D20: London (Chess Night 2)

So after surviving the M&G and our trip with CJ back to the hotel, it was finally time for the second and last night of Chess.

The seats Trish and I had were in the stalls, but I was further back than last night, but it was still great. They made an announcement before the performance that no cameras etc. could be used, but that was fine by me. I was able to sit back and soak it all in, and being back a little, I got a much better overall perspective of the stage. But here's one I took before the show started.

We spotted Josh's family up in a box (trust me, it's really them)-

Once again, Josh was phenomenal!!! He seemed to be much more relaxed tonight, and I don't know if it was the location of my seat or if they just got the audio right tonight, but the sound tonight was a marked improvement on last night.

After Josh's version of Anthem, I got chills again... He thoroughly deserved the standing ovation he got (both last night and tonight). It really was totally spontaneous on both nights and I think it happened because it just felt so right. Tonight it felt like pretty much all of the audience took part, compared to about 3/4 last night. But tonight, he just blew them away (again!).

After the show, we decided we'd stay and see if we could catch a glimpse of Josh, but like last night I didn't think I'd get close. We knew he wouldn't do the official stage door, and when we got to Door 11 where he came out last night, they were using it to take all the camera gear out and they told us no-one would be using it as an exit. So we wandered around, and around. Eventually we saw a large group near Door 10, and the same car from last night was there as well, so it looked quite possible this would be where Josh would be coming out.

I was starting to get quite cold, and at one point, Trish asked if I wanted to leave, and I basically said that I'd wait until I either saw him leave, or knew for sure that he'd snuck out another door and I missed him.

Well after about 2 1/2 hours, he finally came out. And the best thing - I WAS SECOND IN LINE. It really was a bit of a fluke. The main group was actually gathered near another door, and I was just hanging back. Anyway, after awhile, it looked like Josh would be coming out near where I was standing, so the main group made their way over to where I was, and I lucked out and was in the perfect spot...

We came out and well this is basically what happened:

The crowd:

OMJ -

What I'd waited 2 1/2 hours for -

And I took these just after I'd gotten my autograph and spoken to Josh!!!

I couldn't believe it so of course I had to ring Tracey as I walked back to the Montana to fill her in. After all the drama about whether I'd go, this made it all worth while.

Now my memory as to what I actually said to Josh is a little hazy(%$#^) but I think I said something along the lines that his performance was amazing and it was well worth the trip over from Australia...

When I got back to the Montana, I ran into Jackie, her friends and some other US grobies in the lobby of the hotel. They'd missed out on seeing Josh by a couple of minutes, but I was able to show them my pics and fill them in on what had happened. I was still floating.

To see photos from today (including the M&G), click here.

Hotel details
The Montana Hotel
(Kay's hotel rating - good)