Hola!
Wow. That sums up everything, really.
Wow. That sums up everything, really.
Two weeks ago, I flew from Valencia to London for what was certainly the most spectacular few hours of my life – BEYONCÉ. Things didn’t start off too well when we were delayed for 2 and a half hours in Valencia but nobody ever came to tell us... Indeed, 20 minutes after the flight should’ve left, the screens simply switched to ‘retrasado’ and there was uproar in the queue at how nobody came to inform us, they just left us standing at the gate without members of staff nor a plane. Still, I managed to understand and participate in the negative talking of the airline, so there was a benefit to the day nonetheless.
Finally arriving in London, I met Rach and wished her
Happy Birthday with a card and a Millie’s Cupcake and after having a rest back
at her flat, we wandered from Victoria down to the Thames for dinner – I had
the best nachos EVER and it was so great to catch-up and tell her about all the
wonderful features of Spain. Later that evening, we went back home and had Ben
& Jerry’s while watching Family Guy on BBC3, something I often watch when
I’m at home – It was good to be back!
On Friday, Rach went to sign in at Uni while I popped to
Starbucks for lunch. We then wandered along the Thames in the sun (This was
definitely a good weekend to be in London, it was surprisingly warm) and we had
lunch near the Tower of London. That afternoon, Rach went to class while I went
and wandered Oxford Street – I’d packed very little into my hand luggage (surprisingly
for me,) and so thought I’d buy a few new things to take back to Valencia.
Incidentally, I could find hardly anything I liked and only bought 2 t-shirts
and a new necklace. Later that day, Beyoncé published a web store page to buy
tour merchandise and there were several cool t-shirts. I anticipated quite
steep prices and so I knew spending less on Oxford Street meant I could justify
buying something the following evening.
As a sub-story, anybody who knows me will know that I’ve
been an ABBA fan from a very young age, since the age of 4 or 5 in fact, and
this ignited my interest in both the solo careers of the four members and also
in Swedish music in general. My favourite solo career is that of Agnetha, or “the
blonde.” Indeed, after the crazy ABBA years and 3 English solo albums in the
1980s, apart from the cover album of 1960s standards released in 2004, she has
taken a back seat in the music industry, understandable after the near-hysteria
that surrounded her ABBA life. often described as a “recluse” or the musical
equivalent of “Greta Garbo.” Indeed, for me as a fan it is clear to see she
suffered some sad and traumatic experiences but I’ve seen pictures of her and
she’s had small public appearances over the years. However, the global press
tended to ignore these and maintain the “recluse” story. Nevertheless, a few
months ago it was announced she was released her first album in 9 years, and
her first with original material in 25 years. Big news. Even bigger news was
that she would be travelling to London for a promotional tour, the first time
she’d have been in London in 25 years AND she happened to be around the same
weekend I was travelling to see Beyoncé. It later transpired that she would be
appearing at G-A-Y in Central London – Her first public appearance of this
type, again in 25 years. She wasn’t performing, she was literally coming to say
a few words, no doubt wave to her adoring fans and a few minutes later, she’d
leave the stage and go off into night. Despite this, many fans had flown in
from Europe, America and Australia for this brief glance of her – THIS is how
big this was...
That evening, Rach left London to go on holiday and I met
with Chris, Mike and a few other ABBA fans for dinner which was cool –
obviously chat mainly consisted of discussing the exciting events that would unfold
the next day. We were advised to be there at 12pm on Saturday to collect
wristbands which would give us reduced entry that evening. Indeed, as I had no
plans for the Saturday, that’s what I did, and I got to meet some more fans.
Saturday afternoon, I made my way to Victoria to meet
Beth and from there, we grabbed some things to eat and headed back to Rach’s to
relax before the exciting evening to come. I didn’t really know how I felt- I
never thought I’d get the chance to see Beyoncé live, then after the failure of
getting tickets, Rach’s angel of a friend came along with spares, and I’d been
counting down for months – EVERYONE knew I was going and indeed quite a few
people had said they hoped she’d live up to my expectations. Well. She did.
She was INCREDIBLE. IN-CRE-DI-BLE. Flawless. We arrived and I quickly sauntered over to the merchandise stand to buy a t-shirt and a tour programme and we quickly took our seats, I was crazily excited. Rach’s 2 friends from Uni were sat next to us and I chatted with them quite a bit, telling then what they could expect as I’d practically seeing the whole show on Youtube, I was too anxious to wait for the show itself. Then it started and I screamed, sang and danced for 2 hours, just like she did. Indeed, she played the whole two hour set in one go with the exception of being off-stage after every 3-ish songs for a costume change but in less than 2 minutes she was back and powering herself through the next song. It was quite literally flawless in every sense of the word – Her performance, her vocals, her band and backing dancers and there were some great lighting sequences which created the perfect ambiance. A Highlight? Hard to choose. Perhaps Run the World/ End Of Time/ Why Don’t You Love Me/ Single Ladies/ Love On Top. She also sang her new song, which is yet to be released, “Grown Woman.” Indeed, this song probably received the least audience reaction as nobody knew it, but being the fan that I am, I sang the whole way through. As soon as it had started, she was thanking us for having come and in a flash; she’d left the stage for the last time. It was the quickest 2 hours of my entire life, especially when I think of how long a 2 hour exam can feel, for example. She was just absolutely phenomenal and she far exceeded any of my expectations.
When we left the O2 I almost felt quite deflated: I couldn’t believe the spectacle that I had just witnessed, but at the same time, after all of the waiting and anticipation, it was ALL over. This said, I was on SUCH a high. We left the O2 at 11.15ish and Agnetha would be on stage at 12.30. However, the tube was full and queues were huge and so I began to worry I wouldn’t get there in time. It almost felt like fate, that we were in London at the same time and I just had to be there. Eventually after some crowded tube rides and getting lost following my iPhone, I arrived at the venue and managed to get in about 12.20. Thankfully, she was running late and so I slowly pushed myself through the dense crowd and managed to reach the 3rd/4th line of people back from the stage. As I stood there waiting to see her, i couldn’t quite comprehend what was about to happen – was she REALLY going to be standing in front of me? This woman, whose music I have listened to for the best part of 15 years, who I’d watched in so many performances and interviews and I had seen in thousands of photos – was she really about be standing a few meters in front of me? In the back of my head, I doubted it and thought something would change, something would go wrong. Just before appearing, I saw her stylist pop her head around the stage door to gage the size of the crowd – I recognised her and after seeing her, I knew Agnetha HAD to be here. A few moments later, the owner of the club introduced her, and there she walked on, waving, blowing kisses and bowing to the incessant adulation that the crowd were throwing at her. I was just in awe. I thought Beyoncé was incredible, but this, this was something well and truly phenomenal. She tried to speak but the roar of the crowd drowned her out. She looked so beautiful and well (especially for a lady of 63,) she beamed with pride and happiness and was clearly pleased to be there. I couldn’t quite comprehend that this woman, my idol, who had been in my life almost as long as my life itself, was there, right in front of me and I was simply dumbfounded. I got a little emotional at what was happening, especially after being on such a high after Beyoncé. This was just magical. After saying a few words, it was announced that a ton of balloons would be dropped from the ceiling and in 10 there were tickets to go backstage to meet her. I was quite the emotional wreck by now and I decided that I’d rather keep my eyes watching her on the stage – This IS why I was here, after all. Still, there was no guarantee I’d find one and I could miss something on stage. Indeed, I would have. As people continued to search, she was presented with a bunch of flowers and they played Dancing Queen, and she DANCED and MIMED to the opening part of the song. AWESTRUCK. It was just absolutely incredible to be seeing this, and after so long, I knew I was so lucky to have been there to witness the moment. After a few points at the crowd (“see that girl”... though I don’t think there were ANY there,) she left the stage and left a bunch of people who had been incredibly moved by what had just happened before us.
She was INCREDIBLE. IN-CRE-DI-BLE. Flawless. We arrived and I quickly sauntered over to the merchandise stand to buy a t-shirt and a tour programme and we quickly took our seats, I was crazily excited. Rach’s 2 friends from Uni were sat next to us and I chatted with them quite a bit, telling then what they could expect as I’d practically seeing the whole show on Youtube, I was too anxious to wait for the show itself. Then it started and I screamed, sang and danced for 2 hours, just like she did. Indeed, she played the whole two hour set in one go with the exception of being off-stage after every 3-ish songs for a costume change but in less than 2 minutes she was back and powering herself through the next song. It was quite literally flawless in every sense of the word – Her performance, her vocals, her band and backing dancers and there were some great lighting sequences which created the perfect ambiance. A Highlight? Hard to choose. Perhaps Run the World/ End Of Time/ Why Don’t You Love Me/ Single Ladies/ Love On Top. She also sang her new song, which is yet to be released, “Grown Woman.” Indeed, this song probably received the least audience reaction as nobody knew it, but being the fan that I am, I sang the whole way through. As soon as it had started, she was thanking us for having come and in a flash; she’d left the stage for the last time. It was the quickest 2 hours of my entire life, especially when I think of how long a 2 hour exam can feel, for example. She was just absolutely phenomenal and she far exceeded any of my expectations.
When we left the O2 I almost felt quite deflated: I couldn’t believe the spectacle that I had just witnessed, but at the same time, after all of the waiting and anticipation, it was ALL over. This said, I was on SUCH a high. We left the O2 at 11.15ish and Agnetha would be on stage at 12.30. However, the tube was full and queues were huge and so I began to worry I wouldn’t get there in time. It almost felt like fate, that we were in London at the same time and I just had to be there. Eventually after some crowded tube rides and getting lost following my iPhone, I arrived at the venue and managed to get in about 12.20. Thankfully, she was running late and so I slowly pushed myself through the dense crowd and managed to reach the 3rd/4th line of people back from the stage. As I stood there waiting to see her, i couldn’t quite comprehend what was about to happen – was she REALLY going to be standing in front of me? This woman, whose music I have listened to for the best part of 15 years, who I’d watched in so many performances and interviews and I had seen in thousands of photos – was she really about be standing a few meters in front of me? In the back of my head, I doubted it and thought something would change, something would go wrong. Just before appearing, I saw her stylist pop her head around the stage door to gage the size of the crowd – I recognised her and after seeing her, I knew Agnetha HAD to be here. A few moments later, the owner of the club introduced her, and there she walked on, waving, blowing kisses and bowing to the incessant adulation that the crowd were throwing at her. I was just in awe. I thought Beyoncé was incredible, but this, this was something well and truly phenomenal. She tried to speak but the roar of the crowd drowned her out. She looked so beautiful and well (especially for a lady of 63,) she beamed with pride and happiness and was clearly pleased to be there. I couldn’t quite comprehend that this woman, my idol, who had been in my life almost as long as my life itself, was there, right in front of me and I was simply dumbfounded. I got a little emotional at what was happening, especially after being on such a high after Beyoncé. This was just magical. After saying a few words, it was announced that a ton of balloons would be dropped from the ceiling and in 10 there were tickets to go backstage to meet her. I was quite the emotional wreck by now and I decided that I’d rather keep my eyes watching her on the stage – This IS why I was here, after all. Still, there was no guarantee I’d find one and I could miss something on stage. Indeed, I would have. As people continued to search, she was presented with a bunch of flowers and they played Dancing Queen, and she DANCED and MIMED to the opening part of the song. AWESTRUCK. It was just absolutely incredible to be seeing this, and after so long, I knew I was so lucky to have been there to witness the moment. After a few points at the crowd (“see that girl”... though I don’t think there were ANY there,) she left the stage and left a bunch of people who had been incredibly moved by what had just happened before us.
Never did I’d be lucky enough to see Beyoncé live in
concert. Never had I even THOUGHT about seeing Agnetha live in public. Both of
these two things had just happened within the space of 4 hours and I couldn’t
quite believe it. I know it sounds dramatic, but I quite literally couldn’t
believe it. Soon after, I decided I was too mentally and physically drained and
it was time to go back to Rach’s flat. As we left the club, we decided to pass
by Agnetha’s hotel, a mere stones-throw away on the way to our respective
destinations. Just after arriving, Agnetha’s car came by but rather than
stopping, it continued past the hotel and around the next corner. It became
apparently that autograph hunters, who hunt down celebrities for their
autographs to sell them online, were following the car and so it chose not to
stop – clearly the security team looking after her were aware of these people
and what they were after. 2 minutes later, the same car came around the corner,
and I didn’t believe she was in it, but then she got out and she was THERE –
right infront of me, cms from where I was standing. Some fans had CDs and LPs
to ask her to sign – I obviously didn’t as anything I have is at home – but I
recorded a video in one hand while trying to take photos with the other.
Indeed, the autograph hunters got a little rough and so after a few signatures,
she said goodnight and entered her hotel. She used Mike’s black sharpie pen for
some of the signatures and give him the dearest smile when handing it back –
all of this I had on video and this really did put both the icing and cherry on
the proverbial cake.
Wow. I said goodbye to everyone and wandered through
London back to Rachel’s where I just sat trying to comprehend what had
happened. The next morning, I woke up and asked Beth if everything had actually
happened. I just couldn’t quite believe it, and it still hasn’t really sunk in
how incredibly special and lucky those few hours were. Magical.
The next day, I relaxed at Rach’s flat in the morning
before making my way to the train station, then to the airport and eventually
back to Valencia. I went straight to Heather’s flat as everyone had made some
tapas and I filled them in on everything and ‘Just Like That,’ it was all over.
I’ve seen a lot of my Year Abroad through the lens of
camera, wanting to document as much as possible. However, for this one night, I
was very much of the mindset that I wanted to enjoy myself and treasure each
second of the night. As a result, I took very few photos/videos and those I did
take aren’t very good as I was too busy enjoying and “living in the moment.” I
think they’re something more for me just to say “I was there” so here are a few
photos I came across online.
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