rock – that lemon life

Let’s go to Paradise

Hola everyone.

And welcome to another Monday. I hope you’re all doing good and that you had an amazing weekend. I for my part am pretty tired and sore because I went climbing yesterday with my parents, which, despite me having no strength left at all, was absolutely fantastic and so much fun. But even more so, I am honestly in the best mood ever right now, because now, in two days, I’ll already be getting ready in our hotel in Budapest to go to Sziget. In two freaking days. I can’t believe it. And as my excitement is that big, I thought I’d tell you a bit about this phenomenal festival – or how I like to call it, the Disneyland for music lovers.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll probably know what Sziget is, as I basically never shut up about it. It was my very first festival I ever attended, back in 2015, and, without exaggeration, I fell in love with it the moment my mum and I got there. It really felt like a dream, stepping onto this island full of exciting music and fantastic people. God, I loved it so much. And ever since then my mum and I have been trying to find a reason to go back every single year (sometimes the not so well-fitting lineups hindered us). We just adore it so much. And now, in 2019, the festival finally gave us another reason, after last year, to once again step back into paradise. And this time for a whole week. Yes, you read that right. A whole week. I would be lying if I said that I’m not a teeny tiny bit nervous about the one-week aspect, simply because I know how draining festivals can be. But in a good way, obviously. Once you’re a bit deaf and sound a bit croaky, that’s when you’ve reached the good kind of exhaustion. Exhaustion that comes from music and happiness.

And I have to say, this year’s lineup is basically the organisers thinking “who would Laura like to see the most?” and then booking those very same people. I mean, come on. Ed, Marty, Twenty One Pilots, The 1975, Florence and The Machine, Kodaline, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Boy Pablo? Might as well just put everyone from my favourites playlist on. It’s absolutely crazy. Especially as Ed, Marty and TOP are my all-time top three and now I’m really going to see all of them within the space of one week. Absolutely mind-blowing. I get happy/nervous tingles whenever I think about it. I’m just so damn excited, holy moly.

Obviously, as soon as I get back, I’ll tell you everything about the whole week. And I’ll of course also include the ultimate highlight, the one high note the whole trip will end on – my tattoo appointment. I’m not going to lie, I really tend to forget about it, simply because the whole week at Sziget in itself is so sensational that the prospect of getting a new tattoo on top is on the verge of being too much. In the best way ever, obviously, but still. And do you want to know what the best part about that is? I’ll get the tattoo, which is inspired by the one and only Twenty One Pilots, not even 24 hours after having seen them live. If that’s not the cherry on top, then I don’t know what is. Also, my mum and I want to try to get as close to the front as possible for their set on Tuesday, so I might just get to hold Ty with the very same arm I’ll get the tattoo on. Doesn’t that sound absolutely perfect? I’m already so in love with the idea. Watch me wait for hours at the front in the glaring sun just to hold him up during Trees. It would totally be worth it though, let’s be honest. The whole week will be an absolute dream, I can already tell. Can’t wait.

You can probably guess that I, unfortunately, won’t be able to post anything until Monday in two weeks, as I’ll be at Sziget. But you can already put down the date on your calendars guys because that post will be a hell of a ride. A “Sziget was freaking unbelievable / I held Ty’s hand / look at my new tattoo” hell of a ride. And I can’t wait to write it and for you to read it. But until then, let Sziget and the most fantastic week come around and regarding all of you guys, I wish you lovely two weeks and thanks for reading. x

The Lemon Tunes

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to another Friday. A musical Friday again, but in a quite different way. Since starting this blog and really getting into music, I wanted to set up a playlist, solely for this blog, to kind of go with it. I know I always add in YouTube links to my posts about music, when I share my new favorite tracks and stuff, but a real playlist on Spotify just is something completely different. Bottom line: it was well overdue, but, finally, here it is. The official ‘thatlemonlife’-playlist.

As you can probably tell, I had the most fun creating this. Plainly because it meant I could go through all of my saved songs and different playlists on Spotify and pretty much choose my absolute favorites. And you know how much I love sharing my music. So this is an actual dream come true for me, which again brings up the question why I only just now created this… Oh well, better late than never, right?

