The last time I met Lewis and The Way Back Up!

I said I wouldn't post again and I said I wouldn't go to see Prides again, but here I am and the promises I never kept...

After Live At Leeds, I did stay away from Prides.  I had tickets for all 3 dates of Dot To Dot festival and to see Prides at the Lighthouse in Glasgow, but I didn't go to any of these events.

However, I did still go to Barn On The Farm festival, at which Prides were playing, as I had arranged to go with my friend and also my favourite artist was also playing there. I didn't plan to actually watch Prides, but my friend obviously wanted to see them as they are still her favourite band, and when it came to their set I stayed with her and I saw them play and it was all good. It did feel a bit weird watching a band who I knew had blocked and hated me. But I was enjoying the festival so much it didn't really matter at the time. (By the way, Barn On The Farm is such a lovely festival, I recommend it to everyone!)

The Monday after Barn On The Farm, Prides were doing a live session at XFM in Manchester.  XFM had done a competition for people to win tickets to this, and I was one of the lucky winners...

I hadn't entered this competition for myself; my friend was desperate to go to this, so I entered with the intention of giving her my ticket if I won and she didn't.  But then we both ended up winning tickets - and each ticket came with a plus one too! I did feel excited to have actually won something and to have the chance to visit the XFM studio, and as I couldn't find anyone to give my tickets to, I decided to go.

When we walked into the XFM session room, Prides said hi to my friends but didn't even look at me. We sat and watched them do several songs and I enjoyed the set, they sounded lovely.  Lewis never looked in my direction, but that was fine, I was just enjoying the music.

After they had finished playing, we got told that we could all have a photo with the band on the way out.  I wasn't sure I would be allowed one, but I queued up anyway. When it came to my turn, I asked if it was ok for me to have a photo, and Stewart said 'Of course, that's what we're here for'. So I walked forward and stood between Stewart and Lewis.  Lewis stared straight ahead and didn't acknowledge I was there. Stewart asked how I was, I said I was good and asked how they were, he and Callum were both friendly and replied, but Lewis remained silent. I asked him 'are you ok Lewis?' He continued staring straight ahead and gruffly said 'yeah'.

We had a couple of photos taken, and I thanked them and started to walk off, but then much to my surprise Stewart said 'thanks for coming!' I know he had to be nice to me because there were people from XFM present, but I was still touched that he thanked me, and it did mean a lot to me. When I got home I tweeted him and thanked him for being so nice and I apologised for the negative things I had said about him in the past, but he ignored me and I still remain twitter blocked by the band.  So yeah I know it was all fake niceness from him so he wouldn't look bad in the presence of people from XFM, but still it made me happy at the time and I am grateful for that.

I wasn't surprised that Lewis was so unfriendly towards me, but at least he did let me have these photos with him. I don't know if he was deliberately looking away on the second picture or had just got distracted?!

I did feel quite humiliated that he wouldn't even look at me and did his best to ignore the fact I was there, it felt a bit dehumanizing, especially seeing how friendly he was with everyone else, chatting to them and smiling on their photos.  But it was my own fault for putting myself in that situation, what did I expect to happen?!

I know I said it before, but now I really have learned my lesson and I definitely will not go to meet Lewis ever again. He's made it clear that he can't bear to even look at me, and now he will never have to again! I had bought a ticket to Prides' album launch in London (mainly because I thought a member of their team would be there who I wanted to thank, although it doesn't seem that he was) but after what happened at XFM I didn't go. I've heard all about it from my friend though and it sounds an interesting night to say the least..!

A few people have told me that they didn't buy Prides' album 'The Way Back Up' because of how the band had treated me.  It's so sweet that people care so much, but honestly, I don't want anyone changing their opinion of Prides because of me. They are a very talented band and I have never known of them to be unkind to any other fans.  So please don't stop being a Prides fan because of me.  If you read all my posts about the times I met Lewis in the past, you can see what a lovely person he really is and how he made me so happy for many months.  Back then, he always made such an effort to be kind to me and he did some special things for me and I will never forget that.

