Post by Esther on Nov 19, 2010 16:06:10 GMT -5
So this review is extremely long and I don’t really assume anyone will read it. If you do, lots of kudos to you! (I’m seriously too lazy to read it myself to check if I made any mistakes or forgot anything 
)
November 12 MANCHESTER:
I was supposed to fly to Manchester at 10 AM and arrive around 10:30 (there’s an hour time difference), but my flight got delayed for 2 hours.. (first 50 minutes, then again 50 minutes and then when we were finally in the air they told us they had to circle around because we couldn’t land..) I ended up being in Manchester around 12/12:30. I had to take the bus to Whitworth park where the hotel was and where my friend Martin (I know him from high school. He’s studying in Manchester now to become an architect) would be waiting for me. It took me about an hour to get there, but I made it without much trouble. I checked into the hotel, had lunch at Subways with Martin and then we decided to go into the center of Manchester so I could see the city. He’d taken his bike with him from Holland and though it would be fun to give me a tour by bike. So we ended up riding through Manchester on his bike (I was on the back. For those who aren’t Dutch, like this: www.marketingtribune.nl/images/perstribune/cache/Campagne_NFF_2010-250x354.jpg but less graceful). That was really awesome, because people in Manchester aren’t used to that so they looked at us with faces like: what the FUCK are they doing? We went shopping for a little bit and then it was time to pick up Lotte at Piccadilly Station. She arrived around 5:15PM I guess. Martin went to his room on his bike and Lotte and I took a cab to the hotel. We had a conversation with the cab driver about our hotel (he was like: wtf. You’re staying there? How did you find that place..? don’t forget to check if the sheets are clean!) and then about why we were there (he thought I was from the USA. Actually a lot of people thought I was from the USA or Canada, which I thought was really awesome. Someone even asked me if I was from buffalo) and then about Goo. One of his friends was outside the venue trying to sell/buy (to sell) tickets and said he liked them, so the cab driver told us he’d check them out “because if his friend likes them, they’ve got to be good”
I think we arrived at the venue around 6:15, which was nice, because the doors would open around 7:30 and we had a meet and greet and needed to pick up our M&G passes. There was already a line (or queue as the British call it) forming and I saw Katie, but needed to figure out stuff for the M&G first and then I’d say hi (which I forgot to do.. realized that after the show). I met a woman who lives in Manchester who also had a M&G (this is her: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025312) and we tried to figure out together how to get our passes.. but there was no one in the box office so there really wasn’t much we could do. Then we also met a guy from Vienna who lived in London (I think) and was also going to the show in London (this is him: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025285). Around 7:30 they opened the doors and asked for the M&G people. We had to gather at the merch stand where someone picked us up and took us upstairs. They lined us up (there were about 14 of us) and I was starting to get a little nervous, but I was still very calm because none of it seemed real. I couldn’t imagine that the Goo’s were real (yeah I’d seen them before, but I was at the back of the balcony then, so I couldn’t see much anyway.. and it was 3 years ago) and that I was going to meet them.. Lotte got extreeeemely nervous, so I tried to calm her down a little, but I don’t think that worked (did it?) and then…. They walked in! My first thought was: OH MY GOD. THEY’RE REAL!!!!! They were smiling and looked really happy! The people in front of my each shook their hands, said hi, told them their names and took a picture.. but I’d brought cookies and Laura’s letter so I didn’t want it to go by that fast. I remembered Karen (Redhead1965) giving me the advice to keep my back to the camera and to take all the time I needed (thank you so much for that advice!), so that’s exactly what I did. The person in front of me left and Robby looked at me. I was in shock for a few seconds (OMG, THEY’RE LOOKING AT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!) and then Robby gave me a hand and asked me how I was (OMG, ROBBY JUST ASKED ME HOW I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I told him I was doing great (I mean, seriously. How can anyone not be great when you’re with them?) and asked him how he was. He said he was good too. Then I shook John and Mike’s hands and told them my name. I gave them Laura’s letter and told them that she wanted to be her but couldn’t because she lives in Germany and is only 15 years old and they thanked me for the letter. Then I said “and I brought you cookies from Holland, because they’re really good!”. John said “ohh, yesterday we also got chocolate letters from someone!”, so I immediately said “yeah, that’s a friend of mine! We’d made a deal that he’d give you chocolate letters and I’d give you cookies”. Then John proudly told me that he got a “big J” I gave the cookies to Robby and stood between John and Mike (at this point I was so very much in shock that I didn’t even think about where I should stand). Mike stayed a little to the right, but I didn’t notice that, because I was so in shock. We took the picture, but then the guy said that we should take another one because Mike was “in the dark” or something. I don’t really remember what Robby said then but I’m pretty sure he made a joke that Mike’d look like an alien (I laughed and smiled at him and at the same moment he smiled and looked at me. That was so freaking amazing!) I put my right hand on Mike’s back when he came closer and was still laughing because of Robby’s alien comment. I guess that’s why my picture turned out so fucking amazing (yeah, I’m bragging about this. But I mean, seriously, they’re all smiling! Even John! And even me!)
I think I thanked them afterwards and then walked to my bag and coat (at the end of the line). There was a girl standing there who seemed extremely nervous.. she was shaking but looked happy and smiled at me, so I started talking to her. For some reason one of the first things I said was that I’d come from Holland to see them and then she started speaking to me in Dutch and told me she’d done the same thing! That’s when I remembered Ronnie telling me that there was another Dutch girl who’d won a M&G in Manchester
(this is her: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025332) Then Lotte was done with her M&G as well and we walked down stairs. My heart was racing and we were both.. well, there’s not really a word to explain exactly how we felt. It was just so freaking amazing.
We walked into the venue and managed to get the 5th row, on the right, somewhere in front of Robby. Less than half an hour later Unkle Bob started playing and my friend Martin showed up too. He’d been excited about the show all he week he told me (even though he could only sing along to a few songs. He told me he’d listened to GHV1 a few time and really like that). Unkle Bob was pretty awesome but I was still in a Goo high from my meet and greet. Then my mom texted me that the picture turned out amazing and that it was the best one from the entire set, so I had to go check it out for myself. I downloaded the picture onto my phone (Lotte’s picture too) and made it my phone’s background. (it’s been like that all week. Just looking at it makes me so happy <3) After 40 minutes Unkle Bob left the stage (they took a few pictures of the crowd, like they do at every show and put them on facebook later. They also threw beach balls into the crowd and if you got one, you’d get a free cd). That’s when I realized that the guy from Vienna was standing next to Martin (or well, there was one person between them), so I told Martin about him and he asked me if I wanted to ask him if he wanted to stand with us. So Martin did that and for the rest of the evening we hung out with him He took a lot of video’s that night, they might be on youtube already, but I’ll check that out later.
Anyhoo, the Goo show:
The lights went off and the music went on.. Then at some point we heard drums (a recording though), but that soon turned in to Mike drumming and Korel and Brad coming on stage.. and then! ROBBY AND JOHN! I couldn’t stop smiling (the Josh Ritter effect, as I call it. Anyone who’s seen Josh live will understand what I mean) and sang along to every word. The most amazing thing was that around me people were singing along as well! A tall guy left of Lotte and me even sang along to NIH. It’s just the most amazing feeling when everyone in the crowd sings along to Goo.
