"Looking up to me for encouragement..." DB and
Spaceface get close. Picture by Total Blam Blam..
Where the sailors all meet...
(Ooops...please forgive me...I forgot to upload this story yesterday!) Here are a few pictures from the BowieNet meet and greet at Hammersmith on Wednesday. Our two winners, Kisch and gwtmh, each bought a guest along with them to this very exclusive post-gig bash. I'm sure there have already been accounts posted on the MBs, but here's a little of what I remember.
After a little panic to find our winners, we were all escorted through a couple of well-guarded doors to a small room, with a bar at one end and a couple of sofas at the other. We had dragged Spaceface along to join our four guests, because...well, because she bloomin' well deserves it. The room was populated by other meet and greet winners, industry nobs and a few of David's friends.
"There's a bar at the end where I can meet you and your
friend..." Kisch presents David with a book of the city she
is from, Saint Petersburg. Picture by Total Blam Blam.
It was touching to see everyone affected by nerves, not just Kisch and her friend*, (who had both travelled all the way from Russia and seemed particularly nervous) but also ultra-cool characters like June (aka gwtmh) and her guest Rus, seemed to be a little agitated before David's arrival.
But sure enough, after a short wait, David breezed into the room, looking for all the world like a man who had been relaxing all day...not somebody who had just performed a very energetic set for close on three hours to a sold out Hammersmith Carling Apollo! He looked great, as you can see from my pictures, and made everyone feel as at ease as they could possibly be in such a situation.
"It's a God-awful small affair, To the girl with the mousy hair..."
Actually it wasn't a small affair for gwtmh at all... as the look of
complete terror in her eyes betrays. Picture by Total Blam Blam.
Kisch was the first to grab her moment with David, and she was determined to make the most of it. After a longer chat than most got, she gave a very appreciative DB a book about Saint Petersburg, and after leafing through it for a while, he finally made his way round the room to talk to the rest of the guests and sign various bits and pieces.
I've spoken to a few people about meeting David Bowie over the last couple of years, and it seems that most of them worry about what to say, and probably their greatest fear is that the conversation might dry up. Believe me, it won't. It won't, because David won't let it! It constantly amazes me how he still makes time for this sort of thing... particularly after having just done a show, and how he manages to appear genuinely interested in what people have to say.
"Like the video films we saw..." Film buff and generous
supplier of many Bowie competition prizes, Rus Phillips,
takes his turn with the man. Picture by Total Blam Blam..
Anyway, our winners all got some time with David, and as they were ushered out, the conveyor belt delivered more people who had been promised a moment with the main man. I hung around to get some more pictures, and chatted with the likes of George Underwood and John Cambridge...two very different characters you couldn't wish to meet. Watch this space tomorrow for some great news on George's latest project.
"I'm just looking for a friend, don't have to be a big wheel,
don't have to be the end..." DB flanked by old muckers George
Underwood and John Cambridge. Picture by Total Blam Blam.
"Press your Spaceface close to mine, love..." And yet another dream is
realised. Spaceface was pretty happy too! Picture by Total Blam Blam.
*So sorry, I've forgotten your name, Kisch's friend... But be sure to send me your name and address so I can get your Hunky Dory sleeve signed. Thanx again for the Russian 'Heathen'... Very cool of you!