I bought a
ticket to Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds concert in Brighton .
Having listened
to the music since I was eight years old, I knew all the words by heart and
relished the chance to sing along to a live performance.
What I didn’t
expect was that Jeff Wayne would be there in conducting the 46-piece
ULLAdubULLA Strings Orchestra and The Black Smoke Band.
I had six
months of waiting.
The months
turned into weeks and the weeks turned into the next weekend.
Then the show
began.
Everyone who’s
seen the concert knows how brilliant Jeff Wayne is.
But when they
introduced him on stage, I couldn’t believe my ears.
I had to
double check with the guy next to me that it was actually Jeff Wayne who would
be conducting the music.
“Yes it is.”
I made a
decision there and then.
This would be
the night I met Jeff Wayne.
The concert
experience blew me away. I sang along to all the words with the passion and
emotion of those times when I used to sing along alone in my bedroom.
I had plenty
of space to cry, punch the air and rock to the greatest music alive. And the
visuals were out of this world.
As soon as the
concert finished and the applause died down I sprinted from the hall, around
the Grand Hotel to the rear of the Brighton Centre.
I found the
entrance to the lift that would take me up to the party.
A steward was
guarding the entrance and wasn’t allowing even the invited guests up until his
superior returned.
I asked if I
could go up but he refused because I had no ticket.
I mingled with
the other people waiting. They all either held a pass ticket or had one stuck
on their chests. I explained my mission to everyone present.
‘I’ve based a
political party called SOS on the music of War of the Worlds. That’s why it is
very important I see him tonight. It’ll probably be the only time that Jeff
Wayne and I are in the same building.’
I knew there
had to be another way in. I checked to see if I could slip through without the
steward seeing, but that was a no go.
I asked
invited guests walking past if they could mention to Jeff Wayne that I was
waiting downstairs to be invited up.
The guests
promised they’d pass on the message.
One particular
gentleman said to me that the Jeff Wayne Music office was very good at replying
to emails.
I laughed
saying that wouldn’t satisfy me but asked how he knew that.
There was a
sly smile on his face.
I wondered if
he knew Jeff Wayne personally.
I pushed him
further on whether he knew him, but he was giving nothing away.
It was at this
point that I noticed a security guard showing two girls the way to the staff
entrance.
‘We’re here
for the catering,’ they said.
And from that
point, so was I.
I followed
them through the staff entrance and towards the lift.
A staff member
stopped the lift doors from closing to let the two girls in and I slipped in
too.
‘Catering,’ I
said nonchalantly, acting as if I was with the girls.
We stopped at
the next floor.
I followed the
girls straight into the party, broke away, got myself a beer and sat at the
furthest table from the entrance.
I waited as
the cast members trickled into the room.
Everyone was
there and I chatted to The Black Rock Band members, old men who told me they
were the same musicians who played on the first tour 30 years ago.
I cracked a
joke with the cute and gorgeous Jennifer Ellison, who sang the parson’s wife
role, then bumped into the guy downstairs whom I suspected of knowing Jeff
Wayne more than he was letting on.
He caught my
eye and cracked a smile.
‘Well done,
for getting in,’ he said as he shook my hand.
‘Thanks,’ I
replied with a huge smile of excitement.
I saw the
steward who was guarding the lifts downstairs poke his head around the door a
few times and every time he did, I tried my best to hide from his vision.
After a while
I felt as if I was in the clear and helped myself to the second drink of the
evening, a can of coke.
I shared a
joke with a few people about the band members signing an old War of the World’s
album cover.
Exchanged
friendly glances with other cast members, and sat down to savour the atmosphere
and plan my next move.
I didn’t even
get to have a sip of coke when I saw a burly security guard walking my way.
‘I’ll have to
ask you to leave please,’ he said.
‘Oh shit, who
grassed me up?’ I asked
And with a
guarded look he said the cameras picked me up.
I explained to
him that I was waiting for Jeff Wayne to arrive, to which he smiled.
‘You haven’t
recognized him yet then?’
I couldn’t
believe it.
Just like me
to be in the same room as my hero and not know he was there.
I got up to
look for myself and saw him behind a group of people, signing an autograph for
a guest.
The first he
saw of me was not how I imagined it would be. Flanked by two burly security
guards as I approached him
I was wearing
blue jeans, white trainers, and a tee shirt declaring, ‘Who’s the Daddy’.
You could see
the look of concern as I got closer and closer.
‘It’s a dream
come true to meet you Mr Wayne,’ I said.
He nodded with
a friendly smile and shook my hand.
I continued,
‘I’ve based a political party on your music.’
He gave me a
puzzled look.
‘I’ve been
listening to your music since a kid and absolutely love it. Now I’m a writer
and political performer and have based my political party on two songs in
particular, “The Spirit of Man” and “Brave New World”.’
¯If one man can stand tall; there will be hope for us all, somewhere,
somewhere in the spirit of man.¯
¯But if mankind is to survive the people left alive will have to start a
new, and it’s going to start with me and you.¯
He asked how
long I’d been doing it and I replied, ‘Since 1997, it’s a lifetime’s mission.’
He smiled; he
liked that.
He asked why I
didn’t stand in an election and get people to vote for me.
I explained
that my SOS party was a political performance, intended to entertain, rather
than be seriously political. But if people vote for me, it would be a bonus.
I came
straight to the point.
‘Mr Wayne,
would you to do the music for my SOS song which goes something like this.
And I began to
sing.
¯I’m the radical revolutionary man of the millennium.¯
¯I’m the radical revolutionary man of the man millennium, millennium,
millennium, millennium.¯
¯Eliminate war, eliminate poverty, eliminate child-abuse, S.O.S, oh yes
its S.O.S.¯
¯Come on eradicate war, eradicate poverty, eradicate child-abuse, vote
for S.O.S, vote for S.O.S.¯’
He asked my
name and I said, ‘Matthew Taylor.’ And he asked me the name of my political
party, to which I replied, ‘SOS Party’.
My dream had
come true.
I had sung my
song to the one man in the world who could turn it into the greatest of songs.
He told me to
send him an email.
He didn’t say
no and that was good enough for me.
The fact that
two security guards were standing either side of me caused an awkward silence.
‘Oh, I’m sorry
Mr Wayne, I had to slip past security to see you. I hope you don’t mind,’ I
explained.
A flicker of
concern crossed his face.
To be fair I
had trespassed on his party and should leave.
Though I tried
my luck one last time and said to the guards.
‘Hey guys, if
Mr Wayne says it’s alright to stay, can I stay?’ and looked at Jeff Wayne to
save me.
Jeff shrugged
his shoulders as if saying ‘nothing to do with me’, but the security guard
decided for him and insisted I must go.
Never mind, I
had achieved my mission, but I would have loved to have stuck around longer.
I shook hands
with Jeff Wayne again, congratulated him on a brilliant show and said my
goodbyes.
I punched the
air in delight as the security guards led me away.
I had met Jeff
Wayne and watched the best show in the World.