Setlist:
1. Sweetest Lie
2. Big Machine
3. Slide
4. Dizzy
5. Here is Gone
6. Another Second Time Around
7. Smash
8. Can't Let It Go
9. Black Balloon
10. Home
11. Better Days
12. Stay with You
13. Now I Hear
14. Tucked Away
15. Name
16. Let Love In
17. As I Am
18. Iris
19. Encore:
19. Notbroken
20. Broadway
I had a few Robby moments during the show when he looked at the me and saw that I was smiling, so he smiled back at me. Or when he was singing his songs and saw that I was reaaaally enjoying that and singing along and then smiled at me again;
After the show the roadies started throwing setlists and guitar picks into the crowd. I almost caught a guitar pick, but it was a little too high for me. Other people tried to grab it as well, but it fell on the floor. Martin managed to grab it and then gave it to me! (so sweet!) A few minutes later I ran into that woman from the M&G again, we talked to her for a little bit about how the show was. She told me that she’d managed to get to the front where her friend was waiting for her (she’d gotten two drinks and told people that he was her husband and that she’d gotten them drinks, so she managed to get to the front row), then she left and a few minutes later so did the guy from Vienna. He wished me good luck with getting my ticket in London because I’d told him that Seetickets hadn’t sent it to me and I had to go pick it up at the box office first..
Outside I bought a sweater for 12 pounds and then Martin left and Lotte and I went to the tourbus. After about 20 minutes the Goo’s came outside exactly where we were waiting (there was a bunch of people waiting at the wrong exit #evillaugh) and we said hi. They went straight into the bus though.. But before John went into the bus, he gave me and another girl a hand and thanked us for coming <3 When we were making our way back from the tourbus we saw Korel and his girlfriend, so we waved at him and he waved back at us.
Then Lotte and I went back to the hotel and slept until 8 in the morning. That’s when we packed up our stuff, had breakfast and went to Londooooonnn.
November 13 LONDON:
We arrived in London (Euston station) around noon. We’d wanted to take the underground to Brixton but Ronnie texted me that the Victoria line was closed for the weekend, so we needed to take a bus. We decided to take a city bus, which took foreeeeeeeever to get there. I think we were in that bus for like an hour.. In the mean time Ronnie and Chantal were waiting for us in Brixton so we could go to the hostel together. When we finally found them sitting on a square in Brixton we walked to the hostel (it was down the street, about a 10 minute walk). There we were told that we’d be a in separate rooms. Lotte and I in a girls room and Ronnie and Chantal in a mixed room. We brought our stuff to our room and then left. (Ronnie and Chantal stayed there though) We had a late lunch around 3 at a Chinese place about 5 minutes away from the venue and went to the venue around 3:15/3:30PM. The doors would open around 7, but like I said, I needed to go the box office first to get my ticket.. There was a sign that said the box office would open around 17:30. We met some really nice people in line again. There was a woman who just really liked queuing up for hours for shows and she’d taken her boyfriend/husband/whatever with her. In 3 hours that we were with them they drank like 3 bottles of alcohol! Unbelievable Behind them was a couple from France (or well, I thought). The six of us talked for a few hours. Ronnie and Chantal probably showed up around 6PM, so I talked to them (In Dutch obviously) for a few minutes and then when they left the guy from France asked me in Dutch if I’d already gotten my ticket at the box office. For a minute I was like: ehh, what? Did he just speak Dutch to me?! Then I gave him my answer (which was unfortunately no, because I’d gotten to the box office and then the stupid woman told me that I couldn’t get my ticket until the doors opened.. when I said that I’d been in line for hours, so she said “but that’s the line for people with tickets and you don’t have a ticket.” And then she ignored me.. bitch.) and told him I hadn’t realized he was Dutch too. He told me that he’d moved to France to be with his girlfriend/wife (not sure about their situation either ), but was born in Lisse. We discussed Goo songs and albums for a little while and around 6:30 I left because I needed to be a in a separate line for the box office or something.. I ended up being the first one to get there so I even got in before Lotte! We got to the second row (again in front of Robby) and the couple from France&Holland was standing next to me, so I talked to them for a while before Unkle Bob started playing Had a moment with the bass player, when she saw that I was singing along to some of the lyrics and smiled at me. They were great again.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I’d brought my ‘Amsterdam 1999, Amsterdam 2011?’ sign (and my flag, but I didn’t use it because it’s so big). But I’ll get to that later.
Right before the Goo’s came on stage one of the roadies (I forgot who’s who) showed us the setlist and I thought I read AEOM, but I thought ‘nehh, that can’t be true, because they haven’t played it during the UK tour..’, but I texted Ronnie to let him know that I thought I saw it on there but that it might have also been AIA or Acoustic #3.
A little later the lights went off and the music started playing again and it was pretty much the same thing as in London (just as amazing though!). They all looked very happy In front of the rail a woman was videotaping the entire show (the Dizzy video was today’s IM exclusive) and during Dizzy, as you’ve probably seen, John got the camera and pointed it at the crowd. After Black Balloon I decided it was time to show them my sign. While I was trying to get it up, John had already noticed it and asked for it. I tried to give it to him, but I couldn’t reach that far, so the security guy helped me (or us.. which sounds awesome). He looked at the sign and said something like “YEAH we’ll come to Amsterdam!” and then threw the sign somewhere to the right (still on stage). There’s a video of that in the YT section, I think Ronnie posted it. I was obviously going: WOOOOOOOOOOOOH! But I didn’t believe him, I still don’t. Because well… we all know John Then he also saw a sign from Italy and said something about that too. And a few songs later, right before Name, he thanked the “people from Holland and Italy” for coming and while he said Holland he pointed at me! That was really awesome. During the show I had a few Robby moments again when he saw that I was singing along. It’s so amazing when he’s singing and he looks at you and then gets all happy because he sees that you’re enjoying his songs and singing along to them. What can I say.. I just love that dude so much.
Also, I found out I have a weird minor Korel obsession Don’t know what that’s about, but it made Lotte and me laugh quite a lot.
After the show Lotte and I were waiting outside and I ran into Katie. Talked to her for a little while and then Ronnie and Chantal showed up. As we were walking to the back of the venue (where the tourbus was) I realized I forgot to say goodbye to Katie, but she’d realized that too and was running towards us to say goodbye. When we were waiting next to the tourbus Heather walked up to us and introduced herself. So we talked to her for a little while as well. She told me she got John and my sign on video! We’d been sitting there for maybe half an hour and then we gave up.. Most people had already left and it didn’t look like Goo would come out.
The next day Ronnie and Chantal left (we’d said goodbye the night before) and I slept until 10AM and Lotte until noon. We then went to Chinatown for breakfast/lunch and went shopping at Piccadilly circus. We saw Buckingham palace by night and got back to the hostel around 7. The rest of the night we just sat on our beds, ate cookies and chocolate and I read the book I’d bought while we were shopping.
