Also, my room had a trouser press. I'm not really sure if people still use these, but it gave my room a nice vintage feel.
All in all, the Britannia Hotel served me well. The location was perfect, the price was right, and I felt very safe. Free wifi in the lobby allowed me to skype call and check in at home, and catch up on emails before heading out to the pub for dinner and the show.Wolverhampton is not far from the industrial town of Birmingham (where Duran Duran is from!)
and from what I could tell, there wasn't much going on there, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are some great shows coming through...
Of course, that's why I was there. I was a bit disconcerted (no pun intended0 to find that the venue had moved so I got a little turned around, and when I finally found it, I couldn't help but notice that the block was mostly adult book stores. Although I really like traveling alone, I did not relish the idea of walking home late by myself on this block. I sent up a prayer for reinforcements.
When the doors opened, we raced to the front, and I felt pretty alone up there having experienced a slightly cold shoulder outside from the strangest looking set of fans I've ever seen (and you have presumably just seen my Gathering photos! We're not exactly a normal bunch).
Then, Jen & Ben arrived...having a conversation very much like one Randy and I would have. She wanted to be right up front; he wasn't sure...it's hard to describe but felt instantly familiar. We became fast friends, and I found out they had been married 10 years with 2 kids and Ben was a worship leader. They insisted on walking me "home" after, and I recognize this as yet another prayer answered.
Justin took the stage and everyone sang along. The set list was pretty different from when we saw him in July in Denver. Justin is a bigger star in the UK since his band Del Amitri had more hits and sooner over there. It was fun to hear unfamiliar songs and feel the energy of everyone knowing them.
We hung around for a bit afterwards and were invited to a meet & greet with Justin. He was fairly accessible in Denver, but I wasn't sure if he'd be in the UK; Jen was truly shocked, and it was really fun to witness their first meeting. I'm stealing a pic from her FB page...
...and Ben took one of me & Justin, this time NOT BLURRY!
The next morning, I met up with Adam Dacey, a couchsurfing contact who has just embarked on his own musical career. We discussed playing in the States and life in Wolverhampton over coffee before I headed to the train station for my next adventures in Bath.
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