It has been a week since the Xena convention/ Lucy Lawless gigs, and I have just caught my breath enough now to tell you about it!
After a major screw-up with the hotel (no room reserved for little ol' me!), and having managed to find suitable replacement digs, the weekend began with talks from the funny and charming Steven Sears, along with the fabulous Adrienne Wilkinson, Paris Jefferson and (the gob-smackingly gorgeous) Brittney Powel.
This being my first 'Xena' convention, and being wary of the rib-bashing and teasing I would be getting from the uninitiated at work and home, I must admit I wasn' t sure what to expect. What I found however, was that the Xenaverse is indeed a friendly, welcoming and mighty fun place to be! I met some faces I knew from London, and also made some wonderful new friends from all over the world...(even Manchester! he he he Lisa)
Creation ( the company who organised the event) were great to the fans, and it was obvious they had everything under control. I loved the fan videos that they played during the breaks between talks...and I LOVED the auctions!!! ( I managed to 'win' the bidding for a toy Chakram set signed by Lucy Lawless herself...I'm fighting the urge to whip it out the box and play with it whilst Kath is at work......got to think of the collectors value, eh!?...Geek!)
Anyway....I had a ticket for the Sunday night Lucy Lawless concert, but a lot of my mates were going to both Saturday and Sunday's shows. Having scraped together some extra pennies, I purchased another ticket for the Saturday night too. 2 nights of Lucy, I was spoiling myself..
I must admit (what kind of music lover am I?) that I hadn't been to the Islington Carling Acadamy before, so was pleasantly surprised when I got inside to find it was a medium sized venue that afforded lots of good views of the stage. I managed to find myself a great little spot with the rest of the London gang to the right of the stage ( just by the bar too! ), only about 6 feet away from the two microphone stands already positioned on the stage. The atomosphere was electric...nothing like having a room full of hot and sweaty lesbians baying for their icon!
And then.....there she was! Lucy Lawless! Xena Warrior Princess herself! ......In a skimpy little black vest and leather chaps!!! Wait a minute.....oh my God....those chaps are...arse-less!!!! And....she's wearing nothing but....fishnets and knickers underneath!.....Thud. That is me on the floor.
After I got over the initial shock of seeing Lucy's arse in its full, beautiful glory every time she turned round to face the other side of the stage, I calmed myself down enough to enjoy the show....Hey, who am I kidding?? I was beside myself the whole gig! She was amazing, had the crowd just where she wanted them (!!!) and her voice....wow! I was not expecting that. Real husky , raw , powerful....totally suited to the songs she had chosen....( personal faves of the set for me were " I was made for Loving You" " Gloria" "I Touch Myself" and of course, "Like I Do"..just perfect). Her band were as tight as rubber gloves on a surgeon....special mention to Lucy's backing singer Annabel Williams (she's on myspace, look her up!)...she rocked my socks off too. Amazing voice, and it must be said, she helped Lucy out a number of times when Lucy appeared to 'lose' track of the lyrics! bless her.
The whole concert was just fabulous. So fabulous, I thought, nothing could top it......then of course, came Sunday!!
Sunday was the Q and A session with Lucy at the convention. I bagged myself a Gold ticket, so was only 3 rows from the stage! (Yep, 3 rows!). Now, there was always a concern that some 'fan' would ask an embarassing question that would leave me squirming in my seat, but thank the Gods, there were no such blips. Everyone was gracious and respectful, and after an initial 10 minutes at the beginning where Lucy looked a bit tired ( and admitted she felt "brain-dead"), she began to relax and appeared to really enjoy herself. I'm afraid the most of the actual questions that were asked have been lost to me now...(too caught up in the 'Lucy Haze'!), but I do remember her doing her Priestess impression based on Rick Mayall!
The only problem with being in the 3rd row in front of Lucy was...those eyes!!! Yes, they really are that blue, and there were a few occassions where, (I'm sure it was unintentional!) Lucy caught my gaze directly.....and I just melted! I don't know how it happens, but she can turn a rational, fully-grown woman into a dribbling wreck!
Having a Sunday concert ticket as well, it was soon time to head back to the Acadamy. Knowing what an amazing view (
) we had the
night before, we managed to find our way to the same spot to the right of the stage. We decided to show our appreciation to Annabel (the backing singer) when
she came on just before Lucy, by chanting "Annie, Annie!" at the top of our voices. This amused her somewhat! ( When was the last time she had a room
full of mostly lesbians chanting her name, I wonder?!)
Then Lucy came on stage..........What the Frack?!?!? Just when I thought she couldn't go one better with her stage outfit........she come on wearing a see-through lace top! With sexy black bra! Oh my lord. She was trying to kill us with her sexiness, surely!!! And, yes, thank the Gods again, she had on those chaps/fishnet/knickers too...........I'm 28 years old with a respectable job, married life....and yet I felt like a hormone-ravaged 16 year old girl at a boy-band concert or something! I've never screamed so loud....as the poor girl next to me will tell you!
Once again, Lucy's voice was on top form. She seemed to have relaxed into the show and really gave the audience everything they dreamed of. She was funny, talkative, sexy, sassy....damn, we never wanted the show to end.
So, same again next year please?!?!?!?
















