Alistair Griffin live in London.

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My gig schedule used to be about 1 a month back in the day. Now unfortunately it's more like 1 a year. So the chance to see Alistair in an exclusive little gig in London was snapped up by me.

I managed to book First class train tickets for £12 cheaper than Standard and at 1pm I was in my seat London bound.

I arrived in London at 3pm and decided to head towards Oxford street to get something to eat and buy a couple of gifts.
I found a little Mall called The Plaza that had a food court. Inside there was KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway and a couple of other outlets. I was very surprised that there was plenty of spare tables so I ordered myself a grilled panini (BBQ CHICKEN) and took z seat. Very nice it was too.

I wanted to get over to Great Portland St in plenty of time to find the venue so I headed back to the tube at 4pm.

I walked out of Great Portland street station and spotted the venue opposite so had quite a bit of time to kill. I knew there was a Starbucks further down so I headed down there.
When I walked in there, a couple recognised me from previous gigs ( Gill & Frank) so I asked if I could tag along with them. We sat chatting and drinking for about an hour.

At about 5:30 We left Starbucks to take a leisurely walk back up the street.

When reached the club I thought there would be people waiting but there wasn't so we hung out there waiting and listening to Al sound-checking.
Oh and we got a chance to take photos of The car from the Just Drive video
As we waited Al's mum arrived and said hello.

Finally at 6.15pm we were allowed in. Jo and Emma were on the door so they knew who we all were and we got our hands stamped.

It was only a tiny little place with the stage at the front, 3 tables down the side and a sofa in the middle. At the back there was a mini F1 track set up and at the side a table of Lemon curd. We sat down at the furthest table.

As we waited for the show to start we watched the room fill up with all kinds of industry people who all seemed to know each other.

Finally around 7pm Mr Jake Humphrey took to the stage with a fabulous heart warming introduction. He told us how Just Drive came about and got a mention in for The BAFTA.

Then the music started. They started with Blinding Lights. OMG! I was transported straight away. Singing along and tapping my feet it was like there was only me and Alistair in the room.

I can't remember the exact order but he also sang Save the Day, Chemistry and Just Drive.
When he finished it was way too soon and the room erupted with cries of "More!" so he absolutely blew us away with Blown Away.

Another wonderful thing happened today. I was reunited with wonderful old friends Caroline, Maxine and Carol. Back in the day Caroline had been my Griffin tour Partner in crime and I really have missed having her in my life.

I was then torn. Caroline invited me to go eat with them. I so wanted to go and catch up with them but in the back of my mind I wanted to stay and maybe get to chat to Al and he does still owe me a drink after all. Anyway I made the right decision and went with them to Pizza Express.
As we were walking in Jake and his wife were coming out and I couldn't resist thanking him for his great introduction.

We did have a laugh. Lots of chat and catching up was achieved. I am very happy now!

So it's 30 after midnight and I'm on the train home to Derby where I'll have to be up for work at 6am. Let's hope it's an easy day tomorrow.
Thank You Alistair and all involved for a great evening! I hope there is more to come!

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