Wembley Arena, London, March 10th 2002
Wembley, Wembley, Wembley!!! Wembley is a special place to see Bryan... I had been told this by everyone but still I didn't know how true it was! :) This was a special gig indeed for me - and the funny thing is that we didn't expect that much from it!
We actually got there a "bit" tired from the previous gigs (=we were totally knackered!!!), so we decided not to queue for hours for once (my hat off to those who did... really, 'cause it was *freezing* cold!!!) and try to get close to the b-stage instead... we very luckily reached a perfect spot up against the barrier, in front of the central mike. It was very nice to meet other fellow "webboarders" there :).
I thought I was going to be a bit disappointed for not being close to the stage for once, but not at all... the view was fantastic (this was also because the b-stage was in the middle of the arena and not at the bottom as usual, as the 2nd half of the floor was taken by seats), and the crowd was so enthusiastic that seeing their reactions was a real thrill. We could jump, dance along and do a lot of things you can't really do when you're first row... a very nice change.
Besides, there were 3 mega-screens hanging from the roof, one for each of the 3 guys (a very good idea I think - I guess they were there at the other shows as well, but I couldn't see them from the 1st row), and the images were really good.
Anyway, Bryan sounded great, and even sang my favourite again... (Straight From The Heart... just amazing)... the WYG girl was very nice and looked absolutely happy (no wonder :))... all the songs rocked... I was amazed by I'm Ready, it was so good that at the end of it the cheers from the crowd seemed to make the roof fall down! EID was special, too... well, all of them were brilliant. It was my first time at Wembley and now I know what you all meant about it being a very special place :). As usual, Bryan explained us about his pro-whales campaign (this is important!!!) - he definitely cares a LOT about it, well done Bryan!
And then... there they came to the b-stage! Now, I knew they were going to be close, but I couldn't imagine it was going to be THAT close! It was breath-taking... we could actually reach out and touch the stage. Bryan really knows how to make those songs rock!! They sang 7 Nights To Rock, Poison Ivy (sooo sexy!), Shake (wow!!!) and of course... She's Only Happy When She's Dancing! At this point, I somehow found myself on the stage in a split second. :)
I don't know what I did at first... I suppose I was totally out of my mind ;), but I soon realized that I had Keith's microphone in front of my mouth and I was screaming like a crazy thing... *blush*!!!
Many thanks to Anna for this pic!
Bryan was fantastic... dancing with each one of us, making us sing in his mike, letting everyone touch him... er... everywhere! ;)) He really wanted everyone to take part and have fun, which I thought was SO good of him.
VERY confused memories from this point on...;)...jumping side-by-side, singing eyes-to-eyes, and dancing back-to-back with him... shouting "dancing" a few times in the mike - not too loud I hope! ;)... What fun!!! Keith was dancing and jumping around, too.
Here I am, going crazy... and having just danced bum-to-bum with that little blonde "lead singer" that you can see in the grey t-shirt behind me :)))!
Spot the singer!! :) Rubbing shoulders (er, not just shoulders ;)) with the BadMan. Many many thanks to Val Mettam for this pic!!
At the end, Bryan jumped to the bottom of the stage, grabbed the mike and started singing Wemberley, Wemberley, Wemberley... and left us there to do the rest :).
I remember all of us getting off the stage in a total daze :))... actually, it took me days to recover :).
I must say that I was dreaming of this since my first concert ever in 1994... and it was really worth it. Everyone going to a gig - do give it a try, it is an absolute blast. :) The rest of the show was as good as it could possibly be, with the audience in a total frenzy.
Once again, he was kind enough to stop and sign and chat with every single person after the show... I saw him doing it so many times but I still can't stop marvelling at this!
On a side note... ***please let me know if you have, or know someone who has, pics or recording of this gig!!! I'd love to see/hear them!***
And that was it... Of the 4 shows we saw, I would say Birmingham and Brighton were the best as far as the music is concerned... the guys sounded just perfect and were in a brilliant mood - especially Bryan in Brighton, and joking around more than in London. But of course Wembley had this unique atmosphere and a fantastic, brilliant audience - I think it got the #1 spot in my personal "top 14 shows" chart :).
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! >>>