I went to the PI concert last night!

[Feefs]

Joy of Joys!
:elephant::hello::elephant::hello::elephant::hello ::elephant::hello::elephant:

Last night I had the pleasure of the company of a multitude of young Pop Idols, and young PI fans, and quite a large selection of older PI fans gradually succumbing to the teeny-pop idol joy that is screeching your lungs out whenever Will or Gareth appeared on the video screen during the advert for the PI video, before the show had even started.

Yes indeed, panto season arrived early! Images of Simon Cowell elicited booing. Most of them got some kind of cheer, but most people saved themselves for Will, Gareth, Darius and Zoe. Both Darius and Zoe were pretty popular, but it was the final two that invoked the Health and Safety rules on noise in an enclosed space. Volume for the pair was pretty much even and from all the same people, but if forced to differentiate, I'd say Will got cheered as opposed to out and out pant-wetting swoon inducing squealing for Gareth. I must confess to joining in on this, but sniggering at it too. I am clearly beyong such imature, obsessive behaviour, and was merely indulging in a little post-modern irony.

There was much pre-concert entertainment to be had by the panto style cheering of the PI video advert (that didn't even have the sound on). It was fine during the early stages of it, because the shots of our lovely stars were on screen for long enough for people to swallow their candy-floss, or look-up from their £10 program in time to join in with the appropriate response. However, later on, things got a bit manic, and you might find yourself accidentally cheering Simon Cowell, or worse - booing Gareth.

What? You want to know about the actual concert and singing? I'll have to get back to you on that, because I've got some "stuff" I need to do, but I promise to return to explain why I've marked 8th April in my diary with a big happy face, and the mystery of Zoe not appearing in the finale. Actually, I can't explain that, but I'll tell you more, but if anyone knows about it, please let me know. It's really annoying me.

[LEE]

I'm going on the 6th April Feefs and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm sure I should be old enough to know better as well, but I'm also sure that I'll probably be cheering and booing (hopefully in the appropriate places :hugesmile:) with the best of them.

:flower:

[Mark]

Feefs did you take any pics??

:dance:

[WILDCHILD2K1]

Im going too and I cant wait!!!:colour::colour::colour:
Cant wait to see Will and Zoe!!!
:elephant::laugh::elephant:

[Janette]

I'm not going to any of the concerts :bawling:

Please!!!!! someone take piccies and put them up for the rest of us :spin2:

[Feefs]

Feefs review of PI at the Docklands - part Two. Note - it is long and not for the fainthearted or those needing the toilet.
:blush:

Sorry, no pics. You weren't supposed to have cameras, but there were plenty of people with them. However, I can sensibly, yet boringly predict most people's shots will not turn out. The best I could have shown you was some of the lovely banners and perhaps some shots of the tasteful merchandising stalls. I would quite like to have taken a few shots, just so I can remember the atmosphere, but I didn't even take a bag with me, so decided against considering a camera.

Anyway, back to the actual concert...

I've now found out about the mystery of Zoe not reappearing. The official line is that she had tonsillitis and the doctor advised her not to go back on stage. I can understand her dropping her final solo number that would have been quite an effort, but it seems a shame (if not strange) that she didn't go on for the finale. She can't have had much more than a few lines, and as someone else had to sing them anyway I'm sure she could have managed a couple.

Putting all that aside, here's what DID actually happen.

Nikki Chapman compered the evening, and was very good and very nice as we'd expect. The links between the songs were quite obviously scripted, but that didn't matter. They had a tight schedule, so it was best they didn't waste time prattling about. You still got a feel for their personalities, and it wasn't as if they were reading off an autocue or anything. Before each of them appeared, they showed a clip of their highlights from during the show - just in case you couldn't remember them.

They came on in reverse order of their success, so first on was Korben singing a George Michael number. I can't remember which one, but it was very good. It must be hard being first on, especially when you were first out, but he was excellent and really got the crowd going. Fortunately he wasn't sporting the horrible hat, unfortunately he was sporting an equally horrible hairstyle.

