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.:: Concert & Meeting Reviews - Fan Experiences ::.

Dianne Scott- Manchester LP, 2 May 2004

Such excitement as I awoke that morning!!..Though I had to travel for almost an hour alone on a train, the journey was a mixture of lovely thoughts of what was to come, meeting new though good friends, looking so forward to hearing Darren’s album, then knowing I would meet him, speak to him, hug him, have a picture taken with him!! Such joy! These thoughts filled my head on the hour long journey…I was met at the station by Victoria, she held up a banner saying DIANNE SCOTT TO MEET DARREN HAYES!..LOL…We hugged like old friends then set off on our adventure of a lifetime. We walked round the city for a while getting properly acquainted with each other, then Vicky suggested we went for lunch to a lovely Chinese restaurant, where we spent a lovely hour eating, chatting, looking forward so much to the next few hours! I must have had something on my mind, because when we got up to leave, I walked out of the restaurant without going to pay!!…Vicky had to call me back, Oh my goodness, I was so embarrassed!, but Vicky and I laughed so much outside. We then decided to try and find the actual studio where the LP was taking place, and waited there for our friends Andrea and Adele who came by car and were parking in the studio car park. Meeting Andrea was so special as we have been forum friends from the very beginning of Darren’s solo career and had never met in person before. Oh, how excited we were! We all then headed off down to Starbucks coffee shop where we met some more Darren devotees and after coffees and muffins, we all set off back to the studio, so excited, nervous and happy all rolled into one! We joined the queue already forming and I was happy to see and hug some friends I had already met previously through Darren’s fan club. Eventually, we were ushered inside, sat ourselves down, smiling at each other, so happy! We knew too that somewhere close by was Darren! Anyway, when everyone was seated, Leonie came to the front (she is so pretty!) she welcomed us all and said Darren wanted us all to hear his album first and that we would love or hate it, but that was how it would be. She then put the cd into the player and left us. The music started…..WOW!! It kinda jumped up and grabbed you instantly! I looked at Andrea, we squeezed each others hand, smiled and nodded…he was back!!…..but in such a different format, it was almost a shock, but then again not..I was so proud of him at that moment, so proud that he had done this album for him, about him. I remember feelings running through me with each track unfolding, I made notes as each song played through, gave marks out of ten for that first listen, knowing as I marked that when I heard it again and again these marks would most certainly change time and time again…Track number 1, I gave 10 straight away, track number 2, 9 and so on..until track number 5…halfway through I had to double the mark to 20….Oh, there were such sounds, electronic sounds, vocals weaving through my senses, Oh!! They were magical, magical moments/memories that will stay in my mind forever, such joy, plus some sadness that he could ever feel the way the lyrics told us, then one or two of the songs, I immediately thought, Oh No…not sure about that, the background beat over-shadowing that beautiful voice. Then another song so overcome this odd 1 or 2, with such sensuous, slow vocals that made my throat tighten, tears flow onto my cheeks, but at the same time making me close my eyes whilst smiling, swaying with the music, sounds and vocals flowing through me!.Then it was over and before we knew it, he was there!! and I was thinking of a line in a beautiful song* Killing me softly with his song* Janet from the forum had brought this song into our minds regarding how she felt about seeing him at her LP..and it was so true, the song fitted the moment so well…He strolled into the room like an old friend, which of course he is! He thanked us all for being there, for supporting him etc. I was smiling so widely, so happy I could not breathe! He spoke at length to us all, thanked us, explained about what the album meant to him, how he hoped we liked it, but knew some wouldn’t. He then asked for questions and Andrea was the first one to put her hand up. It went on and on and such great questions were asked and answered, someone asked about the first track, the dark lyrics as the guy asking the question related so well to a time in his life he felt like the words in the song told…Darren answered so well, how he wrote some of the songs at a time when he was down etc, and he openly told us he had to have regular therapy every week for quite a while. The questions were very interesting, as were Darren’s answers to them too…he captured us, held our minds as he spoke. I was listerally shaking, because though I did not know what to ask him, I just had to ask him something! So I put my hand up nervously, my heart banging so loudly, he smiled and nodded at me, said Hi and I suddenly realised I had to speak! Oh my goodness…my voice came from somewhere, I said Darren, I think I already know which is my favourite song, which is yours..and he told me track number 7 and why so…he went on at length explaining about it, and all this time, he was looking straight at me, it was lovely..he finished answering my question, turned away, then looked back at me and said, by the way, which is yours?..Oh dear, I was so taken aback, I could hardly say the words, track number 5 he then told me all about writing that, where he was at the time, which will be obvious when you see the title!..I thanked him then and he went on to the next person and so on, he was so descriptive in his answers too. I know he answered more questions than Sharon hoped he would, because time was precious, but he went on and on for us all, he was so sweet! It was then time to go and meet him, have a chat and a photo taken with him!..I waited my turn, watching him all the time, he was so lovely and friendly with everyone. When it was my turn to go forward, I became so calm, I just walked towards him, smiling and saying thank you for this Darren..he smiled and said Hi, thanks so much for coming today, how are you?..He then took my d-zine out of my hand, I had it open at a page I wanted him to sign, he started looking for Wally pics, but there wernt any in this one, he said, Oh, I miss him so much, but he is coming over in a couple of weeks, so I asked him, are you planning on staying in the UK for a while then Darren?..he said, Oh, I am living here now, plan to stay for at least a year!!..Oh yes I thought! I said to him, it is wonderful of you to do this, you will never know what it means to such as me and  everyone else, he said again, No, thank you for being here, supporting me, he then asked my name and how to spell it, wrote in my d-zine, Hi Dianne, it was GREAT to meet you, love and hugs, Darren xxx awww, he was so lovely, he then asked me for a hug, and we hugged so tightly and I said again, Thank You So Much!!..he said, oh it’s my pleasure, I managed to pat his back as I hugged him and kissed just the side of his face in good friendship…he is so loving and giving of his time, it was wonderful for those few moments. I then had my photo taken with his arm on my shoulder, it felt so good, then I was away and looking at him chatting to Andrea, my friend, I was so happy for her too!!..Then it was over, we had to leave and went outside where we chatted to others who were just as happy as us. We hugged and laughed with each other, we all called our families and loved ones to tell them we had just come away from Darren and the lovely LP experience…What fantastic memories I took on the train journey home with me, where my husband met me at my station. I got into the car smiling, my husband asked me, was it as good or even better than you hoped?..I smiled again and said, Oh…much, much better, more than I could have dreamed..he just smiled and said Good!!..So that was my LP experience, from start to finish, I will never forget it or ever experience such a day again Im sure…Sweet dreams that night, happy memories and thoughts and sounds flowing through my mind…….Dianne Scott xx