Since I saw Prides in London, I have become a huge fan of CHLØË BLACK, who was also supporting Kiesza that night as I wrote in an earlier post.
Now I listen to Chloe's music as much as I listen to Prides. I never thought I would love another artist so much, but Chloe has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard and her music is so captivating.
Chloe is such an amazing performer and singer. She is also a very nice person who is kind to her fans and spends a lot of time interacting on twitter and talking to fans at her shows.
When I met her at London she was so lovely and friendly, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
I think meeting Lewis and Chloe at the same time was actually the best thing that's ever happened to me!
I'm going to see Chloe again at Live At Leeds and Barn On the Farm festivals, which I am so excited about! I had this dress printed for when I see her at Leeds:
I suggest you buy the EP so you also get her wonderful song 'Cruel Intentions' and a remix of '27 Club'.
I also recommend you watch the video for '27 Club'. It is the most beautiful video I have ever seen and is like a mini movie in itself:-
Chloe's newest song is 'Professional', which was inspired by the film 'Leon'. It is my very favourite of her songs; I especially love the lyrics 'Give me love or give me death'.
You can listen to 'Professional' here:- https://soundcloud.com/chloeblackofficial/professional
To keep up to date with all Chloe Black's news:-
Sign up to Chloe's official mailing list via her website: http://www.chloeblack.com
Also make sure you check out Chloe's Instagram which she updates almost daily and has the most gorgeous pictures and video clips you will ever see:- https://instagram.com/chloeblackmusic
The 24th time I met Lewis was at the Liquid Room in Edinburgh on Saturday 7th February 2015.
This was the third date of Prides headline UK tour February 2015.
I got to the venue early to queue and also because I'd arranged to meet some very special people there... Earlier that day, Ian and Jordan of Something Something had asked if I could help find a ticket for their friend to go to the gig, so I was meeting up with them to give them the ticket.
While I was sitting outside the venue, all of Prides walked past me. I didn't notice till they'd gone past though, as I was busy tweeting my friend, so I didn't get a chance to say hi to Lewis. I was feeling a bit sad about that, and then suddenly I heard 2 people shouting my name and I looked up and it was Ian and Jordan, or the priests as I call them (because they were the priests in Prides' video for Messiah. Also they made that video, as they did Prides' other videos).
They both gave me a hug and it was so exciting to meet them both, as I am a very big fan of them. I had met Ian before at a Prides gig in Glasgow last year, but I'd never met Jordan. They are both such lovely funny people and they always make me smile. They gave me the cassette tape from the video for Messiah, to thank me for getting a ticket for their friend. It was so kind of them, it is a really special thing to own, and I will treasure it forever.
Also they wrote me a nice note and signed it from the priests, which meant a lot to me.
I got a lovely photo with them and they made me feel even shorter than usual!
When I got into the venue, there was a girl next to me, Ailsa. We got talking and it turned out that I follow her on twitter, she recognised me as 'Lewis Prides Fan'! I spent the whole evening with her and she is one of the nicest people I ever met.
This was the final night of Flyte being part of the tour, and it was sad to see them for the last time. After their set, I met the singer and he seemed surprised when I said I'd seen them at every night of the tour. I explained I was going to every date of Prides' tour, and he said he hoped I would do the same for them one day.
Prides' set was amazing and again it was one of my favourite times of seeing them. The atmosphere was amazing, with the crowd singing along throughout. I'm not good at gig reviews, as I'm sure you've all noticed if you've read much of my blog! So I suggest you read Ailsa's review, which is a perfect account of the night: http://throughthewiremusic.com/2015/02/17/live-review-prides-at-the-liquid-rooms-edinburgh-070215/
After the gig, we went to meet the band. I'd asked Ailsa if she wouldn't mind filming me while I was talking to Lewis so I could have a video to watch back to remind me of what it's like to meet him. She got such a lovely video of me and Lewis, and I am so grateful to her. I was talking to Lewis and he asked if I'd been staying in the Ibis last night, because he'd been to the gym again in the morning and he remembered I'd said it was next door. I was gutted when I found out that he'd been there after I'd left the hotel, it would have been so exciting to think he was next door in the gym! I told him that and he laughed. He's so lovely!
Here's the video:
I got some lovely photos with Lewis too. (well I look hideous, but Lewis looks so gorgeous!)
He signed the inside of the cassette card from Messiah and he said it was nice that Ian and Jordan had given it to me.
Then he gave me a goodbye hug, and as he always does because he's so kind, he said get home safely.
The 22nd time I met Lewis was at the Ironworks in Inverness on Thursday 5th February 2015.
This was the first date of Prides headline UK tour February 2015.
The first support act of the night was Alice Bentley, who I'd never heard before. She is a very beautiful and talented young lady with a gorgeous voice. I really enjoyed her performance, in fact she was my very favourite of all Prides' support acts this tour. Also she is a lovely person too. While I was queuing outside the venue before the gig she walked past and said hello to me, which was really nice.
The second support act was Flyte. They had 3 songs in particular which I really liked, one of which was a new song and will be their next single, so I'm looking forward to buying it when it's released.
Then it was time for Prides! Their set started with 'Cold Blooded', followed by 'The Seeds You Sow'. The lighting was spectacular and they sounded even better than ever. Lewis looked particularly gorgeous, wearing a nice vest and his muscles looked even bigger than last time I'd seen him.
