By way of introduction, when you reach the level above Au (and not giving to many things away) the level of service, flexibility, and offers is considerable. Among these, are regular events at the O2. Madly, I've turned down lots before, often due to being away, but also because living in SW London and getting to the Dome / Major, Heseltine, and Blair's folly / now the O2, well it's a complete drag SW15 to SE10. That and the fact that being amidst 20,000 people is no longer my idea of fun.
Then, M&M in Crawley towers rang the #1 with an offer to attend Ms Minogue's Aphrodite tour concert, as VS guests, in their suite - and despite all my reservations about transport and crowds, well they just withered away at the thought of such joy (I did once travel to LA especially to see her at the Hollywood Bowl - but I really am not that much a fan
). So we set about checking out transport - car, tube, or what! Driving or being taxied all across sarf London in the rush hour is my idea of hades, as is the Jubilee (hate) line after everyone leaves work ... then the #1 came across Thames Clippers, and their fast catamaran service to the Dome on concert nights. Great, all we needed to do was to get to Waterloo / the London Eye and jump on a boat - and they had champagne too!We set out on the first leg of the journey, a train from Putney to Waterloo, on a gorgeous, sunny, warm, Spring afternoon. The first surprise was an on time train that even had 'air conditioning' - revolutionary, which soon deposited us in the sprawl of Waterloo Station, thence a springly step out into the sunshine, across to the pier on South Bank next to the London Eye, and after a short queue onto a clean, modern, on time and comfortable boat. What is going on in the UK, why can't we go back to everything being broken, dirty, and late!
The boat needless to say resembled something like a Saturday night at G.A.Y.
.It was a beautiful day to be sailing down the Thames:
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And before we knew it we're at the Dome, for the first time, and my it is big isn't it - and nothing like big old concert arenas of old! Under strict instructions we head for the 'VIP'
entrance, and up to the third floor VS suite, which, as you'd imagine is very lush, has a bar, big seating area and then seats looking into the arena facing the stage. It's HUGE:Slide1.JPG (66.21 KiB) Viewed 3437 times
We're met by M&M from the office, a smattering of guests all ready for a party, we talk through the support act (Ultra girls, not very Ultra, but hard to be rude to them, support acts have a tough life), then there's a DJ, then before we know it, the lights are down, it's close to 9 pm, and two hours of pop fantasia unfold. There are three words to describe the show: flash, slick, and camp. Actually, there's a fourth word, camp again.
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As I said, the show is massive but so is the place, and despite the great position of the Virgin suite, you are a long way away!
Two hours absolutely flashes by, amazingly entertaining, cheesy certainly, but hey a night out SHOULD be fun. The finale is spectacular, a bit like a mix of the Belagio fountains, an Esther Williams movie, more camp, and a great performance of "On a Night Like This" which has us all dancing and cheering before we throw our coats on and rush out into the crowd, the boat back to the London Eye, and a waiting car home.
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The boat service worked so well, I'll be off in a shot should we be lucky enough to be invited again.
Amazing fun, thank you VS
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