Next up was Aaron singing Walking in Memphis. I've never liked the song much, or been that bothered by him, but it was a very competent performance and proved very popular with the crowd getting everyone involved.

Then we had Jessica singing Crazy for You. She was better than I had remembered her, and even if her voice is supposedly Cabaret, she filled the Docklands very well. Perhaps she doesn't have as much personality in her voice as some of the others, but she still sang it better than Madonna could, and impressed me. She talked about how much she's looking forward to representing us all in Eurovision and I think she's more than talented enough to do us proud. She didn't sing the song from that, but Nikki did mention that the single will be released next month, so 19 must be happy that this isn't encroaching on those they've signed.

Then we had Laura singing Son of Preacher Man. During the show I thought she was unfairly picked out for having a weaker vocal, but she did struggle a bit. I'm sure she could do better, because when she sang that song in the heats I was bowled over. She was hitting the big notes fine, but was struggling to get the quieter bits right, so perhaps needs a few more tips, or to get her confidence back. She's still doing presenting work and is going to be doing some modelling too.

Surprise was Rosie. Yes she sang well as expected, but she got a really positive response from the audience. She seemed much more down to earth on stage, and Nikki commented that she seemed more at home here than on tv. She sang "Everything I do", and still over-did the warbling for my personal preference, but it was still an excellent performance. She is clearly very talented, and if she gets the correct vocal coaching could still make quite an impression, however I can't imagine she'll ever be singing stuff I want to buy.

Hayley gave a brilliant performance of an Anastasia song, but I can't quite remember which one it was now. Not one of the obvious ones. I was thinking I might be wrong about her not having that je ne sais pas required to turn her into a star as she really held the attention of the audience and it was clear she was someone people were excited to see. However as I can't remember what she sang, and didn't really think about it again until now, perhaps not. I have no doubt she has the talent, but of the sort that many others have too. She confirmed she's been doing presenting, she'll be interviewing Britney Spears soon, but she really wants to do singing. I hope she does, because even if she isn't a massive singing star, she's very listenable, and someone I'd take an interest in.

Zoe fans were clearly in da house, as she had a massive reception. She sang "Say a little prayer" that more than impressed me. Nikki made loads of only 16 comments, but they were unnecessary. She was head and shoulders above the previous finalists (even with possible tonsillitis). It wasn't the best performance I'd seen from her, but left me wanting to hear more.

Next up was Darius singing "It's not unusual". The man sat next to me (30s, no children, arrived late and kept his jacket on) finally realised he was in the presence of greatness and exclaimed "wow" during the introduction. It was the sight of Darius walking down the corridor that was heavily used during the early episodes. Darius was the consummate professional and wiggled his hips in all the right bits and sang it better than Tom Jones IMHO. I found this highly entertaining and generally funny, but many a teenager and older mum type clearly found this VERY sexy. It looks like his market could be as a younger Tom Jones, which doesn't appeal to me, but would have people queuing up. I'd rather he went down the blues and Bacharach route, but I suspect Will has first dibs on that. There were a couple of scripted jokes about pants being thrown on stage and a pair of boxers getting held at Simon Cowell level, then it was time for Darius to leave the stage...

The time had come for insertion of the earplugs. There was plenty of amusement to be had from the faces accompanying the pant wetting anticipation that was GARETH. Young and old seemed to be caught up by this affliction, and I'll admit to forgetting myself that the lad is in fact of this earth while they were showing his introduction. The young man himself appeared - those who had been behaving themselves by remaining seated jumped up. Banners were aloft (until miserable security people told them to put them down). Teasing us by not wearing the white suit (yet) he gave the fingers to all the critics by hitting all the high and low notes with plenty of gusto to be heard through the screams. There's a bit in the song where it goes low just after the high bit, and I had wondered if that required to be pieced together in the editing room, but he proved more than capable of the vocal gymnastics for the task in hand. I've always had a soft spot for the lad, but he cleared away any lingering doubts that he was weak on the musical side of things. Even the miserable man next to me was entranced and told his girlfriend how impressed he was. Nikki fought her way on stage through the wall of sound and sort of chatted to Gareth without him having to say much more than "yeah, it's amazing". She annoyed the girls down the front by demonstrating she was able to put her arm around him, but moved away quickly out of fear for her safety.

