Paris 2007

Paris was actually the first international show I planned to do. I decided to make a weekend of it and do some sightseeing as well. I flew out on the Thursday and back on the Monday.

On the Thursday, I arrived in Paris and made my way to the hotel. It was just down the road from the stadium which was very handy. I had planned to go into the city centre to see Paris by night but I was so tired I went straight to bed.

I was up bright and early on the Friday, determined to spend a full day sight-seeing. I have been to Paris before but it was years ago. I had breakfast and made my way into the city centre. I decided to do an open top bus tour. I thought I’d go all the way round, taking photos of all the sights, then get off where I wanted. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t on my side. About halfway round, the heavens opened and it poured with rain. All the sensible people went downstairs in the dry but I was determined I would see everything. So there I was, by myself sat huddled under an umbrella in the pouring rain, laughing my head off at my own stupidity!

I managed to stick it out for a whole circuit. The second time round I decided to get off and go somewhere dry so I had a look round Notre-Dame. After that, the weather had improved slightly so I went on a boat trip on the Seine. Then I decided to go up the Eiffell Tower. The queues were HUGE! I eventually got up there and the views were spectacular. After that I decided I’d seen enough for one day so I headed back to my hotel. After a while I decided to wander round and find a place to eat. I then had the problem of trying to translate the menu. I must have looked very silly sat there studying the menu with my French phrase book in hand! But I managed it ok, and had a lovely meal before heading back to the hotel for some rest before the main event the following day.

When I woke up in Paris the next day, the sun was shining brightly, a complete contrast to the day before. I had breakfast and hung around the hotel for a bit.

Around Midday, I headed to the venue. I walked around it for a bit before finding the queue for the standing area, which was already quite long. I sat down there, by myself, in the blazing sunshine. I had been there no more than 5 minutes when I started to ask myself do I really want to sit here like this all day? I knew all my friends would be meeting in the pub at 5 so I decided I’d have a wander around for a bit and then go and join them. I left my place in the queue and wandered around to the other side of the venue. I found a little park area so I went in there and sat on one of the benches, just killing time really. While I was wandering I looked down one of the streets which was blocked off by security. It was where all the lorries that had carried all the stage show were parked. I couldn’t believe how many there were! I couldn’t see them all but what I could see was lorries double parked all the way down this road which led along a whole side of the stadium.

At 5, I headed off to the pub and met up with my friends and had a couple of drinks. That was so much more fun than sitting in a queue by myself. After a while we all headed off to the stadium. We all kind of went our separate ways. Helen and I stuck together. We decided, since there was no way we’d make it into the circle at the front, we’d just have a few beers and watch the show from the back of the stadium.

After the support bands finished, we decided we’d go a little bit further forward as we couldn’t actually see very much from the back. After a few minutes this changed to lets see how far forward we can get. We couldn’t actually get very far.

The show itself was fantastic. The atmosphere in the crowd was amazing. But the show was spoiled by the fact I couldn’t actually see very much and I could hardly hear because the crowd around us were singing so loudly! I kind of thought at that point maybe I should have stayed in the queue.

After the show I headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed thinking I’d get up early and do some more sightseeing.

The following day I woke up and could hardly open my eyes. I just felt so drained. So I had a lie in. At around midday I thought I ought to make the most of being in Paris. I got up and went into the city again. I had a little wander around Champs Elysees. As I had very little energy, I sat in a park area for a while, writing in my diary. It did start to rain at one point so I was sat there, by myself, with my umbrella up, scribbling away in my notebook!

Then I decided I was hungry so I started to look for somewhere to eat. Everywhere I looked at was either too expensive or I couldn’t understand a thing on the menu or, more often than not, both. The further along I went the more annoyed I was getting. The combination of being hungry and tired was taking its toll. Then, as I was walking along this random guy walked alongside me and he was looking at me. I gave him a look which would have quite blatantly said go away (I’m good at those!) then he spoke to me in French. I gave him another look and walked a bit faster. Then he spoke in Italian. I tried to ignore him again. Then he said in English ‘Oh you don’t understand me. You’re beautiful’ I pretended I still didn’t understand and stopped at a little stall, pretending to look at some postcards. But this guy just would not leave me alone. He stopped too! So in the end I told him very plainly and very clearly, using an F word that is internationally known to go away. I then walked away and, to my relief, he didn’t follow.

That incident spooked me a bit and I decided I didn’t want to hang around there any longer. So I decided I’d go to the hard Rock Cafe to eat. I knew I’d understand their menu ok! So I checked my stalker was nowhere to be seen and got on the metro. If I was in a bad mood before, it was 10 times worse by now. I finally got to the Hard rock Cafe. I was greeted and seated. I sat there with my menu and decided what I would have. I then waited for someone to take my order. I waited. Then I waited some more. No sign. Other people arrived after me and had their orders taken, yet they were walking straight past me. So I decided after 20 minutes that they obviously didn’t want my custom, so I left in a huff. By now, I was ready to kill someone. I had a little temper cry and went back to the tube station. I was just looking at the tube map on the wall when another guy came up to me and said something to me and touched my arm. He got a death look and I marched away before hit him.

Then, I chose the wrong seat at the platform. I ended up sat next to the local wino who also attempted a conversation with me. I couldn’t even be bothered to give him a death stare so I just ignored him, willing my train to hurry up and get me out of there. It was obviously national Nut job day in Paris and I wanted out.

I got back to my hotel and had a good cry. Actually it had got to the point where I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry so I did a bit of both. I was still hungry so I ventured out into the surrounding area in search of food. But it seemed that particular area in Paris took the pavements in on Sundays. Nothing was open. After a while I found a place, not far from the stadium where I’d seen Muse the night before. The menu was in English and French, the prices were reasonable, the staff were friendly and the food was delicious. See, it all worked out in the end!

After that I went back to the hotel and to bed and flew home the next day. So, although I’d had a bad day Sunday, I loved Paris. I’d definitely go back there.

Wembley weekend - Wembley Stadium, 2nd show

I got up bright and early and left my hotel room. I had to transfer to another hotel. I booked there because by the time I found out about the second show the prices for the hotel I’d originally booked had doubled and there was no way I was paying that!

I dumped my stuff off and got in the queue around 10ish. I was queuing by myself because Liron had decided to camp out overnight to ensure a barrier place. Now I love Muse to bits but there was no way I was going to deny myself a comfortable hotel bed in favour of a cold pavement just to be that little bit closer. Besides the days of me being able to stand at a barrier all day without needing the loo are long gone I’m afraid, as my Isle of Wight experience proved! My other friends were all going in a different entrance.

It didn’t really matter though. I got chatting to the people around me. They had all bought beer and were kind enough to share them with me. I think I had 3 or maybe four cans before the gates opened! When they did, I ran for the circle. I got there no problem and I stood with the people I had been talking to. We were quite near the front, by the walkway bit again. After a while, the crowd started closing in around us and I decided I didn’t want to stay there. I decided I’d have a wander about, a few more drinks and stand at the back of the circle in all that space as I did the day before.

I didn’t really take any notice of any of the support bands. I was too busy wandering around. Helen, Cris and Maysie were all standing in the left hand side of the circle and I was on the right. But we all managed to meet up in the food area. I decided to buy some merch. I bought a T shirt, a belt and a nice warm hoodie which I knew would be useful later!

Just before Muse came on, I went and stood at the back of the circle. I got an even better look at the entrance. The whole show was fantastic again! There were points in the show where the tiredness and the alcohol had taken affect on me. That combined with the giant video screens made me feel dizzy and I had to shut my eyes for a few moments to get my brain/eye coordination back to normal!

They played Bliss which I was SO pleased about! It had been a while since they played it. The people around me weren’t really taking a lot of notice as they were too busy chasing the balloons about, which I found both amusing and annoying at the same time.

On the way out, someone was proudly showing off a piece of balloon he’d captured. I couldn’t help it. I thought of my bit of balloon from Birmingham. I told him it was lovely but in 6 months time it would be yellow, manky and horrible! He didn’t seem to care.

So that was it, all over. I made my way back to the hotel. I knew there were friends of mine just downstairs in the bar but I was so tired after such an amazing weekend. I just wanted bed! I met up with Liron for a bit as I had some of her belongings with me as she didn’t want to sleep with them on the streets. Then that was it all over. What an amazing weekend!

Wembley weekend - Wembley Stadium, 1st show

I had a very interrupted sleep. I kept waking up, feeling a wave of excitement then dropping off to sleep again. Then at 6.30am I got a text from home saying my sister had gone into labour. So of course, I was even more excited then!

I got up fairly early and went down for breakfast. I met up with Abbi and another friend Liron, who had come all the way from Israel for the shows! I had been having a bit of a debate with myself about this whole weekend. Part of me wanted to spend it catching up with my friends, some of whom I probably wouldn’t see again for ages. But another part of me knew I had to queue to get into the golden circle. I did not want to be stuck at the back of the stadium for these shows. I had arranged to meet friends for lunch at 12.30, but in the end I felt I HAD to make sure I was in the front circle. So at 11ish, Liron and I joined the queue by entrance F. There were already a lot of people queuing and the panic set in. I was so worried that after queuing for all that time we wouldn’t get into the circle.

The weather was awful too. Rain, shine, rain, shine!

At around 3ish, they opened the gates and we were in!! I needn’t have worried, as there was plenty of room in that circle. The set just looked amazing. There was a walkway to a platform in the middle, so we settled ourselves against the barrier of that, just by the steps leading up to the platform on the right hand side.

This was the time when I realised that there was a left and right side to the circle, and you couldn’t cross over. My friend Karen was in the left hand side, so we had no chance of meeting up.

Just after we got our spot, the heavens opened and we got completely soaked.

I watched all the support bands. They were all good. Even The Streets, who I never really liked before. Their music still isn’t really my thing, but they did get the crowd going. I really liked them for that.

While they were on, I got a phone call from my Dad, trying to find out if I’d heard anything about my sister yet. You try speaking down a mobile phone to someone about something important while a band are onstage in front of thousands of people! It wasn’t happening!

