Darren Hayes - Glasgow ABC - 22nd Sept 2012. Wait wait wait. What does hing mean?

Before all too long it was time to hit the road again, I packed up my suitcase (I had cheated and used my gorgeous tote bag too), and thanks Nat for talking my merch home with you, lifesaver! 

We headed to the station, grabbed our greggs bacon and sausage roll and waved goodbye to Nat and Newcastle.…and so it begins again :D. So tired! Glasgow here we come!

The train was absolutely rammed, most of us, D fans. We found our seats and grabbed them. A fan I knew to see sat next to us. Holly stopped by for a quick chat and we waved to Mike. It wasn’t long before we got bored.

We decided that as Hils still had her VIP pack with her we would decipher the code. There we are, about 11am on a Sunday, in a packed train carriage to Glasgow, Hils shouting out the code, Kelly deciphering it, and me writing it down. 'Heart and a box, heart and a circle, cross and an anchor', I swear everyone else on that train thought we were mental. I remember one rather bemused man sat opposite us. The other fan, Sanaa, who was beside us, got her book out and was helping too :) teamwork! I did get rather confused though. wait wait wait. what does hing mean? you've lost me, go from 'NOT…' again. Ohhhhhh NOTHING. But we've already had NOTHING Lol. In the end we used Google to help as we couldn't get it to make sense. When the 3G decided to work, Google told us it was TS Elliot. How clever.

The middle of nowhere and 3G didn't seem to get along very well. In fact they didn't get on at all. I spent ages trying to send D a tweet about last night’s meteor in Newcastle with a rather challenging 140 character count and then discovered I had no 3G to post it.

“@darrenhayes last nite we crossed the Tyne to a meteor show "Coming through the sky like a satellite, like a radio wave, A meteorite" #casey”

Kelly was also struggling with the 3G. she’d won the lottery and wanted to retrieve the email to know how much. I think it was about £2.70!

It was such a beautiful train ride from Newcastle to Glasgow but we barely noticed. We were too busy deciphering a code ;). 

We arrived in Glasgow and Holly and Mike's little group headed with us in our direction. We left holly's group to it we weren't sure where we were going. The international fans were doing better with directions than I was! It wasn't long before my crap use of Google map got us lost, thank you Hils for being a saint and working out where to go. We checked in to the Travelodge and headed to sound check. (Via a hunt for a poster tube. Don't ask).

Kelly had borrowed a poster from Newcastle (on a permanent basis) and wanted a poster tube for it for her meet and greet item to be signed in London. She didn't half crack me up when she appeared at Newcastle station with a tube her mam had fashioned out of kitchen roll tubes. We needed a more sturdy tube to withstand the flight to London. (and a craft knife to chop it down). WH Smith it was.

We bumped into Chris in WH Smith and headed to sound check.  

Sound check:

1. To The Moon and Back 

D only came on at the end.

2. Black Out The Sun

“if you’re wondering how I'm feeling, I feel hungover. It’s fuckin hard work”

3. truly madly deeply (acoustic)

I still love it!

4. I don't Know You Anymore

Don’t ask me why I remember this but I remember him talking off his purple jacket, putting on the headset and putting his jacket back on. D was playing the the headset joking "I'll have a happy meal and super size fries".  Shave started playing I don't Know You Anymore but was playing it too fast. Darren joked: "This isn't the fucking remix. I'm not Jennifer lopez innit. It’s too fast like you've taken an amphetamine". LOL.

It was so funny, shave just totally got it wrong.

5. Popular

still genius.

D was looking relaxed despite him saying he was tired and having fun moving around the stage. He threw is arms out and was spinning around. It was a very funny and highly entertaining sound check today.

After Sound check.

Afterwards we got lost trying to get out of the venue; we stopped off at Yates for some food. It was OK  It was Yates. We bumped into Anna and Barry and said a quick hello and headed off. Yates was getting a bit rowdy. We nipped back to the hotel to doctor the aforementioned poster tube.  Kelly chopped down the poster tube with the craft knife, put the kitchen roll tube in and the poster, forced the lid on, declared it fit and then the poster fell out the other end. I thought Hils was gonna die laughing. I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was gonna die too.

