Ode To Gareth
He may have a stammer He'll wear a white suit On his wedding day, With his two-two-one hairstyle He could be the next Bond, |  |
Back in December 2001, I got into "Pop Idol". I'd watched the first couple of episodes, but nothing since. Until that fateful December, that is! It was a hectic time at work, and I enjoyed watching the young hopefuls as I grabbed some dinner before going back to work. (I worked at a youth and conference centre, and we hosted Christmas Dinners.) I was hooked until the end of the series!! :)
Over the weeks, I had my favourites, but there was no-one special really. Then, one fateful night, when it was between Gareth, Will, and Darius; Gareth sang his rendition of the Beatles song, "Yesterday". I was truely blown away by his voice, and haven't looked back since. (I actually wrote the above poem that night!)
My admiration of Gareth escalated with the help of the youth group I ran as part of my job. When I eventually fulfilled my contract and decided to move on, I departed with many things Gareth, including tickets to see him and Will in concert in Nottingham that October!! I was far from disappointed :))
The first time I went on a Gareth trip, was Friday 4th October 2002. I went to a CD:UK preview with Craig David and Gareth. Words cannot express how utterly gob-smacked I was to be able to stand a mere 4 foot or so directly behind him for his 20 minutes recording time!!! (Unfortunately, he never turned round to shake hands with those behind him between takes. Myself and the girl next to me were going to try to attract his attention, but thought better of it!)
The second time I saw Gareth was the fabulous concert with Will on Thursday October 17th 2002 - a night I will never forget for a variety of reasons. I took along one of my ex-youth group members for company. The events of that night will be our eternal secret!!! (OK, so I got a bit lost in Nottingham!)
Gareth trip number 3 was the National Music Awards in Hammersmith Apollo, Sunday 27th October 2002. There had been high winds resulting in a cancellation of trains, and hence a very long and interesting journey by myself and a girl from church I decided to treat! (Let's just say you should never trust London bus drivers when it comes to local tube news!)
Friday November 1st 2002 was my craziest Gareth trip ever! I found out the night before that Gareth was doing an album signing in Leeds. So I took the 4 hour drive (and park and ride) up there!!! I also did my Christmas shopping to make the trip worthwhile :) That's a day I will NEVER forget!!! :))
My next Gareth trip was 21st December 2002. I arranged to meet a few Gaz-ets outside the CD:UK studios. I baked a big batch of biscuits for Gareth's Christmas present, plus a few for us mere Gazet's to share. We were not disappointed :)
My last Gareth trip was when I won a competition in a local magazine for tickets to his "Go your own way" tour 6th March 2004 at Wembley. I won them and dragged my friend Hay along from Dorset for good measure. Fantastic!! We were upgradded through another friend, Maria, and ended up with 9th row seats! A night we won't be forgetting in a hurry!!!
I miss my spontaneous Gareth trips, but hope I can resume them again soon. Even though I have moved and it takes longer to get down to London now!!!
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