Welcome to this weeks Flow Feature! This week’s feature is on 16 year old Amanda McGeer from Ireland!
Amanda only recently entered into the world of the Flows, discovering Florence + The Machine in July 2012. For Amanda, it all started with her love for another popular band, Snow Patrol. She loved everything about this band, their music, their musicianship, and their lyrical skills. During January of 2012, while watching a popular Irish late night television show, ‘The Late Show’ hosted by Ryan Tubridy, Snow Patrol performed
their song ‘In The End’ from their 20122 album, and followed up by announcing that they would be headlining a festival at Phoenix Park on July 8th.
Amanda had never been to a concert before, let alone a festival, and she was unsure how to go about organising for such an event, so as much as she desperately wanted to see Snow Patrol live, she didn’t set her hopes high. Amanda’s luck turned a few weeks later at school, when a friend announced that she would also be interested in seeing Snow Patrol live as their way to celebrate the end of their Junior Certificate exams. The plans evolved from there and on the day tickets went on sale they were lucky enough to get their hands on a pair.
As the weeks went by, more and more talented artists were being added to the line-up, and eventually the one and only Florence + The Machine appeared on the list. With all her focus on her school work, and she had never taken the time to ensure she had all the latest CDs, so although Amanda had
heard the name ‘Florence + The Machine' before, she had never taken the time to investigate their music. When she found out she would also be seeing them live, she made sure she got a copy of Ceremonials so that she would be prepared for their show. Little did she know that she was now holding what would soon become such a major part of her life.
When she sat down to listen to Ceremonials it was the first time Amanda had ever listened to an album all the way through. Right from the opening track she was hooked, blown away by everything the music had to offer. The messages in 'Only If For A Night', that beautiful long note in 'No Light, No Light', and the experiences and passion of 'Breaking Down'. These were the first songs that had ever struck Amanda on such a personal level. From that day on, she knew she had discovered something incredible, and was getting herself into something very special.
The build-up to the day of the concert was brilliant. She was so excited, but nervous at the same time. By now Amanda knew every word to every song of Ceremonials. The only thing she regrets from that day is that she went to her first Florence + The Machine gig with little knowledge of Lungs, only knowing 'Dog Days Are Over' and 'Cosmic Love'. However that did not taint the event in the slightest. If anything it made the concert even more special, full of beautiful surprises beyond her dreams. Though she doesn’t remember every detail from the concert, having been swept up in the event and hit by such an incredible wave of emotion and inspiration, she will never forget that day. The intro to 'Only If For A Night' before Florence entered the stage, the 'Dog Days Are Over' crowd jumping ceremony, the human sacrifices in 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)', and of course that one note in 'No Light, No Light'. Amanda was blown away by the power Florence and the band held over her during that concert. She was taken to a completely different realm, where not one of the 44, 999 other people around her existed, it was just her and Florence. The shock at the end of the concert was surreal, forced to enter back into the real world, but as a different person.
Since that day Amanda has only grown more and more obsessed with Florence and her beautiful Machine, and they have influenced so many of Amanda’s choices. Amanda has been encouraged to be creative with her fashion, and to not be afraid to stand out and reveal who she really is inside. Florence has shown Amanda that there is so much more to life than what she thought, and even gave her the confidence to sing and perform in front of a crowd for the first time. If she is ever having a bad day, all Amanda needs to do is go to her room, plug in her earphones and blast Florence + The Machine, and her problems are gone.
When she listens to Florence’s soaring vocals, she becomes part of a different world for a while, a place where she is at peace, where beating drums loudly, wearing capes and covering yourself in glitter is the way of life. I think we can all agree that it is a beautiful place to be.
The next best thing to finding the band and their music has been discovering their fanbase. Through the band, and through social networking sites such as Twitter, Amanda has been able to meet incredible Flows from all around the world, and build life-long friendships (those who know Amanda will know what she is talking about). Amanda doesn’t know how she would be able to function without these incredible people in her life. Florence has not only provided her with their music and inspiration by the bucket load, but has given her a new family, with amazing people that she trusts with her life.
Amanda never thought that one festival ticket would change her life so immensely, and open up her world to such incredible experiences and such beautiful people. Since then she has also been able to attend another Florence + The machine concert, the final of the Ceremonials Tour, dressed as Isa in the theme of ‘Mischief’. How fitting that she would be able to attend the final show of the tour dedicated to the album that brought her so much.
Thank you Amanda for sharing your beautiful story! Though you only joined our family in the past year, you are no less of a Flow than anyone else, and we welcome you with open arms. We hope that Florence + The Machine will continue to bring you happiness and inspire you to be everything you can be.
We hope you all enjoyed this weeks Flow Feature. Apologies for the delay this week. Due to an unexpected power outage that lasted the whole night we were unable to publish it at our regular time. Never fear, next week all will be back to normal, and if you send us your story to our email or
website, it might just be your story that we share! Have a wonderful week.
