met Nicky wandering around near Oxford Circus yesterday.
had a quick chat.

he was very lovely.

If you happen to pass one of them in the street, what on earth do you say, "alright James, how's it going?".

I was considering that, do you ask if it's them despite knowing it is or go straight in with 'hey james', do you start talking or do you explain that you're a fan and introduce yourself. It's easier after gigs when they know why you're there.

In my head, I keep thinking I'd greet James with a "Hey Jimbo!", but I don't think he'd like being called that.

rah, i had an aceface morning!
a colleague spotted james wandering about so i waited around the tills for him;

me; can i trouble you for my annual autograph?!
jdb; *laughs* certainly
me; im surprised you didnt catch us playing it, we've had it on repeat all week, you're thrashing phil bloody collins!
jdb; *laughs* good! i do try not to go into record shops on week of release but i've been away doing promo and not been able to buy any bits for a while..
me; fair enough, thank you so much for that, really looking forward to the tour too.
jdb; oh yeah, you coming?
me; yes, doing a few dates, brum, bristol, newport, manc, maybe london etc.
jdb; oh i'll sort you guestlist for any of those. have you got tickets?
me; oh, thats really kind but you dont have to do that, i wasn't fishing for tickets.
jdb; its really no bother, newport ok?
me; well, YES PLEASE! shall i just write my name down or what?
jdb; hang on.. *rummages through pockets.....finds tatty old phone*...
me; *starts to spell name out*
jdb; *still pressing buttons and grumbling a bit* hang on, you'll have to give me a minute here, im no good with these things...... aaaarrrgghh...... for fuuuu... ah, got it. go on..
me; *spells out name while starting to shake a little* ok to get my wife in too? cant really leave her outside!
jdb; yup, i've put you +1. just go to the box office and give your name. hope you enjoy it. bye bye
me; of course i will! thank you so so much, thats really kind of you, you've made my day

he looked really good too, really healthy and a little bit of a tan.
dunno where he got that.
i was shaking so much he must've noticed. i usually just get a signature and say thanks but when he was fiddling with his phone it felt like an age and i became very aware of my legs turning to jelly.
what a bloody nice man

Tob bloke that Jimbo, enjoy your guestlist places!

Lucky Count!

Brilliant!

That's so kind of James. Why doesn't it surprise me that he has a really old phone? Enjoy your guestlist!

Aw how nice of Bradders

Haha that's a great little story mate :) I'd have died on the spot if I saw one of the Manics in person like that.

awww James is so adorable :)

What phone does James have??

jelly legs are better than Parkinson legs, really.

great to hear that, you're gonna have a fantastic evening :D xx

That's bloody awesome! James is truly a gent :D

I've only ever got on the guestlist for the Manics once, for the Brum date on the SATT tour. I saw them in Edinburgh with the lovely Lynny (Nicky Wire's Dyson) and after the show, when we were meeting the band, I saw Martin Hall and asked him if he could check the ticket availability for Brum. I wasn't planning to see them again that tour (as I'd already seen them at Wolvo back in May) but I enjoyed the Edinburgh show so much that I thought it was worth asking. So Martin goes off to check and when he comes back he asks me for my name. So I gave it to him and he just goes "Right, you're on the guestlist for Brum. With a +1 so bring a friend. See you there!" and that was that! I was over the fucking moon :mrgreen: