Thumbs Aloft

Today the highlight was a fab Macca concert in Manchester...it was raining, of course, so I had taken my lovely brolly with me (see my Blip 3rd Nov). On entering the MEN Arena we were all searched. My bottle of Bacardi was thrown (it was empty anyway!) and Graham was asked if he had any sweets in his backpack!! I was then informed that I couldn't take my brolly into the concert with me and that I would have to put it into a bucket at the side of the doors with a thousand other brollys. What?! My gorgeous brolly which cost a small fortune. No way! Would I ever see it again if I plonked it into a bucket with less glamorous brollies? I doubted it. I asked the steward if there was anywhere else I could put it (aside from up his...) where I would be guaranteed to get it back on leaving the concert. No "madam", he said. I didn't know what to do. "You can choose not to come in, "Madam", he said, "but you will have to decide...the brolly or Macca!" (He didn't really say that last part). So, I walked off and wondered where I could leave the brolly. I went down to the train station and asked the guards on the barriers....no, they weren't allowed to look after it. I asked the guy in the ticket office, no, he wasn't allowed to look after it either. I asked if he could just stick it in lost property and then I could collect it on Friday when I'll be back in Manchester....guess what he said? No, not allowed to. He was very nice though and told me to find the platform manager to see if he could help. So, I went to find him...a big, burly, bouncer of a man....would he be interested in the plight of me and my brolly?!! Straight away, he opened up his office, put my brolly on the desk, locked the office up again, told me to ask any of the station staff to radio him on his walkie-talkie once the concert had ended and that he'd come back to the office and give me my brolly. He did exactly that. What a gent and I was so relieved to find someone with a bit of common sense and without a jobsworth attitude....so Mr Platform Manager you are my star of the day (if not the whole year)....he even asked about the concert. What a top bloke! I'm sure you'll all think I'm barmy making a fuss over a brolly....

Anyway, about the concert: I have been a Beatles fan since I was 12 or 13 years old...that's for over 30 years!! I first became obsessed with their songs when I was learning to play the guitar and I am still a fan. I've been to a fair few Macca concerts over the years and he never disappoints. He is like Ken Dodd (& Elvis Costello) in the way that, once he takes to the stage, he doesn't want to leave it. The concert was almost 3 hours long which is fairly amazing these days. He sounded great, he looked great and he can rock. He's also amazing in the way that he is a trillionaire (at least) and yet he has a way of relating to normal folk. He told some funny little tales about meeting the president of Russia; his grandchildren giving him tattoos; Jimi Hendrix asking Eric Clapton to tune his guitar and even the weather in Manchester...he is funny. Macca, you're a top bloke....fab Macca, thumbs aloft forever!


Oh and then, on the way home, the train broke down. So we all had to pile onto another train after a 20 minute delay. The guard gave a ten minute speech over the tannoy explaining about the delay....something to do with the doors possibly opening once the train was in motion and about how safety is their top priority....but nobody was really bothered, there was a good atmosphere and the train staff couldn't have handled the situation any better. Phew...good job I hardly have any big do's out....I can't cope with all the drama!!