I actually did buy 'The Way Back Up' myself, which some people said I was crazy to do after what had happened.  But as I've said before, I still enjoy Prides' music and although I am yet to listen to the full album, I love the songs on it that I already I know and I'm sure I will like the others too.  Also, I wanted a copy of the 'fanified' poster and to get my name on it.  As I was Prides' 'number 1 fan' (their words not mine) for several months, it seemed only right that I should be a part of it!

Finally I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who read my last post, I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the response I got, I have received kind messages from all over the world! Thank you all, I am so grateful and the kind words mean so much to me.  What happened with Prides in February and May did have a very negative effect on me and my mental health, but I feel much happier again now and I am moving on with my life in a positive way.  I guess that writing this post might seem like a negative backward step, but it helps me to deal with things by writing them and sharing them, and I wanted to finish my blog anyway as it felt incomplete.  I hope I am ending it on a more positive note than my previous post.

Thank you for reading and this really is my final post! No more 'Lewis Prides Fan', just me now. Goodbye!

Greer x

P.S.  Please check out my new blog! http://corvidlady.blogspot.co.uk/

Manchester, March 2015

The 30th time I met Lewis was at the Albert Hall in Manchester on Thursday 19th March 2015.

This was the first date of Prides' UK tour supporting Kiesza.

I got to Manchester early in the morning as I was meeting my friend Tracey Faye, who had travelled all the way from Glasgow to see Prides! She is a very dedicated fan. We were staying in a hotel together and spent 2 hours getting ready, then we headed to the venue to see if there was a queue.

We got there at about 1pm and there was no queue yet, so went to a nearby bar, as we were both feeling a bit nervous and it seemed like a good idea to have a couple of drinks to calm our nerves...

Six rum and cokes later, we were both in very happy spirits! We saw Prides' van arrive and I went outside because I was going to go and say hello, but when I saw Lewis I felt too shy and I just couldn't!

At about 5pm we went to queue and we were the first there so we easily got to the front barrier inside the venue.

The Albert Hall is the most beautiful venue I've ever been to. I felt like I was at the church of Lewis!

We'd brought glow sticks with us and made ourselves glow stick crowns, bracelets and necklaces!

Prides' performance was amazing! They started with my favourite song, 'Out Of The Blue', which was a suprise! Usually I wouldn't want it to be the first song in their set, as I'd prefer to have it still to look forward to, but it was a really special moment as I'd been feeling very emotional and it was just so lovely to see Lewis again and for it to be my favourite song they played first.

I was really happy that they played 'Just Say It' which is my favourite of their unreleased songs, and 'Little Danger' too.  Tracey enjoyed most 'I Should Know You Better' which is her very favourite song, and also 'Higher Love' which she had made up her own dance for!

They finished with 'Messiah', as always, and Lewis got up on his drum, which made my night!

I had a really perfect view of Lewis throughout the set, as there was very little smoke, and the lighting was good for watching him too. He looked so handsome and his muscles looked bigger than ever!

After Prides had finished, Tracey and I went downstairs to wait to meet them at the merchandise stand. Stewart and Callum came in first. I apologised to them for things that had happened recently, and they both said it was all ok and gave me a hug. I felt so happy and relieved!

Stewart gave Tracey a hug and she gave him a glass of red wine. He drank some and then gave it back to her, so I guess it wasn't very nice! But she was happy because she got to keep the straw he'd drank from!

Here is a lovely photo of Tracey and Stewart!

Then Lewis came in and I said sorry to him, and he said it was all ok and I was so happy! It was so lovely to see him again and to talk to him, and he was as kind as always!

I'd had a new t-shirt made specially for this tour, and Lewis signed it for me.

Tracey and Lewis were talking about where she was from in Glasgow, and then she showed him a photo of a grumpy woman who had been on her train, which was quite random!!

Stewart's mum was there and she recognised me again and we had a lovely chat with her. She is such a nice lady.

