"Light up, light up as if you have a choice"

Let me take you on a trip....
Our journey starts at Crapsville bus station, join Buddy With Boobs & myself as we catch the bus to Northampton. Taking a bus is not something I've done much of lately & truth be known it was something of a novelty! We sit upstairs after forgiving Buddy With Boobs for thinking that sitting downstairs is acceptable, that's for old people, right?
Anyway, we alight at the train station 10 minutes later than scheduled & miss the train we'd planned. This isn't a problem as the next one in 20 mins will whisk us to the capitol non-stop. Then we'll stop for the obligatory smoke before heading onto the tube. Leicester Square is our destination. Upon arrival we will soak in the hustle & bustle of it all & eat at KFC (Yum!), from here we will indulge Buddy With Boobs on a whistle stop tour of a few of the sights. Her previous visits to London have been guided by her husband & she's seen Oxford Street & little else. So follow us down to Piccadilly circus & marvel at the big bright lights, at how these huge neon corporate symbols emit a strange beauty. Then we'll duck down a side street or two & flirt with the seedy glamour of Soho, complete with (surely freezing?) girls stood in doorways wearing very little. With no time to lose we head to Trafalger Square where some sort of gathering is taking place in the crisp evening air. Carols are sung, TV crews film & several bemused tourists scratch their heads. Let us then stroll down Whitehall, peer down Downing Street & remember how majestic & ornate the House's of Parliament are, particularly Big Ben itself. Finally we'll stand upon westminster bridge & gaze at the London eye & how pretty the Thames looks when you can't see how filthy the water is & you can see the lights of the city reflecting on the surface of it. As we take the tube from Westminster to Brixton, we can catch our breath & in Buddy With Boobs' case, reflect on how in 90 mins with The Flashman she has witnessed more of London than in the whole 30-something years previous to that.
So to the main event, we will now take our places down the front of the Brixton academy. Here we will witness a fantastic band at the peak of their powers. We'll jump about & get sweaty as they hit their stride with the irresistible "Spitting games", we'll smile like giddy children at the joy that is "Chocolate" & join the entire crowd as we sing along to every single word of "How to be dead". During the quieter moments of "Grazed knees" & "An olive grove facing the sea" you may want to look around at all the other people sharing this communal pleasure with you, especially the slender young woman just behind you with the breathtaking eyes. Then, if like me it's your personal favourite, you may want to simply give yourself to the menacing throb of "Ways & means" forgetting all else around you & becoming one with the awesome sound. You will then acknowledge the sight of these five guys on stage clearly enjoying every second & sincerely offering their gratitude for "a truly fantastic year" as they close the set with a wonderfully rousing "Run". We will then cheer our sweaty little heads off until they return. Only as we are herded out with a blistering "Tiny little fractures" still ringing in our ears will we realise that we have been to a truly excellent gig.
As the adrenalin subsides on our tube back to Euston we can compare notes on highlights & special moments. Even when our return travel plans go awry & we don't get back home until nearly 3 am causing us to be 3 hours late for work the next day & receive a bollocking from the boss, we will know that the night we went to see Snow Patrol was a real night to remember.