Then, that moment we had been waiting for had finally arrived and it was time for Muse. Just before they came on, we saw a lot of action with the security guys in front of us and then everyone was looking towards the platform. It was then we realised they were going to make their entrance there!

Then, there was this HUGE shower of confetti and the band appeared on the platform. They then made their way down the steps and along the walkway by where we were to the stage. I tried to take a couple of pictures but they didn’t come out well as I was too busy going ‘OH MY GOD!’ at the time!!!

They then burst into ‘Knights Of Cydonia’ We left our spots at the barrier and took full advantage of all the space at the back of the circle. The adrenaline kicked in and I was jumping around and singing every word like my life depended on it!

During the second song, ‘Hysteria’, we noticed Carl Barat was stood just in front of us. Liron had her photo taken with him. I didn’t as I’ve met him before, outside the Albert Hall after the Kasabian gig earlier this year. I sent a text to Karen, the other side of the circle, as she is a HUGE fan of his. She dared me to pinch his bum. I was just contemplating this, when he must have picked up on it because he disappeared!

Then muse had my full attention again. I watched the rest of the set with no distractions. I was SO pleased to hear ‘Citizen Erased’!!!

The stage show was spectacular! The lights, the video screens, everything. And the band were on top form.

When they started to play ‘New Born’ I thought of my sister. I had been joking to everyone that I’d probably get the call to say I was an Auntie during ‘New Born’ I had my phone in my hand. Just after they finished playing it, they went off stage. We were just waiting for them to come back for an encore when I got a text from my Mum to phone home A.S.A.P. I did and I was told I had a nephew! How’s that for timing!

So the rest of the show was a total celebration! Not only was I seeing the most amazing show ever, but I had a new addition to my family!! It was a very emotional time for me and something I will never forget. I cant wait to tell Tyler what I was doing while he was being born one day!

The rest of the show was amazing too. Especially Blackout, where they had 2 acrobats hanging from giant balloons. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen at a concert. It was really beautiful and fitted in with the song perfectly. The sight of 80,000 people’s mobile phones twinkling in the darkness during Soldiers Poem was also amazing!

All too soon, it was all over. I was in the mood to celebrate, but all my friends had other plans. I was determined to wet the baby’s head so I went down to the hotel bar and had a pint by myself on his behalf! I didn’t stay long as the bar was packed and I was physically and emotionally drained.

What an amazing day that was!!!

Wembley weekend - Trafalgar Square Sing-a-long

The excitement and anticipation for these two Wembley Stadium shows had been building up for months. Finally the time was here. I was so excited on the train. I couldn’t keep the grin off my face, much to the confusion of the other passengers!

I got to Wembley early afternoon and checked into my hotel. I stayed at the same hotel I’d stayed in for the Arena shows in November for the first 2 nights. The hotel was right next to the stadium and I could see it from the window of my room. I was so excited, I just couldn’t sit still. I kept pacing up and down the room, looking at the stadium and muttering ‘Oh my god!’ to myself. I kept wondering how the guys must have been feeling then. I was getting nervous for them. Then I was telling myself, what are you nervous for? You’re not playing there, you only have to stand and watch! I had a beer and tried to calm down a bit, but just couldn’t.

After an hour, I left the hotel and met up with my friend Helen and another friend, Cris, who had come from America. I had met her when we went out there in April. We then got on the tube and headed for Trafalgar square. We had just come out of the tube when I got a phone call from another friend, Linda. Some of the girls from the message board had decided to dress as fairies. Linda was all dressed up and was by herself. The message I got was that she was hiding behind a pillar, too scared to come out dressed up! So we waited there for her and we all made our way to the square. She shouldn’t have worried. She looked amazing!

When we got there and there was already quite a large crowd of people. We had our photos taken and someone took a video clip of us too. A bit later all the others arrived and they created quite a bit of attention with their fantastic costumes!

A bit later on, the singing started. It was SO much fun! It was so strange though, stood there, in the middle of London with a huge group of other fans singing away to Muse songs. We created a fair bit of attention from the unsuspecting tourists too. I hope we managed to raise plenty of money too for the 3 charities. That’s what it was all about after all.

Well done to everyone who helped organise it. I’m so glad it was such a success. We had a lot of fun!

After everything had wound down, I said goodbye to everyone and Helen and I headed back to Wembley. I then met up with Abbi, who is one of my live journal friends, in the hotel bar. It was so good to meet her!

I had a couple of beers there and then headed off to bed. Ready to get plenty of sleep for the main events!

Isle Of Wight Festival 2007 - Day 3

I felt better when I woke up on the Sunday. I had a really chilled out day. It was hot again so I just drunk lots of fluids and no alcohol. I actually gave away the remaining beer token I had (It would have been a shame to waste it!)

James Morrison was good. The Fratellis were fantastic. I really love them! I watched Keane right from the back of the field. I like some of their songs but I find them too depressing to listen to for too long.

Then I decided to stand pretty much where I ended up for Muse to watch the Rolling Stones. The only problem was, there were SO many drunk people piling out of the V.I.P area. Some of them were really rude and obnoxious. I ended up having an argument with one of them because I stepped forwards to let him by. Apparently I should have stepped backwards and I was actually trying to block his path. Twat! The Rolling Stones were fantastic though. I’m SO glad I got a chance to see them.

I went straight back to my tent afterwards and I slept amazingly well considering the chaos around me! I was woken up at 6am by a big commotion going on in the next field. There was this girl screaming her head off and some other people shouting. It turns out this girl had done something and the security guys had gone over to her and she had spat at one of them. An argument then broke out and this girl was literally dragged across the field screaming her head off to a car. Her friends were protesting that they couldn’t do that as they were not police. But the security guys were insisting they could. Then someone actually stole the car keys. So the security guys were saying no one was leaving the whole campsite until these keys turned up. There was then a huge outcry as people were packing up and were leaving to get ferries and actually had nothing to do with the incident. In the end, the police turned up, the keys were returned and the girl was driven away and peace was restored. It was quite scary at the time though.

I decided since I was awake I’d pack up and leave then. I ended up having to get 5 trains home because my train was cancelled. That was no fun at all with the amount of luggage I had with me.

The things I do for Muse!

Isle Of Wight Festival 2007 - Day 2

On the Saturday, it was a really hot day again. At least my stomach was better. I decided the best thing for me was to drink lots and lots of cold drinks as I didn’t want to be ill with dehydration which I am very prone to. I also decided absolutely no alcohol. That would be a sure way to dehydrate. I SO didn’t want to be ill for Kasabian and Muse.

I watched a few bands throughout the day from the back and just chilled out on the grass. I made a point of drinking loads of water. But I got bored and decided I really fancied a beer. So I had 2, but still carried on drinking the water. Then, sometime in the afternoon I decided it was time to make my way to the front. I loaded myself up with 3 bottles of water and made my way forward. By the time Amy Winehouse came on, I was at the barrier and I had every intention of staying there for the duration. She was really good too. One of the highlights of the weekend for me. After she had finished I realised I need the loo. There was no way I was going to make it until after Muse without going. Gone are the days when my bladder could hold out all day!!

So I fought my way out. And all I can say is thank god for the red arrows. While everyone else was looking up, I snuck back in and ended up at the barrier again!

Next was Wolfmother. They were good but I’ve seen them a few times now and they don’t really do much for me. I do like a couple of their songs though. After they had finished I got talking to the girl next to me. She was there mainly to see Wolfmother and Kasabian.

Next up was Ash. I do like them, not as much as I used to though. I love the stuff from their 1977 album. It reminds me of moving to London! By the end of their set, the familiar feeling struck me again. I needed the loo. There was no way I was moving at that point. I’ve never seen Kasabian from the front row before and since them and Muse were the whole reason I was there, I wasn’t moving. I really enjoyed their set. I was singing along, jumping around, like you do. Then during the set, Tom said something about it being important to drink lots of water. It made me realise I had a headache coming on and I decided to drink some of the water I still had with me!

When they finished I felt awful. My headache was getting worse, I had used up most of my energy jumping around to Kasabian and I was really dying for the loo. But I refused to move! I knew I knew I wouldn’t last out the whole set at the front though. So Muse came on and it was amazing. I tried to forget about needing the loo but I was in pain by the 3rd song, so I fought my way out. As I was making my way out, Muse started playing Butterflies and Hurricanes. I was singing it at the top of my voice all the way to the loos. I continued to sing it IN the loo and all the way back. I stopped somewhere at the side quite a way back, but I didn’t care. It didn’t bother me one bit not being at the front because now I had room to jump, dance and I was still singing away!! Also, I could see the full effect of the lights and the video screens, which is something I miss being at the front. The highlight of the whole set was Assassin. That totally blew me away! The whole thing was fantastic!

When they finished, I realised how ill I was. I now had a thumping headache, I felt really sick I had no energy and I could barely walk. Despite all that water, I STILL got dehydrated! I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it back to the tent. Luckily, it wasn’t too far away. I just managed to get myself into my tent before I was sick. But you know what? As ill as I felt, I still couldn’t keep that smile off my face. Kasabian and Muse, in a combined effort nearly killed me but I couldn’t have been happier!

Isle Of Wight Festival 2007 - Day 1

I had been in two minds whether to go to this festival or not. I knew I’d have to camp on my own. I wasn’t sure if I fancied that. But then again how could I miss out on seeing my 2 favourite bands one after the other (Kasabian are my number 2 band!)

On the Friday, I headed off to Portsmouth to get the ferry to the Isle Of Wight. I had SO much stuff with me. I was so weighed down I could hardly walk! There was a problem with one of my train connections (I had to get 3 trains!) and I was panicking that I’d miss the ferry. But I got there just in time.

I then sat on a very crowded boat and sailed away into the sunset. Actually, it had been threatening to rain but by the time I got to the campsite it was hot and sunny!

