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Here it is everyone!
This is probably the best journal entry I will write. Solely dedicated to what I now regard as probably the best night of my life! I am in fact referring to Thursday March 22nd, 11.30pm, The Prince, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. This is the date, time, venue, town and country where I finally lived out over a year long twisted desire, and a long 3 week obsessive fantasy. Ladies and Gentleman, children of all ages, grip those seats tightly as I take you through my adventure regarding that beautiful day and night when I, Lord Christopher R. Gregory Esq. went to see my year long secret sweetheart Lady Sovereign live in Concert. I will take you through the highs and despairing lows of those 24 hours that changed the very core of my soul. Leaving me smile and giggle like a 12 year old adolescent female who has just met Westlife, or for the older generations reading this, The Beatles. Like this journal entry, there is a photo album solely dedicated to that beautiful Melbourne night. So please check it out. Hope you enjoy this.
WARNING
PEOPLE WHO DESPISE AND LOATHE LADY SOVEREIGN MAY WISH TO STOP READING THIS JOURNAL ENTRY AT THIS POINT. AS THIS ARTICLE LOOKS VERY FAVOURABLY ON HER, DUE TO HER SHEER BEAUTY AND LOVELINESS! FOR THOSE UNSURE OF WHO LADY SOVEREIGN IS. CHECK OUT HER NAME ON WIKIPEDIA OR THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES : www.ladysovereign.com, www.myspace.com/ladysovereign
March 22nd, 9am
It was my daily routine of waking up and not eating breakfast as usual. Today felt different though, today there was an air of excitement buzzing round the hostel. I walked through a crowded breakfast eating courtyard, people greeting me with the usual politeness and smiles I have come accustomed to during my stay. I walked straight into the lobby where I grabbed the Yellow Pages to search for a number for ticketmaster or any ticket office. Sitting back down in the courtyard, with an anomalous smile fixated on my face, I sat thumbing my way eagerly through the Yellow Paged book of numbers! With my eyes glued to the book, people looked at me as to why I wasn’t my chatty self. This concern was met loudly and proudly by Jon, who stated to everyone “This is the day he goes to see ‘his’ Lady Sovereign live in concert”. Groans and disdainful looks hidden behind slight smiles were more than obvious to me, but I didn’t care of what others thought.
After spending a lengthy time on the phone trying to find someone with tickets, and being met with incompetent ticket sales staff, who proclaimed “No sorry sir, the concert doesn’t seem to exist according to my computer”. The usual unhelpful salesman using the notorious known excuse “The computer says no”. Undeterred by this slight set back I ventured back into the lobby, and asked the young girl behind reception if she knew of the number or how I could obtain the number of the venue where Lady Sov would grace her presence. She met this question with “ohhh my god! Are you going to the Lady Sovereign concert? I have been dying to go, but can’t afford it, all my friends are going”. With Luke stood with me at the time, we were amazed to find another fan such as myself. Unfortunately she did not have the number, but she told us the name of a shop just around the corner that may have tickets, which is where Jon, Luke and I ventured next.
Arriving in the store , I nervously asked the girl behind the counter if I was correct in assuming they sold tickets for live concerts there. Her reply could not of been more perfect, no other answer could have topped the one she gave me which word for word sounded like this: “Erm yeah we do, but unfortunately the only gig we have tickets for at the moment is Lady Sovereign I’m afraid” Another smile broke out onto my face as I explained those were the ones I wanted and did she have enough for 3 people. She pulled out a wad of tickets, roughly around 150 altogether, and explained she certainly had enough for 3. After asking the price I went outside and conferred with the other 2, she had tickets for sale at $52 each (roughly £25). The low point was when the other 2 were unconvinced that they now wanted to go, and I faced the prospect of going out there on my own. After a meaty discussion they decided to go.
After the purchase of the tickets, I excitedly made my way into the centre of town, the same maniacal grin on my face. This was the segment of my day dedicated to impressing the Lady Sovereign herself, by getting my own T-Shirt made for this very special night. After walking for about 25 minutes, I found the shop where you could make your own T-Shirts. I carefully picked out the font in which I wanted my shirt to spell out the words ’Make Way For The S.O.V’, a phrase used regularly at the beginning of each of Lady Sovereigns songs. After waiting about 90 minutes for my shirt to be done, I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome and hastily made my way back to the hostel. As a thank you to the other 2 guys for coming with me, I bought $50 dollars worth of beer for us to drink before we went to the concert. Unable to eat due to sheer excitement, I watched as the others gobbled down pizza.
