Opinions of an Ellie

A marker of the Parisian alternative music scene, Rock en Seine did not fail to deliver on anything, this I can safely say after attending even only two days of the festival. The event is held annually in Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, a national park in paris' west, that provides a gorgeous natural back drop to the music. Rock en Seine is known for delivering on all it's lineups with past line-ups including Muse, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys and Green Day. We were lucky enough across our two days (Friday and Saturday) to catch sets from Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, Franz Ferdinand, Mo, Her and Band of Horses. The acts really continued the alternative vibes this festival has and such an incredible array of performers, I think, may have actually blown my mind. Franz Ferdinand were incredible to finally see, having heard their anthems at indie nights out for several years it felt so good to see them performed live. Being a part of a crowd bouncing around to 'Take

Madrid. What can be said that hasn't already?  A beautiful capital made as the playground of young and old alike. My time there was made extra special by the fact we'd gone there to experience Mad Cool Festival too, a new indie festival with an incredible line up for a second year, and the chilled out atmosphere only mainland Europe can provide. More about that later though. Before Mad Cool started we had 2 full days to explore and settle in Madrid. The first thing we noticed when we arrived was just how friendly the Madrilenians are. As we arrived we attempted to manoeuvre the Metro, a kind man gave us his tickets that had a day left on them, and when we went to try a Mahou - beer famous for being brewed in Madrid - the guy charged us a lower price for a larger cup. If it wasn't the kind people, then it was the cheap alcohol that already had me planning my next trip there.  A random backstreet I feel fits the aesthetic We stayed in a very centr

When it was first announced that Radio 1's big weekend was coming to Hull this year, it was clear that the impact on the city would be great; and I suffered severe FOMO after letting my bed head get the better of me and waking up sometime after the tickets were sold out. Hearing Scott Mills announce the tickets are sold out shouldn't be as painful as it was to me (haha). But I was lucky enough to to witness the effects on the city from a whole new perspective as an outsider. My interests were pursued at the radio 1 academy, where I saw Bastille in conversation with Clara Amfo, and managed to get a nice response from Professor Green as he walked by me and responded to my cheery 'Hiya!', with an equally positive 'Y'alright mate?'. The academy allowed young and old people to look at opportunities at careers in media, the arts and music. There's a clear demand for it in the city as the events were pretty full and all the people I spoke to that attended