The long one for the Who Convention!

At last, after four days I can relive the magic and give a few details...

So Friday night, after work, I went to the Goldhawk where a lot of Who nuts, as I call them, were there. People with whom I've been communicating through chatrooms and blogs and never met before. People like the organizer, Ron, my friends Mike and Dino, our blogger friend Meg, Paul who gave me my ticket and cool Mr T, aka Tom Matchett, the MC of the Convention. I had a fantastic Who discussion with "Haribomort". Mate, you have to repeat your name, too dizzy that night to remember it!

As the evening went on, I heard that the Who-nut supremo, Irish Jack Lyons was coming and my heart started beating fast. For those who don't know, Irish Jack is a legend among the Who fans: he was and still is the Who's oldest and greatest fan, knowing the group since they were the Detours. He has written numerous articles, books and stories for the Who and Pete has based Quadrophenia's Jimmy on him. He is still a true Mod and I should say quite handsome!!!

So here I am with him...



...isn't he adorable?


Happy people: Paul, my ticket angel is in the middle and our Meg is far right

At around 10.30 the Wholigans did an Unplugged improptu mini-gig. The Wholigans are the longest running tribute band around. I saw them at the 2003 Convention and they were fantastic, couldn't wait to see them again.
They played A Quick One, Substitute and Magic Bus before I left and they certainly set the mood for the next day!

Barry "Roger" and Chris "Pete"

Next day, was no April Fool's. The day of the Convention was here... I was in a daze. I don't know how I got to the Bush Hall. I got in and the Who's Who were doing a sound check, playing Sparks. The hair on the back of my neck were up and I had tears in my eyes.

I met Simon who treated me like an old friend! We talked about the Attic, the contest I won, his fabulous songs and, guess what else? Blogging! He told me that he'll start blogging again before the end of the tour! Hurrah!!!!

I was going to film the action at the Convention, something that made me happy, especially when I was thinking that I would be at the very front!

I got set up and was ready to shoot just when the doors opened... I was on duty!
I started going around filming the place. Bush Hall is very beautiful and it was full of memorabilia, scooters, a replica of Keith's Pictures of Lily drumkit, John Entwistle's bass guitars, signed photos and millions of other things... I tried to capture everything.
Unfortunately, because I was filming all the time I didn't take a lot of pictures.
I had a break for a Coke and at 3pm Irish Jack came on stage and read stories and poems. I got very angry because people at the back were talking loudly, which I found disrespectful. He was saying very interesting stories about, I suppose, their favourite band and for the purpose of their visit, so why didn't they shut up and listen?

The one thing he said that made my heart beat like Keith Moon was hitting it with his drumsticks, was that Mrs Kitty Moon was in the building! I have been wanting to meet her for many years.

So, after Who's Who played the entire Quadrophenia, with their drummer, Paul Kemp, being a Keith very close to the real thing I run upstairs and greeted the sweet lady. She smiled and listened to me patiently... How many people have told her what I was telling her about her son? Thousands I suppose. But she was looking at me like she heard them for the first time.

This picture was taken by Keith's niece!

I also met Keith's sister, Lesley. A lovely woman, smiling, friendly and I should point out, reminding me a lot of Keith. And two girls, Keith's nieces, who were laughing with my silly jokes and listened attentively to my Keith related follies... What a lovely family, the Moons...

Ace's scooter from Quad

Photo taken by Delbut!

At around 5:30 Casbah Club came on stage. I started pointing at my camcorder and asking people to let me go at the front! Move away, Simon's on stage!!! So here I was at the very front! Casbah Club are incredible! The songs are so energetic and I think everybody felt that. Any Way She Moves is just THE song of the moment!

In the middle of their set I heard someone behind me saying "Look who's here!" I turn on my left and who do I see? None other than Mr Roger Daltrey, standing right next to me! I acted professionally of course and didn't scream, and kept on filming. In a few moments Simon called him on stage and all hell broke loose. People went berserk! I have never seen grown up men shouting "I love you" to another man - not even in Mykonos! But all the tough, tattooed, bearded guys were shouting "I love you, Roger" one after the other...

Roger was the coolest of the cool and sang two songs: Behind Blue Eyes and Substitute. He was stunning looking, relaxed, smiling and I loved him even more after that, if possible! Simon was sooo good singing and playing with Roger!

After...recovering and coming back to reality the Wholigans came on stage to finish us off!
Barry asked us "How do you follow Roger?"
Well, I think they did a pretty good job.
Their energy was amazing, all four of them were really into the whole thing. When they sang Shakin' All Over... I was! Absolutely amazing!

I left the place dizzy, happy, amazed and staaaarving, since I hadn't eaten the whole day.
But for me, music is the food of life!!!