James Marsters: UK 2007
May 28th, 2007Alright, so here are my brief-ish reports of all the JM-related events I attended in the UK (which just happens to be all *g*). Since it’s been a while, the details are fuzzy, but if you’re curious, do read on… :o)
JM @ the Soho Revue Bar
The Soho Revue Bar proved to be quite tiny; I’m still not entirely sure how we managed to cram 120 people in there. It was a lovely little venue, though, with absolutely great lighting and an excellent sound system. Of course, I took more than plenty of photos, but I wasn’t as shutter-happy as I’ve been in the past. I’d barely paid attention to some of the music at the Grand Slam gig, so I wanted to take this opportunity to just listen. I still managed to take a couple of hundred images, but there was definitely more listening going on. You can view a few photos of the concert right here.
As far as warm-up gigs go, this was good. It was nice and intimate, making it easy for James to interact with the audience and vice versa. He even took a request for Button Down Vandals! It was a very nice beginning to this mini-tour.
JM @ Spring Fever
Due to problems along the Central line, Spring Fever got a late start. I think initially they had planned to do the concert first, and then the reading, but it was reversed. James read A Phoenix Too Frequent, which was just fantastic! I love how he’s easily able to transition from character to character and make each one come alive simply by utilizing different intonations. It’s just awesome. Considering that I have a very short attention span, yet managed to pay attention throughout the entire reading (which lasted about an hour or so), says a lot for his ability to captivate an audience. Or at least me, anyway. 
After a 20 minute intermission, the concert began. Again, because of the delays, the length of the concert was drastically cut down. Originally, he had several songs listed, but cut-out nearly one-third or so (including Patricia and Louise, thank God!!). 
mad_brilliant_ snagged the set list, which she posted over here. It was still a very nice, very intimate concert, though. There were some neat light changes going on in the background, which gave life to the blank white screen there. The sound was an issue. If James moved, there was a lot of feedback, so he had to restrict himself to one area, unless he wanted to blow out our hearing. This time, I combined listening with shutter-happy skills and took loads of photos. Of course I was going to go a little crazy what with being front-row and having no obstructions! I’ve posted some photos from that evening over here.
After the concert was the cocktail reception, which I only found out a month or so ago from oanimation that James was suppose to attend. I’d been under the impression that the reception was just for us fans, but hey! More time with James is nice. :o)
Like at the Queen Mary, James made his way through all the different little groups, nudged along by Steve. We were at the opposite end of where he’d started. I was hanging out with several friends. We were having a great time just talking among ourselves, but before we knew it James had made his way to our side. When he turned, he looked directly at me and said something which I can no longer remember, probably just along the lines of “Hi.” Before he was really able to turn all his attention to us, though, he was called back by someone so he could talk to a girl in a wheelchair. Again, he looked at me and told me he’d be right back. I said okay and continued hanging out with my friends; in fact, moved a bit away of where I’d been standing to be closer to my friends. One of my friends said that when James turned around and didn’t see me where he’d left me, he started looking around until he found me and our little group. :o)
What I found funny was that, again, he looked at me and said hi and I replied in kind. The whole time he was standing right next to me and did I say a single word? Nope! My friends kept him talking; I just stood there, wanting to say something but not really able to figure out how to say it. One of my friends handed James an album of photos she took at Grand Slam. Somehow he got into talking about his guitar, about one he fell in love with that I think he can’t bring with him, and other guitar-related stuff. What amused me at the end was that when James was nudged by Steve to get him moving, he again turned to me, rubbed my arm and said something along the lines of “it was nice seeing you” or something, to which I replied in kind and shook his hand– as if I’d been the one talking to him the entire time. But hey, at least I felt included on some level…
After the event, my friends and I went to a late dinner by Picadilly Circus. We had some fantastic Chinese!