At this point the neckless wonder appeared on screen to tell us that one of the great talking points of PI was the relationship between Gareth and Zoe - queue her reappearance for a duet. A piano came out of the floor for Gareth to play, and her to sit on from time to time. I can't remember the actual song - it wasn't one I was familiar with, it was very nice. The video screens had shots of Gareth looking very earnestly at Zoe while she was singing. I thought - oh, he's so earnest, but perhaps he really does fancy her, or perhaps he was concerned about her throat problems?

They disappeared and there was a minor lull in the noise as angst ridden fans realised he was gone, before they (we) realised Will would be on next. It seemed as if the great divide between Will and Gareth fans isn't that wide after all - at least not amongst those going to the PI tour. I thought the family behind me couldn't get any more excited than when they were phoning their friends going "It's Gareth!", but it seems I was wrong. "It's Will!" was exclaimed repeatedly to accompany grasping each other's hands for support. To do it right, you have to pronounce Will "WEEEEEEL". Anyone who had made the error of sitting down after Gareth was back on their feet to welcome THAT smile. Mr Pop Idol himself sang Light my Fire then Evergreen. Again he had a lot of competition from screams, but sang brilliantly fulfilling the Idol part of his new title very nicely. There were even flame things for Light My Fire that the girls behind me particularly enjoyed. Everyone sang along to Evergreen, and if he still doesn't like the song, he did an amazing job of hiding it. Even though I've never rated the song much, it was a really special moment getting to hear him sing it live. Especially as it was the existing number one, and only a few minutes earlier heard a live rendition of the song to replace it. I felt it was quite a moment in history and something to bore my grandchildren with should I convince someone I'm of fit enough mind to be a parent.

It was the end of the first half! Will told us we all had to go and buy posters of him ... if we want. He and the others were off for a milkshake … or something (funny face). He looked completely stunned and overwhelmed by the response, yet it suited him. That lad was born to perform.

:hello::hello::hello::hello:

[Kaz]

Bravo, Feefs. :hello: :dazzler: :hello:

As an extremely disappointed person who has been unable to get a ticket for one of the Pop Idol concerts, I was looking forward to hearing what they were like. And I wasn't disappointed by your entralling account of the first half of the concert - it was almost like I was sitting there beside you!

Thanks so much, and I'm looking forward with eager anticipation to the second half - once your poor fingers have recovered! :dance: :dazzler: :dance:

[Janette]

Kaz, you took the words right out of my mouth!

I have just sat here and dreamed I was there!

What a wonderful concert :dance:

[Mairi]

Thank you Feefs. That was fantastically described. As the others have said, I was right there with you throughout.

:dazzler::dance::dazzler::dance::dazzler:

[WILDCHILD2K1]

Thank you so much Feefs!:elephant::hello::elephant:
You have made me even more excited about the Pop Idol concert now!
I have just read onm Ananova that Zoe had to pull out last night, I hope she is better by the time I go! She (and Will) are the two I want to see the most!!
:spin2::dazzler::spin2:
THANKS!!!:thumbs:

[Romantic Old Bird]

Feefs, that was a wonderful description of events, I could actually see it all as I read it, thankyou.

I decided I couldn't face all the push and shove and frenzy of the concert, and didn't buy tickets. OH and I stood outside the ticket booth and ummmed and aaahed about it, but in the end we were 'sensible' in the worst middle-aged way, and decided it was bound to be on TV.

Very funny! Love your descriptions of the behaviour of your fellow concert go-ers. next time I am in public behaving like a saddo, I will bear in mind that there might just be and acute observer like you sitting next to me! You have a wonderful way with words Feefs. I await the next instalment with baited breath.

