Hey all its yer ol' pal Warpangel!
So its the day before my birthday, and I'm up early and heading on out for what is going to be my 13th Wheatus gig...an unlucky number for some, but this ol Wheatus gig veteran was in for some show later on that evening!!
The trip down was a bit of a nightmare..the directions I'd been given to get to Leicester were pretty innacurate so I found myself going back on myself many a time just to find the correct roads..lol..luckily having had a certain previous nightmare travelling..this was a doddle!
When I got to the town itself it was just after 1pm, I got a taxi to the venue and found on arrival that the guys had already arrived at the venue. So I just hung around for awhile and soon Brendan made an appearence singing 'Happy Birthday' as he approached, and then planted a sticker that said 'congratulations' on my jacket. We talked about the TOTP award show and laughed about their antics onstage. Felicity and her pals showed up..and as it was her birthday as well, she also got a little 'birthday' sticker from the BBB-meister.
Mike and Pete emerged from the bus and said their hellos, before moving on into the venue as well. Shortly afterwards a whole hoard of frogs turned up. Probably the largest crowd of frogs I'd seen (or at least who I all knew!) Claire, Loz, Sam, Jane, Luke, Ruth, Zo and her 2 pals and Gemma. It was a regular frog army! The wait for soundcheck was really cold! but we kept each other entertained and shortly before soundcheck started, Phil emerged from the bus. He was in great spirits and chatted for a while and signed stuff for anyone who wanted an autograph. A funny sight was seeing him try and meet this little girl who had come down with her mother to meet the band. she was so shy and hid from him behind her mum, so Phil ended up almost chasing her around her mother as he tried to say hello to her.
Soundcheck was great!! The guys were jamming new material and it sounded realy good. Stuff I had never heard before. The venue itself was the smallest I had ever seen the guys play in, and the stage itself wasnt that big. But they sounded great and that was the important thing.
After soundcheck I spent a little time talking to Phil and Vanesa. T 141 hey also were telling me about the TOTP awards, and how Jennifer Lopez was afraid that their onstage 'antics' at the ceremony would damage her 'fountain' lol. Phil also said that the band had enjoyed meeting Wyclef, and that during the evenings show they would do something a little different.
So I get into the ve 1000 nue a little after doors had opened, and the crowd had already started to fill the hall. I saw Luke (couldnt miss the hair!) and went over to where he was stood, finding that all the frogs had gathered around there. Now..as I was a little late into the venue I thought I'd missed a spot at the front..but..I dunno how it happened..I just ended up there..without even trying!! lol Everyone else just looked at me and said..'How the hell did you do that?'..and I really cant answer that...it was just ...luck!! lol
Relish came on, and although I think they are a great band, tonights show was marred with technical problems for them, and although they carried off the performance proffessionally..I must admit to getting a tad bored of them now. So I just kinda waited till Wheatus came on.
Soon it was our guys turn onstage and WOW!! did they ever give a good show!! It's been good seeing that over this tour they just get better and better as they get used to the performing the newer songs. Even seeing Liz and Kathryn developing little dance routines during the songs has been cool.
Just before they played Sunshine both Brendan and Phil wished Felicity and I a happy birthday before dedicating 'Sunshine'. It was very cool!
The highlight of the show tonight was seeing Phil take centre stage as he sang and the band performed a version of the Wyclef song that was in the charts recently (dont know the name but had the lyrics..'dont mean she's a 'ho no!'..yeah you know the one!) It was simply awesome! Phil got the crowd going and got them singing along with him...it was an amazing part of the show! The band really seem to be having fun on stage.
Another highlight for me was that all during the show Vanesa had been sidestage dancing along, and when the band performed 'A little respect' we sang the 'I'm so in love with you' parts pointing to each other as we had done on previous tours, when she was singing backup herself...so that was cool! lol
The band came back onstage for encores and I cannot stress how much I love 'Fairweather Friend' live..it sounds awesome! The ended the show with 'Dirtbag' and when it was time to pick people out Brendan got the security to haul Felicity and myself out, as well as Zo and her pals. It was great! I couldnt imagine that they would get so many people on such a small stage! It was great to see the little girl who was so shy outside the venue join everyone onstage as well (with mum) she had been watching the show sidestage with her mother and Vanesa, she must have had the greatest night ever!
When it came time to do the end of show photograph which has become a regular on this tour, there wasa slight technical hitch..the batteries on the camera had gone dead..so it was funny to see Rob and crew panic..then rush around trying to find a new battery so the pics could get taken. luckily it only took a few minutes but it was funny.
A big 'up' to Rob by the way..he may come across a little grumpy sometimes but he really came through for many of the frogs on this board when the venue demanded ID from everyone at the door. When he saw that many frogs werent going to be let in, he stormed off and told the venue management that everyone was to be let in...and so deserves a lot of thanks and respect!
The gig over we all just hung around in the venue talking for a while....I managed to get one of the oddest and unique gig souvenir ever..a roadie came over after helping clear the stage and handed me a full set of Mikes bass strings!! lol very odd..but cool.
The guys came out of the venue and spent time signing autographs for everyone, there wasa fair few fans waiting for them. I said goodbye to the band and to my fellow frogs before heading back to the car and venturing home!
I woke up to find that it was my birthday...and I could just have a big lazy lie in as I had the day off work!! A nice way to get over post gig aches!
Take care all!!
Glenn
