Gallery - Slideshow & Review

Rotherham Utd Football Ground, England - 26th August 2007

Gig Review by Lore, Brussels, Belgium

It’s safe to say that the journey Viviane, Petra (Viv’s sister) and I made to Rotherham resembled the above mentioned 80’s farce LOL. To cut a very long story short, here are the highlights: we had planned it so that Viv and Petra would pick me up in Brussels at the Ancienne Belgique at 5.45 am – three hours before our planned flight – which would give us plenty of time to get to the airport in Charleroi, but things didn’t really work out as planned. Road works on the motorway deviated V&P so that they entered Brussels in an area they didn’t really know, hence they lost their way in the city… badly. Meanwhile, I got robbed: one guy started hassling me to the point where I was ready to call the police and at that point someone came from behind me and pulled away my luggage bag (which amongst other things contained some SM memorabilia I was planning on asking Derek and Mick to sign, about 5 kilos of chocolate and pralines, and the most lovely pair of yellow boots ). After quickly stuffing some clothes in a rucksack, guiding Viv and Petra to my apartment (thank heavens for Mappy!), and a couple of unplanned detours on the way to Charleroi, we finally got to the airport at the time our flight had just left… or so we thought, because it turned out that all flights for that day to the UK had been cancelled. So back to Brussels and onto the first Eurostar we could get tickets for. Meanwhile in the UK, Bruce, Sandra and Victoria were waiting for us to take the car from Stansted Airport to Rotherham; and as the thought of them having to wait around the airport for hours on end until we finally got there, wasn’t that appealing we decided on a plan B (or was it C by that time?): from London Waterloo, we made our way by train to Peterborough where we met up with our travelling mates – only 7 hours after we were supposed to LOL.

At least we did see a bit of the English countryside, albeit through the train window (I even spotted a castle at one point), and the fact that your clothes have just been nicked does give you the perfect excuse to go and plunder the nearest Monsoon (which to my delight still had a truck load of lovely stuff at 70% off!) and to indulge in a bit – OK a lot – of comfort food .

And we weren’t the only ones having trouble on the way to Rotherham: Lizzie and CJ fell victim to a severe case of road rage! But by the end of the day, when we were all sat around the dinner table in the hotel, we were already laughing our asses off at our misfortunes… a sure way of telling that you’re in extremely good company that can make you forget the sh*t of the day, just by being around! Besides, how can you not be in high spirits when you’re back in the company of great people you haven’t seen in such a long time, or people who’ve literally travelled from the other side of the world to be there. So thanks to Sandra, Victoria, Bruce, Viviane, Petra, Lizzie, Clive, Lawrie & his lovely family, Shirl, Keith and Shannon (think I got them all) for instantly making me forget the crappy day, for the lovely and – most of all – lively dinner!

We had such a laugh that for a moment I thought my epithet would be ‘Death by Frosties’ LMAO, and of course I was too busy chatting away to see who had lured Shirl away from our breakfast table: none other than Brian McGee who later in the day turned out to be a gem of a guy (and those are rare, ask any woman!)! On a whole different topic, Victoria put an end to the ‘to dunk, or not to dunk’ debate – yes, Viv’s chocolate had appeared on the table!

We – Sandra, Victoria, Viviane, Petra, Bruce and I - decided to head into Sheffield to do some shopping… poor Bruce! But just before we left we bumped into some familiar faces in the lobby: Dan and Marnie (with the much coveted concert tickets)! After all this time – and a lot of previously failed attempts at meeting up – it was such a pleasure to finally meet you both!

Over in Sheffield, I was tempted to go to another concert/festival; almost persuaded into letting go of my wicked, sinful ways and dedicating myself to spreading God’s word through Christian music…

On the other hand, a lot can be said for the argument that “I’m beyond salvation, especially with that filthy mind, and definitely after the whole Spotted Dick debacle” , so why bother? I hear it’s always nice and warm in hell (must be the ‘isolation’ LMAO).

By the time we got back to the hotel, you could smell the anticipation – people gathering in the lobby to get to the venue! Amongst them Aggie and Regina, who’d come by ferry (Respect!), and just arriving Loretta, husband Phil (who turned out to be the ‘unknown’ guy who had warmed me up outside a pub in Edinburgh – smokers being the outcasts of society they are – exactly a year before) and Sandra.

A taxi took us to Rotherham United FC – which is really in the middle of nowhere, no disrespect! – where we settled in the lounge with some drinks awaiting the arrival of Derek, Mick and Brian.

Needless to say that spirits were high and a lot of them were consumed.

The experience of meeting the guys was just out of this world: they’re all such friendly, down to earth blokes who take their time to talk to everyone, sign stuff, oblige in the most odd requests (such as talking on the phone to someone in Australia!), and patiently posing for pictures… which didn’t always go without a glitch as certain people were prone to laughing fits LOL.

After all that excited, we had some lovely food which Dan and the catering department had arranged: the veggie tarts (no, I don’t mean Victoria or myself; but the quiches!) were delicious! And that way, we were all raring to go for the evening portion of the day: the Sample Minds and Four Good Men gigs!