We got ready and headed out to the show. My grey perfume bottle print dress was today’s choice. We had a bit of a panic when we got to the venue and my tickets wouldn't scan and they sent me to the box office but thankfully they took pity on us and let us in. I love a seated tour, less stress, less running around, a square that's your patch for 1hr 1/2. The only downside is that this venue wasn't designed to be seated; all the seats were put out and clipped together so we were a bit squished. Thankfully we were on the end of row C and Mike very kindly helped us unclip them so we had a little bit more room.

Time for The Candle thieves :D

1. Balloon

just a gorgeous piece of music.

2. Were all gonna die (have fun)

The song that made me truly fall in love with this band.

3. my little room

This song makes me SOOO happy. It reminds me of my bedroom in Ireland. 

"Don't wake me from my little room, in my little room is where I'm safe”

4. sharks and bears

crowd surfing shark! The Scottish crowd were up for a real laugh.

5. The sunshine Song

“you know we can't stay young forever but we can stay young for the rest of our days”

6. weatherman 

This song always reminds me of the London album launch. I love it. 

“I don't wanna blame the weatherman when it's raining, It's not his fault, it's mine”

7. flowers for Peggy

wahoo! The popper was a success tonight and actually went pop! :) 

Glock was messing around reading a book called self confidence LOL

8. we won't ever be rich (but we could be happy)

I love this song. Soundtrack to the tour, and my life.

Great set tonight from the guys, loved it even more than last night. They make me so happy. I looked down our row of seats and Chris cracked me up with his dad dancing in his seat to the candle thieves. I think those VIP drinks went down well ;)

Pre show music.

1. Jessie ware – wildest moments

2. muse -  madness

3. Madonna – I'm addicted

4. Taylor swift – never getting back together

5. Carly rae Jepson – call me maybe

6. Florence and the machine – spectrum

7. Christina Aguilera – your body

8. MJ??

9. Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - No.14 - Scene finale - Swan theme (Moderato)

we've worked out more of it than last night ;)

Set list:

1. God Walking Into the Room

2. I Like the Way

3. To the Moon and Back

4. Nearly Love

----chat----

5. Cruel Cruel World /So Beautiful/ Truly Madly Deeply

----chat----

6. The Animal Song

7. Black Out the Sun

8. Stupid Mistake

9. Pop!ular

10. Hot Tub Blues

11. I Don't Know You Anymore

12. Affirmation

13. The Siren's Call

Encore:

14. Insatiable

15. Bloodstained Heart

The Show.

1. God Walking Into the Room

It was strange seeing the umbrella back in the same venue as the 2011 tour. It seemed like just yesterday and yet a lifetime ago since Glasgow last time round. I was so excited. I knew the Scottish crowd were up for a good time last time. Night was gonna be the same, I could feel it.

2. I Like the Way

awww man, D looks so good doing the dancing to this song. It’s just effortlessly sexy.

3. To the Moon and Back

The glitter ball looks so good. I love how one prop can change the whole mood of the set. The crowd were really up for a good night then.

4. Nearly Love

This song becomes a whole different thing when sung live. I really like it.

----Chat----

D introduced the band saying Owen had helped them out with guitar when his first instrument was bass, Alice had a beautiful voice and Shave had the best hair cut on the stage. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. Thank you for sticking by me. You saved me. You brought us here tonight”. awwww.

5. Cruel Cruel World /So Beautiful/ Truly Madly Deeply

Cruel Cruel World/

This song once again tried to ambush me.  It sounded beautiful. Flawless. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful songs D has ever written. The opening lines always get to me. ‘I dunno who I’m supposed to fee-ee-ee-eellll’

“The only ONES I let through is you”

/So Beautiful/

Straight from Cruel cruel world to so beautiful. It blended together so well. Whoever thought of that arrangement is an actual genius. It’s just one of the sweetest versions of so beautiful. awwww amazing. That held note at the end, incredible.

/Truly Madly Deeply

Awww I love this song. The crowd sang the chorus without even being prompted. It was gorgeous. Emotional.

----chat----

"Last night I talked about what I like to refer to as sex face". (D mentioned he didn't want to repeat himself, but all of us who knew what was coming was screaming and cheering, myself included). “I thought I was cooler than this song for a while, I'm not cool (*crowd whoops and cheers*) thanks!.. It’s not sexy! It’s about animals! I cant believe you Scottish are cheering sex with animals, you are disturbing….I can’t see what the band are doing when I'm up here, if you've got any complaints about not enough sex face coming from my band email fanmail@darrenhayes.com”

I almost died laughing. It made me smile so much.

6. The Animal Song

The was plenty of sex face tonight. D was really enjoying himself up there, hamming it up. He was looking so good, dancing with his hand in pocket. SOOOO sexy. This song will never get old. So many memories. Glasgow was probably my fave sex face!

7. Black Out the Sun

This song sounds so good live. It reminds me of when secret codes first came out :)

   

8. Stupid Mistake

D took the bandage off. When he sung the line “I got lazy” he pointed at himself.

   

9. Pop!ular

Earlier, Glock from the candle thieves had cut one the balloons from their set loose and it had floated up into the rigs. The balloon must have popped because the ribbon fell down right in front of D just as he started his routine but he didn't react.

I still love this routine. So much fun. D had changed to lyrics to “Hollywood will listen, everyone will beckon”. Not sure if that was deliberate or not. 

Another tongue in cheek addition to the lyrics made me laugh. D sang the line “ I'm willing to sleep my way to the top” and then whispered “ I'm not”. hehe.

   

 

10. Hot Tub Blues

Tonight’s hilarious addition to the lyrics was “I said "Bitch, I can't hardly read (don’t undress me with your eyes Glasgow)”.

There was quite a bit more cheering. :D ;) :)

   

11. I Don't Know You Anymore

“I know I never really treated US right”. That little lyric change choked me. You can still feel the pain in that song when D sings it. Its absolutely beautiful. D’s got this very special ability to pour emotion into his voice and performance.

   

12. Affirmation

This song makes me so happy. Tonight was no exception. I'm fairly sure D saw me at the end giving it everything I’d got. I dread to think what I looked like. But I was genuinely so full of joy. :D

   

13. The Siren's Call

Awww I love it.  It’s a bit of a roller-coaster when it follows affirmation. Affirmation makes me so happy, and the siren’s call does too, but for very different reasons. Affirmation makes me happy because it’s so positive and stands for everything I do, and the siren’s call makes me so happy because you raise you arms to the chant, and stand and sing defiant that you chased the demons away.

   

Encore:

14. Insatiable

I adore Alice’s voice I have decided. She sounds so good. I love her singing Snap but I do wish for just a few lines from D as well. I still live in hope.

15. Bloodstained Heart

“ I'm gonna have to go but will leave you with something sweet”. That line he just said, awwwwwww. 

This song is so vivid in my memories from the Glasgow show. It was a real defining moment. Once again defiant. It was incredible. Everyone singing. It reminded me of the amazing night on the 2011 tour in Glasgow when everyone cried, D included. There was less tears this time for people. Just.

   

After the show.

The first thing the girlies said was ‘no Casey’. I've got to be honest, I was so lost in the set I hadn't noticed. I was a little gutted once they had told me. 

Comparing the show from Newcastle last night and Glasgow tonight we could see now how nervous D was last night. He had 110% more interaction with the audience tonight. More sex face. He seemed a lot happier. Definitely one of my fave shows. Tonight was incredible. The love in the room was amazing; it tried to ambush me a few times. I LOVED IT :D Thank you D for making my purple heart so happy. Love you.

We got back to the hotel and I ran upstairs to see if my camera was in the room. I thought I’d lost it. Thankfully it was on the bed, it had just got buried under my pillow. Hilary and Kelly came upstairs only to discover Kelly had left her cookies in the vending machine. Kelly went and retrieved them, only to decide she wasn't enjoying them. I practically died laughing a second time when I choked on my crisps. Damn chest infection!

..and why is the fish and chip shop closed at 10pm on Saturday night? 

Then the craft knife struck again. It was being used to try and get into my stupid travel toothpaste tube and poor Hils thumb became a casualty. sorry hils! (That damn toothpaste tube was a nightmare. later in the tour it squirted straight into my eye. that burns like hell people. don't do it!)

Bedtime called. A bit of a lie in before we waved off Hils and hopped on the plane to L.D.N.