Thank you very much Rosie for the report, and Pics

Rosie goes to see James at DragonCon – The Party! (part 1)

When we got to Max's, there seemed to be a problem straight away – they didn't seem to know what to do with us. So we went upstairs to the bar and where the room we thought we would be in was and waited. Gradually more and more people arrived (a lot of whom I recognised!) and then there was SteveH looking harassed. After a bit, we were all sent downstairs, out the back and onto the patio, which was covered with a high ceiling and some rather ineffective fans, but otherwise, we were outside – in Atlanta. In August. And it was HOT! SteveH was collecting our tickets and I asked if we could have them back later as I wanted to keep mine! (he said yes)

As I was one of the last ones in – I had been waiting for Squirrel to get down the stairs – there was a general scrambling for seats – the tables were very crammed in and it was certainly going to be intimate! Stephen got Squirrel a seat on the end of one table and I spotted 2 seats right in the corner against the wall, so we climbed (and I do mean climbed!) into them – once we were in, it was going to be hard to get out again!

SteveH got on the mic and apologised for the change of venue – it wasn't what he had booked and he said he and the team would do their best to make it all run as smoothly as possible. He said he knew he should have expected this when he put the t shirt he was wearing on – it said "Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't" (and I'm sure he wore it on purpose…!) then he said – "Now I know some of you don't want to eat in front of James and Gareth" so we would eat first and then they would be out. He also said that Froggy the photographer was coming along and would take pictures of each table with the boys and we would all get a copy as a memento.

James then came out briefly just to say "Hi" to everyone and told us to enjoy the food and talk to the other people on our tables as it was about making friends as well and he was going to get a drink and they would be back in a bit (he was back in the black striped shirt again and showing a bit of chest - !)

So we had food – Stephen and I had to mountaineer our way out of our corner to get to the buffet (nice garlic potatoes and spicy chicken and big choc chip cookies!) As we ate, we talked with the others on our table. We had 3 Gareth fans – 2 English, 1 French, 2 of whom were pretty quiet, then I had Katie next to me who I had seen around in the last couple of days; Janet and her friend Ritchie (who was there to accompany her as she is deaf, but he said he was rapidly becoming a serious James fan!) and another couple who were very quiet and didn't really say anything.

Before long – there was James and Gareth back out amongst us and Froggy was there to take the pictures of each table (and at this point had lost his voice almost completely so had to mainly do hand gestures!) We were the first table to be photographed, James and Gareth stood at the end, James with his arm round Gareth's shoulders, and Froggy was trying to get us all in closer. So I climbed out of my chair and went and stood by Gareth and leaned on his shoulder. As Froggy was taking pictures, I realised that right by my face was James's hand on Gareth's shoulders. So I asked – "Is that your hand James?" and yes I did take hold of it – more like linking first 2 fingers really and I hung on till Froggy finished – got a little squeeze from James! Yeah – I know, it's a bit sad, but I couldn't resist!

They moved on to the next table and I was able to grab my camera and start taking pictures. Before long, Gareth settled on the steps and James and SteveH were having a conflab by the mic – I think they were discussing if they could change the set up to make it easier for James, but it seemed like nothing could be done. Whatever they did, it was going to be difficult for James to sing – what with being outside on a street corner effectively, the noise of the waterfall behind him (kind of appropriate though now I think about it…!) traffic noise (and the odd siren) the patio being an odd sort of L shape and the fact that it was hot!

I realised I was in a great seat for taking pictures – I was facing the right way (I always like to be seated with my back to the wall so I can people watch!!) and having no one behind me meant I could stand up (well – kneel on my chair – wasn't really room to stand up….!) and not block anyone's view. It would have been nice to be closer but it was a great place for pictures.

James gots on the mic and his guitar was handed over to him and he introduces us to Pancho, his new guitar. He asked if anyone who was amongst the people who bought him Crystal the blue guitar was here and when it was negative he said he could tell us that she had her neck broken down in Mexico whilst he was filming Dragonball. He made a great comment about her being a good tour guitar because she was a bit cheap and easy (!) and he'd left her behind in a Mexican jail. He then proceeded to apologise (a lot!) for the fact that it wasn't an ideal situation for performing and the fact that the guitar wasn't amplified and was going to be difficult to hear.

James started off singing "Katie" which was lovely – he did seem to be finding it a bit awkward since he was squeezed into a tiny space, practically on top of the tables and trying to sing into the mic without Pancho banging against it. Next up was "Smile" (always a favourite of mine even if he did mess the words up a bit – hey the guy is human!) and then "This Town" James had to keep consulting his set list which he'd put on the closest table probably cos he was having to change what he sang to fit in better with the unamplified guitar. After "This Town" he said he wished we could hear Pancho and then leaned down to the set list and got some vicious feedback on the speakers– so he laughed and said "that's them trying to help me!" and consulted his set list again and said " oh this is a good song – oh! – shit! – this is the new song!"

