Hey Now! Oh god where do I begin.If I was asked to plot out on a peice of paper what would be the bets thing that could ever happen, never ,ever would I have conjured up something like this.Lets begin then....Madness Doc Marten/Electric Ballroom gig. 11.30- Made my way to the Dublin Castle. There the maddie crew met up. Its a pointless effort trying to name all who came, I know I'd leave someone out so I won't. I reckon there was nigh on 20/25 in all.Hands were shaken, stories were swapped and drinks were drank as we all embarked on a voyage that we would never expect. 1pm-Covent Garden: Firstly in true from we all felt it necessary to wash down the drinks we had at the DC by visiting the Nag's Head.Before long it was 2pm and time to make our way forth to the Doc Marten shop at the Garden. As the crowd were gathering I swanned around the side to see if anything was happening. Then gettning out of a car was none other than one Prof Chris Foreman. My God I though and went over to shake his hand...what does Vinnie-Me come out with but the words that will haunt me for the rest of my life..."what can I say Chris....its been emotional!" Looking at me weirdly I'd say he then made his way in and said he'd get a picture with me later. Next up was the Suggsmeister himself. That man is bloody big. Again a quick shake of hands and a greet before he headed in. I the skipped the que and went inside the store. Next came Chas. I shouted out "CHAS,CHAS!"...to be met by the immediate response "VINCE!"...I was dumbfounded and I asked him how did he know it was me and he repiled in a very impressive Cork accent "the accent bouy". We hugged and he then ran upstairs.At this stage there were literally tears in my eyes.Now that was emotional. Before the signing began,DJ Gary Crowley introduced the band outside the door.They lined up for Press photos. I called to Chas again and he shouted 'come on Vince...quick'. Then I ran over to get my pic taken with them all outside the doorway in front of all, the scum press. They said get out of it.I responed with a 2 finger salute to them all. God I hope that photo comes out! 3pm- the signing: got in que again and paid for my ox-blood docs. Then met Lee first who gladly signed, Mark then Chris and then the Mighty Mike Barson. Woody next..then Suggs and Chas. He called the others in the band and said, 'everyone this is Vince from Cork, round of applause please...'I nearly died!Chas joked at my accent and called me a 'langer'( a cork derogitory slang word). We laughed at that and I called Suggs a langer then. Got my pictures taken with them then. I said to suggs that the 3pc was a great album and f*ck them all and f*ck radio 1.I think they appreciated that and we had a laugh.Chas then gave me a promo for JTH. I left on top of the world and quickly rang home to tell all of my great moment. 4pm_ Nags Head for a post-mortem of what happened SO FAR and then to the Dublin Castle again.We stayed there until 7pm. 7pm-The Spead Eagle: In there then and messers Woodgate,Bedford, Mc Pherson and Smyth were inside. I mean this was just too much. There inside chatting away with them as cool as a breeze. Chalky (old Madness friend) was with suggs and didn't really want much attention,which we all respected. I was chatting to woody then for quite a while, mainly about Music and the fact that his wife, Sibhaoun Fitzpatrick is NOT Irish. He is such a gentleman and really down to earth and sincere. Another photo call with him and Bedders and we left for the Electric Ballrooom. 9pm- Madness on stage...what a stage,what a blast what a set. A good few new tracks played too. I won't go into that here. The As Chas put on his guitar he said: ' I'd like to play this one for Vince,from Cork....Vince ya langer....' Suggs replied: 'the jolliest langer in the world'. What can I say? the single greatest moment of my life. They then belted into a thumping rendition of the new single 'Johnny the Horse'. I was on air. The gig finished at 10.10 and Chas came back out and gave me his towel. Is there no end to this I thought? No there was not as I then met one John Hasler (old time friend and guru of the band). I thanked him for his part in giving us Madness. top bloke indeed! We headed back then to the Dublin Castle for some more drinks. However it was not over yet. 11pm' Made our way down to another pub in Camden. who should I meet outside but Chas again. Yaked with him for 5 mins before joining the others inside. There inside was Chris Foreman and Mark bedford enjoying themselves withe their friends. I spoke briefly to them before leaving at midnight. Unbelievable. Simply wonderful. Words fail me. This was the best day of my entire life. I had waited so long for this moment, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect this. I shall die a happy man in the knowledge in the comfort that there are still heroes out there who actually care about their fans and are simply fantastic people. Ordinary Magic at its best! from 'the jolliest langer in the world'! All the Best Vince! ===== "If it ain't Vince, it ain't worth a F*CK!" ICQ 46099201 NEVER SAY NO TO A MAD IDEA! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com - ______________________________________________________________ Visit the Total Madness Mailing List website for: latest news, madmeet info, list charter, games, and more ... http://members.xoom.com/totalmadmail/ Contact the TMML Moderators at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and in the message body put: unsubscribe total-madness
