Last night.

[hils]

Last night was without a doubt the BEST night of my life. If I was to die today (no thanks, drunken knights) then I would die happy.

So, let me begin the tale at the beginning.



Left work at about 1pm yesterday and trundled into town to go to the bank before heading to the station. Napped on the train until it got to Newcastle and that's when Jacqui (HW) got on. Now I'm always a bit wary about meeting people I know off the internet but I swear every single person so far has turned out to be lovely. finzilla, padfoot_uk, marvo, caersidi, fallenseraph and theo1 are all WONDERFUL and I'm pleased to say Jacqui was no different. An absolute sweetie!

Anyway, we got to Edinburgh and after an initial bit of wandering around we found our hotel and got ourselves booked in. We then decided to scope out where the bar GOTR were playing in was, and get some food on the way. We found the bar no problem although we took the long route. There were already people queuing outside for the paid Q&A session and I started to get excited. Finally it was feeling real.

We got some food at a local newsagents and went back to the hotel to get ready. Alas I was the one faffing around and although we still got to the bar early, there was already a bit of a queue. We waited, and we waited, and we got colder and colder. FINALLY they let us in. We made a beeline for the merchandise table where Jacqui bought a t-shirt, some badges and a CD. I bought a t-shirt for supernaturalhel. We then went to the bar, got some drinks and headed straight for the stage. We must have been no more than six or eight feet away from the front and thankfully the people in front of me were even smaller than I was so I had a good view.

Support band came on not long after that. They weren't bad, a local band as far as I could tell, but the lead singer had a great voice. They did a great job of warming us up and once they were done we had to wait another 10 mins or so before GOTR came on.

All I can say about them is this. James really knows how to play up to the audience. You could just FEEL that he was getting such a buzz off it. He was laughing and smiling, and bouncing around and that just drove the crowd wild. The atmosphere in that place was amazing. I've never felt anything like it in any concert I've ever been to. Everyone was just buzzing.

Can't really say much else about it. Not really familiar with the songs but James' voice seemed on top form. I dunno if it's just the album is bad but they sound a LOT better live.

So anyway, once the gig was over people started filing out. I was all in favour of just going but Jacqui suggested getting a drink first. This will be something I will NEVER forget her for! We went to the bar, got our drinks and just mingled for a bit. All the band members bar James were on the stage and people were getting them to sign autographs.

I was looking at them when Jacqui said quietly "He's over there."

I didn't even realise what she was talking about. "What?"

"James is over there."

Sure enough he was stood at the side of the stage and a small number of people were getting him to sign stuff.

"Ok," I said softly, "Let's slowly move over there."

The next thing I knew we were in a queue to see James and my hands were shaking. I got my camera out and asked Jacqui if she'd take a picture for me. So we waited. I was convinced James would stop signing before I got to him and then next thing I knew I was stood in front of him. Here's how our conversation went as much as I can remember it

Me (handing him my tickets to sign): Can you sign it to Hilary?
JM: Sorry, I'm only allowed to sign my name
Me: Oh, ok. That's fine.

I watch him sign and feel the urge to say more.

Me: I'm actually going to be seeing you in Tampa in a few weeks.
JM: Cool! At Dragoncon?
Me: No...it's the Vulkon Con
JM: Oh, I don't think we're gonna be there
Me: What?!
JM: I know we're playing at Dragoncon but I don't think we're doing that one.
Me: Oh.
JM (laughing): I don't know what the hell we're doing actually. I just go where my manager tells me.

I laughed too and then asked him to pose for the photo.

Now, my camera has this funny thing where if you're too close it won't let you take a picture. Jacqui pressed the button and nothing happened.

Me: Oh, you're too close. Just move back a bit

And I gave her a gentle nudge and James laughed.

JM: Oooh! You're saucy!

And he wrapped his arms around me and gave one of my boobs a squeeze. I laughed and Jackie took the pic. James laughed again.

JM: I love my job

And I thanked him and left.

That was it. I took Jacqui's photo for her and we left the bar in a euphoric daze which lasted all night and most of today. I really didn't think we were going to get to meet him and not only did I get an autograph but a photo too.



Unfortunatley you can't see him squeezing my boob but who cares!

And here's me holding my autographed ticket



As I said, best day of my life. Even if the con goes horribly wrong I won't care. This night has made it all worthwhile