I made a fuck it list last year, which is essentially a bucket list, the vital difference being that you don't wait until you are terminally ill before you start. Life is short, although we do not seem to notice this until we feel death upon us. Number one on my list is to meet a boyband that i have been a fan of since i was thirteen years old. Yesterday i completed it.
They always say that you should never meet your idols, as you will always be disappointed, so it was with some trepidation that i queued outside the Lakeside entrance of the NEC in Birmingham with my little brother. While waiting in the queue (and getting caught in the rain) we got chatting with a lovely woman called Chloe, who had met them once before, right at the beginning of their career in Britain in 1996.
We were let in at half three, and picked up our gold VIP's and tickets. Then we had to queue according to what level we had.We met another couple of lovely women in that queue, including Nicola, who has a major thing for AJ! She was quite happy when i admitted i have a preference for Brian.
The platinums were nearest the front for the soundcheck, then the gold, silver, and finally the bronze. When the guys arrived, the first thing Kevin said was to get closer, so we did! We got a wave from Brian. They sang Trust Me, a song off their latest album, then 10,000 Promises, from their second album (which is the first album i bought). There was a small argument between Nick and Kevin at this point, because Kevin thought something was wrong with the sound and narrowed it down to the fact that Nick was picking the strings on his guitar, not strumming, to which Nick pointed out he had done that since the beginning of the tour. This led to Brian changing the lyrics of 10,000 promises to imply that only 3 members would come out, then the only band that we would be seeing perform was All Saints. Brian spent the whole time acting the fool actually, which is a good thing not a bad thing!
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They always say that you should never meet your idols, as you will always be disappointed, so it was with some trepidation that i queued outside the Lakeside entrance of the NEC in Birmingham with my little brother. While waiting in the queue (and getting caught in the rain) we got chatting with a lovely woman called Chloe, who had met them once before, right at the beginning of their career in Britain in 1996.
We were let in at half three, and picked up our gold VIP's and tickets. Then we had to queue according to what level we had.We met another couple of lovely women in that queue, including Nicola, who has a major thing for AJ! She was quite happy when i admitted i have a preference for Brian.
The platinums were nearest the front for the soundcheck, then the gold, silver, and finally the bronze. When the guys arrived, the first thing Kevin said was to get closer, so we did! We got a wave from Brian. They sang Trust Me, a song off their latest album, then 10,000 Promises, from their second album (which is the first album i bought). There was a small argument between Nick and Kevin at this point, because Kevin thought something was wrong with the sound and narrowed it down to the fact that Nick was picking the strings on his guitar, not strumming, to which Nick pointed out he had done that since the beginning of the tour. This led to Brian changing the lyrics of 10,000 promises to imply that only 3 members would come out, then the only band that we would be seeing perform was All Saints. Brian spent the whole time acting the fool actually, which is a good thing not a bad thing!
After the rather short sound check was the Q and A. Apparently the person who made Brian starstruck was Tiger Woods; when they exchanged numbers Brian forgot his. Al shouted out to him that all the girls were going to be like that when they met him, which he acknowledged.
Then we were led to another building to queue for the photo opportunity, with the lovely background of shutters (!) I was getting slightly more nervous at this point, being an introverted person definitely has it's withdrawals. When people meet me they don't realise that i'm shy, but that is because i force myself to talk to people. It is the hardest thing in the world to do sometimes, but it also prepares you for moments like this!
Before i get to the actual meet, Al and i did do some little gifts (Al with a lot of cajoling from me). He drew some caricatures of them onto shrink plastic, which i made into little charms. We did these on Tuesday night...and they curled up and stuck to each other. So we had to do them again on Wednesday morning before we got the coach.
Meeting them was the most nerve-racking and best experience of my life. On previous tours they have had a barrier between themselves and the fans, but, as i am sure they are aware, their fans are not teenage girls anymore and we have a little more self-control! Al and I went up together, more for my nerves than anything. Howie gave me a hug and then i gave him his charm but my hands were shaking so much Nick took them off me, called me a sweetheart and thanked me for making them. I got a hug off each of them, AJ told me not to be nervous (I'm sure they are used to dealing with nervous people). Al went for handshakes instead, but he was pretty pleased when three of them commented on his shirt!
My hands were shaking ten-fold after that! We got given a signed photo each as well (nice surprise!) and then we went to the concert. There were two support acts, the Exchange, who are a new American boyband, and All Saints. I was pleasantly surprised by All Saints, considering how long they have been apart they were pretty polished.
The boys were brilliant as usual, i swear they get better every time they have a new tour. At the age of 39 Brian should not still be able to do somersaults when i get a bad back after standing for hours! At one point Nick put on a lime green posing pouch that had been thrown from the crowd, and the group made Howie shake his ass (literally - it's the latino edge)
Apologies to the crafters, but it is a once in a lifetime thing for me. I have done one thing this week, as well as making a list of things that i need to do in the next couple of months. As it's mothers day on Sunday i have made a card, using the Sew Lovely range from Docrafts, a tailors dummy die i have, and some Bobunny lace and gems i got from a crafty friend for my birthday.
The next post will be more crafty i promise!
Emma
Hello Emma! Another really great read and what a fantastic experience. To be honest, I'm a tiny bit envious because, like you, I too have a bit of a thing for boy bands and BSBoys are one of the bands I love. (At my great age it kind of feels, to me at least, a bit pervy. I am way too old to be loving boy bands and having as many CD's as I do have (but I hide them away under my crafting desk in a basket because I don't want people to think I'm 'strange'. lol).
ReplyDeleteI'm really loving your blog. Keep on keeping on - because currently I only follow four blogs, and yours is one of the top two which I love the most out of those four! You write so naturally and it's so enjoyable here. Sending lots of love ~ Cobwebs (TC from MSE)