Then they played their new single 'Higher Love' with the whole crowd singing along. Next, Stewart said they were going to play a new song called 'Just Say It'. I didn't even know they'd written a new song and it was so exciting to hear it. Sometimes at concerts it can be a bit boring to hear a song you don't know, but that was definitely not the case here. It's an instantly catchy song, and by mid-tour I was singing along to it. Now it is actually one of my very favourite Prides songs. There's one particular bit of the song, which makes me feel so happy whenever I hear it.
The next song was 'Let It Go' which is one of my favourites to watch Lewis drumming. Then they played another of my very favourites 'Little Danger', followed by 'I Should Know You Better'. Then there was another surprise.. they did 'Strong Enough', the song they'd recorded with the lovely Lauren Aquilina. Lauren couldn't be there, so Callum sang her parts. This has become one of my very favourite live songs, as some of Lewis' drum moves during it are the most amazing thing I've seen.
Next was my all time favourite Prides song 'Out Of The Blue', and then came the biggest surprise of the night... Stewart started talking about how they'd done something very hard at the end of 2014 (which produced an amusing response from someone in the crowd that I won't repeat here!) I couldn't think what he meant and then he explained he was talking about their mixtape that they recorded of their favourite songs last year. I thought he was going to say they would play one of the songs from it, but no... they then went on to play the WHOLE mixtape live! I couldn't believe it, and I can honestly say it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen a band do. I already knew what talented musicians Prides are, but to be able to switch from song to song like that, and do the whole 9 minutes, well it was something else. I was absolutely awe-struck the whole way through it!
Then it was the last song of the night, and as always, they finished with Messiah. It got to the end of the song and I was hoping Lewis would get up on his drum like last tour, and he did! So that was the perfect end to what had been the most amazing gig I'd ever been to. It was even better than their last tour!
Afterwards, Prides came to the merchandise stand to meet their fans, as they usually do. I always get so nervous and excited before I meet Lewis, but for some reason it affected me more than normal, my whole body was shaking so much! I just get so star-struck whenever I'm near him. When he saw me he gave me a hug and asked me if I'd enjoyed the gig, and I got a selfie with him.
I'd had a new t-shirt made especially for the tour. I asked Lewis if he liked it and he said it was great and that he would sign the heart. So that made my night, having my idol sign my heart!
I also bought one of the new Prides t-shirts, and Lewis signed it for me.
Then I had something important I needed to do. One of my best friends, Lucy, is a huge fan of Prides, but sadly she was unable to go to any dates of this tour. I knew how upset she was about this and I wanted to do something to try to cheer her up. So I asked Stewart, Callum and Lewis if I could film a video of them saying hello to her and of course they agreed, being the lovely people that they are. So here it is - Prides' video message for Lucy!
The new video for Higher Love has been released and in my opinion it is the very best Prides video ever (and all their videos have been amazing!)
The video was made by the wonderful Something Something, and Ian's dad actually stars in it! It was filmed in Fairfield Working Men’s Club, and features Lewis in a sparkly jacket looking very handsome!
Prides new single is Higher Love, which is one of my favourite songs from seeing them live.
It's available to buy on iTunes now: po.st/HigherLove3
Recently Prides made a lyric video for it, which is so lovely. It is a must-see for all Lewis fans, he looks so very gorgeous!
You can watch the lyric video here:
This video was made by Euan Robertson, who is one of my favourite photographers (check out the Prides photos on his website!)
Also, today Prides have been filming another new video for Higher Love. This video is being made by Something Something, who are my favourite video producers, and I know it's going to be so brilliant and funny!
Some photos from the video shoot were posted on twitter today, and Lewis looks so handsome!
Breaking news! Prides are filming their new video today!
There are no more details about it yet, I don't even know what song it is. But I'm very excited as I love all their songs, and their videos are always amazing!
Update: Some behind the scenes pictures from the video shoot... it all looks very exciting!
The ninth time I met Lewis was when Prides did a video shoot for Microsoft Lumia and invited fans to appear as extras in the video.
The video shoot took place at the Hootananny in Brixton on Wednesday 1st October 2014. When I got there I felt very nervous, as I'd never been to anything like that before and didn't know what to expect. I was sitting outside with the other fan extras, and then Prides came out of the venue to chat with us all. They were standing there and then Lewis smiled at me and I stopped feeling so nervous then. After they'd spent time with other fans, all of Prides came to say hi to me and they each gave me a hug. They were all so nice to me, and I got a lovely photo with Lewis.
Inside it was set up as if we were actually at a gig, Prides were on stage with their instruments. We spent the whole afternoon with Prides playing 'Messiah' again and again, while various different shots were filmed of the crowd and band. I got my hair styled by one of the crew and she actually made it look nice for once. Then she went to do Lewis' hair, and it was exciting to think that I'd had my hair done by the same person as my idol!
It was such an amazing afternoon; imagine getting to watch your favourite band on stage for 5 hours and getting to meet them too! It was my idea of heaven, I never wanted it to end. There was one scene where Lewis had to throw a drum stick for someone to catch; that was my favourite part of the whole thing.
After we'd finished filming, I waited outside to say goodbye to Lewis and I got another photo with him. It was the best afternoon ever of my life!
The finished video turned out really well. You can watch it here:
