Edinburgh, February 2015

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.

Inverness, February 2015

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!