BBC PROMS IN THE PARK WITH THE SHIRES

Sunday, 14 September 2014
So on Friday night after a horrendous week of work, feeling very tired, stressed amongst other things, I got home, went on my @shiresfans twitter account to see I had a private message. Thinking it would be the usual, a thanks for the follow message from a band or other page, I was delighted to see it was from The Shires 🙂

They kindly asked if I wanted tickets to see them at BBC Proms the next day. I was in total shock and said yes right away before even working out how to get there but nothing was going to stop me as this was going to be such a good show for The Shires and to be part of that experience was something not to be missed.

On Saturday I was a bit rushed as had a hair appointment that I could not cancel and had to rush straight to London after.

When I got there we were surprised to find we had guest passes and got to go through the Guest entrance to the guest area with guest bar, food, seating and more importantly guest toilets which meant no queue and no disgusting overflow of nasty surprises.

We set up a blanket spot and sat down and watched Si Cranstoun who was really good and a great voice. He was followed by Richard and Adam who came third on Britain’s Got Talent a while back who were pitch perfect. I remember watching when they were on and thinking they should have won but those boys clearly did not need to win as were that good.

I think next was 20th Century Boy and then of course The Shires. I made it clear I was going to leave our comfortable blanket haven and run to the front to see and support The Shires. Like the big geek I am I had on my Shires T shirt, now there is an unspoken rule that you do not wear the shirt of the band you are going to see but this was different, I had to represent and show the love and It was important to me that The Shires could see support right at the front as a festival is daunting as you never know who in the audience knows you or not. I was, I must confess, terrified I would end up on TV though but luckily escaped the big screen.

When The Shires came on the crowd cheered and the atmosphere was exciting. Crissie wore a lovely poncho and a very nice Redish skirt, by the way Crissie, I am very jealous of your legs.

They kicked off with Nashville Grey Skies which got the crowd going. Crissie then saw me and gave me a little wave, at least I think it was me she was waving at haha, oh well, I waved back anyway so if it wasn’t then hey ho. I also got a nod from Ben and was pleased they saw me and knew that I was grateful to be there.

Now I may get the order of set list wrong as I have a shocking memory. But the set list included Nashville Grey Skies, Made in England, Brave, Black and White, Tonight and the cover of Young Hearts Run Free.

I tried to get great photos but broke my camera a while back so had to rely on a not so good camera phone but did what I could.

The sound was amazing and you could not fault the vocals. They split the crowd for Tonight and this time I was on Bens side, I could barely hear Crissies side which was a shame but it may have just been because it was a large festival and Bens side were, if I am honest overpowering. I am glad that the crowd responded though and joined in. Sadly I don’t think the comedy of Made in England came across as well as it does in a smaller venue but that’s only because of the setting and people are everywhere either watching, listening or chatting but I do not think it affected the brilliance of the song in any way at all, however I do enjoy listening to people laugh when they hear it for the first time.

Brave was flawless and they announced it was the title track for their album which will be released on January 12th and you can pre order it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Shires/dp/B00KHEUC9S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410707113&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shires+album

I was sad when it was over but they definitely won over a whole new fan base and I have seen many new tweets from new fans which is very good. Lots of people are stating how they stole the show which they did and I am not just saying that as a fan but from an honest opinion as I have seen many of my favourite artists get upstaged at festivals but this was not the case for The Shires as they really did steal the show and I felt very proud and honoured to be there.

Afterwards I went to go and get some food and as I came back to go to where we were sat I saw Ben, I thought, “ooh better get rid of my food before I go and say Hello” so I dumped it where we were sitting and went to go and say hello. I thanked him for the tickets and told him how grateful I was and that they did not need to do that for me and how appreciative I was to get to see such a large build up to their ever growing career. I did not use those exact words as was more of a blubbering idiot but that’s what I meant to say anyway. Bens girlfriend was also there whom I had met before at The Gibson Guitar Studio showcase. She was as lovely as ever and was so happy that I came along, which I said of course I came along. We spoke about how great the performance was and I asked if it was scary performing in front of all those people and Ben said it was an amazing experience and he enjoyed it.

I am so so grateful to the kindness The Shires have shown me since I started my Shires fans account and am honoured to have been given the tickets last night and will not forget it. To have been there was such an amazing, exciting experience and I hope their career continues to climb in the direction it has been. The love Radio 2 have for them is so great that I have no doubts that they will only get bigger and bigger.

I also really enjoyed Earth, Wind and Fire and was surprised how many songs I knew and danced the whole set through. Overall, what a night.

I look forward to The Homegrown Tour with Ward Thomas as am going to Bristol and Milton Keynes. You can get tickets here : http://www.seetickets.com/search?q=the+shires&search=
I recommend going as They put on a great show and Ward Thomas are also a band not to be missed.