Describing those gigs is probably the hardest part of this review; I’m not often lost for words – to the despair of some – but this is one of those occasions. I hadn’t seen either of the bands before, and I must say they exceeded my expectations by miles. I actually find Sample Minds to be a lot braver than SM at the moment when it comes to tackling the back catalogue and the arrangements of songs – which I guess they could with such a hardcore audience, but still – and even more: they pull it off brilliantly and gave an energetic performance that left everyone wanting for more. My favourite part of the gig has got to be Oh Jungleland, apart from one thing of course: the part where Derek climbed on stage (very smart suit BTW), casually plugged in his guitar and started off New Gold Dream, a true Kodak moment which made the audience go into a frenzy (hopefully, someone kept his cool enough to video it, but I doubt it).

But the real goosebumps came when Derek, Mick and Brian came on the stage for a small impromptu performance! How great was that?! I’m still in disbelief LOL. The energy that came off the stage and the enthusiasm of the crowd was just out of this world! I was even too overwhelmed with what was happening that I didn’t even take a picture LOL. But I’m sure someone captured it. So feel free to share it with us, people !

Afterwards Derek, still in the smart suit, did leave certain ladies (I won’t name anyone) wondering whether or not they were going to see the gorgeous legs they were promised…

Of course it was Four Good Men’s night, and boy did they deliver! I really think Ian did a great job on the SM songs (for the sceptics amongst you ) and I absolutely loved the version of Belfast Child they did, loved it even though I’m not a great fan of the song. The highlights for me came early in the set though: Kiss Cool which gains even more power when you hear it live and Bowie’s Boys Keep Swinging. All in all, a tremendous performance, which no doubt left everyone craving to hear some new material from this great Scottish band; I know I can’t wait to hear more! And can I just say how impressed I was with the girls on the bagpipes!

I guess SM fans can look a bit scary from time to time LOL: Exhilarated we went back to the hotel, freshened up and went to the after party function (OK, so Sandra and I were a bit confused as to where that actually was, but we found our way in the end). Drinks were had, chocolate was consumed, and laughter shared as we waited for ‘the men’ to arrive.

Like Lawrie, I have very fond memories of Graeme Duffin who came and sat with us for a relaxed chat and signed my FGM album (and actually knew how to spell ‘Lore’ straightaway! LOL). The people who’d bought a FGM album got it signed by Mick and Derek; the ‘women’ got their picture taken with Brian (thanks for that Lawrie) LOL, and Victoria gave the Earl Grey Tea biscuits to Derek which she had brought over:

And then, things are just a bit of a daze… and that didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Darren and Dan were trying to get me drunk LMAO. I remember getting my album signed by Mick who said something like: ‘would you all like us to play a couple of tunes?’; I for one thought he was joking, but no: instruments appeared, Victoria was pulled out of bed, and until about 4 am in the morning we were treated by an impromptu jam (requests and all). I guess everyone was as shattered as I was, but no one could tare him/herself away from what was happening: magical!

Trivial but useful things I learned during the weekend :

• “Spotted Dick with custard on the side” is really a dessert, and not some sordid fantasy (thanks to Shirl)

• On the other hand, “melon with a diverse berry coulis” is an entrée and not a dessert; how weird is that!

• in Dutch the word for ‘isolation’ has two meanings, whereas in English there’s a difference between ‘isolation’ and ‘insulation’. So cheerily saying that you’re ‘pretty well isolated, thank you’ to say that you’re not cold, sounds a bit daft, and taking 10 minutes to figure out exactly which gaffe you just made is just moronic LOL (thanks Lizzie, CJ, Shirl,… well the whole bloody dinner table really, you know who you are!)

• the origin of the word “chav” (thanks to Lawrie)

• certain pants can contain reptiles (thanks for the warning, Derek!)

• English hotel rooms have their hair dryers welded to the inside of desk drawers (I guess the bath room was a tad too obvious, thanks to the lovely chap at the reception desk)

• All mocking and Belgian chauvinist talk aside, Fosters really is a crappy excuse for a beer; and so is “we’re still in doubt about our opinion about it, so we have to keep on trying it out” for drinking it, Dan . But thanks to Darren for making me try out the Budweiser, which was quite good or at least better than the Stella (which – although Belgian – is horrendous).

So to educate you boys, this is where I’ll be taking you when (note: ‘when’ not ‘if’!)you come to Brussels: http://www.anaesthesic.be/delirium/home/?lang=en Check out their beer menu (it’s endless!).

And just so you know, this is what I’ll be enjoying this weekend: http://www.weekenddelabiere.be/en/pages/home.htm

Thanks to:

Everyone who shared the weekend with me (you know who you are), everyone I got to meet and chat to – either again or for the first time – I won’t list any names ‘cause I’m bound to forget a few people LOL.

To everyone who made this weekend come true: thanks for all the hard work in organizing such a special event!

To both bands for giving us a night to remember! Derek, Mick and Brian: you truly are legends, and lovely guys! Thanks for all your energy, time and enthusiasm which made this the experience of a lifetime!

And an ultra special thanks to these two people: Dan, you’re an amazing bloke and we can’t thank you enough for pulling off this amazing event, even though you forgot the hedges (you’ll need to make that up to me ). It was a pleasure meeting you, and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun to look forward to in the future!

Victoria, I can’t believe you came all the way from NZ to be with us this weekend. I can’t begin to describe what a pleasure it was having you around ‘in the flesh’, and I can’t wait until we can have our little ‘tour adventure’ (hopefully next year). Love you lots!

xxx

Lore