LIFE IS A FOUNTAIN

 May 2022

Well, well, well, well, well, well, well. 

I haven't posted on this blog for SO long, I'm guessing everybody out there who has ever looked at it has long gone . Wouldn't blame you, I went too. 

But Alice, bless him, is still touring,.........thankfully, tbh,  we all thought Covid might've convinced him to give it all up and stay at home with the kids and grandkids. So, he was out there and there was no way I couldn't go. Plus, we've all had our Covid vax.

It's been a while since I went to a gig, lol, well actually it's been a while since I went anywhere other than Tesco, so, although I booked various tickets and hotels, I was very nervous, not even sure I can do this any more tbh...............But after a raging internal struggle.....'There'll be so many taller people, and they're all gonna want to stand in front of me etc etc, followed by, 'If I don't go, I will be gutted when he's here and I'm stuck at home'..........  I decided that it would all be fine on the day, booked it all, and I hoped for the best. I've had so much fun in the past on tours, I really hoped that I would be able do it all over again. The hour and half when he is onstage is absolutely the best feeling in the world for me.

Swansea was actually great, Brett has come up with a way to make the all day queuing for a standing gig bearable. You turn up, get a number and then take it in turns to hang around, and go in in order. Security were great, they let the first 40 of us in, and then stopped the rest, while we sorted out our places. So great to meet up with Brett, Paul Si, Sparky, Bill, Rachael, Kai, Sarah, Kate, Jo, and the nice people who left their chairs outside, so Si and I could sit down for most of the wait.

Tommy threw me loads of pics and I actually managed to catch 4 of them!

And, mostly I enjoyed the rest of the tour. But there was so much crap to endure, the hotel I'd booked for me, Steve and Mercy in London, suddenly decided they wanted an extra £100, and then they transferred me to somewhere in outer Timbuktu........we ended up driving straight to the O2 in the end, where I suddenly discovered that the VIP was before the show.....but more on that later. Eventually found a decent room at a nearby Travelodge - and when we got there, we met up with Rachael Bill and Kai, which was a bonus.

THE VIP.  I booked this, knowing that it might be a shortened affair due to Covid, but was assured I could cancel, if things hadn't changed. It was £600. It has been £300 for ages, but the price doubled a couple of years ago, because they switched to another company, and included early entry, and a stage tour. Huh, no mention of that any more. And, although I tried to cancel, they never replied to my emails. why am I not surprised?

We had to do a Covid test before they let us in, and then David Bloody Davidian, shouted at us for ten minutes about what we could and couldn't do. 'Up against the wall! One at a time! Don't touch anything! I think he really hates Alice fans, although I know in the past he has helped some of us. Hard to imagine really.

I was first in line with Mercy, and he came through the door, and said hallo to us, and we both went wobbly! When we finally went in, he said, 'Hey, Penny' which absolutely made my day. But after we had a few pics, we were ushered out, and that was that. Gotta say, I've got rather used to hanging around after all the other people have gone, and having a chat with him and Kyler, and I felt rather cheated.........I really hope this doesn't become the norm. Although, talking to Kyler, it seems that everybody wants to chat, so he probably never gets to eat til 2 in the morning, poor guy......

So the lack of time upset me, and there were so many other rip offs.... - £36 parking at the O2. No previous VIP info given out - I didn't even know that we would be meeting Alice before the gig, rather than after, so didn't have my gig clothes on, then after the covid test, they but made us wait outside for another hour and a half...... (and this is right after pics of Alice cosying up to fans outside in various shops and golf courses). Then we were in, photo, out.Alice did throw me the white cane after Schools Out which was great and cheered me up quite a lot.

At least I had a front row seat - but in Manchester, I arrived at my front row seat to find 2 rows of people standing in front of it! After the Cult finished - my god, they were boring -  I asked them to move, and thankfully they did. Not so lucky for the guys in the centre, full of twats who just didn't care and wouldn't move......There was a bit of a fight, I hope the front row peeps won........ I mean, what is the point in paying epic amounts, if the security aren't going to enforce the seating?? And you never know til you get there, what they're gonna be like. Some of them are some friendly and helpful (Swansea, looking at you) whilst others are so thick that they just cannot think on their feet (If you throw those roses onstage, we'll throw you out - thank you Birmingham)

Not that I made the Brum gig. Anxiety/panic attack, what can I say? No reason or rhyme, but I knew I just couldn't make it.(Thank you, Gill for your company that night) Thankfully by the time we got to Leeds, I was in a more determined frame of mind....

We ended up staying at the Ibis, a place we've been before, but I didn't realise til we got there. Perfect for the gig, just round the corner from the venue (although the Prem Inn is also very close) Met up with Peter, Tibbsy et al beforehand, but ended up going in early to meet Brett and Gill. As soon as we were in, I realised I'd forgotten the roses! So important, Alice loves to trash them! And the venue would never let me out unless I was dying...(wtf?) So we conconcted a story about how I'd forgotten some medication, so that they would let me out and in again.......I was a bit worried about getting back in, and there was a dodgy moment when they asked to see the meds........I stuffed a box into my bra, and just said, ' Ah, it's nothing really'.....And they let me back in. Phew!

And it was a great last gig. Our seats were second row, but we managed to squeeze on to the barrier, so all was well. Alice threw us the white cane, and, after a small tussle with Steve - Mine mine MINE!! I let him have it, so we had one each.

A great ending to the tour, but one of the best bits was meeting up with all my Alice mates again. Love Alice to bits, always have, always will, but I don't know if I'll be able to do the whole tour thing again, I think I may be past my sell by date. But let's see what happens, never say never!