JM @ the Union Chapel
In a nutshell, it was friggin’ fantastic!! The Union Chapel really was a great venue for the concert. James sounded better than ever and because the crowd was so much bigger than the last two events, he came out with tons more energy, which was great!! (Especially since the guy that opened for him nearly put me to sleep. What’s with JMLive booking opening acts that inspire sleepiness?) It was a fairly long concert, and he *finally* sang This Town, which he hadn’t done at the other two gigs. I was very happy that he did! About a third of the way through the concert, James took off the sweater he was wearing to reveal a sleeveless shirt underneath. While I do enjoy the nummy arms, I wasn’t very thrilled with the cut of the shirt. seapea made a point that wife-beaters look better on him. Still, nummy arms. :o)
The last song before the encore was Angel, and for the very last “La la la’s”, James just let the crowd take over. He was having such a ball! oanimation got great pics of him at that point! And for the very last song, we got the pretty, pretty lullaby, which I believe is called Baby Blue, but I could be wrong. I totally adore that song!
Due to very bad organization on JMLive’s part, the day had had a less-than-stellar beginning. By the end of the evening, though, we’d nearly forgotten all that crap. Nearly. James tends to have that sort of effect. :o)
JM @ Collectormania
James attended Collectormania from Saturday to Monday. oanimation and I attended all three days. We had photo ops both Saturday and Sunday, and I got some of my photos authographed on Saturday and Monday. I have to admit that at the Saturday photo op, James got me completely flustered and a little weirded out by how he seemed genuinely happy to see me (that he even recognizes me always surprises me), even giving me a hug, and then ended my photo op with a compliment. I know it seems silly, but I’m not good at taking compliments, and one from James was just strange, although quite nice.
For the autograph, I had him sign a photo I’d taken at the Grand Slam concert. There were a lot of people in line for Saturday’s autograph session, which made it feel a little rushed for me. Either way, I at least got a “wow” from him when he saw my photo, which is more than I can ask for.
Sunday’s photo op session was a bit calmer for me, and all in all, nice. I had two photos with him; I’m glad he takes the initiative to change up the poses for the photos, because I sure as heck wouldn’t be able to come up with anything. That evening, James had his Q&A, where Steve Himber proved how incredibly hilarious he can be. The entire Q&A was great; several great questions were asked, and only a few were repeats and even less were cringe-worthy.
I did the last of my autographs on Monday, when it was a lot calmer than it had been the last couple of days. Even though I had two photos, I only inteded to get one signed. When I got that photo signed, I told James that I’d had a lot of fun at the events. He told me he had too, and wished he could stay longer, but his son’s birthday was coming up, so he had to go back home. I nodded, thanked him, and said my goodbyes.
After getting my autograph, I kept on staring at the extra photo that I had, the one I hadn’t gotten autographed. My friends insisted that I had to get it signed, and after some persuasion, I dragged one of them with me to get that last photo signed. When it was my turn for the autograph, I shook his hand and he immediately proceeded to rub my hand in both of his because mine was very cold. We talked a bit about how cold it was while he signed my photo. As he was handing it back, I had to take my chance and ask him my burning question: Clinton, Obama, or other for 2008? *bg* He seriously thought about the question and considered some of the other candidates, like Edwards, but when it came down to it, he said Barack Obama, which had me nearly squeeing with delight. He went on to explain that he would really like to see a black man in office (which, yeah… okay… I suppose race might be a component for some), but that he just genuinely liked his style and work ethic, and brought up the comparison to John F. Kennedy. He definitely went on for a while and I listened and made a couple of comments here and there. I walked out of there over the moon!!! I was so ecstatic I’d gone and bought that second autograph and you know, had the courage to ask him that! It also re-affirmed to me why I like this guy so much. Sometimes I forget. :o)
With the event dwindling down, it was time to say goodbye to all my friends. I was sad that everything was over, but I know I’ll be seeing many again in the future. I’m already considering attending Dragon*Con. I wish I could attend Fangoria, but it’s much too soon for me to go out there. Either way, I had a fantastic time in the UK this year, and while I credit James for much of it, there was a lot more to this trip that was just perfect. Like Stonehenge. Can never forget Stonehenge!
