11's well. Apparently she was in tears today seeing them all leaving.

Schools Out For Summer

So we officially have two lazy teenagers stuck at home all day as Joshua has finished Year 1 of his Electrical College and Brandon has finished his Year 11 at school. For Brandon is final exam was done and dusted Monday and now all he has is a leavers assembly this coming Thursday and then Prom early next month. Other than that it is sit back and wait for holiday next month and then after holiday the nervous wait for results day in August where me and Tina will have to divide and conquer with one of us going to Chelmsford with Josh, and one going to Beauchamp's with Brandon. It sounds like Joshua will fly through all his Electrical Qualifications  - the big question is has he done enough to finally pass his English!

Final School Sports Day

It seems like we have been part of Abacus school forever having had all 3 children go through to Year 6. However it is all coming to an end and soon we will have no longer any dealings with Abacus as Holly's Junior school comes to an end next month ready to start Seniors.

Historically this blog writes about a lot of "firsts" however with Junior school ending for Holly, Seniors ending for Brandon and Year 1 college ending for Joshua we are now having more "lasts". Last week was probably our "last" school sports day with Holly competing in the sprint and the hurdles. Unfortunately I couldn't attend due to work but Tina recorded her races and despite giving it her best she could not place top 3 this year so no new medals for the collection. We are still very proud of her though and even more so for support the lower years with her Sports Ambassador role.

Last Junior school sports day and an action shot of Holly leaping a hurdle.

Bit of an odd arm position for hurdling Holly!

Sprinting to the finish line.

Action shot of Holly chasing down the leaders.

She wasn't far off, but no medals this year.

Suit Shopping for Prom 2025

With Brandon's prom rapidly looming closer we have had to go out suit shopping (something I haven't done since Joshua's Junior school prom 7 or so years ago). Despite being very fashion conscious it was actually relatively straight forward and Brandon quickly narrowed it down to two suits, both from Next. He ended up choosing a really smart black 3 piece suit with white shirt and blue tie and pocket hanky, just shoes left to buy now. The tie and pocket hanky were the biggest challenge as we had to try and match the colour to his girlfriends dress! He is now desperate for there to be more wedding's in the family to give him further opportunities to wear his new suit.

We also have a nice car sorted for the Brandon's prom but I'll keep that a surprise until the night. So now he just needs to get through the next 2 weeks to finish his GSCE's and then secondary school is as good as finished for him (until 6th form).

Brandon's new Next 3 piece suit ready for Prom 2025.

Obviously he will need a hair cut (and a pair of shoes).

Tie and pocket hanky to match his girlfriends dress.

Holly Get's Her Braces Fitted

Holly is feeling a little sorry for herself today as she has had her braces fitted. Needless to say she required some therapeutic ice-cream tonight and some nice soft macaroni cheese for dinner. We currently now have all 3 of our kids fitted with braces, but this will be short lived as Joshua's are due to be removed early next month. Anyway here is Holly's new smile for the next few years.

3rd and final child now has her braces fitted as well. Calpol to the ready.