The Proclaimers

Unseemly?????????????? Never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, Yan, for not bringing up elbows. I note that Bobby described the affair as "mostly vertical," so I feel vindicated. For those who weren't there, aspersions were cast and we seemed on the verge of having to call a Health and Safety meeting.

It's odd, the things that come up at gigs, eh?

And as for Cowal, she's really good at routines!

Oooh, wouldn't it be fun to have a Haverer talent show??

I was wondering if you and Cowal know how to do the fling start to finish? You may recall me mentioning how nicely it fits to JKB. Now that would get some attention LOL! And with both elbows AND knees going, some DEFINATE safety hazards.

I'm still trying to learn it (alongside Ellie). You'd think I'd have just absorbed it by now, but no such luck.

Good luck with that, Yan! I've been watching the Fling for over 15 years and I still don't know it.

However, I did want to participate in Thrill the World, a world-wide attempt at breaking the record for the most people doing the Thriller dance at the same time. So, in LA it was 5.30 pm last Saturday. I started learning the dance the Sunday before. I didn't look anything like Michael, but I managed to get through it...several times! It was a BLAST!!!!

Cowal, post us a link when it goes up somewhere.

And, [cough], ahem, as it turns out, I was a highland dancer as a child, and all these many years later still remember much of the fling. I quick refresher and I'd be right there with Ellie, dancing as badly as in my youth. Now, the sword dance - that's a different animal.

I was thinking more along the lines of being there doing it front row centre lol!!

Ok, now that I have a proper keyboard, I'm telling you some more details about Sheffield. I'll be adding something about Leeds and Newcastle too and of course I'll post all the photos Soz for being wordy, but I love to share it with you all

As I said, the venue was seated and I had row A (which is not frontmost, but 4th from the front), Craig's side. The venue was almost full, including balcony, but many people arrived during or after the support. Miles and Erica are good though, people shouldn't miss them. Well, I suppose Miles is good, LOL. I could hardly pay attention to him, I was mesmerized by Erica's violin. And the surprise came (or at least for me) when I heard her sing, cos she has a beautiful voice too. Shame it was just for one song. And it's a difficult task to play violin and sing at the same time!! Nice dress too

By that moment I was already getting nervous (wasn't I nervous yet?) to see C&C again after two months. I told the two ladies sitting next to me if they would mind me screaming and shouting when the lads showed up there, and they laughed, of course they didn't mind. LOL. And I did scream!!!! until all my emotion turned into singing along to N&R.

I already posted the setlist in my earlier post, but I have to say I especially enjoyed hearing more songs from the new album: Three More Days, I Know and Wages of Sin were amazing. Not many people seemed to know the new stuff... yet

I Know was one of my favourites in this album, now it's even more. It was fun cos Clive did something strange at the very beginning of the song and had to start over. Craig said that Clive never makes a mistake, and it had to be in Sheffield!! LOL. Lots of good mood on stage. And I noticed a small mistake by Craig too, he said "he" instead of "you" a couple of times at the first verse. Hehe. The song is impressive live.

And what can I say about Sunshine on Leith with Erica playing violin. Just dazzling. And people did cheer after her performance.

I think Zac spotted me at some point and smiled. You know it's difficult to see people on the 4th row from a stage with all those lights on you! I was chuffed that he could recognize me. All the band was great. Shame I could hardly see Stevie from my seat, he was right behind Charlie from my point of view!

I also enjoyed some "old" songs I had not seen live yet, such as Unguarded moments. I have to admit that song had never attracted my attention too much. But hearing Charlie sing that right there in front of you, oh my, that makes a difference! (Is it obvious I have a soft spot for Charlie singing?... well and not singing too ) And now, that song sounds different to me when I listen to the recorded version. Power of live music.

I liked to hear My Old Friend The Blues at the encore. Had never heard it live either. But I agree with richard it's such a different style from WOS to be at the same encore. I don't mean that any of the two songs is not good for the encore (don't drop WOS please!!) , it's just very different moods. But both brilliant with Erica's violin too. In Sheffield it seemed not very easy to move people anyway, but maybe as you say they were rocking on the inside. Some quite enthusiastic people here and there tho (of course, it's a Proclaimers gig!!)