On Monday we left the hostel around 10 and made our way to Bristol. We got lost there for a little bit.. we walked in a circle and then asked someone where we were and found out the hostel was in the middle of the circle We had lunch in the hostels bar (the reception hadn’t opened yet) and around 4 we checked in. We had a twin room with our own bathroom, which was really nice, especially after sharing a room with 6 other girls in London. The hostel used finger prints to open doors, which was freaking awesome. I had to scan my finger to open the door, but it was too high tech for Lotte’s finger because whenever she tried it, it didn’t work We went shopping at Primark en searched for stuff to make a sign for Lotte. At night we hung out at the hostels pub, where there were live bands playing.
November 16 BRISTOL:
We bought the stuff to make signs and that’s how we spent the beginning of the day (I made my ‘Mike u rock’ sign and Lotte her ‘Can you give us a ride to Leicester?’ sign, which we didn’t use that night). We arrived at the venue around 2PM and there was one woman sitting there. We talked to her and she told us that her daughters are huge fans and had been at the Manchester show as well (they’re the two girls next to Lotte: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471347457912&set=t.825609592) but they couldn’t be there on time to be the first ones in line (they’d been outside in Manchester since 11 AM) so their mom offered to sit there until they were there too. After an hour and a half or something the first daughter (the one on the left, Robin) showed up and her mother left. We talked to her for a while and heard the Goo’s sound checking through the stage door (they played Iris, but we coulnd’t hear John sing). Then Unkle Bob arrived and started unloading their stuff. It’s funny how they were all smashed into a little truck. Seriously, no one else could fit in there When I took a picture of them, one of them smiled at me. Not much later two women (a mother and a daughter) showed up, and I recognized them from the London show. They’d been waiting out there for a really long time too. One of them left and the other one recognized me too so I talked to her and Robin (and a blonde woman who’d won a meet and greet) for the rest of the time we were out there. We had lots of fun In this picture (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=479469954592&set=a.479415349592.253373.825609592) the two girls on the left (well actually one’s eye and the other one’s hand) are Robin and her sister, then there’s the blonde woman who’d won the meet and greet and next to her are those two women from the London show.
I used my flag at this show. I’d put it on the rail. In fact you can see it on that picture that Unkle Bob took. Don’t know if the Goo’s noticed it though and I didn’t feel like holding it up in their faces, since John had already seen my Amsterdam sign in London. Unkle Bob was great again, by now Lotte and I could sing along to at least some sentences of all of their songs (and we knew exactly what the singer would say before each song. Same with the Goo’s). Around 9:15, like every night, the lights went off and the music started playing. The stage was so small though, that we could see all of them walk on stage Mike was sitting right in front of me taking care of some of his drum stuff (I have no idea what he was doing, but I thought it was funny that he was just sitting there) and I saw Robby hiding behind some stuff on the right. I was so focused on Robby and Korel that I hadn’t even noticed that John was already on stage The setlist was the same as in Manchester. I had loooots of Robby moments and a Korel moment. I was still smiling the entire show and Korel saw that I was smiling at him, while he was singing, and he raised both of his eyebrows to sort of wave at me or something Robby still looked very happy that we were singing along to his songs. John looked happy too, but I got the feeling (from all of them though. Robby looked kind of tired as well) that they weren’t 100% happy and feeling well. The show was good, but it was not as awesome as the other two. I figured that might have had something to do with the venue being so small (only 1600 people). After the show I managed to catch a guitar pick (from Korel, yay!) and a setlist!
We waited outside near the tourbus again, but the security guy told us they’d left right after the show. I ran into the blonde woman and talked to her for a little while. Asked her how her M&G was (she said it was the same as always, just shake their hands and take a picture. Apparently I’m one of the few ones who talks to them ;D) and then I ate a hot dog because I was so freaking hungry. While Lotte and I were in line to buy water as well a guy asked us if we wanted free posters, but I told him no. So he asked if we’d been at the show, and when I explained that I was from Amsterdam and couldn’t fit the poster in my bag he said kudos for coming all the way from Amsterdam to see them ;D (most people I met thought it was really awesome that I’d/we’d come all this way to see them and others, who weren’t real fans but just came along with their family/friends, looked at us like we were crazy)
November 17 LEICESTER:
We had to take three different trains to even get to Leicester and it took us forever but we made it. We arrived around 2 PM and made it to our hotel without any trouble. It was in the same street as the train station and at the corner of the street of the venue, so it was all pretty much perfect. It was a cute white hotel, which to me looked kind of American for some reason. We hung out at the hotel for a while, I went to the supermarket to get some food for in the plane the next day and talked to my boyfriend on the phone for like half an hour. Around 4 we decided to go the venue. It was about a 10, maybe 15 minute walk. There were 5 girls out there, a couple and an older couple. There was no line yet though (apart from those 5 girls). The guy from the couple saw that I was holding a paper in my hand (one for the meet and greet and one because Lotte and I had to collect our tickets at the box office again because seetickets didn’t want to send them to us) and he asked us if we knew anything about the meet and greet. We ended up talking to him (his girlfriend didn’t speak English.. or at least, not very well) for a long time. He said they were from Italy but he’d studied in Leicester for a while so that’s why they were there. We then found out that one of the 5 girls had won a meet and greet too. Lotte and I walked around the venue (which was all university buildings), because we’d only seen one tourbus and it wasn’t the one where the band was in. We find it, so we walked back to the doors. When we arrived there the tourbus was there and they were trying to get to the place where we’d just been. I saw Mike sitting in the front somewhere (in his green shirt. I took a very blurry picture of him lol). We hung out with the Italian couple and older couple for the rest of the time we were there. When they divided the lines into a ticket holders line and a payers line (we didn’t know where to stand, so we were like in the middle of both), Lotte and I started singing Unkle Bob songs and then changed to Dizzy and some Robby songs. (we joked that now everyone could leave because we’d already sang the songs, so they didn’t need to see the Goo’s anymore) About 15 minutes after the doors were supposed to be open a security guy walked up to us and asked who’d won a meet and greet. We went inside when everyone else did and had to pick up our tickets and meet and greet passes at the box office. The four of us (Lotte, the Italian guy and one of those 5 girls and I) did this together and then made our way to the merch stand again. There another security guy was waiting for us and told us there were supposed to be 14 people at the M&G, but there were only like 6 or 7 people waiting. I think we waited there for another 15 minutes and then the security guy (Lotte thought he was very handsome and couldn’t stop saying that ) took us backstage, where we were lined up. It was: The Italian guy, me, Lotte and the other girl. I’d repeatedly told myself that I needed to hug all of them because I forgot to do that at the other M&G and that I wanted my picture with Robby. Lotte told me that I had to tell the Goo’s that she wanted a hug as well because I think she was too scared to ask for it herself We waited there for another 15 minutes. In the mean time Korel (;D) walked by, we said hi and he waved at us again. Also, Unkle Bob showed up, because they were trying to get to the stage. So we saw them go on stage (when they arrived Lotte and I started singing one of their songs again, they smiled and said we should sing along during the show as well). And then… Goo! When they walked in, the girl behind Lotte was in total shock. That was really cute because I totally understood how she felt. The Italian guy was extremely happy and took his picture with them. Unfortunately the picture turned out blurry, but he looks very happy: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4908307. Then it was my turn again. I put my stuff left of Mike and then walked to Robby. He wanted to give me a hand again but I said “can I have a hug?”, so he said “sure!” and hugged me!! It felt like heaven. He was so warm and small and just amazing. Then I hugged John, which was also very amazing. And then Mike, who looked a bit like ‘ehh, what’s happening?’, but still hugged me Then I said something like “my mom says hi. And my friend Judith says hi too and she wants to make sure that I told you to come to Amsterdam” and then Robby said “Amsterdaaaammmm”. Then I walked to Robby and asked for a hugging picture (or something like that). He said to take a stand next to him and John but I was so focused on Robby that I sort of forgot John and Mike were there I was thinking about what to do and then the guy took the picture and I realized I forgot to hold John as well. But I still really like my picture. Robby looks happy and Mike’s actually smiling too! Anyway, here it is in case you haven’t seen it yet:
Then I walked away and saw Lotte look at me with a funny face, so I turned around and said “oh yeah, she *points at Lotte* wants a hug too!”. When I walked away I heard John say something like “you’re from Iceland right? No wait Finland?”
