Around March time a random posting on Facebook by a very good friend got me thinking.

Andy, Annette and I

The esteemable Andy Freeman had posted about Jools Hollands new tour and how amazing a performer he is.

Well, I knew it was almost time for Andy to retire, so I got in touch with his wonderful wife, Annette and asked if she would be interested in going to the gig with hubby and I. She loved the idea so I got on the web to order some tickets.

I then decided that I would take the opportunity to get Andy his ticket to  celebrate his retirement. Perfect.

At the beginning of April I popped over to surprise the man himself on his special day. To say he was surprised was an understatement. He certainly didn’t expect it at all.

We then settled in to wait for the gig to come around, which it finally did on the 20th November in Nottingham.

During the wait we decided to make a bit of a trip of it and as I had been to a stunning hotel in Nottingham with my pal Helen (read all about it here). Annette was equally keen on the idea as there were a few vintage places that we could possibly check out and was happy with my recommended hotel.

St James Hotel, Nottingham

I popped onto Booking.com and reserved two rooms for the evening of the gig. The plan was to get there mid afternoon have a few drinks at some of the local hostelries and then go onto the gig.

Closer to the day I had a check on the train tickets, but they were ridiculous. For the four of us return, it would actually cover the two hotel rooms. It was then that I made the offer to drive, knowing there is a car park directly next to the hotel.

The St James Hotel is a wonderful hotel around a 4 minute walk from the Theatre Royal which is where the gig is playing. Having stayed there with H, I knew the beds were comfy, the rooms gorgeous and the breakfast bloody smashing!

Full English plus all the pastries, fruits and extras you could want or need. I was really looking forward to it.

Anyway we headed over to Annette and Andy’s just after lunchtime to pick them up. Driving to Nottingham would take around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Andy had undergone an operation on his foot a couple of weeks ago and so it would be easier to travel by car than train and so off we went.

We arrived around an hour and a half later and I dropped off the bags, Andy and Annette at the hotel reception. There was a private hotel car park a couple of minutes away and we soon got back to the hotel. We were given lovely large room opposite one another.

Me and Netty!

Deciding to take five minutes to freshen up, we quickly unpacked and met back to head off to the local Wetherspoons for a bite to eat and a couple of beers before moving on. Sitting down we quickly chose food and drinks and settled back to chill out and have a natter.

Annette and I had chosen to go for their two for £12 Cocktail pitcher offer. I went for Long Island Ice Tea (as always) and Annette went with Absolute Cherry. The men were a bit more reserved and went with Doom Bar.

We ordered dinner and got stuck into the drinks whilst waiting for it arrive. Burgers, mixed grills and pizzas were the menu of the day.

Eventually we had to go and get changed ready for the gig. Andy was actually all ready so we left him in the pub and popped back to the hotel.

Those who know, know!

I decided to wear my wonderful bespoke green and cream dress that I had made for Twinwood 2018.

We headed back to the pub to collect Andy who was being pushed around in a wheelchair. Walking through the Christmas market area, it was so pretty to see the cabins all lit up with festive food and gifts.

Lou and Andy

We headed up to venue which was massive. We were only around 10 rows back from the front and had really good seats. There was going to be a support act for around 3o minutes and then a two hour performance by Jools and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

The support act was a young lady by the name of Emma Hatton. She was very much of the Blues kind of style. In fact she reminded me a little of Beth Hart, however the general consensus of opinion in our group was that we didn’t care very much for the performance. She had a great set of pipes and really worked the stage but it just wasn’t our cup of tea.

Eventually it was time for the main event.

Ready and Waiting!

And what an event it was!

Jools came out to a rousing ovation and they kicked the gig off in style. So many well known numbers and what was even better was the big screen above the stage which spent a fair bit of time showing Jools’ fingers flying over the keys of his Grand Piano.

R&B Orchestra

It was mesmerising!

One of my favourite part of the gig was when Jools went into Bumble Boogie; a mash up of several classical pieces of music including Flight of the Bumblebee and Ava Maria.

The amazing Jools!

The gig was just electric. The band all came to centre front for their individual solo’s and Jools was effusive about their skills. It really was apparent that they are a family.

Louise Marshall, a long time singer with the band came and did a couple of numbers and then Jools announced his first special guest singer; Eddi Reader of Fairground Attraction fame.

Jools and his brother, Christopher

She came out all guns blazing and launched into several songs, finishing with Perfect. Personally I didn’t enjoy the performance (I wasn’t much of a FA fan) and when speaking about it after, neither did any of the party.

Thankfully It didn’t last for too long and went back to Jools and the gang. Doing a two hour set without a break must have been exhausting however you would never know it!

Awe-Inspiring

In the middle, Gilson did the most mind-blowing drum solo. It literally was out of this world. He took the roof off of the Theatre Royal with his virtuosity and the crowd went wild.

It wasn’t too long until the woman I was really looking forward to came onto the stage; Ruby Turner. A long time idol of mine, she blasted onto the stage with such presence. Her vocals were exemplary and really rocked the house.

The Sublime Ruby Turner

Every time she opened her mouth, the sound was electrifying. She gave her all to every song and you could see just how much it took it out of her.

Simply Inspirational.

Singing her lungs out

Sadly the concert came to a close far too quickly. The band exited the stage and it all went dark.  Many in the auditorium left but I was convinced there would be an  encore.

As we were not in a rush to leave, we sat in our seats for a few minutes and I am glad we did. The lights came back up and the band returned to the stage!

Jubilant Jools!

Whoohoo!!!

Jools Holland got the audience involved with a little ‘call and repeat’ by singing a set of notes and getting the audience to repeat ie perfectly. After several different melodies, Jools went into the crowd pleasing ‘Enjoy Yourself’.

What a way to end the night!

Final Bows

All of the singers took part as did the audience. It really was a great feel good moment.

After that it really was time to go and we headed out into the cold night air. The relevance of this will soon become apparent.

Gloves, hats, scarves and heavy coats were all around. It was pretty frosty and I for one was Freezing!!!

Excited!

And then we saw them.

STUDENTS.

And let me tell you, you could REALLY see them. Girls in tennis outfits, complete with inflatable racquets. Boys and girls in lycra leotards and leg warmers, Boys in golf wear.

Worse of all to come,  a handful of boys in swimming trunks.

JUST swimming trunks.

Now I know they may have their ‘beer coats’ on, but honestly it was close to freezing out and as a middle aged mother, I was concerned they would catch Pneumonia!

Festive Lights

We hastened back to our warm hotel rooms and got snuggled down. Perfectly warm and cosy.

The next morning we met up for breakfast which is a ‘help yourself’ hot and cold buffet. I was just in the middle of choosing my hot food when the fire alarm went off!

You cannot make this stuff up.

Anyway, by the time we headed out of the hotel, the alarm had been turned off and we went back to our chairs and the hot food section.

After a massive slap up breakfast complete with some fresh fruit salad, we headed into the City for a little mooch around. Annette and I wanted to pop to M&S to see if they had the clementine gin liqueur available. Sadly they didn’t and so we headed to Costa for a hot drink before getting ready for the journey back home.

Home Safe

I won’t bore you with tales of the drive back, but it was quick and simple and we dropped Andy and Annette off at their house with big hugs and promises to go out again soon.

We just need to arrange another jolly soon!

Till next time

SPSG xxx