Hero

Wait, what? Where was this tattoo?

Just read that the UK train strikes will continue in May and June, and possibly for a further 6 months. Fingers crossed the Bristol and IoW dates aren't affected! Check this site for the latest official updates: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/industrial-action/

I'm not hearing résiste there. Later yes, but the first one sounds different to me. I hear éxiste. Might be the echo in the recording. All of which throws me back to to XFactor 2021 when he and Emma did a little skit on resistere, esistere. 🤔

Best start to the weekend!! Squealing is allowed here.

It really did! It was like the Tardis!

Wow, yeah this place really doesn't operate like that.. Besides, it's not at a local level - it's the entire oorganisation. And it's s**t. Just had a meeting about it, all smoke and mirrors, no definite answers. Everyone's depressed, no one trusts what the senior team are doing or the reasons they're claiming its needed. Its just a switch about because the new VC wants to emulate his previous institution, and the workshops were to find reasons to support it. Never mind the massive upheaval and disaffected staff. They're aholes.

Can't say I noticed.

Ohhh! Music for the French album??

I'll have you know that was a classic of it's day, thank you very much young lady! *Sniff, grumble, kids today, mutter mutter...*

@Prisca is the parterre full?

That would be my understanding.

My workplace is putting us through a highly convoluted and completely unnecessary restructure. Sorry, a "service redesign".

Working with them for ... a magic piano??

Haha, I was 4 seats to the right of the person with the banner, so I'm in there too. Can't see me though!

Well, I just bought a ticket so I'll see you all there!

Understandable, with the amount you've done, it figures you'd have more than your fair share of negative experiences. 🫂 I guess the usual advice applies - prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Oh man. I'm sorry you've experienced all that. Blocking is completely unfair. The Roundhouse worked well because they had good security who worked with us, respected the numbering, and enforced no running in the venue. Honestly, I doubt the Bristol crew will be as good. Probably more like it was at Caribana or Zeebrugge.

Howling. Last night I fell asleep on the sofa after making myself a sandwich. While asleep, I dreamt that I was frantically trying to open a bag, finally resorting to tearing through it with my fingers. It was one of those half awake dreams, quite visceral. Jerking awake, I could still feel the bag on my fingers. Looking down, I saw that I'd actually torn a big hole in the plastic wrapper on the loaf of bread, my fingers were still curled inside it! 😲 If only I could train my fingers to knit and sew during my sleep. 🤣

Hmm, how early though... if it's anything like the Roundhouse last year, I'd say by 10am to be in the first few rows. 9am to be certain.

Speaking of misheard lyrics, a few times now when he's sung Happy Ending live, at the part "the way you left me", I've heard "the way you let me". Which makes no sense in the song, so it's probably just me mishearing his accentuation.

It was lovely to meet you too! Hope to see you at a gig again soon.

You took us to some nice shops that I don't see round here, so I was happy to tag along! Haha, hopefully he was also distracted. I had started to relax at that point too. Didnt last long! I felt bad for Prisca watching it fall. From the noise it made I was expecting to see a collapsed wardrobe! Oh that's a good point, yes! OK petition for more gigs in residential areas. Aww, I'm glad! Thank you. Yup, completely! 🥰❤

