Friday 21 September 2018

Home Free and Jeffrey East in Birmingham, UK

The second to last concert of the European leg of the Home Free Timeless World Tour took place last night at the O2 Institute in Birmingham, UK and I want to start with that part to get the only negative part of the show over and done with. The venue itself was beautiful, but the rudeness and lack of basic people skills of most of the staff left a lot to wish for and we left there with a bit of a cloud hanging over us, not just the cloud that had been pouring down with rain on us before the show, but a cloud within. This was after a show that was absolutely through the roof amazing.

While we were waiting for the doors to open for us with regular tickets it started to rain, and it was windy. I had an umbrella and was standing next to the wall and still got quite wet. Those in wheelchairs had their own little area where they were supposed to wait, I say supposed because nobody let them in there, so they were waiting at a corner which I'm sure was even more rainy and windy. I don't mind the security staff going through everyone's bags before entering, but I do mind that they went through the bags of the people in wheelchairs outside in the pouring rain before allowing them inside. Not OK.

Also not OK was the general way they spoke to people, for no reason whatsoever. With one or two exceptions they were rude, harsh and unnecessarily unpleasant. I do not care what experiences they have, if you want people to behave at their best you treat them with kindness and respect. Period. Shame on you, O2 Institute. Shame on you for putting a damper over an otherwise amazing evening.

Right, let's get to the fun stuff!! And boy, this was a fun concert. Leaving the staff's behavior behind this was one to remember. As the tradition now is there was a sing-along to Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver) leading up to Jeffrey East's entrance. 6 of us had put on caps or hats and ginger fake beards and he loved it! We had our picture taken with him after the show, by Chance, and it was a blast!

Jeffrey was amazing as always and the audience seemed to love him, as always. I really hope you get the chance to see him live in the States. Ask for it! Demand it! He is so worth it and worthy of it!

Jeffrey asked us to help him out with something for tonight's show in London; if you are there he wants us to sing-along to his song Roller Rink, a song that is a bonus track on Rascal Flatts latest album, as he wants to live stream his part of the show on his Instagram. So start playing it on repeat! You can find it on both Spotify and YouTube. I recommend listening to Jeffrey's own version as the Flatts has changed a word or two in their rendition.



After a break it was time for Home Free and if you have watched Jeffrey's Insta Story from last night you'll hear the noise from the crowd as they are about to enter the stage (and you'll see us in our hats and beards as well). It was loud! But hurry, it'll only be there for a few more hours.

After a few songs Tim urged those who wanted to stand up and dance to do so, he said something like; "sit if you want, but whatever you choose to do, please sing-along, we love it when you do that". And wow! The audience obeyed and WOW!, the guys absolutely loved it, and so did the audience!

Sometimes it was dancing time, sometimes it was quiet time, sometimes it was loud sing-along time. It was a fantastic mix of everything of the best. At one point during Castle of the Hill the audience sang so loud that we couldn't hear the guys. And it was amazing! It was glorious. Everybody had a fantastic time, it was a party where everyone was engaged. I looked around the room and there were huge smiles on all the faces I saw. Standing or seated, singing or not. Huge smiles. The response during the show was amazing. People were allowed to sit or stand, nobody complained, everybody had the time of their lives, or very likely very close to it, and it was absolutely perfect. Well done, guys, and well done crowd. It's also nice when the guys thank you for helping them out to get the crowd going, because they love it just as much as we do. At least. Probably even more. And we love it a lot.

The comments after the show were those of joy, love, amazement and satisfaction. Perfection!

I am hoping we can beat it tonight, so if you're coming to the show in London, please join in. The guys will very likely ask you to, so don't hesitate. Join the party! It is worth it!

If you are at the London show tonight, please come and find us before it starts and say hello, we'll be wearing name badges and we'd love to have a chat with you.

And tomorrow I'll tell you all about the last concert for this time. I hope I get to tell you they ended it with a bang. No, I am sure I will tell you we all ended it with a big bang of fun, love, joy, dancing, singing and laughing. All mixed up in a couple of amazing hours. Bring it on! We are so ready!

Love//
Carina


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