We started queuing around 06:45. Looking at the queue there seemed to be a lot of young girls, more in the 1D fans age bracket. A cameraman was positioned across the street filming the queue and when the doors opened he filmed the audience coming in. Once inside I took my friend up to the balcony as she had a disabled seat. I decided to stay on the balcony as the floor was filling up and there was no way I would be able to see unless I was at the very front. It was good being able to look down and watch everyone coming in. As the venue filled up you could see that there was a good age range in the audience. We were seated next to the guys who were filming the show and a lady from Matt’s management (I think) came up and put the set list in front of them. I tried to get a sneaky peak but couldn’t quite read it!
The support act was Graham Brown, a good young singer who played acoustic guitar and had a nice choice of songs. There were still people coming in right up until Matt was due to come on at 9pm and the venue was packed solid. More people were coming up to the balcony and I was trying to listen to what they were saying. I heard a lot of “I hope he sings the First Time and Just the Way You Are”. I wanted to scream this isn’t X-Factor!!! The stage crew came on and checked the guitars, put out bottles of water all along the stage and put a towel beside each instrument. I was thinking they must get a bit hot and sweaty if they need towels…the lyrics “sweat running down my neck” came into my head!! I swear my blood pressure went up at that point because I could feel my pulse racing and my heart was thumping!
The house lights went down, the stage lights came on and the band walked on in single file and took their places. The atmosphere was electric. Then Matt walked on grinning and picked up his guitar. The crowd screamed, God it was amazing. I can’t remember the order of the songs but every one was brilliant. I thought All For Nothing and Sorry were absolutely beautiful. When the set was finished the band went off and everyone was shouting more, more. Matt came back on himself and picked up his acoustic guitar and introduced WWC and encouraged the audience to sing along. The song went down really well and Matt went off. The audience started shouting more, more again and then Matt and the band came back on and performed Uninvited. The feeling and power that Matt put into the song was mind blowing. What a finale!!! My friend, who had never seen Matt since his appearance on XF turned to me and said “Oh my God, that song”. I didn’t know what to expect tonight but that was the best concert I’ve ever seen. She’s even asked to borrow my Seven Summers CD to download to her ipod. Yes guys, to use Cardie’s expression, she’s been Cardledoodled!!
When we went out into the street there was a cameraman and the lady from Matt’s management standing on the traffic island in the middle of the road interviewing a group of young fans. We waited around a while to see if Matt was going to join them but gave up after a while.
Highlights
Seeing Matt with a band. They looked really comfortable, as if they’ve been together a while. They looked and sounded like a real rock band.
Matt’s voice was absolutely stunning and the way he couldn’t keep still while he was singing was so sexy. Very difficult to get a decent photo as he would either spin round, lift his guitar in the air, start stomping or lean forward. God he looked hot!
Uninvited – well what can I say. I was standing stomping along to the song watching Matt do his thing with shivers running up my spine, hairs on the back of my neck standing up and covered in goosebumps. Time for the guitar break and Matt let rip with the guitar and started lunging forward and that’s when oh god I’m seriously blushing here guys, I felt something start to happen and had to cross my legs. Too embarrassed to say any more. I’ll let you figure it out. Hangs head in shame.
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