Inspiring Flows xXx
Amanda only recently entered into the world of the Flows, discovering Florence + The Machine in July 2012. For Amanda, it all started with her love for another popular band, Snow Patrol. She loved everything about this band, their music, their musicianship, and their lyrical skills. During January of 2012, while watching a popular Irish late night television show, ‘The Late Show’ hosted by Ryan Tubridy, Snow Patrol performed
their song ‘In The End’ from their 20122 album, and followed up by announcing that they would be headlining a festival at Phoenix Park on July 8th.
Amanda had never been to a concert before, let alone a festival, and she was unsure how to go about organising for such an event, so as much as she desperately wanted to see Snow Patrol live, she didn’t set her hopes high. Amanda’s luck turned a few weeks later at school, when a friend announced that she would also be interested in seeing Snow Patrol live as their way to celebrate the end of their Junior Certificate exams. The plans evolved from there and on the day tickets went on sale they were lucky enough to get their hands on a pair.
As the weeks went by, more and more talented artists were being added to the line-up, and eventually the one and only Florence + The Machine appeared on the list. With all her focus on her school work, and she had never taken the time to ensure she had all the latest CDs, so although Amanda had
heard the name ‘Florence + The Machine' before, she had never taken the time to investigate their music. When she found out she would also be seeing them live, she made sure she got a copy of Ceremonials so that she would be prepared for their show. Little did she know that she was now holding what would soon become such a major part of her life.
When she sat down to listen to Ceremonials it was the first time Amanda had ever listened to an album all the way through. Right from the opening track she was hooked, blown away by everything the music had to offer. The messages in 'Only If For A Night', that beautiful long note in 'No Light, No Light', and the experiences and passion of 'Breaking Down'. These were the first songs that had ever struck Amanda on such a personal level. From that day on, she knew she had discovered something incredible, and was getting herself into something very special.
The build-up to the day of the concert was brilliant. She was so excited, but nervous at the same time. By now Amanda knew every word to every song of Ceremonials. The only thing she regrets from that day is that she went to her first Florence + The Machine gig with little knowledge of Lungs, only knowing 'Dog Days Are Over' and 'Cosmic Love'. However that did not taint the event in the slightest. If anything it made the concert even more special, full of beautiful surprises beyond her dreams. Though she doesn’t remember every detail from the concert, having been swept up in the event and hit by such an incredible wave of emotion and inspiration, she will never forget that day. The intro to 'Only If For A Night' before Florence entered the stage, the 'Dog Days Are Over' crowd jumping ceremony, the human sacrifices in 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)', and of course that one note in 'No Light, No Light'. Amanda was blown away by the power Florence and the band held over her during that concert. She was taken to a completely different realm, where not one of the 44, 999 other people around her existed, it was just her and Florence. The shock at the end of the concert was surreal, forced to enter back into the real world, but as a different person.
Since that day Amanda has only grown more and more obsessed with Florence and her beautiful Machine, and they have influenced so many of Amanda’s choices. Amanda has been encouraged to be creative with her fashion, and to not be afraid to stand out and reveal who she really is inside. Florence has shown Amanda that there is so much more to life than what she thought, and even gave her the confidence to sing and perform in front of a crowd for the first time. If she is ever having a bad day, all Amanda needs to do is go to her room, plug in her earphones and blast Florence + The Machine, and her problems are gone.
When she listens to Florence’s soaring vocals, she becomes part of a different world for a while, a place where she is at peace, where beating drums loudly, wearing capes and covering yourself in glitter is the way of life. I think we can all agree that it is a beautiful place to be.
The next best thing to finding the band and their music has been discovering their fanbase. Through the band, and through social networking sites such as Twitter, Amanda has been able to meet incredible Flows from all around the world, and build life-long friendships (those who know Amanda will know what she is talking about). Amanda doesn’t know how she would be able to function without these incredible people in her life. Florence has not only provided her with their music and inspiration by the bucket load, but has given her a new family, with amazing people that she trusts with her life.
Amanda never thought that one festival ticket would change her life so immensely, and open up her world to such incredible experiences and such beautiful people. Since then she has also been able to attend another Florence + The machine concert, the final of the Ceremonials Tour, dressed as Isa in the theme of ‘Mischief’. How fitting that she would be able to attend the final show of the tour dedicated to the album that brought her so much.
Thank you Amanda for sharing your beautiful story! Though you only joined our family in the past year, you are no less of a Flow than anyone else, and we welcome you with open arms. We hope that Florence + The Machine will continue to bring you happiness and inspire you to be everything you can be.
We hope you all enjoyed this weeks Flow Feature. Apologies for the delay this week. Due to an unexpected power outage that lasted the whole night we were unable to publish it at our regular time. Never fear, next week all will be back to normal, and if you send us your story to our email or
website, it might just be your story that we share! Have a wonderful week.
Inspiring Flows xXx
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