Had a bit of a mad week so far. I worked on Monday and Tuesday nights, these night shifts don't half come round quickly, I'd only just got used to being back on days.
On Thursday me and Sparks were going to see Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes along with Angie and Dale. We have had the tickets for ages and really wanted to see the new Wembley but due to it not being ready, the show was shifted to MK.
Angie and Dale were visiting Dale's brother in London earlier this week and were driving to MK from there. Sparks was also sent down south again for work and his mates were dropping him off in MK on their way back home. I ended up having to go on the train.
Well, it was persisting down when I set off, I was drenched when I set off from Accy station and it's only a 5 minute walk from home. An hours wait in Preston did nothing to dry off my wet jeans, but at least I had time to go to a cafe for a decent breakfast. The 2 hour train ride to MK was over with in a flash and my jeans dried en route but I couldn't help but notice that it was pouring down all of the way there. We'd got as far as Rugby and the rain had shown no signs of abating.
When I arrived at MK though, it was cloudy but dry. Sparks was there to meet me but Angie and Dale were still in Uxbridge waiting for a meal.... We walked to the venue and ate some butties on the way there. It was packed... We got there at 3pm and there were several thousand people there already. We managed to find some space on the hill opposite the stage which gave us a great view and we saved some room for Angie and Dale.
The afternoon passed quickly, we were people watching and believe me there were some sorry sights there. Angie and Dale finally made it to MK but it was a good 40 minute walk from where they'd parked the car. By the time they'd arrived at the Bowl, one of the support groups 'Orson' was on. They were trying to phone me so that I could direct them to where we were. We finally managed to make contact but could barely hear each other over the crowd and the music. By some miracle they found us... There were at least 65,000 people there so that was no mean feat (neither was going to the toilets, but that's another story).
The next support group was the Basement Jaxx, they were superb live. I had heard them on the radio but they didn't sound half as good as they did live. It was a real action packed half hour, the group were never still and very entertaining.
The opening sequence to Robbie's performance was brilliant. The stage was quite a piece of kit and varying parts of it lit up to the tune from Close Encounters and looked quite spaceship like. Fireworks exploded from the gantry at the top and smoke blew out from the stage itself when Robbie emerged from under the stage....
All of the hits were sung and some new stuff. He had a good rapport with the crowd and although I sometimes think he comes across as arrogant, he can certainly entertain.. I suppose you have to have a certain degree of arrogance to believe that you can step out in front of 65,000 people and keep them happy and he did just that..
I think that the only thing bad about the day was that I managed to find a food van which sold, quite probably, the worst chips I had ever tasted. Not only were they gut wrenchingly bad but the robbing buggers had the cheek to charge £3 for them.. That's the thing about these huge venues, they don't half rake the money in selling food and drink. The food didn't even qualify for the title of food, it was just that the word sh1t was already taken....
All in all it was a brilliant day out. We came back in the car with Angie and Dale and didn't get in until 3am, we were absolutely worn out.... but at least the weather kept up.
On Thursday me and Sparks were going to see Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes along with Angie and Dale. We have had the tickets for ages and really wanted to see the new Wembley but due to it not being ready, the show was shifted to MK.
Angie and Dale were visiting Dale's brother in London earlier this week and were driving to MK from there. Sparks was also sent down south again for work and his mates were dropping him off in MK on their way back home. I ended up having to go on the train.
Well, it was persisting down when I set off, I was drenched when I set off from Accy station and it's only a 5 minute walk from home. An hours wait in Preston did nothing to dry off my wet jeans, but at least I had time to go to a cafe for a decent breakfast. The 2 hour train ride to MK was over with in a flash and my jeans dried en route but I couldn't help but notice that it was pouring down all of the way there. We'd got as far as Rugby and the rain had shown no signs of abating.
When I arrived at MK though, it was cloudy but dry. Sparks was there to meet me but Angie and Dale were still in Uxbridge waiting for a meal.... We walked to the venue and ate some butties on the way there. It was packed... We got there at 3pm and there were several thousand people there already. We managed to find some space on the hill opposite the stage which gave us a great view and we saved some room for Angie and Dale.
The afternoon passed quickly, we were people watching and believe me there were some sorry sights there. Angie and Dale finally made it to MK but it was a good 40 minute walk from where they'd parked the car. By the time they'd arrived at the Bowl, one of the support groups 'Orson' was on. They were trying to phone me so that I could direct them to where we were. We finally managed to make contact but could barely hear each other over the crowd and the music. By some miracle they found us... There were at least 65,000 people there so that was no mean feat (neither was going to the toilets, but that's another story).
The next support group was the Basement Jaxx, they were superb live. I had heard them on the radio but they didn't sound half as good as they did live. It was a real action packed half hour, the group were never still and very entertaining.
The opening sequence to Robbie's performance was brilliant. The stage was quite a piece of kit and varying parts of it lit up to the tune from Close Encounters and looked quite spaceship like. Fireworks exploded from the gantry at the top and smoke blew out from the stage itself when Robbie emerged from under the stage....
All of the hits were sung and some new stuff. He had a good rapport with the crowd and although I sometimes think he comes across as arrogant, he can certainly entertain.. I suppose you have to have a certain degree of arrogance to believe that you can step out in front of 65,000 people and keep them happy and he did just that..
I think that the only thing bad about the day was that I managed to find a food van which sold, quite probably, the worst chips I had ever tasted. Not only were they gut wrenchingly bad but the robbing buggers had the cheek to charge £3 for them.. That's the thing about these huge venues, they don't half rake the money in selling food and drink. The food didn't even qualify for the title of food, it was just that the word sh1t was already taken....
All in all it was a brilliant day out. We came back in the car with Angie and Dale and didn't get in until 3am, we were absolutely worn out.... but at least the weather kept up.