Then me and Tracey got ourselves another drink (big mistake) and sat down for a bit. One minute Tracey was so happy and then next minute she was in floods of tears for no apparent reason! I tried to comfort her, but she was so upset. I went to have a quick word with Lewis about something, and then Stewart went over to Tracey, gave her a big hug and said 'Tracey's drunk and emotional!' He stood hugging her for a while, which was really sweet.

But then I started crying, which was really stupid of me, as there was nothing to be sad about. Then I spilt my drink everywhere, and 2 security guards came over and I thought they were going to tell me off for being drunk, but they just wanted to check that me and Tracey were ok, because they knew we'd been queuing for hours and they were worried that we'd had a bad night. We explained that we were both just really drunk.

We left soon after that. But I had another quick chat with Lewis before we went, and he was really kind to me, even though I was drunkenly crying at him. He said he'd see me tomorrow.

Then me and Tracey went back to our hotel and cried.

The next morning we woke up and were so mortified when we remembered what had happened. The thought of us sitting in a room where our favourite band were, and we were crying so much, all lit up by the glow sticks we were wearing... it's just the worst!! But at least we can laugh about it now and how stupid it was, and I am never getting drunk when I see Lewis ever again!

I do feel very ashamed that I cried when I was talking to Lewis, but he was still so nice and calm with me, and I am so grateful to him for being such a lovely kind person.

Lewis Prides News: Dot To Dot Festival

Today it has been announced that Prides will be playing at Dot To Dot Festival this year.

Dot To Dot is a 3 day festival which will take place in Manchester on Friday 22nd May, Bristol on Saturday 23rd May, and Nottingham on Sunday 24th May 2015.

Prides will be at all 3 dates.

Here is the line up so far:

This year is Dot To Dot's 10th birthday, so it will be a very special event.

Dot To Dot is operated by DHP Family, a leading name in the live entertainment industry.

For more information and to buy tickets, please see: http://www.dottodotfestival.co.uk/

Manchester, October 2014

The fourteenth time I met Lewis was at Sound Control in Manchester on Tuesday 21st October 2014.

This was the third night of Prides' headline UK tour.

My boyfriend came to this gig with me and we were both filming it. He was filming the whole band and I was doing my usual thing of just filming Lewis. There was this moment when Callum said on stage 'are you guys just filming Lewis' and stood in front of us. That was a bit embarrassing but funny too!

The gig was brilliant, Lewis was so amazing. My highlights of the night were 'Let It Go', 'Out Of The Blue', and of course Lewis standing on his drum kit at the end of 'Messiah'!

After the gig we got to meet Prides and they were all so lovely as always. Lewis gave me a hug and I got a nice photo with him.

Manchester, June 2014

The second time I met Lewis was when Prides supported Foster The People at the Ritz in Manchester on Thursday 26th June 2014.

I arrived at the venue early to get a good place in the queue, and got to meet Lewis when Prides arrived. 

Prides were brilliant, and after they'd played they stayed to meet fans at their merchandise stand. It was so exciting to get to spend so much time with Lewis! I had a lovely chat with him; one of the things he said was he liked my tattoos, and I said I liked his arms. There was one moment when I was watching Foster The People, and Lewis was standing next to me and I couldn't believe that I was just standing there with my idol!

Lewis remembered that I'd asked for a drum stick at Lainfest and had saved one for me. After the gig had finished he said I could wait with him and he'd get it for me. Then security started telling everyone to get out of the venue, so I asked Lewis if I could stand with him and he put his arm round me and said if security tried to make me leave he'd show them his pass and say I was with him. 

So I got to stay inside for a bit, but then Prides had to go and do something. Lewis said if I waited outside the venue he'd come and find me. So I went outside and then Lewis got one of his drum sticks from the van for me. He said he'd made sure it was a very battered one, which was just what I'd wanted! 

Lewis asked me my name, and I was very surprised when Callum said Greer because he'd heard me tell someone inside the venue! Then Lewis gave me a hug and it was time for Prides to leave.

It had been such an amazing night! Prides are such a lovely band and so nice to their fans. It was so kind of Lewis to spend so much time with me, and I will treasure the drum stick he gave me forever.