For me, the magic worked once more. That wonderful warm feeling you get deep inside. Those of you who have been to gigs, you know what I mean. And those of you who haven't yet... you absolutely must!!! Listening to the recorded music is good, but this is another world

Shame photos were not allowed. I sneaked a couple of ones of Miles and Erica, and another one at I'm Gonna Be (who dares tell somebody off during I'm Gonna Be?? LOL.)

Too short, as always. Went near the stage and Aldo gave me a setlist. Then I saw Julianna, from California, I recognised her from a photo of US tour, and said hi. She is such a big fan, has been to literally dozens of gigs, being so young!! We found out we were going to the same gigs (Leeds and Newcastle after this one) and chatted a bit, which was good, as none of us had any friends there at the gig.

We waited to see if C&C would come out to meet people, but after some time, they had not come out, and we were just a handful of people still hanging around there. Then somebody told us to come and wait in a corridor. BTW, I have to say a big thank you to Julianna, cos I was chatting with her and hanging around, but I probably wouldn't have done it by myself.

After waiting in the corridor for a while, Zac and Garry John came out from a door. Nice to say hi to them! Plus they offered all of us a beer. LOL, just as well we were few people. They went into the door again and came out with beers for everyone.

Aldo was around there too. It seems that many of us like the music he does (check him here )

Then the door opened again and C&C came out. They waved to us all, then walked in the opposite direction and disappeared through another door. Everybody stunned. Of course they were back in a minute. LOL!! But in the meanwhile, Julianna wondered what was the mystery about that door, that produced beers and Proclaimers. LOL.

I was wondering if C&C would recognize me. When they came out again and approached us (no table or anything, just us in a corridor) I thought I was going to shake their hands and try to remind them of Belfast and Dublin. But then Charlie walked straight ahead to me with a smile a mile wide, he bowed to my height (LOL) and gave me a huge hug. And then when I was trying to get over, Craig did the same. OMG!!! I thought I was going to pass out. And they began to ask me how was my trip and to which gigs I was going, and how I managed to take days off in the middle of school year. For goodness sake. I was truly overwhelmed. They DID remember me, and I tell you, it was like them coming to meet me instead of the other way round.

And for me, this time was better than Ireland, cos I was able to SPEAK at least a wee bit. LOL. Tried to ask them about their plans for next year, and they are not sure about what they'll do yet. Besides, Charlie said they will need a rest by the end of the year. Of course they will! Oh and I have to say that when they talk to me, they always remember my bad ear for different accents and speak slowly and carefully. So kind of them. Did I ever tell you how nice and warm they are, both of them? For any of you who have not met them yet Oh, and there are things that you have to see in person, it doesn't show in the photos or videos. Those royal blue eyes, or that light from their faces when they smile. *SIGH* What was I talking about? Oh yes plans for next year

So, definitely they will be doing shows next year. YAY!!! After resting for a couple of months, I suppose. They will do some festivals, and maybe also something in Europe in late spring (Germany, Belgium? Marleen, you can ask too! ) I suggested that they do some acoustic shows on this side of the pond cos we are starting to be jealous of the American fans. LOL. They said it's a possibility. After all, a tour with just the two of them is easier to do (the performance is not easy tho!!)

Also told them a bunch of haverers would be at Leeds the next day, and asked to play again WOS, cos everybody wants to hear it. So I chatted for quite a while to both of them together, then Charlie, then Craig. Well, surely they weren't with me all the time, but I really got that impression And the amazing thing is that everybody got the same impression for themselves too. How do they do it

They signed my setlist and two photos of me with them in Ireland. We also chatted with Zac, Garry John, Stevie, and I had the chance to meet Clive, cos I hadn't before. Interesting conversations. From music to Quantum mechanics (yep, Zac really knew about that subject!!). Also had pics taken with C&C. I'll post them on flickr.

After that, my hotel was just 2 min walk, so I walked there feeling on cloud nine. Could hardly sleep. Had been such a wonderful night and still there were two more to go

Now when I relive it, I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach

WELL, aren't we the center of the universe! I do not believe I mentioned any names.

Now, to more important things, Twinkle, what fun. Unguarded Moments, yum. I have no doubt that you couldn't sleep, what an exciting night. Good for you, girl. Thanks for all your words.

There are a couple of videos of Sheffield in Youtube. Makes me relive it. And one (or two) is Wages of Sin!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTowmB0P4iY I'm Gonna Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKq3hBbdkL0 WOS part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrsXZ2FZnh4 WOS part 2