But I guess Lotte should tell you that story because I wasn’t there to witness it.
When we were in the room where the show was Unkle Bob had obviously already started playing and we ran into the girl from the M&G (ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4908307#imageID=115398151) , she was supposed to go the front row with the Italian guy because his girlfriend and her friends were over there but she didn’t know if she could go there by herself. So the three of us stood at like the tenth row during Unkle Bob’s performance and afterwards we tried to make our way to the front. The girl managed to get to her friends and Lotte and I eventually ended up at the third row somewhere in front of Robby again.
Now, the Goo show: It was our last show, so we were a bit sad. And I was expecting it to be more like the one in Bristol, but I was wrong. Very, very wrong. It was sooooo freaking fantastic! All the people around me were singing along and there was a bunch of guys jumping too (I’d been jumping a little at all shows, but no one jumped with me, so I always stopped. But these guys… awesome!!), somewhere next to me on the left. The moment the Goo’s were on stage, the crowd went wild! Or at least everyone near the front. It was amazing! The setlist was again the same as in Manchester. I knew that after Slide (before Dizzy) John always takes a moment to say hi to the crowd and stuff, so I held up my ‘Mike u rock’ sign, hoping that maybe John would see it and pass it along to Mike (I didn’t think he’d see it). As I was desperately looking at Mike, all of the sudden he looked at my sign, smiled and nodded at me, smiling. I was all like: OMG, HE SAW MY SIGN! HE JUST NODDED AND SMILED AT ME! I thought maybe it was all in my head, so I said something about it to Lotte and she was like: yeah, omg!!! I saw it, so awesome!! And then after the show I said it to the girl from the M&G and she said basically the same thing as Lotte. After Robby had played Tucked Away Lotte held up her ‘More Robby songs ps. Love from Finland’ sign and John got it, said something like “yeah, you’re from Finland.” And then “Robby, they want to hear more of your songs!”, then some people in the crowd (including us) went ‘WOOOOOOOOOOH!’ and Robby smiled. He took the sign and gave it to one of the roadies. I think he might have saved it And during one of John’s songs he looked and smiled at Lotte! The show was simply amazing. Truly fantastic. John even said that it was one of the best shows of the tour. Oh yeah, there was a guy from Buffalo at the show! So John joked and said something like: “you’re from buffalo? Usually the guy from buffalo is lying on the floor at the back of the venue, completely wasted”, which was very funny. Lotte managed to get a guitar pick (a green one, from Korel) as well.
After the show Lotte and I bought some merch stuff. We were the last ones there, so the merch guy took some time to talk to us. He asked me if I wanted a key ring, so I said I already had one, and he asked me if I’d travelled far (I guess I really do sound American? But only for British people). When I told him I was from Amsterdam and Lotte from Finland we talked about Holland and Finland for a while. We said bye and went outside. Some people were waiting at the wrong tourbus, but luckily Lotte and I already knew where to go to have the best view of the right tourbus. So we walked around the venue again and ended up a bit higher than the tourbus (but with a great view) and watched the roadies load in all the stuff. When they were done and we weren’t paying much attention to the bus anymore, I all of the sudden noticed that Brad and Korel were standing in front of the door of the tourbus. So I said (remember I have a little Korel obsession) “Korel, hey! ” and then he looked extremely happy and smiled and waved at us. We sort of forgot to say hi to Brad (we’d been joking about John+Brad all night and that we didn’t want that to happen. Only John +Robby) Then three more people showed up. They’d actually been standing a little to the left of us. I’m pretty sure one of them was one of the jumping guys, so I thought that was cool. A little while later Brad came out of the tourbus again so we figured we’d have another change to say hi. So I said “brad!” and he turned around. We said hi and he smiled and asked us how we were. Lotte and I were a little unable to say anything so I held my thumb up and didn’t say anything. The jumping guy managed to tell Brad that he’s an awesome guitar player though, which Brad seemed to be happy about. About ten minutes later all of the sudden I saw Robby in the tourbus. He looked outside and then ran to the back again (it looked kind of funny ). We hadn’t even realized he was in there. Another five minutes later Brad showed up again (we’d been joking that he was making out with John somewhere ), but I was so focused on him (I think I waved at him) that I didn’t even notice John was with him. (that made Lotte and me laugh a lot afterwards) We said hey to John and he even took like a minute to sort of talk to us. The jumping guy asked for a picture, but John said no (he did it nicely though. You know how he is 
and Lotte and I thanked him and Brad for the four fantastic shows and John looked at me (OMG) while we talked to him. And then I pointed at him and said “and I’ll see you in Amsterdam!” – seriously, I’m afraid I stalked him so much about Amsterdam that he never wants to come here . They went inside the bus and then they took off.. We waved them goodbye, which they probably didn’t see. But I did notice they had a big tv screen at the back in the bus (I figured that’s where Robby was hanging out)
Lotte and I walked back to the hotel, both really sad because this meant the end of our Goo trip. We slept for about 6 hours (we had to wake up at 7), then woke up all sad again.. We had an English breakfast, packed our stuff and went to the train station. It took about 2,5 hours to get there, but we finally made our way to Gatwick airport. I had to be in the north terminal and Lotte in the south terminal so we had to say goodbye once we got there.. Lotte nearly cried and I almost did too.. When I was sitting in the plane listening to Goo I almost started crying again, so I decided to put my iPod on random. Of course it chose two Goo songs to play anyway. But I managed to not cry.. I just wanted to either be home or be with Goo and Lotte again.
When I arrived in Amsterdam my boyfriend was waiting for me with a rose (so sweet <3) and my dad with a ‘welcome back’ balloon, as if I’d been gone for a month, but I really do appreciate it. I thought it was very sweet
This whole things seems so surreal.. It’s much more real than my first Goo show three years ago, but it’s like it always is after you’ve been away on a holiday. Once you’re home again it’s like you never left at all.. luckily I still have a lot of pictures and there’s a looot of youtube video’s I still have to check out.