As usual, I hope you enjoy these songs just as much as I do. Honestly, I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts. And even if you don’t like some, I’d love to hear from you nonetheless. Some of you might know some of the songs from our usual “New Music Friday” section or from one of my countless posts about my current favorite songs and albums. Some songs basically represent my childhood and my teen years, some songs are very recent and some might be super popular and some might be completely new to you. What they all have in common though is that I love them with all of my heart. And if I’m gonna be honest, this playlist is literally me as a playlist. The playlist is me and everything I love when it comes to music. And this might sound creepy now, but when you’re listening to it, you’re basically listening to my soul. And isn’t that the most beautiful thing ever?

So yeah, there’s that. Honestly, I’d be super happy and thankful if you gave the playlist a listen and maybe even told me your verdict. I’ll try to update it regularly and add new songs to it whenever I can, so it’ll definitely be worth a visit here and there. And yeah, until then I hope you enjoy the songs and this post and wish you all an amazing weekend. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

My Week at Nova Rock

Hola everyone.

You’re not going to believe it, but the day has come. Today I’m finally telling you all about my week at the Nova Rock festival. And I know, it literally took me ages to write this, but now it’s here and I’m more than excited for you to read this. Let’s go.

So, first of all, I have to say it was freaking awesome and I loved every single second of it and I want to go back. Like, right now. Please? Can we please go now? I need it in my life. It was so so so cool to work at a festival and not just attend it. Can you imagine being handed one of those “all access”-passes that casually has your name written on it. I nearly fainted. I mean, I literally took a step into the world I want to spend the rest of my life in. And even though the music wasn’t really my type all the time as it was a rock festival with quite some metal bands being part of the linup, I still had a grin on my face 24/7. I just felt so alive. Like the first time when you eat Nutella. It just changes everything. What you feel, what you think, what you want. Everything. And that’s exactly what this week did to me. I now know my path in life and I can’t wait to wander along it.

But let’s go a bit deeper, shall we? So, as I already mentioned, I got to work at the festival for a whole week, from Monday to the next Monday. The actual festival went from Thursday to Sunday, so needless to say that those were the most fun days. The first few days I basically just helped with the organizing and the set up, walked around the area and worked with some TV crews, by which I mean that I gave them a little tour of the whole area. And from the first day on everyone was just so freaking nice and welcoming to me. The TV crews joked around with me, the team and I always went to lunch together, we chatted and laughed and I felt so happy and comfortable and just overall like the luckiest girl ever.

During Wednesday night the first bands started arriving and then on Thursday I literally had the best day ever. In the morning I again did a little tour with a TV crew and could even stay with them during their interview with a band. Guys, there was a moment when I was seriously sitting in a freaking tour bus. An official tour bus, with the band, their manager and the crew in it. And me. How crazy is that? But that’s not everything. When I got out of the bus and walked around the corner 2/5 of the band Kraftklub, one of my favorite bands, walked past me. I couldn’t believe it. I was literally starstruck and couldn’t believe my luck. But little did I know that they would walk past me again just an hour later, but this time completed with a little pause and direct eye contact with them. I must have looked like such a damn freak, with my eyes wide open and that crazy, admiring look I always have when I look at one of my faves. Oh well. I guess I need to work on my coolness when it comes to meeting bands. For future references, you know. After that moment the day was officially the best one and couldn’t be topped, because I started to grin and that smile never left my face.

Later that day I met up with my friend who was attending the festival too. Guys, owning that kind of pass is like the coolest thing ever. I felt so damn cool. I even got to watch a few bands from the stage. And I really mean from the stage, because I was literally standing right around the corner on the stage, with the crew and everything. So unbelievable. And then I even had the chance to attend the Kraftklub concert which was so freaking amazing. They’re such a fantastic band and seriously never fail to amaze me.

The remaining days I basically walked around the festival, watched some bands, met up with my friends and helped my team and the other coworkers. I even got to take some pictures for the official Instagram page. And guys, the whole week was literally so much fun. Seriously. I felt so grateful for the chance to work there and still am flabbergasted that that seriously happened. Because for the first time I was truly a part of the community I’ve always dreamed about and want to spend the rest of my life in. And that just meant and still means so freaking much to me. It was like the last little nudge I needed to fully know that this is where I’m meant to be. This is where I belong. Surrounded by music and people who all share the same passion for it. And I couldn’t be happier about that.