March 22nd, 7.30pm (The Departure)
It was finally time to make our way out of the hostel. After a nice hot shower, clean underwear, sparklingly clean trainers, and of course my new T-Shirt, we got onto the tram to take us to the other side of Melbourne to the venue. With 6 bottles of beer inside of my foodless stomach, I was met with nerves, butterflies and a slight sickly feeling at the prospect that in a matter of hours, I was going to see Lady Sovereign live. We arrived at the venue about 30 minutes later, and were told that she wasn’t on stage until 11.30pm. So we decided to try and calm our nerves and buy a few jugs of beer in the bar next door, while playing some pool to distract our excitement. At 9.30pm we made our way back outside to next door, and gained entry to The Prince of Wales Venue. Worried that they may not allow cameras into the gig I hid mine down the front of my boxer shorts, hoping if they were to frisk us, they wouldn’t feel that area. Luckily we got in without a hitch, and after by another round of beers, we made our way right to the front of the stage!
Just under 2 hours to go before the big moment, we waited and waited, watching a range of fresh new MC’s and bands which in all our opinions were pretty good. Maybe it was the alcohol maybe it was the excitement, perhaps both, but we enjoyed the entertainment. It was now approaching 11.30pm, the area in front of the stage was packed with people, and I had at least 10 bottles of beer now sat inside my bladder. Worried I might lose my space if I went to the toilet, I tried to hold it in. It was now 11.35pm, and still no Lady Sovereign, she certainly knew how to work the crowd up. Finally the moment came when she strutted onto the stage in her usual cocky confident manner. My heart literally sank. I had previously collected a range of magazine cuttings and stuck them on my wall next to my bed in the hostel (see photo album) of this beautiful girl. Now I was watching her walk around the stage singing her hits, the excitement was rushing through me. I stuck my hands in the air, and received a high five from her early on in the gig. At the time I was convinced I would never wash my hands again, the girl I had such a crush on for over a year had just touched me!
The night went on, the songs got better, the disbelief at what was happening to me became more believable. I started to take pictures, and videos of the occasion, people were pulling me back to get my space at the front, but I refused to have any of it, and literally fought with my elbows! Jon and Luke were behind me lifting my arms up and pointing out my shirt to Lady Sovereign at the beginning of every song when she sang those infamous words “Make Way For The S.O.V”. She barely even noticed me, until in the break of one of her songs, I began shouting, ENGLAND, ENGLAND, ENGLAND! To which she replied with “Whose from England? Whereabouts?”. Now looking in my direction my nerves had shot up to a new high. I replied Bristol, she made a joke about it, to which I didn’t quite hear, and she carried on with her set. Absolutely delighted that I made contact, I began to film her next song (see my journal video section for viewing). I filmed her and took pictures until I drained my batteries!
Her set was drawing to a close and I had already had a fantastic night, she walked off stage saying goodnight and the floor space in front of the stage quickly disbursed. I sat there watching the roadies pack up the equipment, whilst racking my brains as to where I knew she came from. It hit me, Bethnal Green! A very rough part of London that she grew up just round the corner from. Remembering reading that it was a very united community I called over to one of the roadies.
“Excuse me mate”
“What?”
“Could you tell Lady Sov’ that I am from Bethnal Green, I have come a long way to see her?”
“Oh right your from Bethnal are you? Ok I will tell her mate”
Five minutes had gone and I was unconvinced anything would happen, then I got a tap on the shoulder! “Oi mate, Lady Sov’ said come back stage if you want”
“What??? How do I get back there?”
“Give me your hand”
He pulled me onto the stage and directed me down the stair to where Lady Sovereign was sitting.
March 23rd, 00.45am (Backstage)
Unbelievably nervous and astonished that the lie I just told actually worked. The now nicest guy in the world to me (the roadie) directed me to where Lady Sovereign was sat backstage. I was almost sick with nerves at this point, as I walked into a small backstage room where three members of one of the bands that played earlier were sat, and on the opposite side, The Lady Sovereign! She stuck her hand out towards my direction, and I met it with a smooth handshake.
“Hey man howz it goin’?”
“Good thanks, you were awesome tonight, such a great set”
“Fanx man, your da guy dat shouted out Bristol innit? I fought you said you woz from Bethnal?
