Nottingham

Wow, Nottingham was a BLAST!!!! Best gig so far!

Steve C drove us up there, and found the hotel, the venue AND a Subway for Claire without even a satnav!!!! RESPECT my man :).

Our hotel was just across the road from the Royal Concert Hall, and we had a night and a day to explore before the gig, which was excellent. We checked into our rooms and then headed out to explore with David Rattenbury, (local), Andy ( crew lighting guy), and James (sounds) to a pub with an open mike night. David played some acoustic Alice songs and we all sang along, and got slowly plastered. Or maybe that was just me. Lots of fun.

I love a bit of singing when I've had a few drinks :)

Claire and I share a girly moment whilst Andy looks on, bemused

We all fall out of the pub

Yvonne falls over and I  continue to babysit Claire's cane, grrrrr want one

 Next morning, Steve and I went shopping to find clothes for the Edinburgh gig on Halloween. He needed some orange leggings.........and we ended up with a kind of orange suit, including hood that covered your face, not sure what that was about! Anyway, he attacked it with some scissors to make it a bit more useful.............I bought some orange fishnet tights, and black crackle nail varnish. I did see some lovely coloured contact lenses, but as I've tried these in the past, and ended up not being able to see a f*cking thing, I reluctantly  passed on them.

The sheep shirt goes to Nottingham - I neeeeed one.

 

After a brief siesta , Bill (Crowe) invited us down to his room to meet Dali the snake. What a treat, I've never been that close to a boa before and he was quite happy to be draped all over us, although I don't think Claire was that happy to be draped over - but she did very well, bless!!

 

 

So far I haven’t mentioned Ryan Roxie’s Rock N Roll Parking Lot Tour - before each show Ryan (and sometimes other band members)came out to chat with us in the queue. Cardiff and Wolverhampton, Tommy and Chuck came out too, but in Bournemouth I didn't catch up with Ryan til after the gig, so it was just him. Was a great way to get to know them a bit more, get some autographs and photos, and of course, Roxie 77 and Beasto Blanco cd’s and t shirts. Nottingham was no different, except we met them in the pub next to our hotel, and Glen and Ori came too. And then again afterwards, but more on that later. . . . .

And so to the gig – Steve and I both had front row seats, but at oppo ends of the stage.  And this was the first place I’ve ever been to see Alice where there wasn’t a  barrier!!! What a difference that makes, can’t tell you how exciting it is to be right at the stage.  So, even though I had a seat, I took up immediate rez at the stage, actually leaning on it, omigod….. It‘s hard to explain exactly how much this meant to me  -  when you get past 30 something, it seems kinda hard to find things that make you feel excited, so I consider myself particularly blessed to have found something to make me feel like I’m 19 again………..and it was AMAZING to be so close…..*fans self with handy book*

Alice sings to me whilst I throw him a right hook

 

 Alice came over and sang to me at one point, Oh Yeah, was I in Heaven, was I ever!.....When he threw out the beads he was standing right in front of me, so I grabbed some before they even got thrown. Someone else threw a bunch of roses right in front of me on stage, he ignored them for ages and then came over, picked then up and smashed them  over his knee! The petals went all over me J, of course I saved some for my scrapbook. It occurred to me I ought to think of something to throw on stage, it makes him act like the Alice of old. . . . . hm, might have to get a plastic chicken or something for next year. . . . Another good thing about leaning on the stage was that I managed to snag the setlist to add to my growing collection of stage booty.

Jenni and Sparky dress up like  Chuck and Tommy. Photo courtesy SparkInTheDark

After the gig, ALL of the band came over to the pub, so I got  to meet Glen Ori, Chuck Tommy and Ryan all in one night! Got a lot of great photos, met some new Alice friends and had a brilliant night. I think I would be happy to follow Alice on tour all the time. . . . . . .

I love these 2 photos (Thanks again to Sparky) Think the one with the beads is the best pic I've seen of RTD tour. Well, next to the one of me and Ryan (see below)

Bloody awesome gig, I got covered in confetti, fought a few balloons got beads, and dollars, and generally had the best time of MY LIFE.

Thanks to good friends and Alice of course. Next stop Edinburgh.

Ryan plays me a riff or two, and then gives me the pic

Photo courtesy Peter Trustram