Here are my pictures:
Part 1 (Manchester, London and like 2 pictures of Bristol): www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253373&id=825609592&l=ceb1d2973f
Part 2 (Bristol and Leicester): www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253407&id=825609592&l=fc23e0c929
ps. I cried during Black Balloon in London
)November 12 MANCHESTER:
I was supposed to fly to Manchester at 10 AM and arrive around 10:30 (there’s an hour time difference), but my flight got delayed for 2 hours.. (first 50 minutes, then again 50 minutes and then when we were finally in the air they told us they had to circle around because we couldn’t land..) I ended up being in Manchester around 12/12:30. I had to take the bus to Whitworth park where the hotel was and where my friend Martin (I know him from high school. He’s studying in Manchester now to become an architect) would be waiting for me. It took me about an hour to get there, but I made it without much trouble. I checked into the hotel, had lunch at Subways with Martin and then we decided to go into the center of Manchester so I could see the city. He’d taken his bike with him from Holland and though it would be fun to give me a tour by bike. So we ended up riding through Manchester on his bike (I was on the back. For those who aren’t Dutch, like this: www.marketingtribune.nl/images/perstribune/cache/Campagne_NFF_2010-250x354.jpg but less graceful
). That was really awesome, because people in Manchester aren’t used to that so they looked at us with faces like: what the FUCK are they doing? We went shopping for a little bit and then it was time to pick up Lotte at Piccadilly Station. She arrived around 5:15PM I guess. Martin went to his room on his bike and Lotte and I took a cab to the hotel. We had a conversation with the cab driver about our hotel (he was like: wtf. You’re staying there? How did you find that place..? don’t forget to check if the sheets are clean!) and then about why we were there (he thought I was from the USA. Actually a lot of people thought I was from the USA or Canada, which I thought was really awesome. Someone even asked me if I was from buffalo) and then about Goo. One of his friends was outside the venue trying to sell/buy (to sell) tickets and said he liked them, so the cab driver told us he’d check them out “because if his friend likes them, they’ve got to be good” I think we arrived at the venue around 6:15, which was nice, because the doors would open around 7:30 and we had a meet and greet and needed to pick up our M&G passes. There was already a line (or queue as the British call it
) forming and I saw Katie, but needed to figure out stuff for the M&G first and then I’d say hi (which I forgot to do.. realized that after the show). I met a woman who lives in Manchester who also had a M&G (this is her: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025312) and we tried to figure out together how to get our passes.. but there was no one in the box office so there really wasn’t much we could do. Then we also met a guy from Vienna who lived in London (I think) and was also going to the show in London (this is him: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025285). Around 7:30 they opened the doors and asked for the M&G people. We had to gather at the merch stand where someone picked us up and took us upstairs. They lined us up (there were about 14 of us) and I was starting to get a little nervous, but I was still very calm because none of it seemed real. I couldn’t imagine that the Goo’s were real (yeah I’d seen them before, but I was at the back of the balcony then, so I couldn’t see much anyway.. and it was 3 years ago) and that I was going to meet them.. Lotte got extreeeemely nervous, so I tried to calm her down a little, but I don’t think that worked (did it?) and then…. They walked in! My first thought was: OH MY GOD. THEY’RE REAL!!!!! They were smiling and looked really happy! The people in front of my each shook their hands, said hi, told them their names and took a picture.. but I’d brought cookies and Laura’s letter so I didn’t want it to go by that fast. I remembered Karen (Redhead1965) giving me the advice to keep my back to the camera and to take all the time I needed (thank you so much for that advice!), so that’s exactly what I did. The person in front of me left and Robby looked at me. I was in shock for a few seconds (OMG, THEY’RE LOOKING AT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!) and then Robby gave me a hand and asked me how I was (OMG, ROBBY JUST ASKED ME HOW I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I told him I was doing great (I mean, seriously. How can anyone not be great when you’re with them?) and asked him how he was. He said he was good too. Then I shook John and Mike’s hands and told them my name. I gave them Laura’s letter and told them that she wanted to be her but couldn’t because she lives in Germany and is only 15 years old and they thanked me for the letter. Then I said “and I brought you cookies from Holland, because they’re really good!”. John said “ohh, yesterday we also got chocolate letters from someone!”, so I immediately said “yeah, that’s a friend of mine! We’d made a deal that he’d give you chocolate letters and I’d give you cookies”. Then John proudly told me that he got a “big J” I gave the cookies to Robby and stood between John and Mike (at this point I was so very much in shock that I didn’t even think about where I should stand). Mike stayed a little to the right, but I didn’t notice that, because I was so in shock. We took the picture, but then the guy said that we should take another one because Mike was “in the dark” or something. I don’t really remember what Robby said then but I’m pretty sure he made a joke that Mike’d look like an alien (I laughed and smiled at him and at the same moment he smiled and looked at me. That was so freaking amazing!) I put my right hand on Mike’s back when he came closer and was still laughing because of Robby’s alien comment. I guess that’s why my picture turned out so fucking amazing (yeah, I’m bragging about this. But I mean, seriously, they’re all smiling! Even John! And even me!)I think I thanked them afterwards and then walked to my bag and coat (at the end of the line). There was a girl standing there who seemed extremely nervous.. she was shaking but looked happy and smiled at me, so I started talking to her. For some reason one of the first things I said was that I’d come from Holland to see them and then she started speaking to me in Dutch and told me she’d done the same thing! That’s when I remembered Ronnie telling me that there was another Dutch girl who’d won a M&G in Manchester
(this is her: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4902239#imageID=115025332) Then Lotte was done with her M&G as well and we walked down stairs. My heart was racing and we were both.. well, there’s not really a word to explain exactly how we felt. It was just so freaking amazing.We walked into the venue and managed to get the 5th row, on the right, somewhere in front of Robby. Less than half an hour later Unkle Bob started playing and my friend Martin showed up too. He’d been excited about the show all he week he told me (even though he could only sing along to a few songs. He told me he’d listened to GHV1 a few time and really like that). Unkle Bob was pretty awesome but I was still in a Goo high from my meet and greet. Then my mom texted me that the picture turned out amazing and that it was the best one from the entire set, so I had to go check it out for myself. I downloaded the picture onto my phone (Lotte’s picture too) and made it my phone’s background. (it’s been like that all week. Just looking at it makes me so happy <3) After 40 minutes Unkle Bob left the stage (they took a few pictures of the crowd, like they do at every show and put them on facebook later. They also threw beach balls into the crowd and if you got one, you’d get a free cd). That’s when I realized that the guy from Vienna was standing next to Martin (or well, there was one person between them), so I told Martin about him and he asked me if I wanted to ask him if he wanted to stand with us. So Martin did that and for the rest of the evening we hung out with him
He took a lot of video’s that night, they might be on youtube already, but I’ll check that out later.Anyhoo, the Goo show:
The lights went off and the music went on.. Then at some point we heard drums (a recording though), but that soon turned in to Mike drumming and Korel and Brad coming on stage.. and then! ROBBY AND JOHN! I couldn’t stop smiling (the Josh Ritter effect, as I call it. Anyone who’s seen Josh live will understand what I mean
) and sang along to every word. The most amazing thing was that around me people were singing along as well! A tall guy left of Lotte and me even sang along to NIH. It’s just the most amazing feeling when everyone in the crowd sings along to Goo. Setlist:
1. Sweetest Lie
2. Big Machine
3. Slide
4. Dizzy
5. Here is Gone
6. Another Second Time Around
7. Smash
8. Can't Let It Go
9. Black Balloon
10. Home
11. Better Days
12. Stay with You
13. Now I Hear
14. Tucked Away
15. Name
16. Let Love In
17. As I Am
18. Iris
19. Encore:
19. Notbroken
20. Broadway
I had a few Robby moments during the show when he looked at the me and saw that I was smiling, so he smiled back at me. Or when he was singing his songs and saw that I was reaaaally enjoying that and singing along and then smiled at me again
;After the show the roadies started throwing setlists and guitar picks into the crowd. I almost caught a guitar pick, but it was a little too high for me. Other people tried to grab it as well, but it fell on the floor. Martin managed to grab it and then gave it to me! (so sweet!) A few minutes later I ran into that woman from the M&G again, we talked to her for a little bit about how the show was. She told me that she’d managed to get to the front where her friend was waiting for her (she’d gotten two drinks and told people that he was her husband and that she’d gotten them drinks, so she managed to get to the front row
), then she left and a few minutes later so did the guy from Vienna. He wished me good luck with getting my ticket in London because I’d told him that Seetickets hadn’t sent it to me and I had to go pick it up at the box office first..Outside I bought a sweater for 12 pounds and then Martin left and Lotte and I went to the tourbus. After about 20 minutes the Goo’s came outside exactly where we were waiting (there was a bunch of people waiting at the wrong exit #evillaugh
) and we said hi. They went straight into the bus though.. But before John went into the bus, he gave me and another girl a hand and thanked us for coming <3 When we were making our way back from the tourbus we saw Korel and his girlfriend, so we waved at him and he waved back at us.Then Lotte and I went back to the hotel and slept until 8 in the morning. That’s when we packed up our stuff, had breakfast and went to Londooooonnn.
