Lee Mead Forum

after the cr***y weekend I've had (some bad news about mum Friday and then Andy breaking his collar bone yesterday) I needed this tonight and I can safely say it was FANTASTIC

It was great to see some familiar faces and to meet some new ones and put their faces to the names!

He was 10 minutes late coming in and I was begining to feel a little sick with excitement !! But the house was pretty much full, Lee's mum, dad and Casey were sat 2 rows in front of us! The band started to play the introduction of Paint it Black and there he was. Looking gorgeously curly, wearing all black ( ). He seemed really pleased to be there and with the reaction that he got from the crowd! This was Followed by Gonna Make you a Star, Nothing Else Matters and Close every door ( ) Niamh Perry then came on and sung a couple of songs - can't remember what she sang but have to wonder why she was wearing a dress that I felt was very reminiscient of a loincloth! Out he cam again in a pink shirt and black suit. We then had Collide, Beyond The SEa, Anthem, Kiss (or Snog as he called it) and When I need you the most. He "chatted" in between the songs and although he started off nervous, he soon relaxed. Someone asked about Betsy (was it you Hezzy?!) and it spoke a little about her. He chatted about his ferry boat job, about Joseph and his experience in the TV show and in the Theatre and how he was back where his love for shows all started!

2nd Half - I didn't play quite the same attention to the order of the songs but he came out in a blue suit, shirt and tie ensemble and started off with Get Back, at this point I'm a bit fuzzy ! JCS followed (I think), we had ADWD which he asked us to sing along and then struggled not to giggle as the crowd became his choir and sang as backing singers, we had When the Stars go blue (with Niamh - who also sang a couple more songs), he messed up the start of Leave right now and asked the band to start again! He sang Through the Barricades and dedicated it to his dad, You say it best when you say nothing at all which he dedicated to his "Beautiful wife" as it was what he sang when he first saw her! We had Holding on to letting go, If I can DReam and finished with Daydream believer - whilst we all stood up singing along and waving our hands about! I may have left some out but I'm sure someone else will confirm it!

It was a fantastic night and he really seemed to enjoy it. I, and a rather uncomfy Andy, (we'll hear tomorrow if he needs surgery on his shoulder) certainly did. AMAZING!!! Now do I dare to look for some other tickets for one of the other concerts?!

Thanks for the detailed report, BB! Was very nervous for him, but knew he'd put on a helluva show.

wow!!! sounds like an awesome show!! i wish i lived slightly more east now and had the opportunity to go see him in concert... argh.. anywhooo!! glad you had a good night!! xxx

Fantastic Amazing Incredible and Gorgeous Lee Mead
What an evening. I knew Lee was going to be good , he always gives so much and is always great, however this one was THE COMING HOME CONCERT so very important to Lee.
It was a very full house which added to the atmosphere, most of "THE FANS" were in the front rows of the stalls but I had chosen to have front row circle in the centre.
Fantastic view and lovely watching those girls, well mainly girls down below.
As Karen said he came on to the strains of Paint it Black bouncing and from then on it only got better. The choice of songs was amazing ,showed the full range of Lee's vocal ability. Plenty of familiar songs and some unfamiliar which was fantabulous ( I'm running out of superlatives ).
The duet was brilliantly arranged in my opinion the best one yet.

Lee had a Lee Fan Club Choir for ADWD which was quite incredible. I'm sure few audiences are so familiar with a singers songs to be able to provide such brilliant acompanyment. WEll done you peeps in the stalls
One of the rocky numbers was accompanied by a short dance , goesto showthe lessons for dancing in Wicked have paid off.
The outfits he wore were great , suits and tie combo's. But needless to say he could wear anything and make it look sexy.
As you can guess a great time was had. I think the girl in the seat next to me thought I was mad. Who cares It was LEE and an incredible night which will never be repeated.
Meant to say the band were brilliant fantastic MD and musicians. Lee has some great guys there.

Great reviews girlies! Lovely to see some of you today.

I have done my usual, never shuts up, always blabbers on review.

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I sat in the theatre overwhelmed with the amount of people and the buzz. I looked up on stage and saw the solo mike, the instruments and the lighting. It suddenly dawned on me that this was huge!! His first live gig headlining in his hometown. What dreams are made of.

The musicians started the introduction for Paint It Black. There was a huge gasp of anticipation and a little cheer. It seemed like it was taking ages for him to get on stage, then suddenly he bounded on. Dressed all in black, he really gave it everything. Very rocky number, snarls and growling.

He did some spiel about how lovely it was to be in Southend, that it had been a while and about how he saw Joseph there, then was in Joseph and now was headlining his own concert! Someone asked how Betsy was and he said something along the lines of 'Betsy's good. She's beautiful. I have to be careful I don't blabber on like a proud parent.'

He then launched into Gonna Make You A Star. Nice little emphasis and pointing when he sang 'I'm coming HOME soon.' A few people cheered at that. It was a lovely performance. I really enjoyed it.

After that was Nothing Else Matters which was beautifully performed. You can tell he is a true actor when he really expresses the lyrics through emphasis on certain words, facial expressions etc. It was a really earnest performance.

