We got to the venue very early, anticipating we would get a chance to see the band, as we really wanted to see JP to chat to. Unfortunately we must have got there too late, as the band was sound checking! After hanging around in the cold for over an hour, we finally got in the venue and made a beeline for the merchandise stall. How impressed I was by the variety of "A" things that could be bought: T-shirts, JP style peak caps, belts and even raincoats!
It was around this point that I started bumping into people I knew, which surprised me as most of them I hadn't seen for years! By the end of the night, I had spoke to about a dozen friends who I hadn't seen for a long time - it amazed me that all of these people had been bought under the same room, because of one band!
By the time "A" came on stage, the full-house crowd were totally up for it as the band launched into 'Took It Away'. Bearing in mind the album at this point wasn't out; the crowd's reaction to this new song was fantastic! We had noticed that there only seemed to be four members playing, which was confirmed by JP, as he announced that Giles 'was having a baby'! However, his presence wasn't missed as the band had sensibly recorded Giles' parts on to tape!
The band played many favourites such as 'Monkey Kong', 'Old Folks', 'A', 'If It Ain't Broke', etc….., all going down very well with the crowd. I was very interested to know what the crowd's reaction was going to be with the new songs, and fortunately I wasn't disappointed! During Starbucks, JP got down off the stage and into the crowd as he has done before, giving the lucky few people at the front a chance to get near him! Just before 'Bad Idea JP encouraged the crowd, as he did at Reading 2000, to create a massive rotating pit to the song. I can't say what it was like, as I wasn't in it, but from what I can remember from Reading, it must have been dangerous!
Near the end of the set, JP asked for some help on backing vocals on 'Five in the Morning'. The condition was that anyone who was wearing their old school tie, and could donate it to "A", would be allowed to get up on stage and sing! (See pic below!) Not being one for wearing ties out of work time, I was unfortunate not to get the chance to get up on stage, although I thought the idea of it all was very cool!
"A" came back on stage after a short break and launched into "Nothing", the single that had recently made them "famous" - this got the crowd into a frenzy of synchronised waves as soon as the opening notes started! The encore was finished with a fantastic 'Foghorn', and then it was over. Not only had I see "A" live for the first time in ages, but I thoroughly enjoyed it too! I can honestly say that there aren't many bands I see live that make me want to sing and shout songs at the top of my voice, and want to shout out the bands name between songs without caring if I am making a complete fool of myself!
After desperately trying to find out where the band was, and what they were doing, we rushed outside to their tour bus to wait, as we still wanted to meet JP! After waiting quite a while, some friends of the band came out in to the bus, and we asked them if we had any chance of meeting the band. After a little persistence, someone went back into the venue and soon came out with Dan, Adam and JP!
There was a comment made to JP by the guy who had gone back in, although I didn't hear it. My Girlfriend did, and she said it was something along the lines of "they are REAL fans". We had enough time to ask JP everything we wanted to, and even give him a present! It was an old eighties 'Einstein' electronic toy game thing, that I had been wanting to give JP for some while, as I knew he liked that sort of thing!
Finally, I got the chance to show JP something that my sister had customised: an "A" My Little Pony! (Click here for more info!) I don't think JP knew about My Little Ponies, although he was very impressed with it! JP was then advised to get inside the coach, as it was getting cold, so we left him and friends to play with his newly acquired toy! What am I going to get for him the next time I see the band?
1) Took It Away
2) Monkey Kong
3) Old Folks
4) Cheeky Monkey
5) Going Down
6) A
7) Shut Yer Face
8) I Love Lake Tahoe
10) Starbucks
11) The Distance
12) Bad Idea
13) 5 In The Morning
ENCORE
14) Nothing
15) Something's Going On
16) Foghorn