“No my parents grew up in Bethnal Green, just off Valliance Road” (Yet another lie)
“Ah cool man, not too far from me den. I like da shirt by da way”
“Haha thanks, I got that made today, especially for tonight in a place in town”
“Really? We gotta get this kid on tour with us man”
I would of dropped everything in regards to my trip to Australia to travel around with this girl, even if I was just making her tea and sandwiches and tidying up the stage, I would of dropped everytthing!
That was it for my conversation with Lady Sovereign, I took a seat next to her and shook hands with the other people in the room, and congratulated them on a good gig, commenting on how much energy they put in, and how it made it such a big part of why the set was so good. I am barely listening to them knowing Lady Sovereign is sat next to me, talking to other people and messing around whilst drinking a bottle of Heineken. I got chatting to a member of the other band who gave me 4 free tickets to a gig for Saturday night (see photo album), which I was delighted in receiving. I had only been back stage 5 minutes and I was receiving freebies! I sat there and watched a few more people from the road crew walk in and grab drinks and sandwiches. Suddenly the room was full of her road crew, her management, and other bands and DJ’s that had played just before her set. Amazed by my surroundings, I dare not move incase I lost my seat next to the girl I had been so eager to see. A few members from the cast of Neighbours walked in and made their way over to her. Unfortunately I don’t watch Neighbours, so I was unimpressed about whom they were. Taking up most of her time with rubbish about Neighbours to which she politely explained she hasn’t seen the show since she was about 10, she listened to all their stories.
I finally got up after feeling extremely out of place, and made my way over to a group of the roadies that were tidying up at the end, and chatted to them for a bit about where they were from. One guy said to me “are you not drinking?” to which I replied “I have never been backstage before, I didn’t know if I was aloud to or not”. He reached into the cooler and got me out a fruit drink and told me there were beers in there if I wanted them and to help myself. I spent the next few minutes mingling with people in the room, and the other bands, still watching Lady Sovereign across the room. Frantically trying to warm my batteries up so I could get just one picture of myself backstage, I was becoming heartbroken to see that my camera wasn’t turning on, no matter how much I willed it too!
About half an hour later, Lady Sovereign stood up in the middle of the girls from Neighbours and declared we should all go to the beach. I was unsure whether the invite extended to me until one of the members of the other band started talking to me on the way out. We followed Lady Sovereign and the girls from Neighbours to the beach which was just a short distance away. Once at the beach we sat around continuing to talk amongst eachother while Lady Sovereign drank and messed about with the girls from Neighbours. Desperate to get a picture, I asked other people if they had any batteries I could buy off them. With no luck and no one willing, I asked if there was a 7-11 nearby that might be open. A guy pointed me in a direction and said its about a mile up the road. With it now being 2.30am in the morning I was worried if I left now, they may all be gone by the time I get back. So I ran and ran and ran, so hard I could barely breath once I arrived. I asked the man behind the counter for some Double A batteries which he got for me. “$19.20 please”. $19.20 for some batteries, it was more than worth the extortionate price, so I bought them and ran back as fast as I could. With Lady Sovereign still sat there on the beach I was relieved. I now had batteries to take my picture. One of the roadies pointed out she had already shouted at 2 girls from neighbours because they had taken pictures of her and she didn’t like it. I was gutted, unable to believe that I might not get a picture I thought I might aswell try and talk to her and take a conversation with her, away back home with me if nothing else.
March 23rd 3.00am (The Conversation)
I sat on the beach next to the group of people sat around Lady Sovereign, the girls from Neighbours started to leave one by one, and I was edging closer and closer towards her. Eventually 3 other guys decided they were going to strip off and go for a swim, leaving just myself and the self proclaimed “Biggest Midget in The Game” and one other guy, all three of us sat next to eachother. She turned towards me and asked the following question:
“So what you doin’ out ere man?”
“Just travelling with a few friends, going up the East Coast, I am out here for five months. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw that you were playing a gig here. That’s why I got the T-Shirt made, and arrived at 8.30 to get a place at the front of the stage”.