I decided to head for the family area as I thought it might be safer than anywhere else since I was by myself. I finally found it but it was full up! I had a look around and eventually found a tiny spot where I just about squeezed my tent in. The problem is, I was tripping over everybody else’s guide wires to get in and out of my tent which was all well and good while I was sober but I told myself to be extra, extra careful if I decided to have beer!! I also took the time to tell the people around me I was by myself. That way I knew if they saw someone else going into my tent they would know something was wrong.

After I had put my tent up I headed off to look around. I had a couple of beers and some food and waited for the gates to open to the arena.

There wasn’t anyone playing on the Friday I really wanted to see. I really enjoyed Groove Armarda though! I wanted to watch Snow Patrol but by the time they came on, I wasn’t feeling too well. I had a bad stomach and was in agony (the timing couldn’t have been worse!) So I headed back to my tent. I just remember laying in my sleeping bag and hearing them play run, singing along to it by myself. It was both a really happy moment and a really sad moment at the same time.

I didn’t get much sleep, but then again I didn’t expect to. You don’t go to a festival to sleep do you! There was a guy in the next field who had a REALLY loud voice. I’d just nod off to sleep and then he would shout something random and wake me up again. All night this guy had been saying how he wasn’t going to sleep. Around 6am all was quiet and suddenly I heard the familiar voice saying ‘No! I will not sleep! I wont sleep! Do not surrender!’ Which made me laugh in my tent!

Luxembourg 2007

The following day, I got a text from a very excited Keeley to say she had arrived in Luxembourg and she had her ticket too!

A bit later, I met Keeley and Sam for lunch. Liz and Maysie had already gone off to the venue and Tracey was resting back at the hotel. We thought we’d have a quick lunch and then join the others at the venue. Except we must have chosen the slowest restaurant in Luxembourg to eat at. We had been there for over 2 hours and were only on the 3rd course of 5 so we paid up and left.

We got the train to the venue and met up with Liz and Maysie. Tracey joined us a bit later. About an hour before the doors opened, the sky turned really black and a storm started. It was really windy with thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Luckily we were under the sheltered bit so managed to stay mostly dry. There was a group of people desperately trying to hold down the canopy of the beer stand to stop it blowing away in the wind. I didn’t like being out in that one little bit.

I was very glad when the doors opened. We ran in there and got in the second row, just to the left. Maysie made it to the barrier. While the support band were on, I needed the loo. I was amazed to be able to get out from the second row, go to the loo, and still get back to my place. That’s unheard of here. If you leave your spot that late in the day, its gone for good.

Then at last the lights went down and Muse came onstage. It was a fantastic show. They had different lights. Matt had a new piano and a new sparkly red guitar. There was hardly any pushing. It was so nice to enjoy the show without worrying about trying to stay on my feet! They played ‘Microcuts’ and ‘Unintended’, both of which were a total surprise. I guess they were just trying them out before Wembley! Matt looked my way a couple of times. I think the band kind of recognise me now, but I’ve said it before, I can never be sure if it’s me or someone near me they are looking at. There were a couple of technical problems though. Chris had a problem with his bass and Matt mic cut out at one point. But overall, a fantastic show as always!

After the show we all made our way outside and round the back and stood by the gates of the backstage area. We were chatting away excitedly to each other. After a while, a minibus pulled up by the exit and we were convinced the band would just get straight on it. Then the security guys handed out some set lists. Maysie got one, which I was really pleased about because out of all of us, she seemed the most keen to get one.

It wasn’t long after that, the band came out and came over to us!!! I saw Dom first and then before I realised it, Chris was stood right in front of me. I said ‘Hi how are you?’ and handed him my ticket. Didn’t get a chance to say anything else as other people were talking to him. Next up was Matt. I said exactly the same ‘Hi, how are you?’ and handed him my ticket. He said ‘I’m good thanks’ and I said ‘good’ He then moved on to the girl next to me. She asked him for a photo. Now I still really want that elusive photo with Matt but I didn’t ask as there was a big gate between us. Anyway she was trying to work around it, but she couldn’t figure out how to work the camera phone! In the end she gave up and he moved on to the next person. Next was Dom. Again I said ‘Hi How are you’ he was ‘OK thanks’ Its amazing isn’t it. Sometimes I sit and think oh if I ever met them I’d say this, I’d say that. Yet when they are stood there right in front of me, all I can manage is a lame ‘Hi, how are you’! I guess it’s better than the Aberdeen awkward silence then ‘great show tonight!’ They made sure everyone got their autographs then got onto the bus. We all waved goodbye, apart from Tracey who chased the bus down the street for a laugh!

None of us felt like going straight to bed so we went to the bar opposite the hotel where the girls were staying. The locals were all really friendly. It was around 2am when I eventually made my way back to the hotel.

The next day, I was alone again as the others all flew back home. I got up quite late, then went into the city and did a couple of sightseeing tours. I then got some food and headed back to the hotel. I was really tired so I decided an early night was in order. I switched on the TV and found one of the French channels was showing ‘Titanic’ And guess what. Even though I couldn’t understand a word I STILL cried at the end! What a girl!

Luxembourg is a beautiful country. Its not somewhere I would have thought about going if it wasn’t for Muse playing there, but I’m so glad I went. Also, I’ve now got over my fear of going to countries where I don’t speak the language. I cant believe how worried about that I was! All in all, a fantastic weekend, with great company!

Ticket and Travel Trauma - Luxembourg 2007

I thought I wouldn’t be able to go to Luxembourg, but my days off work fell perfectly, giving me a long weekend. So I searched around a few weeks before hand for a ticket. The only place I could find was a ticket agency, which basically buys peoples spare tickets and sells them on. Yeah, glorified ticket touts. I paid 3 times the price for it, which I didn’t mind as I really wanted to go.

A few days before I was due to fly out, there was still no sign of my ticket. Keeley from the message board had bought her ticket from the same place and hadn’t received hers either. We had both sent them emails which they had eventually answered saying they still hadn’t received the ticket from the suppliers. I gave it a couple more days and gave them a ring. They said they were waiting for the ticket to come from their suppliers in Luxembourg, to be sent them in the Netherlands then to be sent to me in the UK. I pointed out that there’s no way that’s going to happen in 2 days. In the end, I gave them the address of the hotel in Luxembourg and they said they would send it there.

By this point, I was seriously beginning to wonder if this ticket actually existed. Then the day before I was due to fly, I got a phone call at work from the agency. They had tried to deliver my ticket to the hotel, but they hadn’t heard of me. Of course they hadn’t, I wasn’t due there until the following day. They assured me they would send it again the following day. I felt a bit better then. At least I knew the ticket did indeed exist and they fully intended to deliver it to me. But I still couldn’t rest easy until I actually had it in my hand. My Mum phoned the hotel, just to make sure they knew I was expecting a ‘very important delivery’.

The following day, I got up at stupid o clock in the morning and made my way to Heathrow. I was really excited the whole way there. Here I was, off on another adventure, and I got to see Muse again too!

By the time I got to the departure lounge, my excitement had worn off and the reality of what I was doing had set in. Here I was, flying off to a country where I don’t even speak the same language, by myself, and I wasn’t even sure if my ticket for the show was going to show up. I actually felt really sick and nearly didn’t get on the plane. I told myself not to be so silly. I was due to meet up with some of the girls from the message board later that evening, so its not like I was completely on my own.

I hated the plane too. I’ve been on smaller planes before, but this one was thin, with 2 seats, an aisle then a single seat. It made me feel really claustrophobic!

So I arrived in Luxembourg. I hadn’t really calmed down any during the flight, so I was already in a bit of a flap. First thing I did was buy a map. Of course I was spoken to in French and I kind of looked back at the guy blankly!

I then had to figure out how to get from the airport into the city. When I looked it up on the net, it said there was a bus. I walked outside into the sunshine. There was no sign of a bus, only the car park shuttle buses. They were doing rebuilding work and there were no signposts anywhere. There was a line of taxis though. There was no way I was getting one of those though. How could I explain where I was going?

I went back inside and sat down. I was close to tears at this point. I was really tempted to just get the next flight home. I’ve never felt so alienated in my whole life. I was at that airport for around an hour, trying to escape.

Then I took another look outside. There must be a bus stop somewhere. I looked to my left and saw people disappearing behind this prefab building. I thought ‘I wonder where they are going, maybe they know something I don’t’ I decided I had nothing to loose, so I followed them. Sure enough, there, before my eyes on the other side of the prefab, was the bus stop!

I bought my ticket and settled down. Then I began to panic again. How will I know where to get off? I needed the train station to get me from the city centre to my hotel. In the end, I just looked for an area which looked like the centre and got off the bus. I then had a wander round Luxembourg city, in the blazing sun, suitcase in tow, attempting to find the station. It was 2 hours later when I finally hooked out my French phrase book and realised that ‘Gare’ was the French word for station. All the signs I had passed, pointing the opposite way, were the ones I should have been following. What’s more, when I finally made it to the ‘Gare’ I realised if I had stayed on the bus for 2 more stops, it would have dropped me right there!

I then had another panic attack when I couldn’t find a machine to buy a ticket from. I’d have to ask for it. 20 minutes later, I told myself, not to be so silly. I couldn’t just stand there, I’d eventually have to go and ask. I realised how silly I had been when the guy behind the counter spoke English.

Then I went off to get my train. It was then I got excited. Double–Decker trains!!!!! We don’t have them in this country. I really wanted to sit on the top deck, just because I could, but I decided against it as I had my case with me. I promised myself I would when I went back into the city later.

I got off the train and found my hotel no problem. Then I was wandering about a bit trying to figure out where I check in. I eventually worked out I needed to go into the restaurant. I was halfway through checking in, when the phone went. So the guy stopped dealing with me and answered it. I glanced down and I saw a notepad with my name, a room number and ‘very important’ written on it. There were some pigeon-holes just to the left of me, where they kept the room keys. I looked for the number written on the paper, and saw, to my immense relief, an envelope sticking out. My Muse ticket!!! The guy finished on the phone and carried on with the check in, while I kind of jigged on the spot impatiently like a kid waiting for her present at Christmas. He reached up and got the key, picked up the envelope, looked at it, looked confused then looked at me. I said, ‘yes that’s for me thanks’ and almost snatched it out of the poor guys hand!

