Birmingham NEC 26th November 2003
Day 2 of Fleetwood Mac heaven. We set of for the NEC much earlier as hubby’s were left home to baby-sit and we fancied trying to catch the band arriving. We had the card we had made for John and a couple of Happy Birthday banners. Our banners the previous day had been taken away but we thought we would try again. We also had a collection of penguins for John and planned to throw them on stage when Mick did the intros.
We arrived and headed straight round the back. There were 3 very nice people waiting. They told us they had waited the previous day and that John and Mick had talked to them and signed autographs. Nat arrived with the fabulous cake her Mum had made for the band – it was truly wonderful and she is very talented. She left it at the stage door and we hope the band at least got to see it.
It seemed to turn very cold very quickly and we were bloody freezing waiting for some action. Then a car appeared, I think it was a Chrysler voyager. Out came Mick and immediately came over and chatted to us and signed for us all. Idiot me had only brought the Buckingham nicks album so I had to get him to sign the concert ticket! As he went to leave I asked to shake his hand and he did! Nat got a great picture and you can see me on it too! Not quite a picture with Mick but almost!
Lindsey was the next to arrive but he whisked out of the car and didn’t even look at us. So much for being his ‘come’ girl! ;-) John arrived after that and when he got out we all sang happy birthday to him! He seemed chuffed and gave us a wave. Then arrived Brett Tuggle, Taku Hirano, and Sharon Celani… probably others in the car but I only saw those. Sharon was really sweet and chatted to us and signed some things too. Finally we saw the security men wheel an electric scooter out for Stevie’s dad. It stood there for ages and the seat must have been freezing by the time he arrived! LOL! Didn’t even see Stevie get out as she was shielded by the car. Never mind.
Now even more excited we decided to head inside to bag our spot in front of Stevie’s mic. Front row again and my sit was right in front of where I wanted to stand anyway!!! We lined up all the penguins between the monitors and also the gift we had for Stevie from Fireflies UK. This had been spotted in town earlier in the day. It was a little white dog that when switched on walked and yapped! We tied a helium filled red heart to it and wrote on that ‘For Stevie, Love from Fireflies UK’ I had also brought my Buckingham Nicks album to try to get it signed so I got that ready too. We also had Johns card but as this was quite big security took it backstage for us to give to him. Hope he got it.
People must have thought we were very peculiar to be standing there over an hour before the show was due to start! As time passed more and more Fireflies gathered – the atmosphere was buzzing. Dorothy, my new friend from the USA arrived (fellow ledgie) and I also met another girl from the US called Brandy. It is so nice to meet fellow fans at the shows; after all we all share the bond of loving FM!!
When the lights went down everyone went wild again. I looked at Rachel and she already had tears of joy in her eyes.. bless! Out they all walked and we were all in Mac heaven. Lindsey looked across and I pointed at him and right away he recognised me!! Wow! He pointed at me with a look on his face like ‘you again?’ and mouthed ‘Mad’…. He might have been saying that to Brandy tho as she had been to numerous shows in the USA. Of course this made my night but the best was yet to come. I turned my attention to Stevie and as she stepped back from the mic she looked down and saw me and there was this sudden recognition on her face and she broke into the biggest smile and mouthed ‘Hey’, pointed at me with both fingers, gave me a wave with both hands and then a double thumbs up! OMG!!! Awesome moment is an understatement! She genuinely looked please to see me again! (Sorry if I’m gushing but this was a top moment for me!!) This was the first of a few ‘Stevie’ moments as throughout the show I got some lovely smiles from her. Each time I did I would get a nudge from Sarah behind me…hehe.
Stevie did seem more ‘into’ it right from the start of this concert. She was having a great time and she sounded fantastic. Lindsey chose Sara from Fireflies to be his come girl and she certainly enjoyed the experience. We also had some Lindsey attention too!
Say Goodbye was wonderful again apart from Stevie stumbled over a line and I felt awful because she had got distracted when she glanced down and saw all of our paraphernalia. We were going to put the penguins on the speaker but decided to wait until near to the end if it was going to prove a distraction!
The band was on fire all night. Stevie struggled with her voice at the beginning of Silver Springs but soon bounced back and Lindsey gave a thumbs up again during the slow dance of Tusk. Before we knew it it was World Turning so we decided to pop some penguins on the speaker and wave some others around. I had a great big one with a badge saying Happy Birthday John! Stevie spotted them and laughed. She must think we are mad!! Anyway Mick came out to do the band intros and just before he introduced John he spotted my penguin and took it from me laughing! He held turned round to show the others and started to introduce John, mentioning that it was his birthday. At this point penguins started to fly towards John and because Stevie moved she had to duck a low flying penguin! The crowd all started to sing Happy birthday and we even had a line from Stevie! What a cool moment. John held his head in his hands and then laughed and looked at the penguins and said ‘My babies’! hehe. He played Don’t Stop with penguins al around him and when the band went off before Goodbye Baby some crew came out and lined them all up! I wonder if we will see any at future shows?
All too quickly the show was almost over. As the light came back up after Goodbye Baby I put the little walking yapping dog on stage headed for Stevie. Right away she spotted it and smiled so big and went ‘awww’ and walked over to it. Then she picked it up by the balloon (she obviously can’t bend down to floor level… bad hip or tight corset? LOL!) and moved it over to where they were taking their bows. Unfortunately the balloon flew off and up to the top of the NEC so I don’t know if she would know it was for her. The entire band seemed to find it hilarious and the little chap walked across the stage while the band said their goodbyes. During Don’t’ Stop I waved my Buckingham Nicks album and caught Lindseys eye and he nodded that he would come over. And true to his word he did. He signed mine first and some of the others that were thrust towards him. Unfortunately he dropped Jenni’s ticket behind the speaker, but she was the lucky one as he ripped up a set list and signed that!!! Wow! Stevie came along and took one gift but missed some Fireflies gifts that were being held out for her. Looks like those gifts will be travelling to London ;-)
And so ends another night to remember. I’m still in a state of shock at my ‘Stevie moments’. I hope to have more as I’m front row at my other 3 shows… I know I’m spoilt! Hehe
I didn’t take photos this time as I wanted to just enjoy the show but I know Neil and Phil have some fab ones that I know they will share
You can view pictures of the FM cake made by Nat's talented Mum Julia at the following link. Also the picture of the Mick meeting!!
http://www.icdphotos.com/public/deta...c_album=483744
Pip