At this point SteveH walked over to try and alter the mic amp and James said "You trying to fix it?" "I'm just trying to fix it" says SteveH walking away again. Grinning, James tells us " When he tries to fix it – I'm in trouble." Pause "When he cuts his hair really short I'm in trouble!" which made us laugh.

James told us the new song is called either "On the Moon" or "Song for Buzz", he hasn't decided yet . he wrote it in Lithuania whilst filming Moonshot and then went on to tell the story about Buzz punching out a journalist half his age that was harassing him and then suing the guy and winning! So James is worried that when Buzz sees his portrayal of him, he's going to come and deck him! Said the song wasn't really about Buzz at all – it was more about the day he threw up in his Zero G helmet and had it all come back in his face!! He said he had a temperature of 102 F most of the time he was filming and thought he was dying! (Hey – James gets Man Flu too!) – So although I didn't really listen to the lyrics properly (yes I know, I should have!) seemed to be more about missing his girlfriend and being lonely when he was ill. But I did like the song.

I was getting some great pictures – trying out with and without the flash on my camera – that was one of the good things about being outside, easier to take pictures although it was starting to get darker now – luckily my camera works well even in a low light.

James then says "I normally start my gigs with this song because I'm comfortable with it – its called Not A Millionaire…." And then he proceeded to sing the first line "I threw a pastry…." (First line of "Katie") stopped and said crossly "Damn!" and we laughed (not in a bad way!) and James apologised and said that was the problem with writing your own songs – I've always thought those two sounded very similar!

He gave up with Millionaire and went on to sing "Looking At You" - there was a bit of singing along with this one but nothing very loud as I think we were all listening hard. James kept giggling and laughing whilst he was singing this one – kept on catching people's eyes and grinning and then laughing and we are all laughing along with him. At the end of the song he said to ( I think it was marstersgirl) who was sitting right in front of him " You aint buying it baby!" then to the crowd " she's saying – why don't that guitar have a mic?" and he wished we could all hear Pancho – several times he held him up for applause!! - I could hear the guitar fine most of the time from where I was sitting – James joked several times that he could be rubbish on the guitar and we wouldn't know – he could be playing anything (not true!)

Next up was "Don't worry Son" which James said was "the hardest song I have ever played in my life, by the way. I wish I could be sitting down right now, but – hey! Screw it!" which got a cheer. He then started playing – then stopped again and said "You can't even hear the guitar!" We are all shouting back "yes we can, its fine" and he laughed and said "Eric Clapton asked me to help on his new album. I said "Eric man – I'm too busy!" Which had us all giggling! He was having problems during this song again – kept having to hitch the guitar up mid-song as "Don't Worry Son" is mostly played high up on the fret bar. He was still laughing through this one as well as he was catching people's eyes. At the end he muttered – "My kingdom for a mic" with a laugh.

Consulting the set list again (no feedback this time!) he said – "oh – this is a pretty song – I'll play it very loud!" and then went on to say about how it was about making up with your partner – " Thank God I'm a musician – I can make it up in a song" – it was London City.

Then he sang "Button Down Vandals" (always good!) and then he said " this is the dirtiest song I ever wrote" and proceeded to start singing " Looking At You" – again!

There was some quiet general murmuring as we realised he had already sung it, but no one yelled out. About halfway through the first verse, James realised what we were saying "James, you've sung that" and stopped playing. And then said "Fuck!" very loudly down the mic which had everyone cracking up laughing! So he went onto sing "Birth of the Blues" instead to finish on. We whooped and hollered him because he did such a great performance in such very difficult circumstances. I was just so glad to hear him sing!

James asked if we wanted more singing from him or more time to talk – I think the opinion was split – but James and Gareth were going to sing together – they had been practicing. But James had busted a string on the guitar on the last song (though Jean said it was actually the tuning screw that had broken so he wouldn't have been able to just change the string) and it was a vital one for rock and roll sound and so couldn't play. ! James said "We were going to sing for you, but we're going to try and make it up to you with charm" to which Gareth added "Well, James is going to make it up to you with charm – I'm going for a cigarette!"

They asked if anyone had a guitar – someone said `yes' – "on you?" asked Gareth. When the reply was negative - he sarkily said – "well that was pointless, wasn't it! Jeez!" whilst we were all laughing and shouting out – "sing it anyway!" Then someone called out "If you boys want to come back with me, I can show you my guitar!" to which James turned to Gareth grinning and said clearly down the mic "well, we have something to do tonight!"

They then had a discussion off mic, but I could kind of hear James saying "any of the other strings would have been fine, but not that one – I can't do it, not for that rock and roll sound" and although we were all still shouting "sing it anyway|", Gareth said that it was all filled in with guitar playing and it would sound awful, so they wouldn't do it which was disappointing. "Better not to do something that sucks" said James

Part 2 to come!

Rosie xx