I had a little wander around the area and bought some supplies, mostly the all important bottles of water as I don’t do heat very well and I didn’t want a headache. A bit later on, I got a text from Sam saying she had arrived safely but her luggage hadn’t. It was still in Manchester! Still, she wasn’t going to let it spoil her fun. So I headed back into the city (on the top deck of the train of course!) to meet her. We wandered around for a bit before eventually finding the pub where we had arranged to meet other people from the message board.

Shortly after that, Tracey, Liz and Maysie arrived and we had a lovely drink and a chat. A bit later we decided to go off for some food. Just as we were about to leave, someone else from the muse board found us but we were just leaving! We found a pizza place and settled in there. While we were walking back to the station, the weather changed and it started thundering. Now, anyone that knows me knows I have a few phobias, thunder and lightening is one of them. I just took a deep breath and kept walking. There was nothing I could do about it, unless I wanted to miss the last train.

When we got back, I went back to my hotel as I was really tired but the other girls all stayed out. I wanted to save my energy for Muse!

Muse in Los Angeles 2007

The next day we got up fairly early and Alice took myself, Helen and Liron to the airport to get our flight to L.A. I was sad to say goodbye to Alice. She had been a total star all the way through our trip. Booking our tickets for both shows and driving us around. Thanks again Alice, see you in June!

So we were sat at the airport and I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder every 5 minutes (just incase we had a repeat of the airport episode!)

We arrived in L.A early afternoon and got a taxi to the hotel. We checked in, got ready and went straight back out again to go to Inglewood for show number 2.

We got to the venue around 4.30ish and there was already quite a queue forming. We got on the end of it but then Helen and I decided we were hungry so went off to get some food. We decided that although it would be nice to be at the front for the show, we weren’t too bothered about it, we were just going to enjoy being there!

We went into a food place just across the road and saw some of the guys from immigrant in there.

By the time we had our food, it was 6pm. By this time the queue to get in the venue was huge! We got on the end of it and waited. Towards the front, the queue was split into 3. Where we were the queue had merged into one. When the doors opened, the queue moved down and we joined one of the 3 front queues. It was SO unorganised and the security people were too busy shouting at people to organise anything properly. This actually worked to our advantage, although it wasn’t fair at all. We were lucky enough to have joined the right queue. They were letting all of us in, before the people at the front of the other 2 queues who had been waiting all day!

We got in and couldn’t believe our luck as we were in the second row! We were asked to sit down. The people around us were really friendly. They asked us where we were from and I said England and that we came over especially for the shows. A little while later, Liron came over and joined us. She was (understandably) annoyed that we had arrived the same time as her but went off for food but still ended up going in before her. It didn’t seem fair to me either but I was very pleased with getting to the front!

When we stood up I felt bad about the people who were on the barrier (who had all been queueing from the early hours of the morning!) and the fact that I would probably end up squashing them. I was having a conversation with Helen about how to stay upright in the second row without losing your spot or injuring the people in front. I was telling her we need to try to keep our elbows tucked in so as they don’t end up in the back of the person in front. I was saying one of the most painful things when on the barrier is when someone in the second row grabs hold of the barrier and then you get their elbow in your ribs. It really hurts!

Immigrant came on and were really good again! I wanted to get their CD after the show but there was a huge queue at the Merch stand.

Then Muse came onstage. When they opened with Knights Of Cydinia, I was expecting a massive crush. I had my elbows tucked in well away from the back of the girl in front and braced myself. But it didn’t happen! It was quite civilised in there all the way through the show. We were all jumping around and there were a few pushes but nothing like the night before. This made the show even more enjoyable and I was able to get some amazing photos! The set list was much the same as the night before, just a slightly different order. I enjoyed that show so much. It looked like the band were enjoying it too. It has to be my third favourite Muse show (First is still Reading, second was Wembley 3).

After the show we met up with a bunch of people outside. As we were all talking, the couple who were standing in front of me walked past and said how much they enjoyed the show and thanked me for trying not to hurt them. See, it is possible to be polite at the front!

Helen and I decided not to wait around afterwards as we couldn’t work out where the back exit was. Also, more importantly, the taxi driver had told us to give them a call an hour before we needed picking up. But luckily, a taxi just appeared out of nowhere so we took that as a sign to call it a night. Liron decided to stay though and ended up in the aftershow.

We spent the whole taxi ride back admiring our photos and grinning from ear to ear after a fantastic show!

So that was it Muse wise. We spent a couple of days exploring L.A and sleeping a lot before returning home.

I just had such an amazing time on this trip. I’m so glad I went. I met some really lovely people, most of whom I hope to catch up with at the Wembley shows in June. Also, it was fantastic spending time with Helen. She’s the perfect travelling companion and I hope we do many more trips together!

We did have one more Muse moment, when we were on the plane home. We were both wearing Muse T-shirts (again!) and the stewardess said that she had been on a flight with them recently when they were coming back from Japan. She said they were really chatty and friendly. I looked at her. She was pretty and blonde. I thought ‘I bet they were. It’s a long flight from Japan…!! :-) ‘

Muse in San Francisco 2007

We slept in until midday again. For the second day in a row, I woke up with a headache. I had the same problem when I went to Las Vegas. I think it was dehydration where I’m not drinking enough water. That and not enough sleep. But at least I was in a better mood.

During the afternoon, Alice took Helen and I back to pier 39 where we took a boat trip around the bay. It took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alkatras.

When we had finished Alice came and picked us up again and we went back to the hotel and got ready to see Muse!

We got to the venue just before 6. We bumped into Liron who had been waiting outside the venue all day trying to speak to one of the band so she could give them a card, which had messages in from a load of the Israeli Muse fans. We chatted to her for a bit, then wished her luck (she did give it to Dom in the end) and went to join the end of what was by now a huge queue.

The doors opened at around 7ish and we went in. Helen and I had decided before hand that we would both try to get where we wanted and would meet up again afterwards. I managed to get 2nd row just left of centre and Helen ended up in the middle somewhere with Eileen, who’s one of Cris’ friends who we had met in the club the night before.

Immigrant were really good again. I’d definitely like to see them again. I hope they make it to the UK one day soon.

Then the lights went down and it was time for Muse. It was SO good to see them again. They played a longer set that they had on the UK tour and I was delighted to hear ‘Sing For Absolution’ as I hadn’t heard them play that before. The only thing stopping that set list being perfect was, no Bliss. But we got Citizen Erased, which I love and Stockholm Syndrome is still my favourite live song. Just amazing!

It was very pushy in that crowd but I tried not to get swept into the middle. I managed to get some good pictures too which I will share when I have sorted them out.

After the show, I headed to the Merch stand where I had arranged to meet Helen. There were no T-shirts that I liked that I didn’t already have but Helen bought a couple of things. We then bumped into Patrick from Immigrant and spoke to him for a bit.

We then went outside and round to where a bus was parked where we met up with a very upset Liron. Somehow or other, her camera had decided to re-format itself and she had lost all her photos from the night before, including the one with Matt! She was understandably devastated. (She did however mange to get another one after the Houston show with MCR, thankfully!)

We then met up with a couple of other message board people, Including Mary (Gocanaux) who I was really pleased to meet finally!

There was quite a few people waiting around by this bus, but a small group of us decided to wait by the other door, thinking they would probably leave in cars.

We waited there a while, then someone came out with 3 set lists and handed them out to us. Mary and I both got the third one at the same time but she, very graciously, let me have it as she had already got one from another show (Thanks so much for that Mary). I was so pleased as I didn’t manage to get one from any of the previous shows and it was a great souvenir of my trip! When I looked at the set list I had, it looked different to the others. It wasn’t in the bold font, just in normal type. I also noticed that after City Of Delusion it had (Dom A please print name of trumpet player here on my set list) typed on it. So who introduced the trumpet player? Matt. I seems I got the original set list!

A bit later, a car pulled up outside the door. It seemed the band was about to leave. Morgan came out and Mary was speaking to him for a while. While they were talking, Matt and Dom came out and got straight into the car (Chris had left straight after the show as he was ill). They looked behind, saw us all there and waved to us. By that, I don’t mean just sticking a hand up to acknowledge us, I mean really waving! So of course we all waved back. They were still waving when the car pulled away. So even though we didn’t actually get to speak to them, that meant a lot to us as there was so few of us there!

So we were all very happy by the time we headed back to the hotel. All in all it was a fantastic night!

Muse DJ Set/Immigrant - San Francisco 2007

We had a nice long, well needed lie in on the Sunday morning. Just as we were getting up there was a knock at the door. We answered it and were greeted by a very excited Cris (Allsoarty from the message board) who had just arrived. After chatting to her for a bit we got ready and met up with Alice in the very conveniently placed starbucks in the hotel lobby. She had managed to meet up with 2 other boardies Aaron and Miles from Hawaii.

Myself, Helen, Alice, Aaron and Miles spent the afternoon sightseeing. Alice very kindly drove us around. We went to pier 39 and also drove over Golden Gate Bridge.

We got back to the hotel late afternoon to find Lara (Althea on the message board) and her friend had arrived. They were having a bit of a party in their room with Liron and Cris. We had some serious catching up to do, so it was a quick trip to the off licence across the road for some beer and vodka!

Later in the evening, we made our way to the club. We started the queue outside. There are a lot of strange people in San Francisco. Not somewhere I’d like to be hanging around by myself at night. We seemed to keep some of them amused for a while, just stood there waiting for the door to open to the club!

Alice changed her mind while we were waiting and decided to go back to the hotel, as she was really tired. I didn’t really feel like clubbing either and nearly went back too but I decided I was on holiday I should make the most of it!

Finally the doors opened and we went in. I soon realised why it was called the dark room. It was a small room, which was…well…dark.

