Because I was going alone, I also decided to pay extra and go for the Diamond View ticket; which at the time of booking there wasn't that much information about where exactly that view is in relation to the stage, I just assumed it would be one of those tiered, seated grandstand things they build along the side of the field and I'd actually end up in the crowd anyway, preferring to be closer to the stage. I was wrong. It actually meant that the small pit at the front, with barriers surrounding was just for these ticket holders. And because I was alone...I just wandered my way to the front of that crowd.
Here's a tip..."excuse me" makes people go "ooh sorry" and let you through, then you can stand in front of them while they wonder why they let that happen.
I had a great time, I jumped, danced and screamed every lyric at the absolute top of my voice. I remind you, I was alone. Inhibitions? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't have gone naked or anything but other than that, no.
Fast forward to yesterday's outing to McBusted playing at Westonbirt Arboretum (no, we'd never heard of it either). I went with my friend, Hannah, who I met in college and we've now been friends for nearly 8 years. Crikey. I hadn't realised that til now. She's the only person I know who would be singing as loudly as I would. That's why I chose her.
It took us just over an hour to get there, driving through villages and up a massive hill. Apparently the drive through small, quiet villages and narrow roads was unnecessary though because the sat nav brought us home a completely different way.
We arrived to the sound of what we thought was someone blasting the McBusted album in the carpark but we realised when we got out of the car it was actually the band doing their soundcheck. A bit of Love Is On The Radio was being played during our walk to the gates. There was a weird 4 lane queuing thing going on and a marshall stood there just watching us wondering whether it mattered which one we stood in. Quite quickly, we felt like we'd got something wrong because everyone was in these queues carrying so much stuff. Chairs, picnic baskets, cool boxes and blankets. Hannah had her bag and I had once again just shoved what I needed in my pockets. If you're one of these people that wear all the stuff you're carrying on your shoulders or your back, please remember that you are doing so. We spent about 45 minutes in that queue dodging camp chairs that people insisted on carrying on shoulders whilst demonstrating fishing-like movements for their family's entertainment.
Bag searches are a timely procedure when people have all that stuff so that took a while. But what is great about not bringing our whole kitchen and garden furniture with us is that we went straight to the front. There's a big metal plate on the ground in front of the stage that no one with chairs and picnics were allowed on, so we ended up on about the second row which was perfect; it's quite hard to jump when you're up against the barrier at the front.
The support act was a new Westlife who are managed by Louis Walsh. We laughed and wondered why they all hair that looked like it had had some cut off from the back and stuck on the front. I don't know what they were singing because there was a girl screaming and crying in front of us that we were more interested in watching. I never did like Westlife.
McBusted finally came on stage about 8:50. The first song, Air Guitar was played ironically with real guitars. All the obvious (see what I did there?) songs were played. We all waited for a lady to come out of the toilet, questioning whether she had a wee or a pooh because Dougie said he wasn't playing until she came back out. Rightly so...who pays £40 to see a band who are only on stage for an hour and a half and goes to the loo while they're playing? We couldn't understand why people had payed that much per head to sit in a field with a picnic with a band playing in the background. I know Jools Holland does these kind of open air gigs but they start about midday and everyone's there for hours This started in the evening like a normal gig. Again, it's a positive if it means they're not bothered about being at the front when I am.
I'm so happy they played Thunderbirds Are Go. It's one of my favourites and one that no one around seemed to know very well. I'm just a better fan, clearly. So once again I proceeded to dance, jump and scream every lyric til the end which happened oh so quickly. I left this gig less tired than I arrived. That's surely the sign of a great show. I'd have loved to hear Love Is Easy live but it wasn't to be and poor Tom had a cold and was struggling with his voice, which has just got to be so annoying when you're in a band and that's what you rely on. I had to wait until the very end when they were leaving to see Harry though; because he's on drums he's at the back with the other guys in front of him. He's been my favourite since I was 13...I'm 24 now.
And off we went home with our legs aching and voices tiring and complaining about the ridiculousness of what seemed to be 3 separate car parks all merging on to one small gravelly road out of the venue. What great fun it was though. Thanks McBusted! Can't wait for the next one!
This appears to be another long post, sorry about that. I probably won't have anything to talk about now though so I imagine the next one won't be.
Chow for now,
Falv
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