So yeah guys, there you go. That’s my week at Nova and basically one of the coolest weeks ever. I hope you enjoy reading all about it. Oh and I hope you’re all doing great and that so far your weeks has been just as good. I’m actually in the best mood ever as I’m currently sat in my garden at home, with Martijn playing in the background and the fact in mind that I’m going to see this cutie again in just a few hours. I seriously can’t wait to jump around again to these songs. God, I’m so excited. I’ll of course tell you all about it. So yeah, that’s my upcoming weekend. As always I also wish you an amazing weekend. And, of course, thanks for reading. x

Rock In Vienna

Hola everyone.

Another day, another festival – am I right? As I told you on Friday, Saturday was a special day for me as my mum and me got to attend a festival – Rock In Vienna – and go to see Kings Of Leon live again. And holy moly, it was amazing.

First of all I have to say that I’m actually used to big, powerful crowds and festivals with over 90.000 attendees. But Saturday was a little different. Honestly, I think it was actually the smallest festival I’ve ever been to. But that didn’t change the awesomeness of the show.

The first band we got to hear was a german band called Grossstadtgeflüster, who I think did a perfect job of heating up the crowd. And after them another german band called Silbermond took over the stage. This band is quite popular in my country so I knew them beforehand and it was actually pretty cool to see them. Especially as I never thought that I’d ever see them live.

And then it was already time for the main act to come up – Kings Of Leon. I don’t know about you guys but I think KOL are a breathtakingly good band. When I saw them live first at Sziget two years ago I actually didn’t know many of their songs and I was blown away by how good they were. So I started to listen to their songs more and more and basically developed a fully grown love for their music. And when I saw that they would have a concert here in my country, I just had to go.

As you can imagine I was immensely excited to hear their songs live, especially their new album. And actually I have to say that their show last weekend was even better than the one in Sziget. We were lucky enough to be quite close to the stage so I could all actually see them and it was so wonderful to see how they enjoyed the show too and that they were happy to be here. For me that makes a concert thousand times better. And as you can probably guess their show was amazing, seriously. Caleb is an incredible singer, I totally love his voice, it’s so different and special. And the whole band was just perfect. I loved every single second of it.

The most beautiful moment for me was when they played their new song Walls. It’s a quite slow and calm song, so at the beginning Caleb was the only one singing and playing guitar and the whole crowd went silent. And that was just so magical. I held my mum and just listened and that moment was pure perfection.

But what I probably enjoyed most was how KOL acted on stage and when their show ended. You know, when as show ends I’m usually one of those people who stays until the very end, I just never want it to end. And it seemed like they were thinking the same thing. They thanked us over and over again, threw their stuff into the crowd and waved and waved and waved. And I was so shocked because at Sziget they were off stage in a blink and now there they were, smiling and waving and walking around on stage. And I adored that so much and still do. That really showed how much they liked it. They played Waste A Moment and then stayed on stage for a little after – the perfect ending for me.

God, I’m still so happy that I got to see them again and that Saturday really happened. I don’t know what I’d do without concerts and festivals. Probably curl up in a ball and cry. But thank god live music is such a perfect thing and I have the chance to tell you all about it and share the happiness.

So yeah, that was what happened on Saturday. What a beautiful day. I really hope you enjoyed this post and my little story. Oh and please don’t hesitate to leave your comments down below. And until then I hope you all had an amazing weekend and wish you a good week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Folie à deux

Hola everyone.

First of all happy easter holidays everybody. I hope you’re all having amazing days off and could spent some wonderful time with your loved ones. I did, thankfully.

But this post won’t be dedicated to a bunny laying chocolate eggs in our gardens, but to a fantastic band I’ve already talked about pretty often. So I’m quite sure you’ll all know it by now. But to bring an end to all your questions, I’m talking about my beloved band Fall Out Boy.

