Also forgot to mention that Prince ... as expected ... was AMAZING! I was rung by Mills as we were waiting to go into the gig to say that their 2nd nipper had been born. BRILLIANT! I even managed to get rid of my spare ticket to gay man after hearing his gay friend in the lobby on the phone to him saying there was no way he could get him a ticket. Bish bash wallop, I produce my spare one. We of course later met the man because he was sat with us. He was chuffed. One downside to the evening however was Dave (aka Alan) attempting to add humour to the evening by clapping out of time to the majority of his hits (Prince's hits, not Dave's, who to my knowledge doesn't have any). The gay man sat/stood next to Dave (aka Alan) had disappeared before the end of the gig. Now, this could just be a coincidence ... then again?!?!?!
I don't really want to say too much regarding the after-show party. My expectations were low anyway. The thought of actually seeing Prince up close and personal in an intimate gig would have been a dream come true and even the chance of seeing him play the guitar for a couple of minutes would have been worth it. The problem came when I met the rest of the people there who clearly knew more about this type of thing than me. He'd done a 2 hour after-show set on the night before and even crowd surfed. There had only previously been one occasion when he'd not shown at all ... and even then his band came out for a bit and that was a midweeker anyway. So my expectations went through the roof. I nearly wet myself, only to be told whilst were in the queue by the arena staff that Prince had released a statement to say that he was categorically not turning up tonight (Saturday 11th Aug) and neither were his band. This had never happened before apparently, so much so that people were allowed to change their tickets to another night which was f**k all use to us of course because we were flying to India the following day, so we went in anyway ... secretly hoping it might have been a double/triple bluff. It wasn't, and seeing the intimacy of the venue made it all the more harder to swallow. So why Prince was in a strop I don't know, he even finished on a strange song ... Love Bizarre was from a Shiela E album of the mid 80's. Whilst Prince also sang on the record and I think he wrote it, it's certainly not what you would call one of his hits and not meaning to sound snobby, I doubt half the audience would ever have heard of. That said, other than Dave's absurd clapping, Prince's after-show strop and me nearly crying when he opened the show with Purple Rain ... it was a belter of an evening.
So Digging Deeper is officially OUT!
Big thank you to all those who have ordered it already. Some of you have even read it!!! The feedback so far has been excellent, so thanks.
The website has been overhauled to welcome this new arrival and the Falkirk Herald have just been round to interview me regarding my latest offering.
I'd like to thank Mark Radcliffe, Suzanne Carlsson, Jenny Prowse for reviewing the book and a special thanks to actress Philippa Marshall who not only reviewed the book but recorded a podcast of the opening chapters which is now available for download from the website.
The "news" has been slack, granted, but let me try and explain. I'm now back from holiday in India and only managed to come down with a "bug" when I got back. So I've been ill, but other than that had a fantastic time.
The South was not nearly as harsh on the senses as the North, but it was still very much India where everything is done to an extreme. Visited tea plantations, many temples, an orphanage, did jungle treks, had leeches on me and on a whim, had a suit made 3 hours before leaving to return to the UK, delivered to our hotel room in person by the nice man in the shop.
When I got back, Digging Deeper was waiting for me ...
You'd have thought Connor had learnt from his last expedition to India, but clearly not ... having just spent nearly £100 in Boots on just about everything the store had to offer ... including about 18 litres of hair frizz reducer for Gemma (the days of me needing it are long gone).
We fly out a week today. May the force be with us!
However, for those of you who check the website and keep up to date, I'm making limited edition copies available for pre-order at £1 off the RRP ... and chucking in P&P for free. It's just a small way of saying thanks to those people who have supported me in the past and keep tabs on what I'm up to.
To pre-order a copy, go to www.leecrompton.com
Prince is less than a week away. I repeat, Prince is less than a week away. Knowing I'm seeing him next Saturday at the o2 arena has meant I've managed to recapture the childlike excitement of Christmas.
I was frenzied with anticipation anyway but then Gemma emailed me some of the reviews from the shows so far and I nearly wet my pants.
What's more, I'm having to sell 2 of my tickets on Ebay because Matt and his Mrs can't make it. Terrible shame really because my first visit to see the purple one was with Matt some 17 years ago. So there I was, looking at the o2 website to suss the arena layout so I could include it within my description, and suddenly, the words "AFTER SHOW PARTY" leapt out at me. Long story short, I've managed to get tickets. Doors open at 11.30pm after the gig and it shuts at 4am. The excitement dial has just gone off the radar.
Before we go any further, I apologise for lack of updates and news on the latest book release. I can report I'm not merely spending my time watching rugby, doing the garden, going to concerts and playing on the xbox (honest). With certain events - which will be revealed later - Digging Deeper is now set to be available in early September. For the lucky couple of people who keep up to date with the website, I'm proposing to make limited edition copies available for pre-order on the website in August, so keep your eyes peeled.
As for Genesis, they were superb, although the audience was mainly made up of men my Dad's age wearing sensible shoes with faux leather jackets slung over their shoulders (some even wore dark shades). Next stop, Prince at the O2 arena (millenium dome) in August.
This weekend I'm off to the Debut Authors Festival at the Treverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Friday at 7pm is the "jam session" where budding young hopefuls get 4 minutes to read their work in front of a distinguished panel. I guess it's a bit like X-factor for writers (just without crap singing and a man who wears his trousers to close to his armpits)
Sunday, there's a discussion on the pros and cons of creative writing courses. I hope there' a lot of cons ... cus I haven't been on one (does it show?)