I didn’t really feel like drinking as it was making me feel tired rather than being fun so I stuck to water. We all stood at the front of the stage and waited.

After a while, Immigrant, who were the band who would be supporting Muse the following night and at the L.A show played. They were really good.

Towards the end of their set, I looked behind me just in time to see Matt and Dom arrive and make their way into the back room. Muse were in the building!

After Immigrant had finished, I saw Matt at the back of the room. I thought about going and asking for a photo but by the time I thought about it, quite a few other people had gone up to him and I didn’t think it was a good time.

Liron did go over to him. She came back and was proudly showing us all the picture she had taken with Matt. I was really pleased for her as she had come all the way from Israel and had never met him before. Also, she was so excited about it, bless her!

Time went on a bit and we wondered what was going on. Then word got around that Matt wasn’t going to come out to do the DJing. I don’t know for sure what the reasons were, but if what I heard was true, thanks for spoiling it for everyone else.

Then, at last, Dom came out and did his DJ bit. He seemed to be having great fun doing it! Don’t ask me what he played because I have no idea. I dint recognise anything except the Eagles Of Death Metal song!

After he had finished, we went outside to find it was pouring with rain. We saw Dom leave from the other door and get into a car. I was feeling a bit fed up by then. Although I really enjoyed Dom’s DJ set, I didn’t like the club at all and most of the music was not to my taste. So I was outside, wet and tired. Liron was still excitedly talking about her photo with Matt. I had to walk away (sorry Liron) because I didn’t want to spoil it for her. Although I was pleased for her, I couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous. Well, very jealous actually. Matt is the only one I haven’t had my photo taken with. I had my photo taken with Dom in Aberdeen on the UK tour and Chris in Nottingham. I had been trying for the whole tour to get one with Matt but it never happened. That was the third time where I could have approached him but didn’t because it didn’t feel like a good time. Maybe I should have, but really, when he’s checking in/out of a hotel? When he’s just got off a 10 hour flight? When there’s already a crowd of people around him? I know I wouldn’t like it if I was him.

Luckily a taxi pulled up and we went back to the hotel and out of the rain. I went to sleep that night hoping I would wake up in a better mood the next morning.

London to San Francisco April 2007

In yet another moment of madness, I decided it would be a fantastic idea to go and see Muse in America. In all my years of gig going, I have never been to see any band outside of the UK/Ireland. If it was going to be any band, it had to be Muse.

It started off as just an idea. Then Helen (Forwen on the Muse message board) sent me a message to say she was thinking of doing the same thing so shall we go together.

When the San Francisco and Los Angeles headline dates were announced, the idea suddenly became a reality. Before either of us knew it, Flights were booked, hotels were booked and our friend Alice (California Museophile on the message board) helped us out by buying our tickets for us.

Soon enough, the big day arrived and I found myself on a bus to Heathrow, about to sit through a 10 hour flight, just to see Muse.

I met an equally as excited Helen at Heathrow. As we were queuing up to check in, we were talking about the boys (as you do). We were joking around, saying wouldn’t it be funny if they were on our flight. Looking at the flight times and the location, it was a distinct possibility.

After a bit more waiting around we got on the plane. I love flying, but that flight seemed to go on forever. I spent most of it listening to music and eating. Virgin Atlantic are brilliant to fly with. But they feed you, what seemed like, every 5 minutes so if you ever do fly with them, don’t eat for a week before hand. I swear I put on 2 stone on that flight alone.

Eventually we landed in San Francisco. I started to get very excitable again at that point!

We got off the plane and went through the security checks. I didn’t feel quite as intimidated as I did when I flew to Las Vegas a couple of years back, as the guy checking my documents wasn’t as nice looking!

We arrived in the baggage hall and headed to the carousel hoping our suitcases had also made it to San Francisco in one piece.

We went to one side and Helen said ‘it’s a bit busy over here, shall we head over to the other side’ ‘No, its ok. Lets just wait here’ came my reply. So there I am, aimlessly looking at the cases going by. A couple of minutes later, Helen says ‘I don’t mean to alarm you or anything but the lads ore over there’ I looked at her disbelievingly. ‘Honestly, the band are over there’ I looked around and saw Tom Kirk in all his glory. I looked back at Helen, then looked over again and saw Matt and Chris.

Then we both did exactly the same thing at the same time. We were both wearing Muse T-shirts and we both buttoned up our jackets automatically!

We then decided actually it really was less busy on the other side or the carousel, so we went over there. This of course meant we walked straight past them. We both pretended we either didn’t know who they were or hadn’t seen them and concentrated on looking for our cases, having the occasional sneaky glance over.

Here was the dilemma. I couldn’t believe it. I was in exactly the same position as I was in the hotel in Wembley. There they were, with no one else bothering them. That would have been an ideal time to go and ask for a photo. But I really didn’t think it would be fair on them if we did. They had just got off a 10 hour flight. The last thing they needed was a couple of crazy fans bothering them before they had even stepped out of the baggage hall! So we just got our bags and made our way out of there.

Just as we started walking, they did too and they followed us out! We were trying to look cool and calm, but then we realised, Alice was meeting us. She didn’t know what we looked like so she said she would be holding a sign with MUSE on it!

As soon as we realised, we walked a bit faster, hoping we would have time to warn her before they came through behind us.

We soon saw her and instead of ‘Hi Alice, its so good to meet you’ Alice was greeted with Helen and I both flapping our hands franticly saying ‘get the sign down they are behind us’ She looked very confused, as did a lot of the other people waiting there, but did put the sign down. We then went the other side of the barrier and Alice and Helen took some photos. It was really funny because the people around us were kind of looking at us, then looking at them thinking ‘Who are they? They must be famous or something!’

After a couple of minutes, they left. About 5 minutes later, Liron (Stansfield on the message board) arrived after her even longer flight from Israel. She literally just missed them!

After all that excitement, we all piled into Alice’s car and headed to the hotel. That was quite a moment too. Driving along in the Californian sunshine with Muse blasting out of the stereo. Even more amazing was the fact that here I was with 3 other people, 2 of whom I’d only just met (I had only met Helen once before too!) from 3 different countries all brought together to see Muse!

We got to the hotel and checked in there. But there was no time for rest. We got ready straight away and headed out to get some food then went off to see The Killers, who just happened to be playing the same venue as Muse would be on Monday, that night!

The show was fantastic but I was so tired, I didn’t go too far into the crowd but stayed a safe distance at the side. It did give us a great chance to check out the venue before Monday though.

We finally got to sleep at 4am (too busy chatting!) after being awake for over 30 hours.

What an exciting start to our holiday!

Final thoughts from the UK tour

I have had the time of my life on this tour. I am SO glad I did it. I know it had its ups and downs but the high points WAY outweighed the low points.

The best bits:

All the shows, especially the last night at Wembley for the best set list

Getting on the Barrier at Wembley 2! Go me!

Meeting the band in Aberdeen. I’m so glad I stuck it out. The guys were wonderful and came over to us even though it was late and freezing cold. It was really, really appreciated. Thanks for that (not that they’ll ever read this!)

All the people I met on my travels. You all rock and I hope we meet up again soon.

Being at the aftershow in Nottingham (Thanks again Michelle for that!)

My own little Muse moment at the hotel in Wembley

Getting a smile and nod from Dom at Wembley 2

Getting the thumbs up from Chris after Wembley 3 (I think it was me because I did it first to him!)

The Bliss moment in Sheffield

Getting the bit of balloon in Birmingham, and finding out the person I had the tug-of-war with was someone I knew!

The moment I heard Stockholm Syndrome for the first time this tour in Belfast


Useless information:

The whole thing cost me over £3000.

I travelled over 2,500 miles in just under 3 weeks.

12 shows, in 10 different cities.

It beats working for a living!

Thankyou!

I would like to thank everybody who I met along the way. I met so many fantastic people who I hope will keep in contact so we can meet up on the next tour.

Also, thanks SO much to everybody who has sent me comments about this blog either here, through private messages on the Muse message boards or live journal comments. I’m so glad you have enjoyed reading it. I hope also, you get the chance to do the same one day whether it be for Muse or any other band.

Most of all, I’d like to thank Muse themselves. For being the most amazing live band I’ve ever seen. I have had the absolute time of my life over the past few weeks and I have met so many amazing people and our paths may never have crossed if it wasn’t for Muse. So thanks guys.

I’m off for a sleep. See you next tour!

Wembley Arena 3rd show 2006

I decided to be incredibly lazy. I ordered breakfast in bed! A tray arrived at 8.15am. I had breakfast and went straight back to sleep. I woke up around midday. It was a much brighter day. The sun was even shining but it still looked cold.

I couldn’t believe the last day had arrived. I was really looking forward to the show but part of me didn’t want it to come. It would mean the tour was over. And I really didn’t want it to end.

I did much the same as the day before. I just lazed around the hotel, went on the internet for a bit and just generally chilled out. I decided I would go to the venue a bit earlier that day in the hope I might at least see them arrive.

I planned to get there at 4ish, but as usual, I was running late. It was 5pm by the time I left my hotel room.

I just cannot believe what happened next.

I stepped out of the lift and into reception. I looked towards the reception desk and I saw Dom A, who is Muse’s tour manager. I know Dom from my days following ‘A’ around (he used to be their tour manager too). I was just looking at him thinking shall I go and say Hi? (he always speaks to me). Then I noticed who he was with. He was with Matt!!!!

My jaw hit the floor and total panic set in. I didn’t know what to do. There, right before my eyes was the very person I most wanted to speak to, standing at the reception of the same hotel I was staying in. But it didn’t really seem like an appropriate time to speak to him. Also, I was aware that it might make it look as if I was some kind of stalker or something. Even if he didn’t recognise me himself, Dom knows me and he had spoken to me in Aberdeen and the day before while I was waiting by the gates.

The same question kept going through my head ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ In my panic, I did the only thing I could think of. I went to the cashpoint machine which was halfway between the reception desk and the door. I then drew out money I really didn’t need while I tried to decide what to do.