For me, FOB is a band that will always have a place in my heart and some space on my sd-card, just because I love their music so much. The first time I got to know this band was actually in 2013, when I went to the cinema to watch “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”. The movie starts of with some sort of turnier scene, while FOBs song “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” is playing in the background. The movie was amazing, but somehow it was the song that kept stuck in my head, I just couldn’t forget about it. And so I googled and googled and googled some more until I finally found it. And that’s where my love for FOB has its beginning. Since then the band and their music has been following me throughout the days. And I don’t mind it at all.

If I had to name my favorite song of them, I’d probably start with one song and then just name every single one of them. And that’s the special thing about the band, I just really love everything they do.

But in the past few weeks one album of theirs has stuck out of the crowd – Folie à deux. The title literally transaltes to “shared madness”, which is, at least for me, a quite funny aspect of the album. The LP itself is quite old, published in December 2008, but still as awesome as before. Maybe some of you have already given it a listen or love it just as much as me. Or maybe some of you don’t know the album or the band at all. In any cases, I can just highly recommend you listening to it if you’re a fan of indie/punk rock.

Personally, I have three total favorites of the album:

Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes
What a Catch, Donnie
20 Dollar Nose Bleed

Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes actually had me having a little throwback the first time I heard the studio version, because that was the exact song I couldn’t recognize at the FOB gig at Reading festival. And I’ve been totally in love with it since then. I actually found the Reading live version on YouTube, so enjoy…

And let’s be honest, What a Catch, Donnie is a pure masterpiece. It’s a song where you can clearly hear the huge talent of the band and Patrick, the lead singer. His vocals are breathtaking, seriously.

And last but not least, 20 Dollar Nose Bleed. You all know how big of a fan I am of Panic! at the disco and just to my luck, Brendon is actually featured in this song. That makes it even more perfect than what it already is. And another fun fact, Brendon also has a small appearance in the video for What a Catch (tell me if you could spy him).

So yeah, those are my three favorites of the album, please enjoy. And please don’t hesitate to tell me your opinion on the album, I’m really curious. It’s quite sad, because I don’t really often meet someone who’s a fan of FOB too, so I’d be superhappy to be able to talk to some of you guys out there.

And as always, I hope you enjoyed this post and are all doing well and had an amazing weekend. And thanks for reading. x

Oldschool music

Hola everyone.

This blog post is again dedicated to music, but this time it’s about special music. About special songs, that we probably all know to well. Either from our childhood, from movies we watched and just from pure life. Yep, it’s time to talk about the most epic old school songs (most of them are probably not even that old, but who cares). And again, here are some of my favorites:

Heroes – David Bowie (it always reminds me of the movie “Perks of being a wallflower”)
Fire – Kasabian (saw it live last year at the Sziget festival – the crowd went totally crazy)
Someday – The Strokes (it just makes me feel so happy and full of life)
Mr. Brightside – The Killers (to be honest, who doesn’t like that song?)
Wonderwall – Oasis (an anthem right there)
Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus (One Direction totally rocked that cover)
Where is my mind – Pixies (it just makes you feel supercool; a song perfect for an dramatic ending scene on a movie)
Uprising – Muse (basically the only song by music I actually listen to)
This love – Maroon 5 (the moment I first heard the song was the moment I fell in love with band)
Always where I need to be – The Kooks (a totally addicting song)
What Ever Happened – The Strokes (again a really amazing song by The Strokes)
Sweet Diposition – The Temper Trap (that’s literally the perfect song to listen to in the car at night)
September – Earth, Wind & Fire (the perfect song to get you into the party mode)
I Write Sins Not Tragedies – Panic! At The Disco (that band always ruled; my favorite line is “Haven’t you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?”)
Dance, Dance – Fall Out Boy (one of the best alternative rock bands out there, ever single song is breathtakingly good)
The Funeral – Band of Horses (the first song lines I learned on my guitar; always reminds me of How I met your mother)

Sooo, I guess that’s it. Those are my favorite “old school” songs, although most of them weren’t even produced before 2005, but hey. They kinda gives me that special vintage feeling and brings me back to times when that kind of music played on the radio and I was a lot younger.

Hope you like the list and I would also love to hear about some of your favorites, I’m always open to new music. Thanks for reading. x