November 13 LONDON:
We arrived in London (Euston station) around noon. We’d wanted to take the underground to Brixton but Ronnie texted me that the Victoria line was closed for the weekend, so we needed to take a bus. We decided to take a city bus, which took foreeeeeeeever to get there. I think we were in that bus for like an hour.. In the mean time Ronnie and Chantal were waiting for us in Brixton so we could go to the hostel together. When we finally found them sitting on a square in Brixton we walked to the hostel (it was down the street, about a 10 minute walk). There we were told that we’d be a in separate rooms. Lotte and I in a girls room and Ronnie and Chantal in a mixed room. We brought our stuff to our room and then left. (Ronnie and Chantal stayed there though) We had a late lunch around 3 at a Chinese place about 5 minutes away from the venue and went to the venue around 3:15/3:30PM. The doors would open around 7, but like I said, I needed to go the box office first to get my ticket.. There was a sign that said the box office would open around 17:30. We met some really nice people in line again. There was a woman who just really liked queuing up for hours for shows and she’d taken her boyfriend/husband/whatever with her. In 3 hours that we were with them they drank like 3 bottles of alcohol! Unbelievable
Behind them was a couple from France (or well, I thought). The six of us talked for a few hours. Ronnie and Chantal probably showed up around 6PM, so I talked to them (In Dutch obviously) for a few minutes and then when they left the guy from France asked me in Dutch if I’d already gotten my ticket at the box office. For a minute I was like: ehh, what? Did he just speak Dutch to me?! Then I gave him my answer (which was unfortunately no, because I’d gotten to the box office and then the stupid woman told me that I couldn’t get my ticket until the doors opened.. when I said that I’d been in line for hours, so she said “but that’s the line for people with tickets and you don’t have a ticket.” And then she ignored me.. bitch.) and told him I hadn’t realized he was Dutch too. He told me that he’d moved to France to be with his girlfriend/wife (not sure about their situation either ), but was born in Lisse. We discussed Goo songs and albums for a little while and around 6:30 I left because I needed to be a in a separate line for the box office or something.. I ended up being the first one to get there so I even got in before Lotte! We got to the second row (again in front of Robby) and the couple from France&Holland was standing next to me, so I talked to them for a while before Unkle Bob started playing Had a moment with the bass player, when she saw that I was singing along to some of the lyrics and smiled at me. They were great again.Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I’d brought my ‘Amsterdam 1999, Amsterdam 2011?’ sign (and my flag, but I didn’t use it because it’s so big). But I’ll get to that later.
Right before the Goo’s came on stage one of the roadies (I forgot who’s who) showed us the setlist and I thought I read AEOM, but I thought ‘nehh, that can’t be true, because they haven’t played it during the UK tour..’, but I texted Ronnie to let him know that I thought I saw it on there but that it might have also been AIA or Acoustic #3.
A little later the lights went off and the music started playing again and it was pretty much the same thing as in London (just as amazing though!). They all looked very happy
In front of the rail a woman was videotaping the entire show (the Dizzy video was today’s IM exclusive) and during Dizzy, as you’ve probably seen, John got the camera and pointed it at the crowd. After Black Balloon I decided it was time to show them my sign. While I was trying to get it up, John had already noticed it and asked for it. I tried to give it to him, but I couldn’t reach that far, so the security guy helped me (or us.. which sounds awesome). He looked at the sign and said something like “YEAH we’ll come to Amsterdam!” and then threw the sign somewhere to the right (still on stage). There’s a video of that in the YT section, I think Ronnie posted it. I was obviously going: WOOOOOOOOOOOOH! But I didn’t believe him, I still don’t. Because well… we all know John Then he also saw a sign from Italy and said something about that too. And a few songs later, right before Name, he thanked the “people from Holland and Italy” for coming and while he said Holland he pointed at me! That was really awesome. During the show I had a few Robby moments again when he saw that I was singing along. It’s so amazing when he’s singing and he looks at you and then gets all happy because he sees that you’re enjoying his songs and singing along to them. What can I say.. I just love that dude so much.Also, I found out I have a weird minor Korel obsession
Don’t know what that’s about, but it made Lotte and me laugh quite a lot.After the show Lotte and I were waiting outside and I ran into Katie. Talked to her for a little while and then Ronnie and Chantal showed up. As we were walking to the back of the venue (where the tourbus was) I realized I forgot to say goodbye to Katie, but she’d realized that too and was running towards us to say goodbye. When we were waiting next to the tourbus Heather walked up to us and introduced herself. So we talked to her for a little while as well. She told me she got John and my sign on video!
We’d been sitting there for maybe half an hour and then we gave up.. Most people had already left and it didn’t look like Goo would come out.The next day Ronnie and Chantal left (we’d said goodbye the night before) and I slept until 10AM and Lotte until noon. We then went to Chinatown for breakfast/lunch and went shopping at Piccadilly circus. We saw Buckingham palace by night and got back to the hostel around 7. The rest of the night we just sat on our beds, ate cookies and chocolate and I read the book I’d bought while we were shopping.