I decided the best thing would be for me to totally pretend I didn’t see them. I have no idea if they saw me or not. I didn’t dare look over. So, trying to look as cool as I could while having a major panic attack, I took my money and headed straight out of the door.

I walked just around the corner and then stopped and tried to pull myself together. Curiosity got the better of me. I wondered if he was checking in or out. I watched the door for a few minutes. Then I thought. How stupid is this? I’m staying there, I can go in there if I want. So I left it 5 mins or so and went back in. Dom A was still at reception but he was on the phone and there was no sign of Matt.

So I carried on up to my room and sat there for a while, still trying to get a grip of myself. At around 5.30 I decided to head out again. There was no sign of either of them by then. I just headed to the venue and joined the queue to get in the arena.

When I handed my ticket over, I still had the 2 wristbands from the 2 previous Wembley shows around my wrist. The guy giving out the wristbands said ‘A Superfan then?’ I told him this was my 12th show of the tour. He looked at me like I was mental. I found that highly amusing!

I got in there and headed straight for the standing area and sat down. The guy I was sat next to saw all my wristbands and we got talking. His name was Jason. I was showing him and his mates my autographs from Aberdeen and the photo I had taken with Dom. I told him that I had been to 12 shows. Then a girl just in front asked me if I was Helen T. It turned out to be Juliet, who I had met at another gig once and was planning on meeting at one of the Muse shows but we never got round to organising it! Out of all those people!!

So I ended up chatting away to her. She was telling me how she would have to rush away straight after the show to get her last train home. So I said she could stay with me as I had a twin room. I then, very quietly, told her what happened earlier.

When everyone stood up, I was delighted to find myself in the second row, just behind where I had been the night before. I got chatting to the girl just in front of me, Natasha, who was also on the message board.

We watched The Noisettes for the last time. I know they aren’t exactly my cup of tea, but some of their songs kind of stuck in my head. More familiarity than anything else I think. And I know, if I ever hear one of them on the radio or something, it will forever remind me of this tour.

Then the lights went down and the last show of the tour started. I wasn’t going to take any pictures but Matt stepped out dressed in red. I had to take pictures!!!

The show was fantastic. Even better than the night before. They played everything I would have wanted them to. Citizen Erased, City Of Delusion, Muscle Museum and Apocalypse Please in particular. It was very hot and sweaty down the front there but totally worth it. Supermassive Black Hole really stood out for me. I wont go into why. It just did!

All to soon it was all over. The last show. Finished. It didn’t hit me straight away. I was still on a high from the show.

We waited outside for a little while. But we got bored and cold and decided it was a pointless task and headed back to the hotel.

We decided to have a couple of ‘End of Tour’ drinks in the hotel bar (just incase!). We sat there until 3am then decided, as the bar was shut, it was time for bed.

Since we saw no sign of Matt, it could have been he came straight back after the gig. Or he came back after 3am.

But I think, most likely, he was checking out of the hotel when I saw him and he had actually stayed there the night before. That would explain why the car came back past us so quickly!

Still, even though I didn’t get to speak to him, I had my own Muse moment. I smile to myself every time I think about it…it was my reaction. The sheer ‘Oh My God! What Do I do?’ panic that set in! Highly amusing!!

Wembley Arena 2nd show 2006

I woke up late in my hotel room in Wembley. I decided to skip breakfast. It was a miserable day. Cold, dark and wet. A typical November day in England. That put paid to any plans I might have had to venture outside. So I just lazed around the hotel.

They had computers down in the bar area so I went on the internet for a bit. Then I had a meal in the hotel restaurant. I paid WAY more than I’d usually pay for lunch but since I really didn’t want to go out in the rain and I was hungry, I did it.

At around 5.30 I made my way to the arena. I headed for the back gates again, thinking I might at least see them arrive. When I got there, there was already a few people waiting there. They turned out to be Mattocaster, Dirty K and Flipflop from the message board!

The security guy tried to tell us we were wasting our time as the band were already in there and were having something to eat. We waited anyway, I was just waiting for the queue to go down a bit really.

At 6.30ish I made my way into the venue. I decided to get some food and a drink. I wandered into the standing area at 7.15. I went down the left hand side and gradually made my way forward and towards the middle. I didn’t push anybody. I just saw space and moved into it.

Just before Muse came on, I couldn’t believe the position I had got myself into. I was on the barrier, directly in front of Dom!! Barrier! I never thought I’d get barrier without queuing all day!

That was a celebration in itself. Its totally different being on the barrier. You don’t get the crowd surges like you do in the second or third rows. You have something solid to hold onto. And, you get wicked pictures without other peoples heads and arms getting in the way!

So Muse came onstage. They opened up with Take A Bow, nothing unusual about that. Then they played Starlight second. I couldn’t believe it. They were doing it again! The whole of Black Holes And Revelations followed, in order!

I looked behind me during Knights Of Cydonia. To my relief, no balloons! That meant they were going to play Bliss too!

I don’t know what it was, maybe it was being in the very front, but that show was the best so far for me. The band seemed to be on fire too. Assassin in particular was amazing. I also got a nod and a smile from Dom at one point which totally made my night! And I got some wonderful pictures, which I will post when I have sorted them out.

There was also a point where Matt did one of his slides across the stage and nearly fell off the end of the stage right in front of me. I was just getting ready to catch him!! He managed to stop himself falling. He then laughed at himself and then struck a ‘rock pose’ as if to say ‘I’m cool really, honestly’. It was highly amusing!

Then it was all over. I made my way outside and decided to wait, even though it was raining, just incase the band came out.

I met up with the girls I had been speaking to before and we waited. There was 8 of us waiting this time. We were ‘entertained’ by this very, very drunk guy who decided to expose himself to all of us and take a pee along the barrier on the opposite side to where we were standing.

He staggered away in the end, encouraged slightly by the security guys.

The same thing happened as the night before. This time 3 cars went past us. We were just chatting kind of resigning ourselves to the fact we weren’t going to be meeting them, when we saw the car which we think Matt left in come back past us empty.

We then had a conversation which was something along the lines of he must be staying someplace nearby for that car to come back past so quickly. I jokingly said ‘yeah, he’s probably staying at my hotel. In fact he’s probably waiting for me in my bed. I’d best get back there.’ (this conversation will become relevant later!)

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to my hotel. I had a very strong urge to go into the hotel bar. I have no idea why. There seemed to be quite a few people in there. I told myself not to be so silly. It was gone 1am. So I headed straight up to bed.

Wembley Arena 1st show 2006

So here it was, the grand finale of the tour. 3 nights at Wembley. I was having a lazy day so I didn’t even arrive into Wembley until 6.30. I checked into my hotel, which was very close to the venue. I quickly got ready then made my way to the arena.

I decided a drinking night was in order. So I got myself a beer and just wandered around the standing area.

Then I bumped into my friend Miles, who I hadn’t seen for ages. We had a chat. It was really good to see her again!

Then, I bumped into another friend of mine, Joe who I also hadn’t seen for WAY too long. We shared a couple of beers and ‘enjoyed’ The Noisettes together.

Just before Muse came on, we both decided we needed the loo so we went our separate ways. I decided to stop off at the bar and bought us both another beer. When I went back into the standing area, it had filled up dramatically and I couldn’t find Joe anywhere. So I now found myself with 2 beers. And Muse were about to come onstage. I drunk them as quickly as I could as I didn’t want them in the way of my dancing around. I had now had 5 pints, which is actually quite a lot for me!

So I had the seeing Muse whilst drunk experience. Actually, it isn’t that much different to seeing them when sober. I had the same adrenaline rush I always get. The only difference was maybe I let myself go more than I normally would have from halfway back and I didn’t care about the comments from the people behind me moaning because they couldn’t see around me.

Just before the encore, I found Joe again and we enjoyed the last songs together. He rushed off straight away afterwards, to get his train. I decided to wait around to try and meet the band. I thought it would probably be a hopeless task. I kind of knew before the tour that the chances of meeting them in London would be next to zero. But as I was staying so close to the venue, I had nothing to loose really.

So I went around to the gates where the buses were parked. The security guy was very helpful and told us that they were using cars, not the bus, which I kind of guessed anyway, and that one of the band had already left but 2 were still around.

So we waited. I got talking to a girl called Caterina who was also waiting. There were 6 of us all waiting there. We waited until around 1am when both cars went past us and we knew they had all left. I kind of knew that would happen, so I wasn’t too surprised.

So I walked with Caterina to the bus stop, then headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

Newcastle 2006

I had no sleep. The events of the day before just went over and over in my mind. I felt sick to the stomach every time I thought about it, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

I managed to get myself up and with my big puffy eyes, I made my way to the train station to head to Newcastle.

My journey meant I had to get the train to Doncaster and change there to Newcastle. But there were engineering works going on and delays to trains to and from Doncaster. It took me 4 hours to do a journey which should have taken 2. By the time I got to Newcastle and checked into the hotel I was a total wreck, physically and emotionally. I collapsed onto the bed and just wanted to curl up in a ball and not come out again. Ever.

I decided since I’d come all that way I wasn’t going to do that. So I thought the best thing to do was to go straight out again. So I went off and found the arena at 5pm. I got into the queue but then decided I was hungry and since I hadn’t had a proper meal for days, I ought to eat. Maybe it would stop me feeling so sick.

So I wandered around and found an Indian Place. A chicken Korma later and I felt better.

I got to the arena about 15 mins before The Noisettes came on. By the time Muse came on, I had got into the second row, in front of Dom. By this time, I wasn’t feeling well at all. The food was lying very heavy in my stomach and I was very thirsty. I also felt quite light-headed due to having no sleep and being generally stressed out.

So by the third song, I fought my way out and had the biggest, most welcome cup of coke I’ve ever had in my life and went and stood at the back.

Drinking that fizzy drink so quickly didn’t really do much for my sickly stomach. Every time I jumped up and down, I felt worse so I had to try and stand still. I also felt light-headed at various points and even considered going to the First Aid room. But I didn’t want to miss the show, unless I actually passed out. I managed to keep fairly still but it was totally impossible during Plug in Baby. I had to jump around. So, I risked being sick or passing out for that and the same for Knights Of Cydonia.