Close Every Door followed after some more speech about how Joseph was so important to him and how it changed his life. He mentioned how his life had such a turn around from the programme. He mentioned about meeting his wife and everyone went 'Awww'. The performance of Close Every Door was very tender and a real trip down memory lane.

Lee then introduced Niamh who he said was in the choir when she was 13 and he was in Joseph. He found that out last night bless him.

After Niamh finished, Lee came back on. I wondered what the song he was going to shoot into was! It sounded familar to me... and it was... it was Kiss. Which I have to say in my opinion was incredibly sexy. He really performed it- again the acting ability shines through here. Very cheeky, naughty Lee. Oh, and with
added bit of dancing. It was great. He said after that it should be called 'Snog'.

Collide followed, which he explained they completely changed the arrangement for. It was softly sung, a very difficult song to sing live and there were changes that I can't really explain well!

Lee then discussed his life on the cruise ferry before he launched into Beyond The Sea. He made jokes about drunk people walking past him telling him to get off the stage! The song itself was very smooth, he was gliding across the stage. He mentioned being able to 'do swing!"

Lee mentioned being a bit cheeky and trying his luck with his record label by getting Gary to write a song for him. He then sang When I Need You The Most, it was softly sung, with power in the chorus. A few cracks appeared but they didn't spoil the song for me. He'd been changing from genre of music to
another so was using different areas in this voice.

Lee then told the story (that we all know so well but he said he wasn't sure whether he should be telling us) about auditioning for ADWD. He said that they asked him if he'd like to sing for ALW and Tim Rice. He said he had learnt Anthem back to front and made a slip up about the song infront of the song writer.
It was funny. He then sang Anthem completely beautifully, surpassing any version he has done to date. It was incredible. The silence in the audience was just surreal. We were lapping it all up. He got a small standing ovation afterwards. Then it was time for the interval.

Lee came bounding back on stage, to a if I'm honest, slightly strange song choice of Get Back. He really rocked it, but it wasn't the highlight of the night for me.

He then sang Holding On To Letting Go which the lyrics went a bit weird at times. Lovely silky, yet sometimes husky tone to his voice.

Then it was back to Niamh, who was later joined on stage by Lee. They sang When The Stars Go Blue- I thought this was a lovely performance from them both. Lee did a lot of the high notes and his voice blended with Niamh's quite nicely, although the chemistry wasn't as great, but it wouldn't be really, it was probably one of the first performances they did together.

Lee then completely rocked Jesus Christ Superstar, it was nice to actually understand the lyrics! As soon as he started everyone clapped and the look on his face was adorable. He was so pleased with the reaction!

Any Dream Will Do followed with audience participation- it was incredible to hear the audience sing back with Lee, he had the giggles and so did his bass player!

Lee then discussed his first audition in front of Denise where he sang When You Say Nothing At All. Again he referred to how much his life had changed, wife and baby, he said he'd like to dedicate the song to his 'beautiful wife'. This song was incredibly heartfelt. It was very touching.

Leave Right Now was not a highlight, bless him. He thought he had started it wrong, when he actually hadn't so he stopped and asked if he could start again, went over to someone in his band and bantered with them a bit. He then had completely thrown himself and messed up the lyrics. Poor guy! But we forgave him.

Through The Barricades was for his Dad. Again some lyrics slips but still beautifully performed.

If I Can Dream was another one he had sang on TV before, he explained. He mentioned that Terry Venables was releasing it and now he was going to sing it! But he said it was very apt, because he was living his dream doing a concert of his own, and the rest! It was a lovely performance and then he said goodbye! He ran back on and did another chorus.

Everyone was on their feet by then (well some not but the majority of people!) and Lee asked us to sing along to a classic, which was Daydream Believer. He got us all singing, swaying and generally having a great time.

I'm really proud of Lee, he spent so much time soundchecking beforehand I'm surprised he had a voice afterwards. He put his everything into it and his joy was infectious. He mentioned how different his own concert felt even though he had performed in concerts before, and how much he really appreciated everyone's support, it really was quite an incredible night.

Fab review Chrissi - was great to see you again (and meet Mazy)

Awwww all your reviews are fab.

Very jealous that i'm not going to see one of them in person, but i will settle for your reviews =]

I don't know about you's but i love it when people make mistakes in concerts. I love it when lyrics are forgotten, they crack and mess up. It just proves that they are not perfect and just like the rest of us. And i think it kind of makes it more relaxed.... i dunno i can't really explain it. HaHa.

Anyway..... thank you for the reviews =] Glad you all had fun.

oooh question: Was there any merchandise?

Stace
xx

No merchandise Stace .... not even a Program sadly!

awww.

I would be gutted by that coz i collect programmes from things like that.

I would happily russle one up for them.... just give me time with lee to interview him and photograph him and i could have one designed within 2-3 days. HaHa

aww no programs?? i collect them from things i go to too!! go for it stace!! i'll happily be your co-editor and help you interview and take pictures for the program!!

Haha yey! Thats the production team sorted then =P

If only.

Chrissi love your review.

i'm blushing just thinking about it!!!

Thank you kindly Tricia I do blabber on!

Its good blabbar though

LOVE your reviews girls and you can blabber to your hearts content as far as I'm concerned Chrissi

This has made me soooo excited for Basingstoke