“Ah dats so cute man.. You sound to posh to be from Bristol, you sound like you more from Devon”
Not sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, we continued to talk, face to face. I was surprisingly cool, calm and collected. We chatted for another 10-15 minutes, about football and the blockbuster hit Jackass, two things of which she is a massive fan of. Still unable to believe that this was actually happening, I was convinced I could get a picture of her at some stage. Just before she got up to say goodbye to the girls from neighbours she said 8 words that almost made me faint. “Chat to you in a bit cutey man”. Did Lady Sovereign really just say that to me? After the conversation we had, I discovered she isn’t the CHAV everyone claims she is, and a lot of her persona is part of her act. She is in fact a very nice, easy to talk to down to earth kind of girl. As she walked off, I noticed the bottle of Heineken she was drinking from stuck in the sand. I picked it up, cleaned it off, and put it in my pocket. She started to say her goodbyes and gave her number to the girls from Neighbours, to which I asked if could I have aswell. Surprising even myself as to say something like that to her, she proceeded to give me her UK mobile number. I walked away from the pack with my heart all a flutter!
She decided she was going to call it a night, after all it was now almost 4am in the morning. I still hadn’t got my picture, and just as she came up to me to say “See ya laterz innit man” and slap my hand, I said, “See ya later Lou (her real name)... Can I be cheeky and get picture though, otherwise no one will believe me” her reply was again music to my ears. “Ah of courz cutey man”, and she placed her arm over my shoulder. I relied on a completely drunken gibbon to take the picture on my camera, and was terrified in some manner he will probably mess it up. We stared into the camera and I couldn’t believe I had managed to achieve something so amazing by getting this close to her. The picture came out perfectly and I was delighted. We shook hands and I watched her walk up the street with 2 guys from the band. I flagged down the nearest taxi and asked him to take me back to the otherside of Melbourne, and whilst in there I released all my excitement onto him, to which he found it most amusing and was genuinely happy for me! I stumbled into the hostel to find no one awake, fair enough as it was now 4.30am. I was so excited I could barely sleep. I danced around a little in my room waking up people around me, as I undressed to get into bed. I can honestly say I have never had a feeling like that before, to say I have mingled and had a conversation with a celebrity, not necessarily popular in the UK, but huge in Australia and very big in the United States. I drifted off to sleep and smiled about what had just happened to me.
March 23rd, 8.45am
The very next morning I woke up fresh as a daisy and went down to join the others for breakfast ready to tell my tale of the night before. With everyone eager eared I felt like a king as everyone listened intently with amazement and disbelief in not only did she play a killer gig, not only did I get back stage, but I also got to talk to her face to face for 10-15 minutes, I stole one of her used Heineken bottles, I got her UK mobile number, and I also got an amazing picture of myself with her. All in all that beautiful young lady made a massive impression on me, and also made it a very special night for me, yet she probably doesn’t even know it. After telling everyone I had her number, I had a lot of people convincing me I should text her, even though I really wanted to, I didn’t want to suffer the heartbreak if she never replied, atleast this way I still had the belief she may of text me back if.
Two evenings later, Duncan or Big D as he is now known, said I should just text her and see what happens. I sat for roughly 30 minutes writing out a very short and discreet text, which eventually ended up sounding a little like this... “Hey Lou, its the guy from Bristol you invited backstage in Melbourne, not sure if you remember me. Just wanted to see how your gig went last night? I was tempted to come up and see you again, you were that good”... Over an hour had passed and I had received no message back from her, now feeling quite low compared to how I felt two nights previously, I settled to the fact that it just may not happen. We all sat in the kitchen while Stuart and Ollie cooked our tea for us. With big Duncan on my left, I felt a vibration in my pocket. Could it be possible, could it be a wind up from one of the others who knew how down I was feeling about it. I checked my phone, and there it was, as honest as I am writing this journal now, ‘Lady Sovereign UK’ came up on my phone. Big D’s eyes bulged as much as mine did at this sight, and I opened the message. My heart now pounding, my forehead sweating, I attentively read the message, which said I quote... “Was gud fanx, sort of rememba u and dat T of courz. Get 2 a gig in da uk sumtime. Sov”... Everyone cheering and me feeling as good as I did that beautiful night we chatted on the beach in St Kilda, I smiled with pure glee.I never did text her back, as I felt that’s all I needed to hear from her. So one day, when I am once again roaming the glorious cities of Britain, I will hopefully see her again.
That’s it for my tales and adventures of that incredible night. I apologise massively if it was too long, but am hoping you tried to read as much as you can. Feel free to rate this story out of 5 stars on the message board. Under the rating please consider the following categories : Length, Humour, Detail, Photographs, Videos, and general amazement to Christopher Gregory actually achieving something of this stature. Hope to get a huge amount of messages over this as I have spent a good four hours, if not longer than that, typing all this up.
Thanks for reading, Cristoph of Oz x
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