Then they played Apocalypse Please, and I was glad I’d made the journey, for that song alone. The rest of the set was an added bonus!

After the show, I went outside. I felt a lot better once I had some fresh air in my lungs. I considered waiting around to try and meet the band but decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. Straight to bed for me!

Sorry to the people I was supposed to be meeting in the pub before the show. I wasn’t really feeling very well at the time and thought it was best to keep myself to myself. I hope we can meet up another time.

Sheffield 2006

I had a bad time in Sheffield. I wasn’t sure whether to write about it here or not. But I decided I would, just to show there are highs and lows with touring. And this was a definite low.

I had a bit of a lie in at my hotel in Nottingham, then got the train to Sheffield. I checked into my hotel there and just lazed around for a bit, re-charging my batteries for later!

I had planned to meet up with friends. We were going to go for an Italian as it was somebody’s birthday, and then head off to the gig. But things didn’t quite work out that way. They were running late. Then I realised I needed to pick up my ticket from the Box Office. By the time I went up to the arena, picked up my ticket and got the tram back into the city it was already quite late and they were already at the Italian place. Then we had the hopeless task of them being in a city they didn’t know, not being sure where they were, trying to give me directions. With me, also in a city I didn’t know, with no idea where I was, and no sense of direction whatsoever.

In the end, we decided it would be best if I just stayed put at the tram station. While I was waiting there, this random bloke just came up to me, grabbed me, and gave be a big kiss on the cheek and walked off. It was both scarey and funny at the same time! At least it cheered me up as I was not in the best of moods at that moment in time.

I finally met up with my friends on the tram and we went off to the arena. We waited around outside there so they could meet up with some other friends of theirs. They all had seats and I was standing. So I said goodbye and we arranged to meet up after the show.

My mood still hadn’t really improved. So I decided to have a couple of drinks. Two pints of beer later and I remembered why I was there. I went and stood in the crowd about halfway down just before Muse came onstage. I stayed there for a bit, then went further down the front. Another fantastic show followed.

But of course as I had beer, I needed the loo. This was actually a good thing. It gave me one of my best moments of the whole tour. I went during the end of Citizen Erased. I just KNEW they would play Bliss next, but I had to go. I was on my way back and sure enough, I heard the intro to Bliss. Then I had this moment where I was running down the steps to the standing area, singing to Bliss. I then ran from the back, right into the crowd. I just had this feeling of total freedom and happiness. It’s a moment I will never forget. And it came in an otherwise shitty day.

After the show, I met up with my friends and their friends again. We were hanging around outside chatting. One of the guys was on the phone to Tom Kirk. He then said that we needed to meet up with Tom and he would let us in to the aftershow. I assumed that as I was with them I was invited too. So we went round to where Tom was.

When we got there, I’m not quite sure what happened exactly. The next thing I know is that Tom said ‘So who here is not invited?’ My heart sank and the horrible reality of the situation set in. I knew that question was aimed at me. So I said ‘I’m not invited, but I have been going to all the shows on the tour’ He said ‘Really?’ and just for a moment it looked like he might have been thinking about letting me in. By now, I was just shaking. It wasn’t even about the aftershow anymore. It was more about the embarrassment of the situation and the horror of me thinking I was invited to something I wasn’t.

He then said ‘Sorry its message board moderators only’ I said ‘OK’ and I just walked straight past everybody and didn’t look back. I was absolutely mortified.

Maybe it wasn’t that much of a big deal but to me, at that very moment in time, it was the end of the world. It was just that I genuinely thought I was invited too. Why I thought that, I don’t know. The others had all been on the guest list. I wasn’t. So why did I even think I was invited?

But, worse than anything, I had just met Tom for the first time and it looked like I was trying to blag my way into a party I wasn’t invited too, when that wasn’t the case. It was just a big misunderstanding, which led to a highly embarrassing situation.

I then found myself in a very bad place. I thought I had missed the last Tram into the city and I had no taxi numbers. I just wanted to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible because I knew I was about to burst into tears and I didn’t want to have a full on mental breakdown in front of a load of drunk people on their way back from the pub on a Saturday night.

Luckily, I did in fact get the last tram. I just closed the door of my hotel room and the tears came and they didn’t stop all night. Thinking back on it now, my reaction to it was probably heightened by the fact I had had hardly any sleep, I hadn’t eaten as I never did get to that Italian place, the 2 pints of beer I had and the adrenaline from the show.

If it had been any other band I would have got the first train home.

Nottingham 2006

I had 2 days of from touring. I was supposed to be working both days. I showed my face at work on the Wednesday but I was like a zombie. I could barely keep my eyes open. I managed to book an emergency annual leave day for Thursday so I could catch up on some sleep, before heading off to Nottingham.

So Friday came and I got up fairly early and set off on the 6 hour bus journey to Nottingham. I got there around 4.30 and headed off to find my hotel. And what a hotel it was! I stayed in Premier Apartments, which I highly recommend should you ever visit Nottingham. It was right next door to the venue. It was very reasonably priced. I got there and found I had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living area and a kitchen all to myself. Now, bearing in mind I live with my parents and even when I didn’t, I have only ever lived in studio flats. I have never had that much space all to myself.

So the first thing I did was run from room to room, jumping on the beds and the sofa, opening all the cupboards and wondering which bed I would sleep in! I was like a kid in a toyshop!

When I eventually calmed down, I got ready and headed off to meet Michelle, Shel and Cath in the pub. We stayed in there for a bit just having a chat, then headed off to the venue.

They were on the guest list, so we were waiting by the box office for a while for them to be able to collect their tickets. We then found that they had a spare, which meant I could sit with them instead of standing by myself. It also meant I got a wristband for the aftershow!

We took to our seats just before Muse came on. They were really good seats too. The show was excellent, but I spent most of it being totally confused. I’d kind of got used to the set list and where in the set the changes were likely to be. It wasn’t until someone else mentioned it after the show that I actually realised they played the whole of Black Holes And Revelations in order. How would I know? I never play it in order at home. I just put all my Muse songs on random!

So, when they started playing Knights of Cydonia in the middle of the set, I was probably one of the few people surprised! Then they released the balloons during it. It was then I realised they weren’t going to be playing Bliss. Its great that they can still surprise me, after all these shows, but them not playing Bliss kind of spoiled it for me. That is my absolute favourite song and the one song I never wanted them to drop from the set. But apart from that, another fantastic show!

Afterwards, we hung around a bit trying to work out where we were supposed to go for the aftershow. We got sent to one end of the arena, then the other, then back to the first place. We sat there for a while, then we were all taken to a room with a bar and stuff in. We took a table and sat chatting. None of us felt like drinking so we all sat there with water!

A bit later, Chris arrived. I didn’t really get a chance to speak to him as he was talking to other people and I didn’t want to interrupt. Michelle spoke to him for a bit and then asked him to pose for a photo with us, which he did.

There was no sign of Matt or Dom (they probably knew I was there! Lol!).

We left there just after 1am and I said goodbye to the girls and headed back to my hotel. I couldn’t believe I actually got to go to the Aftershow. I know it doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but it was for me. Also it was really nice to be able to sit and have a chat after the show, instead of going straight back to the hotel. Thanks again Michelle for that!

The only bad thing was, I didn’t get to meet up with Sue in the end. But hopefully we will meet up another time.

Birmingham 2006

I was supposed to have an early night on Monday, to catch up on some sleep. But I still didn’t get to sleep until gone 5am

So it was a still very blurry eyed Helen T who set off for her 2 hour drive to Birmingham for gig number 6, the halfway point of the tour.

I got there around 5ish. It was dark and raining. I had parked the car in the car park furthest away from the venue and it was too early for the shuttle buses. Luckily, I had my umbrella with me so I didn’t get too wet on my hike for what seemed like miles to the arena.

There was already a long queue to get in. I decided to take a walk around the back, just to kill some time really. Muse were doing their sound check. I could hear them as I was walking along, big grin on my face. It’s amazing. After all these shows, I still get really excited about each and every one.

I stood around by the buses for a few minutes. I got bored of that and thought I may as well join the queue to go in.

As the doors opened and I slowly made my way down the line and into the venue, I got that nervous feeling that you always get if you really want to be as far to the front as possible. Its that ‘get out of the way, let me through!’ feeling. It was because I wanted to stand on the left hand side. I’ve always stood on the right before. But I knew the left side is usually a lot busier than the right, and more difficult to get to the front of.

Once I got through the doors I almost ran into the standing area. Everyone was sat down. I ran to the left hand side and sat down too.

I sat there for a few minutes. Then I started to feel bored again and I knew it was ages before anything was going to happen. My stomach growled and reminded me I hadn’t eaten anything. Again.

So I had a change of plan. I decided I’d experience Muse from the back this time. So I got up and walked back out into the food area. I got a hotdog and a coke and just wandered around for a bit, killing some time.

Just before The Noisettes came on, I wandered back into the standing area. It didn’t look to busy at the front/left. I changed my mind again, and decided I HAD to be in there!

At just after 9, Muse came on stage. I then realised I was a bit too far to the left. I couldn’t see Dom. The crowd surged forwards. I went with it, and ended up 3 people back, directly in front of Dom, with a fantastic view of both Dom and Matt!

I was so happy with that position, that was like a celebration in itself!

Another fantastic set followed. I think I caught both Matt and Dom’s eye on a couple of occasions. But when that happens, you can never be completely sure it is you they are looking at. It could be someone in front of you, behind you or beside you. It’s hard to tell. The most notable occasion was during starlight. I had my hands in the air ready to start the clappy bit in the middle and Matt looked my way and smiled!

Bliss provided two of my highlights. It was the balloons. First highlight was when the balloons were released and one made its way onto the stage by where Matt was. He popped it with his guitar. I just looked up in time to see Matt standing in a shower of confetti with a big grin on his face. I wish I’d been able to capture that on camera!

