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/

Nottingham, February 2015

The 27th time I met Lewis was at the Bodega in Nottingham on Friday 13th February 2015.

This was the sixth date of Prides headline UK tour February 2015.

It was lovely for me to see Prides in Nottingham as I grew up there.  Also, it was a very special day for me as I was getting my tattoo of Lewis' signature done!

When I was doing a google search for tattoo studios in Nottingham, the first search result was Bodycraft. They have 3 Nottingham studios, one of which is opposite the Bodega, so it seemed like the perfect choice! So when I got to Nottingham I went straight there and they booked an appointment for me that afternoon. I was so excited!

Bodycraft is such a lovely studio and the people there are all so friendly. My tattooist, Dan, was really nice. When I showed him my arm, he asked what it was and I proudly explained that it was Lewis' signature and that Prides were playing in the venue across the road that night! I was trying to persuade everyone in the studio to come to the gig, but I don't think they did. They did however let me listen to Prides while I was having the tattoo done. They'd never heard of them before, but they looked them up on Spotify, and although it wasn't the kind of music they usually listened to, I think they liked it!

My tattoo only took about 5 minutes and it didn't hurt at all!  Dan is a brilliant tattooist and he followed Lewis' signature precisely, so it was exactly as Lewis had signed my arm, I was so happy!

I really wanted to show it to Lewis straight away, although it was wrapped up in cling-film for now. So I went to the bar across the road from the Bodega, so I could see when Prides arrived. When I saw their van, I went outside and spoke to Stewart. He said they'd all been saying that they should go and get tattooed! He went inside the venue and I could hear him tell Lewis I was there... Then Lewis came outside and I showed him my tattoo. I thanked him for picking a non-painful part of my arm to sign! He said he thought I'd be used to getting tattooed by now. He seemed impressed that I'd actually had it done!

Then I went back to the bar across the road, and then I moved to the Bodega's bar, which is a really nice place to have a drink. While I was in there Prides came in to do an interview, I think. I was trying not to look at them, but I couldn't help but look over. How could I not when my favourite band were in the same bar as me! When they were getting up to leave, I went and asked Lewis for a photo. He said 'of course, why not!' It was very kind of him.

I met up with a couple of friends in the bar and it was so lovely to see them. Then in the queue for the gig I met one of my friends from twitter who recognised me as 'Lewis Prides Fan'!

The Bodega is a nice intimate venue, I think it was my favourite of the whole tour. The staff were lovely and friendly too. The stage was small and I had such a wonderful view of Lewis throughout the gig.  He looked even more handsome than ever and I think I fell in love with him a bit more that night.

My lovely friend, Penny, took some amazing photos of Lewis during the gig.  She has very kindly said I can share them on here.

Thank you so much Penny for those gorgeous photos!

After the gig I met Stewart's mum, which was a nice surprise! She recognised me from twitter and said she likes reading my tweets when Prides are on tour to keep up to date with what they're doing. That meant so much to me. She is really lovely, just like her son!

Then I met Callum and he said I was Prides' most enthusiastic fan, which made me so happy!

When I met Lewis, he gave me a hug and he had another look at my tattoo. He asked me to send him a photo of it when I took the cling-film off!

I got some nice photos with him.

Penny took some lovely photos of me meeting him too..

Thank you so much Penny for the use of these photos!

I was saying to Lewis that I thought they'd be playing stadiums soon and that they were just on the edge of getting really huge and famous. He thanked me and said it was nice of me to say that. It's true!

Then I asked Lewis if he'd still remember me now he was getting more and more famous. He said of course he'd remember me and how could he ever forget me. That was the loveliest thing he could have said, and it meant the world to me.

When we left the venue, I met Rory, Grant, and Kieran, of Model Aeroplanes and they are such lovely people, some of the nicest band members I have ever met.

Sadly Ben wasn't around, but he has promised me I can have a photo next time I see them!

Then I had a very cold journey back to Sheffield, but I was with my friends, so it was fun, and we were all looking forward to seeing Prides again the next day!

Brighton, February 2015

The 25th time I met Lewis was at The Haunt in Brighton on Wednesday 11th February 2015.

This was the fourth date of Prides headline UK tour February 2015.

I've been to some beautiful places to see Prides, and Brighton is definitely one of my favourites! I had a lovely walk along the pier in the evening and I fell in love with the place!

After exploring Brighton, I went to queue outside the venue at my usual time of 5.30pm. I met up with 3 friends there, Jen, Fredi and Libbi, who are so lovely. I had met Jen before, most notably at Prides' gig at the Barfly last year, when she had gone up on stage with Prides for 'Messiah'! So I knew it was going to be a fun night...

The venue was nice and intimate, with no barrier in front of the stage, which is my favourite type of venue as you are really close to the band.

The first act tonight was Remi Miles, who I really enjoyed. Remi is an exciting performer to watch and his band were great too. I really liked the music, and Remi's voice is absolutely amazing!

The second act was Model Aeroplanes who were brilliant, although I could only actually see one of them as the smoke was so thick on stage. I later found out that the smoke machine had gone wrong. I really enjoyed their music anyway, they are a very talented young band and lovely people too.

Then it was time for Prides. Fredi had brought glow sticks and we all made bracelets and necklaces to wear! It was such a great idea which I never would have thought of!

Prides were amazing, Lewis was perfection and it was such a wonderful gig. By now I was happily singing along to 'Just Say It', and although I knew the set well, I still found it every bit as exciting as the first night of the tour.

They finished with 'Messiah' as always, and part way through the song Jen got up on stage! Prides loved it! Stewart invited Fredi and Libbi up too, and then there was a full on stage invasion! Even I went up! I went and stood at the back so I could be next to Lewis and it was the most amazing experience ever! I was stood right next to his drumkit and there he was and he was drumming! And then at the end of the song when he stood on the drum and I was right there next to him, I swear I nearly died of happiness!

So the stage invasion was a big success, all started by Jen! Prides loved it so much, they wanted her to do a stage invasion at London the next day..

When Prides walked off stage, and we were all still on there, I suddenly had a really bad idea... I went and took Lewis' drum sticks, his water bottle, his Red Bull can, and his towel. I know I shouldn't have stolen them from Lewis, and I repeated this mistake at a later gig too, for which I am really sorry. I'm not proud of what I did, but I can't lie - I am really happy to have these lovely souvenirs.

I drank what was left of the Red Bull, but I am saving the water forever. I will never use his towel, I keep it now in my drum case, where I keep all my band merchandise and souvenirs.

After the gig, Lewis spotted his drum sticks sticking out of my bag and he said he needed them for tomorrow. But he was only joking and he signed them for me and said I could keep them. I told him what other stuff of his I'd taken and he said 'you don't need all that!' But Lewis, I really do!!

That night I felt really shy around Lewis and I couldn't think of much to say to him, although I had lots I wanted to say. I still get so star struck when I meet him, some times more than others! But I got a lovely photo with him, it's one of my favourites of him.

Then he put a glow stick necklace on his head and I took a photo. I showed it to him and I said he looked cute and he laughed.

I got a group photo with him, Libbi, Jen, and Fredi. It's one of my favourite photos ever!

My friends told Lewis we'd all see him at London tomorrow and he said it was a date! So I kinda had a date with Lewis arranged... except not really.... well not at all! But a fangirl can dream!