Thanks again!

:hello::hello::thumbs::hello::hello:

[Feefs]

I just want to say I've not forgotten about finishing this off, but I wrote it up and saved it to a floppy that I left "somewhere". I'm optomistic that I'll retrieve it from the likely location tomorrow.

In the meantime, feel slightly ill as you look at the candyfloss mountains for sale, the not that apetising, but expensive (£2 for a small pot) ice-creams and be grateful you went to the toilet earlier. Not only are the queues long, but you have to push your way through vast crowds of smokers. The Fire Safety people are getting stressed that the fire exits are blocked, and would anyone notice a fire anyway?

Go on, give in to the temptation. £10 is a lot for a program, but you know it's a special souvenir of this momentus ocassion that you can treasure forever, and it is shiney! Marvel!!! at the way the youngsters of today like to say "Thanx" with a frequency only beaten by the excessive use of exclamation marks! used willy nilly throughout said program!!! It really is that exciting! !!! They all have a brief handwritten message to the fans which may be of interest to a handwriting expert. (LEE - I would advise you not to have a red pen handy while you are reading Aaron's message. There are number of gramatical errors my English teacher friend found particularly annoying). However, do pay special attention to the bit where Will says he's scared of stairs, because he's bound to fall down them. [This information will come in handy later].

The tension begins to mount again. Every now and then they play the PI theme music, but be patient. Will and his young chums probably have the make-up artists in a tizz with their milk-shake enduced moustaches, so will be a wee while yet. Use the time to play the "who's on the screen now" game. I patented it, and the rules are quite simple. Turn your back to the screens, observe your fellow PI obsessives and according to the scale of the whimpering/disinterst, guess who it is. It is slightly harder than it sounds, because we've already seen our Idols, so things are a bit less frenzied, and the group is affeted by shortage of smokers and people with small bladders. You can also use the time to ponder why on earth anyone would choose to buy one of the sponge finger things. I'd be grateful if someone can come up with any explanation whatsoever. All I can think of is it is a pathetic substitute for candyfloss bought by the parents of children with diabetes.

:flower::love::flower:

[kaphc]

LOL:laugh::laugh: Feefs, it's a great description of the concert, even though I was at Wembley 2 nights before, it still sounds like a very similar show!

Now about these foam hands with pointy fingers ..... I have no idea why anyone bought those, but am even more bemused by the people who bought the headbands with the glow-in-the-dark red stars on them! (Please tell me you didn't buy them!!! <g>) The yellow glow-in-the-dark stix I can understand a bit more, they seemed to come in very handy for waving along to "Unchained Melody" and "Evergreen", but then hey, we all just used our hands.

What was Docklands like as a venue? I'm not a big fan of Wembley Arena unless you are sitting quite near the stage on either side or in the first block of seats at the front. We were in seats facing the stage, but near the back so it was almost like watching them on TV.

Looking forward to your second half description, and am also interested to hear whether some people went home during this - I know they did at Wembley, which I was incredibly amazed at !!





:conf::shocked:

[BigSister]

I also went to the pop idol concert last night.
The atmosphere was brilliant.There were montonge of each PI before they came on (but you already know that from feefs)!

It was nearly all the same as Feefs review but I just wanted to put a post up to say I had a brillant time and any one else on here who is going later on you wont be dissapointed.

I also got a programme and a T Shirt which are &pound;10 and &pound;15 .There were t shirts caps bears posters glow sticks(which came in nicely for Unchained Melody and Evergreen). Also there were badges and I got a gareth one and also theywere scarfs.

Im getting the big bang album defitonly because I really enjoyed 2nd half(have i given u a clue there) :colour::elephant:

[WILDCHILD2K1]

:colour::dazzler::colour::dazzler::colour::dazzler ::colour::dazzler:
I cant wait now!!! Thanks for all your reviews guyz!!!

Can I just ask a favour? What is the song/s called that Gareth and Zoe sing as a duet?:conf::spin2: