Tour memories Birmingham

[Floz]

What follows is a series of personal accounts and newspaper reports, originally posted on GG............

Tour Report : Birmingham NEC 29th February 2003

Reporter : Debbie ( gareths_so_fine )

It was 6PM when I arrived at the NEC with my Friend Trish and already the place is packed , we were trying to get near the merchandise to get a Gareth tee Shirt they are really rather nice , Black with a very nice Gareth written across them BUT they are £ 24.00 , by 6.20 pm they had run out!!! The Tour Brochures are great FULL of Gareth pictures OOOOOO so Sexy!!!

We went into The Arena and sat through the support Act , 3 girls whose name was Skin Deep. They appeared to be miming but I guess it sounded ok and they DID keep mentioning Gareth which sent the crowd into 150 decibel screaming FABBY!!!

Eventually after SOOOOO many false alarms LOL when Gareth came on the Big screen and the crowd went mad making us all think it was starting , at 8.30 IT DID!!!

The set had been revealed a few minutes before , I can't really make out what it was to be honest with you but there were 2 sets of steps and platforms the right slightly higher than the left ooooooo we were going to see PLENTY of the gorgeous one!!! There was a Satalite Dish on the left hand Platform which was set on a brick looking wall !!

The house lights went down and music came and a Video screen in the back of the set showed scenes from Birmingham intermingled with CD:UK shots of Gareth, eventually Cat Deely came on and Announced Gareth on the stage YAYAYAYAY we were off !!!!

Gareth appeared on the right hand Platform Singing Unchained melody it seemed to sound more sincere, slower and such a clear strong , heart melting voice that could only be Gareth's , there he was GORGEOUS , wearing a white Tee shirt I think with a brown Jumper with a hood on it that zipped up but it was only zipped a bit at the bottom , to show the tee shirt and a grey leather Jacket and Ripped Jeans , he then walked down the steps singing , the screams were deafening !!!!

He Sang Foolish straight after without a break to speak , there were gorgeous Girls all around him , and he got every High note as easily and cleanly as saying boo FABULOUS , he was dancing soooooo well all sexy with pelvic thrusts and in perfect timing with the girls . He was laying on the floor at one point LOL singing with Girls swarmed all around him, sexy Beast LOL.

He then Sang Freak My Baby , Soul affection and just Say Yes, still Dancing like mad with all these gorgeous girls round him he honestly was never still, he looked HOT!!!! He sounded AWESOME!!!! Note Perfect.

He stopped after Just Say Yes and started to speak to us , bless him he was sooo out of breath , I worried for a moment in case it disturbed his speech…… NOPE on he went with all the professionalism we have come to expect , he told us he was working on his speech, he was fabulous , " Who, he said 2 years on would have believed that we would be here??? I would never have believed that I could stand in front of thousands of you and speak?? Everybody at this point went into rapturous applause and screaming , I think he may have been a bit emotional because he struggled a bit with the next sentence , but he won it over and off he went again, bless him. He told us that he used to be useless at telling stories , but he was going to tell us one …… because he could ….. awwwwww

He said that he had gone through so many phases in his speech , his Drummer made a rude noise with the drums and Gareth told him off and said he would send him to work with Will Young soooo funny. Gareth said he had gone through stages of ooooing and arging, sounding breathy , and tut tut tutting, he said that at this stage his parents told him he souded like Skippy , the Bush Kangaroo LOL , he didn't really like that , but so that he would keep practising they told him that there was an Audition at the local town hall for a skippy part and they had him jumping all about the room tutting , and our Gorgeous One believed it!!!!!! He confessed that he was really embarrassed now , but he had forgiven them LOL. Such a Joy is our Gareth , he told that story with No stammer whatsoever.

He then introduced all his band and his Guitarist, who was a Brummie YAY. Then on came a man with an electric Guitar for Gareth OMG he was going to play it , and MY GOODNESS play it he did !!! He played the Intro to Everybody Wants a Piece of me , he sang the song and played the Guitar ALL THROUGH, together, he and his guitarist sounded Awesome!!!!

He then sat down and sang Sentimental Acoustic with his Guitarist , Fabulous note perfect yet again , Gareth was playful and Happy and LOVING it .

He went off for just a moment announcing" I'll be back in a Minute LOL. He came back in ever such a few seconds.

He was wearing the SUNSHINE outfit you know that tight white top and the loose shirt , and tighter unripped jeans , I had to control myself because he looked SOOOOOOO damn hot , and there were more Girls , and Gareth was dancing the Lambada with them all in turn , swinging them around , wiggling those sexy hips, and doing the moves as though he had been doing them all his life , with ease and with complete confidence , once more he had a period lying on the floor lol

After he finished he asked us all if his Dancing was better LOL Because he though he was no good at it bless him , believe me he is better , he is sexy , he has it perfect , he has worked so very hard at all this . Every Time somebody shouted " I love You Gareth " , he said Thank you bless him.

He then told us that he had real trouble ordering stuff over the phone because of his speech, but he was going to order a Pizza now, because he could AWWWW bless him , he needed our help , he wanted us to shout when he asked us too , as he held the phone out to us , NO CHEESE , he said "Why can't I have cheese", and he was well impressed when loads shouted " because you are allergic to it "

So he gets his phone out and moans at it because it's turned itself off lol he fixes it and orders his pizza 12 Inch pizza with Extra chicken and Mushrooms , and then he holds out the phone and we all scream NO CHEESE.soooooo Hilarious!!!

He finishes with the Pizza call , as a man comes in with an electric Piano OOOOOOO he is going to play that now Fabby!!!!

Indeed he did , he gave us a Brilliant acoustic medley set , as he put it for the young and the older , the mums and Dads and US bless him, he sang as a medley , That,s when you know, Hard to say I'm sorry ,?? Over Time ( A Stevie Wonder song not sure of the title ), What my heart wants to say, very very moving and I could see a few tears around us!!!

He finished with that and then up he got up and said " If I said to you , I'm Caught in a trap, and can't walk out , what would you say , and we all shouted " Because I love you too much baby" LOL he went from side to side asking us to shout it , he said " well that was Rubbish " LOL and sang the song for us LOL He threw a bunch of flowers into the audience while he was singing it bless.

He then went on to tell us about his band and he got to his drummer and said " Shall I play the drums" well of course he did and can he play them OMGG he is awesome!!! And I can tell you the dropped jaws of at least 3 men around me said it all!!!!

After that his drummer made as though he was leaving pretending to be annoyed because Gareth was better than him , Gareth said " where you going?? Oh go on then he said " I can sing, I'll play the drums , LOL , needless to say the Drummer came back LOL with our Gorgeous one saying "OOOOOO you changed your mind and came back then ", cheeky boy lol Such a funny few minutes to watch .

Gareth then went off again for just a few seconds , he came back wearing the same jeans but a tee shirt which was white with a orange number 7 on it and a black jacket, he sang Club hopping darting all over the stage full of energy , loving it more and more sounding fabulous, he then sang Groove with me , still darting about lol . then off he went again LOL Back he came with a blue tee shirt on with number 72 on it and a loose blue shirt over the top , Loads of girls , and he appeared on the top of the left Platform singing " Grease is the Word " he was fabulous really looked the part and he was loving it and was loving the fact that we were loving it !!!

Off again !!! and back a few seconds later wearing a black Tee shirt and Black Jacket and Sang All Cried Out, he had a bit of fluff from the inside of his tee shirt on his face and he was trying to get it off, talk about it and sing the song all at the same time . he gave the fluff up in the end , saying " OOO leave it I'm not bothered, Where's Make up lol

After he finished he playfully shouted for his make up man , who turned up on stage , fixed the fluff and his hair a bit which had become a bit out if place because of all the clothes being dragged over it every few minutes lol.

He then got more dancers on stage all in red and sang Go your Own Way , all sexy moves again !!

He then Got a little girl called Megan from the audience who was 10 up on stage to help him Sing AOU awwwww she was sooooo cute and she was just staring at him and he held her hand and cuddled her , and she did sing a bit bless her . She went off a bit before then end of the song and Gareth finished it singing Birmigham I don't want to loose you in place of the proper lyrics Bless him!!!!

Off he went again for the final Change and the last 2 songs OOOOOOOOO It was nearly over NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Back he came wearing a dark suit , he looked gorgeous and he sang up on the right hand Platform SITS the girls were different and the routine is MUCH sexier elbows and pelvic thrusts !!!!! And Gareth Loved it as they came down onto the stage from the platform he grinning his head off he never put a foot wrong even though its different!!!!

He then finished with SUCH a moving version of SIIS he looked tired but happy , he thanked each and every one of us and every single person for the tour and all the help , he said loves us all and would ALWAYS love us all because we put him there AWWWWW bless him , He was throwing white Towels into the Audience after he wiped his face with them OOOOOO I wanted one lol , Somebody threw a Bra and he kept it LOL popped it over his Shoulder , and then all toooo soon it was over and off he went , Triumphant and I think very very Happy!!!!

This was 2 hours of PURE joy with a young man that is Brimming with Talent that this country has not seen for many a long year , Gareth is charming , Gorgeous, Determined and most of all Down to earth and he holds such Gratitude for his being where he is . He has worked SOOOO hard not just on the tour , but his speech too , he shocked a few people into silence tonight and will continue to do so . Gareth Blossomed tonight , he stamped his Hallmark all over the Music Buisness , and I now know even stronger that LONG , LONG this will continue.

--------------------

LUV

Debbie

[Floz]

The Birmingham Evening Mail Review

No Idol boast! Mar 1 2004

By Anna Jeys, Evening Mail

Pop sensation Gareth Gates proved his worth as a talented musician in the Birmingham leg of his national tour.

The crowd went wild for the Pop Idol finalist as he blasted out well-known hits like Sunshine, Suspicious Minds and Any One of Us.

As well as his impressive vocals, the young singer displayed his talents on the drums, piano and electric guitar proving he is much more than just a pretty face.

Bradford-born Gareth kicked off the concert with his massive hit Unchained Melody and the crowd responded with deafening cheers and screams.

Despite struggling with his speech slightly, he stopped several times throughout the concert to talk to the audience and thank them for their support.

After a couple of hits from his current album, he threw in a medley of some of his favourite songs including Chicago's Hard to Say I'm Sorry.

Next followed a rendition of Grease is the Word and, despite admitting to the audience that he is not a natural dancer, he kept up well with his four female dancers throughout.

The 19-year-old finished off his set with his Comic Relief single Spirit in the Sky followed by the ballad Say It Isnt So.

Judging by the crowd's reaction on this leg of his first solo tour, Gareth Gates could be riding high in the pop charts for quite some time to come.

[Floz]

Link to the people's reviews in the Birmingham on line newspaper here

[Floz]

From Gareth u sexy thing

I'd waited for this day to come for over 2 years and now it had finally arrived. I woke up dead early and couldnt stop thinking about it, in the morning i sorted out my bag putting my camera and things i wanted signing in my bag. i had butteflies in my stomach since i woke up and i was really nervous but excited at the same time.

my mate (Claire) and her mum and dd picked me up at 2.30 and we started travelling down, i was getting really nervous by now and everytime i thought about it my stomach would flip over.

we finally got there and walked to the box office and the man let us in, we all had to wait in the entrance till everyone came, there was around 30-40 people. Pepper and sweetiepie off here came and we chatted to them about Gareth and the boards (it was really nice to meet both of you) while we were waiting we heard Gareths soundcheck which sounded amazing.

Then at about 4.45 they said we could go through to meet Gareth OMG i was so shaky and nervous. we were taken into the hospitality room and there was a table at the other end of the room where Gareth would be sitting, we all queued up and me and claire were in about the middle of the line, we waited about 10 minutes then Gareth walked OMG my heart pounded. He was looking very sexy wearing an orangy t-shirt and jeans. People started going up to him and having things signed and having pics with him. Then the moment i'd longed for was finally here. I WAS MEETING GARETH GATES!!

me and claire both went up to him and he asked Claire what her name was and kelly said is that with an I and claire went yeah, Gareth started writing it and then went "what, whats it with" and kelly told him aww bless him. he signed claires album and book. The he went to sign my book and fanclub cd and he asked my name and i told him then he went "what" so i spelt it out to him n he went "oh Laura" awww hes so cute.

Then i showed him a pic of the xmas sheet that you all helped towards you know where you all gave me your pics and i transfered them onto the sheet well he looked at it and looke at kelly n went "awww this is that, you know that" and kelly says it is what you've got in your bedroom, then she aksed me if it was the advent calendar and i said no and that i sent it to the fanclub at christmas. The Gareth said "aww we aint been to the fanclub since before christmas so i aint seen it but i'll loook out for it" so i said "do you want to keep it" and Gareth goes "awww yes plz" then i gave him my prezzie (a teddy,some sweets and a good luck card for the tour) then he put the pic in the bag.

Then Kelly took a pic of Gareth and Claire (which is really good) then i had one took with Gareth (on the pic i look like im not happy but i am its just shock) then i asked if we could have one with me,claire and Gareth and gareth said yeah sure so kelly took it and we said thankyou and he said "its ok, see you soon" so we went and stood by the side and watched Gareth as he signed everyone elses studd (i took soem pics but they havent turned out coz stupid me didnt put the flash on) Then some fans were walking past the window and looked in and then they started banging on the window (bet some of you were off ere lol)

Anyway then everyone had everything signed and we had to go and before i went i had one look at the gorgeous man himself and couldnt believe i'd just met him OMG!!

we then went back to get our tickets then we started queuing up to get into the arena, we were let in at 6 o clock and i got a t-shirt, tour programme and a coloured badge then we went and found our seats. we thought they would be bad but they wernt that bad. we sat there waiting then finally 7.30 came and skin deep came on and sung about 5 songs n then there was about a 25 min break which dragged on 4 ages then finally the lights went down and it showed loads of diff pics on the big screen like aeroplanes and clocks and other atuf then Gareth came up some stairs singing unchained melody OMG he looked so fit and sexy. i cant remember what he sung next but he sung groove with me,absolutely,freak my baby, just say yes and OMG he can sure dance he was amazing hes a real little mover.

Then he was talking bout enough of me and when he wrote it n then it kicked and OMG i think that enough of me should be the next single coz when that kicked in the atmosphere was so good, everyone was tapping their feet and really getting into it he talking in between songs loads you could'nt shut him up lol i am SO PROUD of him. he talked about his stutter and about skippy the bush kangeroo but i leave that to you gys when you see the tour.

He then rung up a pizza place and it was really good and we had to shout no cheese lol!! Then he sung more songs its all gone blurry as to what order he sang them as i was and still am thinking about the meet and greet. He sung club hoppin, foolish. and at one point he lay on the floor, stomach down and stared into the camera and was blowing kisses to it OMG he looked so fit it was unbelieveable.

He had a few costume changes in between and sung more songs, soul affection, all cried out,setimental and an aucoustic medely and he sung thats when you know (OMG i was nearlly crying) he sung two other songs but dont know what they are called but he sung them amazing i dont know how anyone can say he cant sing n if they do then they are deaf, then he finshed the aucoustic of with what my heart wants to say. he also played the piano and on other songs he played the guitar and drums and OMG he was a really stud muffin lol on the drums.

He then sung go your own way and suspicious minds and then just before he sung anyone of us he picked someone from the audience and she came up on stage and sat on a stoll next to him and he sang to her and let her sing OMG it was brill. then there was a costume stage and the grease music kicked in and gareth came on stage OMG he looked the fittest ever he was wearing these sunglasses OMFG and he looked so cool, he also sung sunshine and his dancing was brill

he then went and changed for the final time and he came on sining spirit in the sky and then he said his final song was say it isnt so he sung it amazingly then he thanked us all and said he loves us all OMG luv you 2 gareth lol. he then threw a towel what he had wiped his head with into block c then he did the same with Block b and a.

OMFG guys it was the best day ever and i will NEVER EVER forget it and OMG i am so proud of him for how well he has worked on his speech hes so talkative now lol!!

sorry that its really long but i needed to write all of it down and i got the pics bk 2day and only 4 have turned out but hopefully the few i took on my other camera have turned out i should get them back 2moro or wednesday!!

OMG i cant ait to go front row now for manchester so i can good pics!!

hope you enjoy it and i will try to post the pics soon

luv Laura xx

[Floz]

Gareth and Sweetie Pie at the meet and greet

[Guest sweetiepie]

omgg thats me lolllll

thanks for those reviews they were great to read again, bought back some really good memories.

[Guest sweetiepie]

Link to the people's reviews in the Birmingham on line newspaper here

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my review was put in the paper, i still have the copy loll

[Khelda]

That is lovely Sweety pie, I am sure you treasure the paper article.

The tour was fantastic, and I want another one Gareth, do you hear?

[Yorksheather]

Just had to look at Tracie with Gareth , she did enjoy that day

[Val4Gareth]

How very nice that Tracie actually got to meet her idol before she passed away.

[Khelda]

She was always so cheerful despite her illness, she will be missed.