Cheltenham was extraordinary, what a fantastic start to this year's gigs! So much energy and good vibes. I arrived Tuesday afternoon. You'd think being in the UK the journey would be simple, but no, my first train was delayed so I missed my connection and had to buy another ticket for the 2nd leg. Ah, well worth it for Mika. 😍 At Cheltenham I quickly met Anna who was staying in the same hotel. We had a delicious dinner at an Indian restaurant, then took a walk to scope out the venue. The tent looked quite small from the outside, we wondered how they'd fit us all in! The next morning broke fair, and after a quick walk I again met with Anna. We made our way back to the venue, where we met up with the other MFCers. So lovely to see everybody again! We hung around in the park while other fans joined us, and discovered one of the security guys was actually a fan of Mika, which was why he'd applied for the job! So nice to hear, and we all immediately felt more relaxed knowing there was a kindred spirit on the other side of the fence. 😄 It was still too early for Mika to be there, so after a bit of emergency shopping (🤭) we met up at Ask Italian restaurant, opposite the venue, for a tasty dinner. We were about 11 people at this point. It was so nice to see everyone chatting and laughing in good spirits. 🥰 Afterwards we went back to the tent, and more fans arrived. We moved round to the artists entrance on the side road, and chatted as various vehicles came and went, each time with us watching 'discreetly' through the gaps in the fence. Thinking it was probably still too early for the soundcheck, we discussed going back to our hotels to get changed and reconvene. As we were chatting, a car pulled up to the gate, looking nothing like a car we would expect to see him in. The nearside window wound down, and there he was! His beaming smile, saying hello to us! 😍🥰 Everyone else was cool and said "Oh hi! Hello!". For some reason I let out a surprised and cringe-inducing "Ooooaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!" Sorry Mika. He drove in, then came back to the gate as a couple of girls called him over. One of them had 2 vinyl albums - LICM and MNIMH - which he happily signed for her. After a quick chat and a couple of photos, he headed into the tent. Everyone was on cloud nine, it was a lovely and unexpected moment that really set us up for the evening to come. The girl with the records was so emotional, she said it was the first time she'd met him. How lovely! 😍 At this point most of us returned to our rooms to get ready for the gig. I waited for Prisca, who I was sharing a room with that night, who was on the coach from the airport but delayed due to a big traffic jam. She finally arrived, we said hello, and as it turned out she was still ready for the gig before me. 🤣🤣 Back at the venue, we found a group of fans waiting at the artists entrance, and could hear the soundcheck inside. Anna was round the front of the tent doing a livestream of the soundcheck for fans who couldn't attend. We all regrouped and went to the front of the tent, where we found that even though it was a seated gig, we would still have to queue for a bit as they weren't quite ready to open the doors yet. At this point I say a big thank you to Michelle, who sold me her spare Row F ticket which halved my distance from the stage, and an equally big thank you to Karin, who had kindly obtained 4 Mika x Pilot pens and brought them from Germany for me. Thank you ladies!! 😘🥰 After some waiting around, the doors finally opened and we were able to go in. I was surprised at the lack of security, there were NO bag checks taking place, and the ticket check was just to see if it said "Mika". It meant we got in more quickly, but after going through bag searches and forbidden items at other gigs, this seemed quite lax. Entering the tent, I realised how deceptive the view from outside had been. This place was HUGE! I felt like I was walking into an arena. 🤣 I quickly found my seat and tried to spot other MFCers as the crowd piled in. I had a worrying moment when a big guy took the seat in front of me, but with a slight lean I still had a good view of the stage. Hearing the intro music start, my anticipation was through the roof, I didn't realise just how much I'd missed this. The band came on stage, then Mika came out, still in darkness, to a rapturous applause. A single spotlight on him, he told us the story of a defiant pink girl screwing up a perfectly grey town, leading us into Lollipop and an energetic start that would be maintained throughout most of the show. Most of the songs are a memory of "Oh, yes!" "Wow!" "Amazing" "oh, my god..." etc... 😁 Key moments - a flash of light and me realising the choit were also there (I hadn't seen them come on stage due to big guy in front of me), after OOL when he had to dash off and change because his trousers were falling off him 🤣🤣🤣, introducing the surprise guest Nomfundoh and duetting Feels Like Fire 😍, introducing and singing the lovely One More Dance together, him dancing in the crowd for Big Girl and the 2000 stars of Underwater, everyone - even the older jazz oriented guys - getting up to dance, the explosive performances on the stage, his gentle modesty, humour and warmth lifting everyone. Hearing Billy Brown, Popular and Rain made a nice switch, and the classics were performed with zeal. There was a moment during Happy Ending where he seemed to be having difficulty with a technical fault, but it was quickly sorted. I was happy to see the cloak and crown return for WAG, and the energy of the Love Today encore was life-giving. The crowd's applause was rapturous, with foot stamping, deafening cheers and whistles. He exited on the Yoyo remix and, being stuck in the row centre, I had another little dance then made my way to other MFCers in the front of stage. Everybody was in awe at what we'd just experienced. Heading back to the artists entrance, we kept hearing words like 'amazing' 'incredible' 'brilliant'. Even those who had been dragged along by friends were saying how much they enjoyed it. At the gate, we didn't have long to wait before he came out. We thought it would be from behind the gate, but no, he had them opened and came to stand with everyone! 😍 Some signing and chatting (and a group selfie) later, he thanked us all for coming, then got into the waiting car and was driven off to calls of 'thank you'. A wonderful end to the day. But I had another little OMG moment in store. Up on cloud nine again (had I left? I'm not sure!) I turned to see Andy and Adam walking past. Surprised, as I thought they would have been in the car, I caught Andy's eye and said how much I was loving Epirus Falls, it was fantastic. He grinned, said thank you very much, pleased to meet you, and held his hand out to me to shake! I got an Andy hand shake! Such a sweet guy. 😍 Afterwards a few of us dashed off for a quick comedown drink before the bars closed, then caught up with Karin to wish her a Happy Birthday, before saying our goodbyes and heading back to hotels. That night I had a near miss in the hotel. A picture above the bed fell off the wall and landed with a loud bang, directly on the pillow where my head had been just 2 minutes earlier! Not quite the scare I needed before going to sleep! The next morning I ached so much from all the dancing, but in a good way. 😁 I was also more tired than I realised, as on the train back I fell asleep and missed my connecting stop. 🤣 I had to hop off at the next station, and buy a new ticket for the second leg. Again. 😅 With 2 new train tickets and a new gig ticket, I've almost paid twice for this gig! Meh, it was worth it. It was a fantastic gig, an incredible evening which I'll remember for a long time, and it was worth every second. To the point where I'm now thinking, hmm, maybe I can get to Bristol somehow... 🤣

😆 Remind me what is in episode 3? Is that the one with Elio? Why, what happened?

I'm interested! Have pm'd you.