Shortly after that, a balloon came our way and popped right in front of me. I reached up and grabbed it, wanting to take it home as a souvenir. So did the guy just in front of me. He grabbed one end and I had the other. I found myself in a Tug Of War over this balloon. I was like a dog with a bone. No way was I letting go. He was looking just as determined as me. This went on for a few minutes. Then I decided the fairest thing to do was to split it in half. I tried to break it with my fingers. It wasn’t working. So I stood there, pulling it apart with my teeth! It worked, and we both got a piece. The funniest thing was, it later turns out that this guy was someone I know from the message board. Sorry again Chris, if your reading!

There was an incident where these two stupid little girls pushed their way through, trying to get to the barrier. I wasn’t going to let the first girl through but I was directly behind a tall person who was blocking my view of Matt. I figured if I gave up and let her through, she could stand behind him instead. It worked and I could see perfectly again. Her friend, however, was more violent. My legs are covered in bruised where she was kicking me to get past. I’m sure hers are black and blue too. I don’t give up easily! She managed to get in front of me and was leaning up against another girl to oust her out of the way to get even further forward. Lots of pushing and shoving followed, but then the girl that was pushing in, either bit or pinched the other girl and left a mark on her arm. She showed it to the security guy and the annoying little girls got pulled out and ejected from the building. Result!

At the end the people in front of me almost made my night. They threw a Teddy Bear up onto the stage as the band were leaving. Dom picked it up. The absolute delight on their faces was a picture. It almost made me cry. They just looked so happy!

So that was another fantastic show over. The girl in front me summed it up perfectly when she said at the end ‘best shag of me life!’ Indeed.

I got outside and considered waiting around for a bit. But it was raining yet again and I knew my car was parked miles away. I also knew I had a 2 hour drive back and I’d have to be up at 6am for work. So, Little Miss Sensible won and I went back to the car and drove home. I was SO tired. Thank god for Red Bull!

Cardiff 2006

I was very glad to leave my hotel room in Manchester. I made my way to the bus station and headed off for another 6 hour bus journey to Cardiff.

I was having a bit off stress over my ticket. I had bought it from somebody on ebay and because the tickets were sent out so late, he didn’t have time to post it to me. He said he would drive down to Cardiff and deliver the ticket personally. Which I think is excellent service!

He texted me and said he was in a pub but I thought of the dangers of meeting some strange guy in a pub by myself and asked him to meet me at the train station instead. He turned out to be a really nice guy, and he was quite fit. I kind of wished I had gone to the pub after all!

Anyway, at least I had my ticket (which cost me £80, by the way!) so at last I could look forward to the show.

I eventually found my hotel, after parading the streets of Cardiff for a while. I checked in and relaxed there for a bit. It was a million times better than the one in Manchester, thankfully.

Then I made the short walk to the CIA. It was 6pm by then. There was a very long queue again. I took a walk around the building. I had just walked past the back entrance. I saw all the buses parked there but I couldn’t see the band’s bus. I walked past one more time, intending to get on the end of the queue. Just as I got halfway across the band bus arrived and nearly knocked me over! I kind of scurried out of the way like a rabbit caught in headlights. Death by Muse. What a way to go!

I stopped there, like a saddo, and watched the band get off the bus and go inside. Muse were in the building! Yay!

Then I really did join the queue. I thought I had no chance of being anywhere near the front, but I managed to get in the second row again, exactly where I was in Glasgow. I was just manoeuvring myself around to try to get away from any tall people, when a girl spoke to me. Her name was Lucy and she was on her own too. By some very strange coincidence, she had bought her ticket off of the same guy I did! She was in the pub with him when he got the text from me and asked her the way to the train station! How strange is that?!!!

The Noisettes were OK again. I can take or leave them really. Then, at 9.15 the lights went down and Muse came onstage. Another fantastic set. Assassin this time and Citizen Erased again!

It was very hot in there. The crowd were very pushy too. There were a lot of little people around me. I felt particularly protective of one girl who was stood behind me. Due to her height and my height, every time I moved, I hit her in the face with my shoulder. I managed to make some space for her and she squeezed in next to me. She looked like she was struggling to breathe so I kept asking her if she was OK. A bit later on she was looking rather grey and told me she needed to get out. So over the barrier she went. I hope she was OK and enjoyed the rest of the show further back.

My fun was spoiled a bit when this huge, burly bloke came barging through from nowhere, pushing all the little people out of the way to get his precious girlfriend to the barrier. He had no respect whatsoever for anyone else around him and kept pushing back anyone who got within a metre of poor little flower at the barrier. He made me SO angry. I hate bullys. Pick on someone your own size. So now he had lodged himself into the second row. Add to this the fact that he did this during Citizen Erased of all songs and the fact he was blocking my view of Matt and Dom. He wasn’t even looking at the stage, just at his girlfriend. I was so angry I couldn’t concentrate. I really wanted to punch him one for doing something so selfish, with no thought for anyone else around him. I had to be content with the couple of good elbows I got into his back. Which probably hurt me more than him but made me feel slightly better.

Other than that, fantastic show yet again!

Afterwards, Lucy and I stopped off to drink a gallon or so of water. Then we went to the Merch stand and I bought my third T-shirt of the tour. If I carry on at this rate my family wont have any Christmas presents this year. Unless they want Muse T-Shirts. In my Size.

After that, we decided we would like to try and meet the band. I’m starting to worry a bit that I wont get to meet them again. It was pouring with rain and they were in the aftershow and wouldn’t be out until at least 1.30. I thought that even if I did stand there in the rain for 3 hours, they are highly unlikely to come over in the rain and get soaked to the skin signing autographs. I wouldn’t want them to anyway. I don’t want to be the cause of one of them getting a cold and having to cancel the rest of the tour!

So we gave up and went our separate ways. I stopped off on the way to the hotel and got a pizza and garlic bread and retired to my hotel room. At least I knew I could have a well needed lie in the next morning as my train home wasn’t until 11am

The next show marks the halfway point in the tour for me. It’s going way too quickly!

Manchester 2006

After a couple of days off, which were mostly spent catching up on message board stuff, sleeping and showing my face at work for a change, it was off to Manchester on Saturday for gig number 4.

I got the bus there, which took 6 hours. I arrived in Manchester, to be greeted by rain. I knew I had ‘buy an umbrella’ on my pre-tour to do list for a reason. A very useful item to have during a UK tour in November. But I’d taken no notice of myself and decided not to bother getting one. The hotel I was staying at was only a short walk from the bus station, thankfully.

The hotel itself was a total dive. I guess you get what you pay for but I didn’t even feel safe in this place. The entrance was down a back alley for a start. There were notices all round the place, apologising for the inconvenience while they were ‘renovating’. It was just generally grotty. My room backed onto the same back alley the entrance was on and the window didn’t lock. I was really paranoid about someone somehow scaling the wall to the second floor and breaking into my room while I was asleep in bed.

I sat there for a bit feeling pretty miserable, about the room, the rain and the fact I was really tired. Then I decided, a bit of rain wasn’t going to stop me having fun, so I went out in search of somewhere that sold umbrellas. I eventually found one, but got soaked to the skin in the process, which kind of defeated the object!

After eventually drying off, me and my umbrella headed off for the short walk to the arena. I managed to find it without getting too lost, which is a miracle in itself as I have no sense of direction. I always get where I’m going eventually…I just go everywhere else first!

I met up with Michelle, who is one of my Live Journal friends, and her friend Shel. They were both lovely! We waited around there for a while, as Michelle had some stuff to sort out. None of us were particularly bothered about seeing The Noisettes, so we headed off to the pub for a drink and a chat. We stayed in there until around 9ish, then we went our separate ways to find our places in time for Muse.

I got another drink at the bar and made my way to my seat. My seat was in the upper tier, on the right hand side of the stage. It was SO high up! I had a fantastic view of the whole crowd. Someone on the message board was saying how at one point on Friday night, Matt had the house lights turned up, looked out at the crowd and mouthed the words ‘fuckin’ hell!’ It really did look quite spectacular from where I was sitting. I can only imagine what it must have been like from the stage!

I got chatting to the guy next to me who was at his first Muse concert. I didn’t get round to asking him what he thought but from the way he was drunkenly singing/shouting along towards the end, I’d say he enjoyed himself!

At around 9.15, the lights went down and it was show time! They played what has been my favourite set list so far this tour. They opened with Knights of Cydonia and closed with Take A Bow again. They played Showbiz for the first time on this tour and, something I really wasn’t expecting to hear, City Of Delusion. At Reading, it was the one song I REALLY wanted to hear but they didn’t play. At last I got to hear it. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, they played Citizen Erased!!

It was at that point, I really wished I was standing at the front. It was great to be able to see everything that was going on, but you just don’t get the same atmosphere up in the seats.

Because I had had a couple of drinks, the inevitable happened. I needed the loo halfway through. I decided Forced In would make a good toilet break. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I decided I’d rather miss that than some of their other songs, like Bliss for instance. I’d forgotten that Forced In is not very long. I was making my way back, considering stopping off at the bar on the way, when I heard the intro to Bliss! Panic set in, as that is my absolute favourite song. I’ve never ran so fast in my life! Serves me right. I should have crossed my legs!

After the show I made my way outside. At least it wasn’t raining. I was thinking of waiting around to try and meet the band again. But when I got round there, there was quite a few people waiting. As it was cold and wet I thought the chances of meeting them were very slim so I gave it a miss.

So, I stopped off at the coffee shop and bought a coffee and croissant to take back to the hotel with me. I’m having Breakfast at 11pm now. My poor body!

I made my way back to the hotel. Manchester is quite a scarey place at night. Because the buildings are so high, the streets are very dark. So I ducked down my dark alley to my grotty room. But it really didn’t seem so bad at that point. I didn’t sleep much as it was the middle of the city centre on a Saturday night. Lots of drunk people shouting all night. But I didn’t even care about that. I was on a high after another amazing show, and I had it all to come again the next night!