On Monday we left the hostel around 10 and made our way to Bristol. We got lost there for a little bit.. we walked in a circle and then asked someone where we were and found out the hostel was in the middle of the circle
We had lunch in the hostels bar (the reception hadn’t opened yet) and around 4 we checked in. We had a twin room with our own bathroom, which was really nice, especially after sharing a room with 6 other girls in London. The hostel used finger prints to open doors, which was freaking awesome. I had to scan my finger to open the door, but it was too high tech for Lotte’s finger because whenever she tried it, it didn’t work We went shopping at Primark en searched for stuff to make a sign for Lotte. At night we hung out at the hostels pub, where there were live bands playing.November 16 BRISTOL:
We bought the stuff to make signs and that’s how we spent the beginning of the day (I made my ‘Mike u rock’ sign and Lotte her ‘Can you give us a ride to Leicester?’ sign, which we didn’t use that night). We arrived at the venue around 2PM and there was one woman sitting there. We talked to her and she told us that her daughters are huge fans and had been at the Manchester show as well (they’re the two girls next to Lotte: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471347457912&set=t.825609592) but they couldn’t be there on time to be the first ones in line (they’d been outside in Manchester since 11 AM) so their mom offered to sit there until they were there too. After an hour and a half or something the first daughter (the one on the left, Robin) showed up and her mother left. We talked to her for a while and heard the Goo’s sound checking through the stage door (they played Iris, but we coulnd’t hear John sing). Then Unkle Bob arrived and started unloading their stuff. It’s funny how they were all smashed into a little truck. Seriously, no one else could fit in there
When I took a picture of them, one of them smiled at me. Not much later two women (a mother and a daughter) showed up, and I recognized them from the London show. They’d been waiting out there for a really long time too. One of them left and the other one recognized me too so I talked to her and Robin (and a blonde woman who’d won a meet and greet) for the rest of the time we were out there. We had lots of fun In this picture (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=479469954592&set=a.479415349592.253373.825609592) the two girls on the left (well actually one’s eye and the other one’s hand) are Robin and her sister, then there’s the blonde woman who’d won the meet and greet and next to her are those two women from the London show.I used my flag at this show. I’d put it on the rail. In fact you can see it on that picture that Unkle Bob took. Don’t know if the Goo’s noticed it though and I didn’t feel like holding it up in their faces, since John had already seen my Amsterdam sign in London. Unkle Bob was great again, by now Lotte and I could sing along to at least some sentences of all of their songs (and we knew exactly what the singer would say before each song. Same with the Goo’s). Around 9:15, like every night, the lights went off and the music started playing. The stage was so small though, that we could see all of them walk on stage
Mike was sitting right in front of me taking care of some of his drum stuff (I have no idea what he was doing, but I thought it was funny that he was just sitting there) and I saw Robby hiding behind some stuff on the right. I was so focused on Robby and Korel that I hadn’t even noticed that John was already on stage The setlist was the same as in Manchester. I had loooots of Robby moments and a Korel moment. I was still smiling the entire show and Korel saw that I was smiling at him, while he was singing, and he raised both of his eyebrows to sort of wave at me or something Robby still looked very happy that we were singing along to his songs. John looked happy too, but I got the feeling (from all of them though. Robby looked kind of tired as well) that they weren’t 100% happy and feeling well. The show was good, but it was not as awesome as the other two. I figured that might have had something to do with the venue being so small (only 1600 people). After the show I managed to catch a guitar pick (from Korel, yay!) and a setlist! We waited outside near the tourbus again, but the security guy told us they’d left right after the show. I ran into the blonde woman and talked to her for a little while. Asked her how her M&G was (she said it was the same as always, just shake their hands and take a picture. Apparently I’m one of the few ones who talks to them ;D) and then I ate a hot dog because I was so freaking hungry. While Lotte and I were in line to buy water as well a guy asked us if we wanted free posters, but I told him no. So he asked if we’d been at the show, and when I explained that I was from Amsterdam and couldn’t fit the poster in my bag he said kudos for coming all the way from Amsterdam to see them ;D (most people I met thought it was really awesome that I’d/we’d come all this way to see them and others, who weren’t real fans but just came along with their family/friends, looked at us like we were crazy
)November 17 LEICESTER:
We had to take three different trains to even get to Leicester and it took us forever but we made it. We arrived around 2 PM and made it to our hotel without any trouble. It was in the same street as the train station and at the corner of the street of the venue, so it was all pretty much perfect. It was a cute white hotel, which to me looked kind of American for some reason. We hung out at the hotel for a while, I went to the supermarket to get some food for in the plane the next day and talked to my boyfriend on the phone for like half an hour. Around 4 we decided to go the venue. It was about a 10, maybe 15 minute walk. There were 5 girls out there, a couple and an older couple. There was no line yet though (apart from those 5 girls). The guy from the couple saw that I was holding a paper in my hand (one for the meet and greet and one because Lotte and I had to collect our tickets at the box office again because seetickets didn’t want to send them to us) and he asked us if we knew anything about the meet and greet. We ended up talking to him (his girlfriend didn’t speak English.. or at least, not very well) for a long time. He said they were from Italy but he’d studied in Leicester for a while so that’s why they were there. We then found out that one of the 5 girls had won a meet and greet too. Lotte and I walked around the venue (which was all university buildings), because we’d only seen one tourbus and it wasn’t the one where the band was in. We find it, so we walked back to the doors. When we arrived there the tourbus was there and they were trying to get to the place where we’d just been. I saw Mike sitting in the front somewhere (in his green shirt. I took a very blurry picture of him lol). We hung out with the Italian couple and older couple for the rest of the time we were there. When they divided the lines into a ticket holders line and a payers line (we didn’t know where to stand, so we were like in the middle of both
), Lotte and I started singing Unkle Bob songs and then changed to Dizzy and some Robby songs. (we joked that now everyone could leave because we’d already sang the songs, so they didn’t need to see the Goo’s anymore) About 15 minutes after the doors were supposed to be open a security guy walked up to us and asked who’d won a meet and greet. We went inside when everyone else did and had to pick up our tickets and meet and greet passes at the box office. The four of us (Lotte, the Italian guy and one of those 5 girls and I) did this together and then made our way to the merch stand again. There another security guy was waiting for us and told us there were supposed to be 14 people at the M&G, but there were only like 6 or 7 people waiting. I think we waited there for another 15 minutes and then the security guy (Lotte thought he was very handsome and couldn’t stop saying that ) took us backstage, where we were lined up. It was: The Italian guy, me, Lotte and the other girl. I’d repeatedly told myself that I needed to hug all of them because I forgot to do that at the other M&G and that I wanted my picture with Robby. Lotte told me that I had to tell the Goo’s that she wanted a hug as well because I think she was too scared to ask for it herself We waited there for another 15 minutes. In the mean time Korel (;D) walked by, we said hi and he waved at us again. Also, Unkle Bob showed up, because they were trying to get to the stage. So we saw them go on stage (when they arrived Lotte and I started singing one of their songs again, they smiled and said we should sing along during the show as well). And then… Goo! When they walked in, the girl behind Lotte was in total shock. That was really cute because I totally understood how she felt. The Italian guy was extremely happy and took his picture with them. Unfortunately the picture turned out blurry, but he looks very happy: ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4908307. Then it was my turn again. I put my stuff left of Mike and then walked to Robby. He wanted to give me a hand again but I said “can I have a hug?”, so he said “sure!” and hugged me!! It felt like heaven. He was so warm and small and just amazing. Then I hugged John, which was also very amazing. And then Mike, who looked a bit like ‘ehh, what’s happening?’, but still hugged me Then I said something like “my mom says hi. And my friend Judith says hi too and she wants to make sure that I told you to come to Amsterdam” and then Robby said “Amsterdaaaammmm”. Then I walked to Robby and asked for a hugging picture (or something like that). He said to take a stand next to him and John but I was so focused on Robby that I sort of forgot John and Mike were there I was thinking about what to do and then the guy took the picture and I realized I forgot to hold John as well. But I still really like my picture. Robby looks happy and Mike’s actually smiling too! Anyway, here it is in case you haven’t seen it yet: Then I walked away and saw Lotte look at me with a funny face, so I turned around and said “oh yeah, she *points at Lotte* wants a hug too!”. When I walked away I heard John say something like “you’re from Iceland right? No wait Finland?”
But I guess Lotte should tell you that story because I wasn’t there to witness it. When we were in the room where the show was Unkle Bob had obviously already started playing and we ran into the girl from the M&G (ggdphotos.phanfare.com/4908307#imageID=115398151) , she was supposed to go the front row with the Italian guy because his girlfriend and her friends were over there but she didn’t know if she could go there by herself. So the three of us stood at like the tenth row during Unkle Bob’s performance and afterwards we tried to make our way to the front. The girl managed to get to her friends and Lotte and I eventually ended up at the third row somewhere in front of Robby again.
Now, the Goo show: It was our last show, so we were a bit sad. And I was expecting it to be more like the one in Bristol, but I was wrong. Very, very wrong. It was sooooo freaking fantastic! All the people around me were singing along and there was a bunch of guys jumping too (I’d been jumping a little at all shows, but no one jumped with me, so I always stopped. But these guys… awesome!!), somewhere next to me on the left. The moment the Goo’s were on stage, the crowd went wild! Or at least everyone near the front. It was amazing! The setlist was again the same as in Manchester. I knew that after Slide (before Dizzy) John always takes a moment to say hi to the crowd and stuff, so I held up my ‘Mike u rock’ sign, hoping that maybe John would see it and pass it along to Mike (I didn’t think he’d see it). As I was desperately looking at Mike, all of the sudden he looked at my sign, smiled and nodded at me, smiling. I was all like: OMG, HE SAW MY SIGN! HE JUST NODDED AND SMILED AT ME! I thought maybe it was all in my head, so I said something about it to Lotte and she was like: yeah, omg!!! I saw it, so awesome!! And then after the show I said it to the girl from the M&G and she said basically the same thing as Lotte. After Robby had played Tucked Away Lotte held up her ‘More Robby songs ps. Love from Finland’ sign and John got it, said something like “yeah, you’re from Finland.” And then “Robby, they want to hear more of your songs!”, then some people in the crowd (including us) went ‘WOOOOOOOOOOH!’ and Robby smiled. He took the sign and gave it to one of the roadies. I think he might have saved it
And during one of John’s songs he looked and smiled at Lotte! The show was simply amazing. Truly fantastic. John even said that it was one of the best shows of the tour. Oh yeah, there was a guy from Buffalo at the show! So John joked and said something like: “you’re from buffalo? Usually the guy from buffalo is lying on the floor at the back of the venue, completely wasted”, which was very funny. Lotte managed to get a guitar pick (a green one, from Korel) as well.After the show Lotte and I bought some merch stuff. We were the last ones there, so the merch guy took some time to talk to us. He asked me if I wanted a key ring, so I said I already had one, and he asked me if I’d travelled far (I guess I really do sound American? But only for British people
). When I told him I was from Amsterdam and Lotte from Finland we talked about Holland and Finland for a while. We said bye and went outside. Some people were waiting at the wrong tourbus, but luckily Lotte and I already knew where to go to have the best view of the right tourbus. So we walked around the venue again and ended up a bit higher than the tourbus (but with a great view) and watched the roadies load in all the stuff. When they were done and we weren’t paying much attention to the bus anymore, I all of the sudden noticed that Brad and Korel were standing in front of the door of the tourbus. So I said (remember I have a little Korel obsession) “Korel, hey! ” and then he looked extremely happy and smiled and waved at us. We sort of forgot to say hi to Brad (we’d been joking about John+Brad all night and that we didn’t want that to happen. Only John +Robby) Then three more people showed up. They’d actually been standing a little to the left of us. I’m pretty sure one of them was one of the jumping guys, so I thought that was cool. A little while later Brad came out of the tourbus again so we figured we’d have another change to say hi. So I said “brad!” and he turned around. We said hi and he smiled and asked us how we were. Lotte and I were a little unable to say anything so I held my thumb up and didn’t say anything. The jumping guy managed to tell Brad that he’s an awesome guitar player though, which Brad seemed to be happy about. About ten minutes later all of the sudden I saw Robby in the tourbus. He looked outside and then ran to the back again (it looked kind of funny ). We hadn’t even realized he was in there. Another five minutes later Brad showed up again (we’d been joking that he was making out with John somewhere ), but I was so focused on him (I think I waved at him) that I didn’t even notice John was with him. (that made Lotte and me laugh a lot afterwards) We said hey to John and he even took like a minute to sort of talk to us. The jumping guy asked for a picture, but John said no (he did it nicely though. You know how he is 
and Lotte and I thanked him and Brad for the four fantastic shows and John looked at me (OMG) while we talked to him. And then I pointed at him and said “and I’ll see you in Amsterdam!” – seriously, I’m afraid I stalked him so much about Amsterdam that he never wants to come here . They went inside the bus and then they took off.. We waved them goodbye, which they probably didn’t see. But I did notice they had a big tv screen at the back in the bus (I figured that’s where Robby was hanging out)Lotte and I walked back to the hotel, both really sad because this meant the end of our Goo trip. We slept for about 6 hours (we had to wake up at 7), then woke up all sad again.. We had an English breakfast, packed our stuff and went to the train station. It took about 2,5 hours to get there, but we finally made our way to Gatwick airport. I had to be in the north terminal and Lotte in the south terminal so we had to say goodbye once we got there.. Lotte nearly cried and I almost did too.. When I was sitting in the plane listening to Goo I almost started crying again, so I decided to put my iPod on random. Of course it chose two Goo songs to play anyway. But I managed to not cry.. I just wanted to either be home or be with Goo and Lotte again.
When I arrived in Amsterdam my boyfriend was waiting for me with a rose (so sweet <3) and my dad with a ‘welcome back’ balloon, as if I’d been gone for a month, but I really do appreciate it. I thought it was very sweet
This whole things seems so surreal.. It’s much more real than my first Goo show three years ago, but it’s like it always is after you’ve been away on a holiday. Once you’re home again it’s like you never left at all.. luckily I still have a lot of pictures and there’s a looot of youtube video’s I still have to check out.
Here are my pictures:
Part 1 (Manchester, London and like 2 pictures of Bristol): www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253373&id=825609592&l=ceb1d2973f
Part 2 (Bristol and Leicester): www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253407&id=825609592&l=fc23e0c929
ps. I cried during Black Balloon in London
Can't wait for them to go back or do a whole European tour. I'd definitely follow them around again. 
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